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Ravens Upend Titans

The Associated Press

Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed celebrates with the game ball tucked away inside his jersey.

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By IRA KAUFMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 11, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Once again, Baltimore's Super Bowl road to Tampa left the favored Tennessee Titans beaten and bewildered.

The Ravens capitalized on three takeaways deep in their territory Saturday to edge the top-seeded Titans 13-10, joining the 2005 Steelers as the only No. 6 seeds to emerge from the divisional playoff round.

The Eagles, seeded sixth in the NFC, can join the select group by upsetting the defending champion Giants today.

Despite being outgained 391-211, Baltimore utilized the league's most opportunistic defense in advancing to next week's AFC title game against the winner of today's Chargers-Steelers matchup.

The 2000 Ravens surprised Tennessee 24-10 during this same AFC divisional round en route to their easy victory against the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, played in Tampa.

"I don't care whether we go to Pittsburgh or San Diego," said Ravens tight end Todd Heap, whose only catch of the game, a leaping 23-yard grab on third-and-2, set up Matt Stover's winning 43-yard field goal with 53 seconds remaining. "The only thing I do know is we're going on the road confident we can beat anyone standing in our way."

In downing a well-rested Tennessee club that posted an NFL-best 13-3 mark, the Ravens (13-5) reversed the score of the Oct. 5 meeting between these two physical AFC powers.

"Tennessee's a great team, and you can't ask for a better game or a better challenge," Ravens Pro Bowl free safety Ed Reed said. "We've got so many guys on this team that can step up, and you saw that today. That's what we have in this room - we have football players."

After forcing five turnovers and cruising to a 27-9 victory at Miami in last week's wild-card round, the Ravens were outplayed for most of the day as a raucous crowd of 69,143 exhorted their AFC South champions to survive and host the Jan. 18 conference championship game.

"It's tough right now ... a lot of our guys are still in shock," Titans linebacker David Thornton said 45 minutes after the bitter setback. "Even though we dominated the statistics, you have to say we got outplayed in our house, because they ended up with more points."

Ravens rookie Joe Flacco maintained his poise on the road, throwing for 161 yards while avoiding a giveaway for the second consecutive week. Baltimore averaged only 1.7 yards in 30 rushing attempts against a Tennessee defense that felt disrespected entering the game.

Meanwhile, the Titans rolled up 13 first downs and 256 yards in the first half against the league's No. 2 defense as rookie Chris Johnson ran for 72 yards and Justin Gage caught six passes for 95 yards.

Johnson, who opened the scoring with an 8-yard run, turned his right ankle midway through the second quarter and never returned, robbing the Titans of their offensive catalyst.

Kerry Collins completed 26 of 42 passes for 281 yards, but Samari Rolle's second-quarter interception at the Baltimore 9-yard line proved to be the first of Tennessee's three brutal turnovers.

"We've got a bunch of warriors on our sideline," crowed Ravens first-year coach John Harbaugh. "The game of professional football doesn't get any better than these two teams slugging it out. Look what our defense did for our offense today."

Late in the opening half, LenDale White's fumble at the Baltimore 15 was recovered by strong safety Jim Leonhard, who plays in Reed's immense shadow.

Leonhard's 29-yard punt return led to Stover's 21-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, snapping a 7-7 deadlock. On Tennessee's ensuing possession, Leonhard's hit on tight end Alge Crumpler forced a fumble recovered at Baltimore's 1-yard line.

"They got the best of us early in the game, but we ended up with those three takeaways near our own goal line," Leonhard said. "I'm sure the Titans will be kicking themselves for a long time."

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

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