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Ravens-Titans Grudge Match Should Be A Fight To Finish

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By IRA KAUFMAN

ikaufman@tampatrib.com

Published: January 10, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Music City seems like an appropriate backdrop for today's AFC divisional playoff matchup between two feuding country cousins.

Top-seeded Tennessee takes on the sixth-seeded Ravens in a physical duel not for the squeamish.

"This game," says CBS analyst Dan Dierdorf, "will be a bloodbath."

When the teams clashed in Baltimore three months ago, the Titans rallied for 10 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 13-10 triumph as a controversial personal foul penalty against Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs sustained the winning drive.

The similarities between these opponents are striking.

.Both clubs prefer to grind it out behind solid offensive lines and deep backfields, throwing sparingly while winning the turnover battle.

Led by a pair of likely future Hall of Famers, middle linebacker Ray Lewis and free safety Ed Reed, Baltimore ranked No. 2 defensively to the Steelers. Tennessee's defense finished No. 7, and the Titans should be buoyed by the return of injured linemen Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Baltimore's defense played up to its reputation last week in a 27-9 playoff victory at Miami, posting five takeaways against a club that had committed only 13 turnovers all season.

The Ravens have won six of their past seven on the road, and they limited Tennessee to 47 yards rushing in October while picking off two Kerry Collins passes.

"It's a challenge, there is no question," Collins said of facing a defense that topped the league with 34 takeaways. "Schematically, they don't give you a lot, and on third down, they have a lot of exotic blitzes. They do what they do - and they do it real well."

The Titans, 7-1 at home, have had 13 days to recover from the grind of a 13-3 season. Collins has far more postseason experience than rookie counterpart Joe Flacco, and he will rely on the running tandem of speedy rookie Chris Johnson and powerful LenDale White.

Pro Bowl center Kevin Mawae (elbow) is out, and that could be a critical factor for the AFC South champions because Lewis will create havoc if the Titans don't get a body on him.

"Ray Lewis has been doing this for a long time," said White, who led the AFC with 15 rushing touchdowns. "It's inspiring to me to know I can be like that one day. I can play that long with that much intensity, and that well."

Don't expect much glitz during Saturday's hoedown at LP Field.

These brawlers don't like each other, and the hostility was evident in the regular-season slugfest, when the Titans and Ravens combined for 21 penalties.

"This matchup will come down to which team can impose its physicality on the other," Dierdorf said.

While the 2005 Steelers reign as the only No. 6 seed to advance to a conference championship game, Baltimore's performance at Dolphin Stadium may have been the most impressive of the opening playoff round.

Reed returned one of his two picks for a touchdown, and the Ravens appear to be peaking behind first-year coach John Harbaugh.

"As a team, we're mentally tough just to go play anywhere," said Lewis, whose 160 stops marked the 11th time he has led the Ravens in tackles. "As long as we've got each other, everything else takes care of itself. Yeah, we're going into a hostile environment, but the bottom line is if we go in there with each other, we're going to be OK."

TODAY'S GAME

Ravens (12-5)

at Titans (13-3)

TIME: 4:30 p.m.

TV: WTSP, Ch.10

WEATHER: Mid-40s

IRA KAUFMAN'S CALL:

Titans, 16-10

Reporter Ira Kaufman can be reached at (813) 259-7833.

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