Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Smith, Ravens beat Patriots

BALTIMORE — Operating with little sleep and much emotion, Torrey Smith played a magnificent game under the most difficult circumstances.

His teammates on the Baltimore Ravens helped Smith cope, then provided him a victory for his effort.

Rookie Justin Tucker kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Ravens a 31-30 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday night in a rematch of the AFC Championship game.

Playing less than 24 hours after his younger brother died in a motorcycle accident, Smith scored two touchdowns and caught six passes for 127 yards. Only hours earlier, he wasn't even sure if he would suit up.

"It was tough. I didn't know until 4 o'clock if I was going to play," Smith said. "I only had like an hour of sleep. Emotionally, I didn't know how I was going to hold up."

Smith left the team hotel at 1 a.m. Sunday to be with his family. Upon arriving at the stadium, the familiar surroundings helped Smith get ready to go.

"When I came here, the more I was grounded. The more comfortable I began to feel," he said. "I'm glad I came back up here. It helped me out a lot."

Coach John Harbaugh said: "If you're around athletics, I guess you feel like it's an escape, an opportunity to do what he does. He's being doing it his whole life; he knows what to do. When Torrey said he wanted to play, the decision was finished. He was going to get the opportunity to play, he deserved that."

The game-winning kick followed a pass interference call against Devin McCourty, who was covering Jacoby Jones.

As the officials were leaving the field, Patriots coach Bill Belichick grabbed one of them by the arm. He didn't pursue as the official continued to run off the field.

"I'm not going to comment on that," Belichick said. "You saw the game. What did we have, 30 penalties called in that game?"

Actually, 24, including 14 against the Ravens for 135 yards.

Titans 44, Lions 41 (OT): In Nashville, Tennessee, Rob Bironas kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime, and the Titans stopped backup quarterback Shaun Hill on fourth-and-1 at the Tennessee 7.

Chiefs 27, Saints 24 (OT): In New Orleans, Ryan Succop kicked six field goals, one to force overtime in the final seconds and another from 31 yards to lift Kansas City to its first victory and keep the Saints winless.

Vikings 24, 49ers 13: In Minneapolis, Christian Ponder threw two touchdown passes to tight end Kyle Rudolph and ran for another score to help the Vikings hand the 49ers their first defeat.

Bengals 38, Redskins 31: In Landover, Maryland, Andy Dalton completed 19 of 27 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns for Cincinnati.

The Bengals blew a 24-7 first-half lead, but two touchdown passes by Dalton in the fourth quarter made the difference.

Bears 23, Rams 6: In Chicago, Major Wright returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown, and the Bears' defense had six sacks on Sam Bradford and held St. Louis to 160 total yards.

Falcons 27, Chargers 3: In San Diego, Matt Ryan threw touchdown passes to three different receivers and safety Thomas DeCoud had two interceptions and a fumble recovery for unbeaten Atlanta.

Texans 31, Broncos 25: In Denver, Matt Schaub outplayed Peyton Manning, throwing four touchdown passes against a confused Denver defense.

Cardinals 27, Eagles 6: In Glendale, Arizona, Kevin Kolb threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns and James Sanders returned one of Michael Vick's two fumbles 93 yards for a touchdown.

Raiders 34, Steelers 31: In Oakland, Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 43-yard field goal on the last play as the Raiders scored the final 13 points after wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was knocked out and hospitalized by a scary hit.

Jets 23, Dolphins 20 (OT): In Miami, Nick Folk received a reprieve when his blocked field-goal attempt was negated by a timeout, and his second try was a successful 33-yarder.

Jaguars 22, Colts 17: In Indianapolis, Blaine Gabbert connected with Cecil Shorts III on an 80-yard touchdown pass with 45 seconds left to lift Jacksonville to its first win of the season.

Cowboys 16, Buccaneers 10: In Arlington, Texas, DeMarco Murray had an 11-yard touchdown run.

Bills 24, Browns 14: In Cleveland, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes and Buffalo overcame the loss of running back C.J. Spiller.

Receiver shines just hours after brother's death


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