Considering the buildup, the antagonistic comments over the last few weeks and the pregame jog around Adelphia Coliseum dressed in army fatigues, the Baltimore Ravens’ defense was practically polite Sunday in its AFC divisional playoff game against the Tennessee Titans.
Fittingly, however, the Ravens’ defense was there to provide the final insult as Ray Lewis, the NFL’s most valuable defensive player, caught the bobbled rebound of a pass intended for Eddie George and lumbered 50 yards for the fourth-quarter score that provided the final 24-10 margin of victory.
“When you go into the lion’s den, you don’t tippy-toe in,” said Baltimore coach Brian Billick, defending his team’s swagger. “You carry a spear, you go in screaming like a banshee and kick the door in and say, `Where’s the son of a [gun]? If you go in any other way, you’re going to lose. Somebody has forgotten that they had to fight their way in that way last year.”
The defending AFC champion Titans may have fought last year. They also relied on their special teams to pull off the last-second, game-winning kickoff return later dubbed the “Music City Miracle” to get past Buffalo in a first-round game.
On Sunday, special teams contributed mightily to Tennessee’s loss in a game of isolated big plays–which included three missed field goals by Al Del Greco–that could have doomed the Ravens just as easily.
Tennessee rookie backup wide receiver Chris Coleman blocked consecutive Ravens punts at the end of the first half and beginning of the second, but the Titans came out with just three points on a 21-yard field goal by Del Greco.
Baltimore, meanwhile, and reserve end Keith Washington countered with two blocks of Del Greco field-goal attempts, the second resulting in a 90-yard return by Anthony Mitchell for a fourth-quarter touchdown that broke a 10-10 tie and proved the difference in the game.
“With two hard, physical teams, you knew it was going to come down to something unique,” said Billick. “It kind of shoots down the theory of what turnover superiority does to a game.”
The Titans, in fact, seemed to have the Ravens solved for much of the game. Defensively, they held the Ravens’ offense to one touchdown, six first downs and just 134 yards in total offense. Offensively, Baltimore’s defense has certainly been better as the Titans, with 23 first downs and 317 total yards, blew away the Ravens in time of possession–40 minutes 29 seconds to 19:31.
On their first drive, the Titans methodically moved downfield on an 11-play, 68-yard drive using short passes and five George runs for 21 yards to go ahead 7-0. George ended up with 143 yards in total offense on 91 yards rushing in 27 carries and eight catches for 52 yards.
“If you look at the stats,” said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, “we did exactly what we needed to do offensively and defensively … [and] I mean, what more can you ask out of your defense?”
Baltimore quarterback Trent Dilfer, completing just 5-of-16 passes, literally had just one big play–his 56-yard completion to Shannon Sharpe in the second quarter that set up a 1-yard touchdown by Jamal Lewis to even the score at 7-7.
“Sometimes it only takes one,” said Dilfer. “We have the greatest defense that ever lived, in my opinion, and if you’re smart, you play to your strengths.”
Billick, whose team moves on to the AFC championship game Sunday in Oakland, was even more defensive. Livid over the repeated airing of comments he made this season about his team’s superiority on the Adelphia Coliseum scoreboard Sunday, he was not about to make excuses for his team in the wake of victory.
“What you saw today, this is what we are,” he said. “It’s good enough to get us in the [AFC] championship. For some purists, maybe that’s not good enough. But this is what we are and we’ll see how far it can go.”
Billick’s team may meet its match in both skill and personality in the Raiders. But the Ravens aren’t likely to win or lose quietly, as evidenced by the defensive line’s purchase of army fatigues Saturday and their jaunt around the field before Sunday’s game while wearing them.
“We just wanted to scare them,” said Ravens defensive tackle Lional Dalton, “let them know we were going to war.”
Even the Titans couldn’t argue when the battle was over.
