Ravens extend Ray Lewis' ride, beat Patriots for Super Bowl berth

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A week after hushing his critics with a big comeback win in Denver, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco quieted the crowd at Gillette Stadium. Now, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis can take his retirement party to New Orleans, and coach Jim Harbaugh can take on his brother in Super Bowl XLVII.

Flacco threw for three touchdowns on three consecutive second-half drives Sunday as the Ravens beat the Patriots 28-13 for a trip to Super Bowl XLVII. The Ravens' 2011 season ended here in the AFC Championship Game with a loss in final seconds. They also lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the conference final in the 2008 season.

"It's crazy. This is my fifth year here, and this is the third one of these games that we've played in, and this in the first one we've won," said Flacco. "These are tough games to win, but we played together well as a team today."

In the final seconds of that 23-20 loss here last season, a potential winning touchdown pass by Flacco was stripped away in the end zone, and Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal for Baltimore. Did that experience make this all the sweeter for Flacco?

"I think it's pretty sweet having won one of these AFC championships. It's probably pretty sweet no matter how you do it and no matter what fashion it is in," said Flacco, who hit 21 of 36 passes for 240 yards and no interceptions a week after rallying Baltimore to a 38-35 overtime win against the Denver Broncos.

Baltimore, which won the Super Bowl in the 2000 season in its only previous trip to the NFL's ultimate game, struggled down the stretch in the regular season.

Lewis, who has announced he will retire after 17 NFL seasons at age 37, missed the last 10 games of the regular season with a torn triceps in his right arm. He's returned in the playoffs to inspire a Baltimore defense that held Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to one touchdown pass with two interceptions.

"How else do you cap off a career?" said Lewis, a Raven since 1996. "How else do you honor your fans and give them everything that they cheer for? Baltimore is one of the most loyal places since 1996 that I've ever been around. And the greatest reward you can ever give to them is another chance at the Super Bowl. The last ride, I can only tell you, I am along for the ride."

The Patriots had been 4-0 in AFC title games at home.

"They just outplayed us and outcoached us tonight," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "They just made more plays than we did, and it was pretty much the story."

To no avail, Brady hit 29 of 54 passes for 320 yards and became the NFL's all-time leader in postseason passing with 5,949 yards. Brady's last pass was intercepted in the end zone by cornerback Cary Williams with just over a minute left.

"We got behind in the second half and became one dimensional, just couldn't string enough plays together,'' Brady said. "Whatever we did, we didn't execute very well. … We didn't earn it. They earned it."

Surely, the Ravens wanted to send Lewis out in style. But it went way beyond that.

"We all want to win the Super Bowl," Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith said. "Ray isn't the only guy here. … We all know this is his last shot. But we have (safety) Ed Reed, he's never been to a Super Bowl. Terrell Suggs, Anquan Boldin never won one. … We all play for each other."

John Harbaugh echoed that.

"Coaches and players working together to make each other better. … That's been our mantra," Harbaugh said.

Flacco, now 8-4 as a starter in the playoffs in five seasons, outplayed Brady a year ago in the AFC championship only to lose at the finish. This time, Flacco took the final suspense out of it in the second half.

When Baltimore was losing four of its last five in the regular season, Flacco took heat on the radio talk shows in Baltimore, and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was fired and replaced by assistant Jim Caldwell, former coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

The Baltimore offense clicked in the playoffs, though Flacco didn't look back on what's happened quite that way.

"I think we've been playing like that all year," Flacco said. " … People lose during the football season. We had a couple of bad losses, but we really rebounded from them really good. We had a couple of losses in there that were really close, and, hey, that just happens sometimes."

Now, the Ravens are Super Bowl bound.

"We came here to win the game. It wasn't a secret," said Boldin, who caught two of Flacco's touchdown passes.

"We came in here last year and left with a bitter taste in our mouths. … We get great pleasure out of coming to Foxborough and doing it here."


(usatoday.com)