The Baltimore Ravens are the AFC’s sixth seed and were considered somewhat of an outsider to win the Super Bowl—but in hindsight, the signs for a victory are all there.
The Ravens finished the regular season with a stingy defense that allowed the second-fewest yards per game (261.1) and third fewest points per game (15.2) in the league.
On the other side of the ball, Baltimore didn’t have a flashy offense but proved that it could move the chains with a ground game that ranked fourth in the league averaging 148.5 yards a game. Their opportunistic passing attack ranks near the bottom of the league but it’s not so much how many yards they rack up—it’s when they rack them up.
The jury’s out on whether history actually does repeat itself, but going into the conference championship game this Sunday, Baltimore is hoping it can repeat its feat from Super Bowl XXXV. The two Baltimore teams are remarkably similar.
Like this year’s edition, the 2000 Baltimore team was a wild card team and held its first playoff opponent, the Denver Broncos, to under 10-points in a 21–3 win. This year’s edition beat the Miami Dolphins 27–9 on wild card weekend.
The 2008 Ravens earned a trip to the AFC title game by defeating the top seeded Tennessee Titans with their 13–3 regular season record in the divisional round last week, and guess who they beat at the same stage in 2000? The top seeded Tennessee Titans with their 13–3 regular season record, of course.
Linebacker Ray Lewis played on both this year’s and the 2000 team, taking the Super Bowl XXXV MVP, and has been his usual self this year tied for the playoff lead in tackles with 20.
“Our job is to stay focused on the now. Yesterday is gone. Let’s leave it there.”
And while there are similarities, this is a different team like Lewis said, especially behind center.
It is almost universally accepted that the team that beat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV did it mainly on defense with then-QB Trent Dilfer merely managing the offense.
The Ravens of 2008 have a solid, signal-caller in rookie QB Joe Flacco. Flacco became the Ravens starter after Kyle Boller suffered a season-ending injury. The 2000 Baltimore Ravens started their season with Tony Banks who gave way to Trent Dilfer. Dilfer would be the man the rest of the way.
Taken in the first-round of last year’s draft, Flacco has been key to the Ravens’ success, passing for 2,971 yards with 14 TDs in the regular season, and another 296 passing yards in the postseason.
Flacco is confident in his team despite all the playoff road games.
“It seems like we’ve been on the road for the longest time,” Flacco told the media after last week’s win in Tennessee.
“It doesn’t matter to us. We’re going to go out there and battle the crowd, battle the other team, and give it our best.”
Sunday’s game against the Steelers will determine if Baltimore makes it to the Super Bowl.
The Ravens are listed as five-point underdogs against the number two seed Pittsburgh (12–4 in regular season) in the AFC title game according to Vegas bookies.
They were 6.5-point dogs against the number two seed Oakland Raiders (12–4 in regular season) in the conference championship prior to Super Bowl XXXV.
History may not repeat itself, but for the 2008 Ravens in many ways it already has.
The Ravens finished the regular season with a stingy defense that allowed the second-fewest yards per game (261.1) and third fewest points per game (15.2) in the league.
On the other side of the ball, Baltimore didn’t have a flashy offense but proved that it could move the chains with a ground game that ranked fourth in the league averaging 148.5 yards a game. Their opportunistic passing attack ranks near the bottom of the league but it’s not so much how many yards they rack up—it’s when they rack them up.
The jury’s out on whether history actually does repeat itself, but going into the conference championship game this Sunday, Baltimore is hoping it can repeat its feat from Super Bowl XXXV. The two Baltimore teams are remarkably similar.
Deja Vu
The regular season defense from that Super Bowl winning team was, just like this year’s, ferocious—2000’s team was statistically superior averaging 247.9 yards per game allowed and 10.3 points per game allowed.
The 2000 Ravens were also modest on offense (16th in the league) but the running game was very solid and had numbers nearly identical to this year’s team, fifth in the NFL averaging 137.4 yards per game. This year’s team ranks 18th in total offense.Like this year’s edition, the 2000 Baltimore team was a wild card team and held its first playoff opponent, the Denver Broncos, to under 10-points in a 21–3 win. This year’s edition beat the Miami Dolphins 27–9 on wild card weekend.
The 2008 Ravens earned a trip to the AFC title game by defeating the top seeded Tennessee Titans with their 13–3 regular season record in the divisional round last week, and guess who they beat at the same stage in 2000? The top seeded Tennessee Titans with their 13–3 regular season record, of course.
Linebacker Ray Lewis played on both this year’s and the 2000 team, taking the Super Bowl XXXV MVP, and has been his usual self this year tied for the playoff lead in tackles with 20.
Looking Ahead
When asked about that fabled Super Bowl winning team, Lewis said this year’s incarnation wasn’t about to live on past glory.
“This defense is totally different. We’ve got a totally different mindset. We’re a totally different team than we were in 2000,” explained Lewis prior to last week’s game.“Our job is to stay focused on the now. Yesterday is gone. Let’s leave it there.”
And while there are similarities, this is a different team like Lewis said, especially behind center.
It is almost universally accepted that the team that beat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV did it mainly on defense with then-QB Trent Dilfer merely managing the offense.
The Ravens of 2008 have a solid, signal-caller in rookie QB Joe Flacco. Flacco became the Ravens starter after Kyle Boller suffered a season-ending injury. The 2000 Baltimore Ravens started their season with Tony Banks who gave way to Trent Dilfer. Dilfer would be the man the rest of the way.
Taken in the first-round of last year’s draft, Flacco has been key to the Ravens’ success, passing for 2,971 yards with 14 TDs in the regular season, and another 296 passing yards in the postseason.
Flacco is confident in his team despite all the playoff road games.
“It seems like we’ve been on the road for the longest time,” Flacco told the media after last week’s win in Tennessee.
“It doesn’t matter to us. We’re going to go out there and battle the crowd, battle the other team, and give it our best.”
Sunday’s game against the Steelers will determine if Baltimore makes it to the Super Bowl.
The Ravens are listed as five-point underdogs against the number two seed Pittsburgh (12–4 in regular season) in the AFC title game according to Vegas bookies.
They were 6.5-point dogs against the number two seed Oakland Raiders (12–4 in regular season) in the conference championship prior to Super Bowl XXXV.
History may not repeat itself, but for the 2008 Ravens in many ways it already has.
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