In a heavyweight fight of defenses, the Baltimore Ravens knocked out the Tennessee Titans 13–10 as they continued their Super Bowl run behind their opportunistic defense.
Last weekend, the Ravens forced the team with the best turnover margin in the NFL, Miami, into five turnovers while never turning the ball over themselves. On Saturday, they forced the team with the second best turnover margin to turn it over three times while once again not turning the ball over at all themselves.
Despite giving up 391 yards the Ravens defense came up big when it needed to, causing all three turnovers on what looked to be eventual scoring drives for the Titans.
Titans quarterback Kerry Collins threw a ball off his back foot from the Baltimore 32-yard line late in the first half that was picked off by former Titans DB Samari Rolle. The interception killed a drive that had started at the Titans one-yard line.
The next two turnovers were even more costly as they occurred in the red-zone.
Titans running back LenDale White fumbled on the 17-yard line with under a minute left in the first half, squashing the Titans hopes of going into halftime with a lead rather than a 7–7 tie.
The third turnover was also a fumble, this time by tight end Alge Crumpler at the Baltimore six-yard line with about nine minutes left in the game. It occurred when Tennessee was down 10-7.
As for loss Collins said, “We really have no one to blame but ourselves. This one’s going to hurt for a while.”
There really is no one to blame for the three turnovers, except for that ferocious defense lined up on the other side of the football.
Ravens rookie QB Joe Flacco was just above average with his numbers, completing 11 of 22 passes for 161 yards with a touchdown and no picks. But more importantly, he was stellar when it mattered most, leading his team on a 51-yard drive that led to a Matt Stover 43-yard game winning field goal.
In the late drive, Flacco looked more like a seasoned veteran than a rookie quarterback. With the win he became the only rookie quarterback ever to win his first two playoff games.
The Ravens only racked up 211 yards in offense on the day, 180 less than the Titans, which shows how important their +3 turnover differential was.
Scoring Recap
The Titans struck first in the game with an eight-yard touchdown run by rookie running back Chris Johnson early in the first quarter.
Johnson left later in the first half with a tweaked right ankle. The loss of Johnson really hindered Tennessee as he had exploded in the first half with 11 carries for 72 yards including the touchdown, and one reception for 28 yards.
Baltimore quickly answered with a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Derrick Mason with just over a minute to go in the first quarter.
Stover hit a 21-yard field goal early in the fourth to give Baltimore a 10–7 lead.
Tennessee kicker Rob Bironas answered with a field goal of his own with 4:23 to play to knot the game at 10–10 before Stover’s game winner.
Comparisons
With the win, more comparisons are being made to the 2000 Ravens that won the Super Bowl as a wild card team. That team also beat the 13–3 and number one seeded Titans en route to Tampa Bay (the site of this year’s Super Bowl) behind one the best defenses of all time.
Although this defense may not go down as the best of all time, they seem to have hit their stride and are scary-good.But the team isn’t getting caught up in the comparisons as linebacker Bart Scott said, “It’s great to make our own history, our own path. That team has its own identity and we’re trying to create our own.”
With a +8 turnover margin over two playoff games they are well on their way to creating that identity.
Steelers Beat Chargers
The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Diego Chargers 35– 24 on Sunday, making them the only home team to win this weekend.
Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger went 17 for 26 and 181 yards with one touchdown pass. Chargers QB Philip Rivers had a great game, going 21 for 35 and 308 yards, tossing three touchdowns and one pick.Steelers running back Willie Parker was the work horse, carrying the ball 27 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
The win sets up a physical, hard-hitting defensive AFC championship game in Pittsburgh against the Ravens, as these two fierce rivals face off for the third time this season with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
Matt Sugam is a writer based in New Jersey.
