The Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots 28-13 today to win the AFC Championship and qualify for next month's Super Bowl in New Orleans.
Baltimore outscored the Pats 21-0 in the second half with an
irresistible balance of short passes by Joe Flacco and hard running
by Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce, and made big stops to halt New
England drives into their territory.
The Ravens won sweet revenge for last year's 23-20 loss to New
England in the corresponding game in what was the first repeat
clash between the same teams in successive AFC championships for 25
years.
Baltimore's victory also set up the first Super Bowl meeting
between sibling head coaches. John Harbaugh's Ravens will face Jim
Harbaugh's NFC champion 49ers, who rallied for a 28-24 road win
over the Atlanta Falcons.
"It'll be a great football game, I can't wait," said John Harbaugh.
"I can't say enough about these players. We play for each other, we
all love each other."
The Ravens trailed 13-7 at halftime but punctured the Patriots'
aura of invincibility and took the lead with an 87-yard drive
capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Pitta in
the third quarter after forcing New England to punt when their
drive stalled at the Baltimore 34.
An apparent first down for the Patriots was nullified by a holding
penalty that led to another New England punt, and the Ravens
marched on a long drive that culminated in a three-yard touchdown
pass from Flacco to Anquan Boldin on the first play of the fourth
quarter for a 21-13 Baltimore lead.
"I said to our players last year, don't put your heads down, we'll
be back," said Ray Lewis, a 13-time Pro Bowl linebacker who is
retiring after the Super Bowl.
"To see us come back like this, after all the injuries and things
we have been through ... our team is just awesome and this our
time."
The killer blow came on New England's ensuing possession when
Stevan Ridley fumbled after a hit by safety Bernard Pollard and
defensive end Arthur Jones recovered the ball on the Patriots'
47-yard line.
Four plays later, Boldin had another TD catch from 11 yards out to
make it 28-13 and send the Ravens back to the Super Bowl for the
first time since their triumph in 2001.