Flacco leads Ravens to Super
Bowl
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. (AP)
Oh, brother!
John Harbaugh and his Baltimore Ravens set up a family reunion at the
Super Bowl, shutting down the New England Patriots 28-13 Sunday in the
AFC championship game.
The Ravens reached their first Super Bowl in 12 years, thanks to three
touchdown passes from Joe Flacco and a defense led by Ray Lewis that
made Tom Brady look downright ordinary.
Next up for Harbaugh and the Ravens is baby brother Jim and the San Francisco 49ers, who beat Atlanta 28-24 earlier in the day for the NFC
title.
They'll meet in two weeks in New Orleans — what a place for a party to
celebrate the first brother-vs.-brother coaching matchup in Super Bowl
history.
It also will be quite a last game for Lewis, the emotional linebacker
who will retire after the matchup with the 49ers, who opened as a
5-point favorite.
Driven by Lewis' pending departure from the NFL, Baltimore's defense
stepped up in the playoffs. Brady was 67-0 at home when leading at
halftime, but this was no contest in the second half.
It also was a first for the Patriots, who hadn't lost an AFC
championship at home.
After they had avenged last year's AFC title game loss at Gillette
Stadium, many of the Ravens gathered on the field jumping,
chest-bumping and whooping before several thousand fans wearing Ravens
jerseys — mostly Lewis' No. 52 — who remained in the stands.
As in the previous two playoff wins against Indianapolis and Denver,
the Ravens (13-6) were brilliant offensively in spots. This might be
17-year-veteran Lewis' team, but it's also Flacco's, and the
quarterback's six road wins are the most in playoff history.
''It was pretty awesome,'' Flacco said. ''We were here last year and
thought we had it, but came up a little short. Guys came out in the
second half and made plays. ... We put pressure on them like that, and
it worked pretty well.''
Flacco, the only quarterback to win a playoff game in each of his first
five seasons, was dynamic with his arm and precise with his decision
making. Looking much more the championship passer than Brady did, his
throws of 11 and 3 yards to Anquan Boldin and 5 to Dennis Pitta all
were perfect.
New England (13-5) lost a home AFC title matchup for the first time in
five home games. The loss denied Brady and coach Bill Belichick a shot
at their sixth Super Bowl. They've gone 3-2, losing their last two
times in the big game.
Instead, it's the AFC North champion Ravens heading to the Big Easy,
seeking their second NFL championship. San Francisco has won five.
''This is our time. This is our time,'' Lewis said as he and a few
teammates were receiving the AFC championship trophy. ''All these men
out there, there might just be only five of us up here, but every man
out there sacrificed this year for each other, and man, we did it and
we're on our way to the Super Bowl. That's awesome.''
The Ravens have gotten there the hard way, with no postseason bye. Then
again, five of the last seven Super Bowl champions took that route.
The Ravens also were pushed into a second overtime in frigid Denver
last weekend before eliminating Peyton Manning and the top-seeded
Broncos.
And now they've cast aside the league's most successful franchise of
the last dozen years.
New England (13-5), which hasn't won a Super Bowl since the 2004
season, had four injuries, the scariest when running back Stevan Ridley
was knocked flat by Bernard Pollard in the fourth quarter, forcing a
fumble. Baltimore turned that into the final touchdown, on the only
short scoring drive it had, 47 yards.
The Ravens gained just 130 yards in the first half.
Brady guided a 13-play drive to Stephen Gostkowski's 31-yard field goal
for a 3-0 lead. Neither defense yielded a big play, and punters Zoltan Mesko and Sam Koch were the busiest guys on the field.
That changed when the teams switched sides for the second quarter.
Baltimore again was pinned deep, at its 10, but Flacco led a 13-play
drive. Ray Rice, whose 83-yard run on the Ravens' first play from
scrimmage in their wild-card round victory here three years ago, ran
left untouched for the TD.
Awakened by Baltimore's march, the Patriots staged a long one of their
own, 79 yards, aided by a 15-yard personal foul by Ravens linebacker
Dannell Ellerbe. Wes Welker picked up 24 yards on a short pass, then
got free in the right corner of the end zone after a mix-up in the
Ravens' secondary, making it 10-7.
It was 13-7 by halftime as Gostkowski connected from 25 yards, with New
England outsmarting Baltimore several times. Danny Woodhead ran for 7
yards on a direct snap on fourth-and-1 in the drive. Defensive end Paul Kruger, who's good at sacks, not much in coverage, found himself
downfield on Aaron Hernandez on what became a 17-yard reception.
But Brady made a mental error himself, not calling timeout quickly
enough after a short scramble. So the Patriots didn't get a shot at the
end zone and Gostkowski made his second kick.
Shockingly for an offense that scored 557 points this season, that was
it for New England.
The touchdown by Pitta capped the Ravens' best drive of the game,
covering 87 yards in 10 plays and made it 14-13. It started with a
15-yard defensive pass interference penalty.
NOTES: Brady now has 5,949 yards
passing, the most in NFL history for the postseason. ... Patriots CB
Aqib Talib hurt his thigh and DT Kyle Love injured his knee. Backup
safety Patrick Chung was helped off the field after one play.
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