Decleated: Baltimore's Morgan Cox tackles Cleveland's Josh Cribbs on a kick return in the first quarter on Thursday night. The Ravens beat the Browns 23-16. APThis time, however, there were no replays or arguments at the end. Just another win by the Baltimore Ravens over the Cleveland Browns, 23-16 on Thursday night.If not for two failed desperation passes into the end zone in the closing seconds, the returning officials might have had to work overtime on their first night back.Cleveland began its final drive with 1:05 to go on its own 10. Rookie Brandon Weeden moved the Browns to the Baltimore 33 before a fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete. But a personal foul penalty on Baltimore linebacker Paul Kruger gave winless Cleveland one more chance.That pass sailed out of the end zone."Too much juice," Weeden lamented.The final sequence was not unlike the controversial ending of Monday night's Green Bay-Seattle game, when a Hail Mary pass was ruled a touchdown. That play, and the furor it created, hastened negotiations that brought the regular officials back.The lockout ended late Wednesday, bringing about the exit of the unpopular replacement refs. And so, finally, the tenured officials were in place for Week 4."I felt so bad for that Green Bay situation," Ravens running back Ray Rice said. "Replacement refs, their families, I can't knock them. The scrutiny they were under. That kind of scrutiny is bad. It's hard going from like Pop Warner to the big leagues."As they walked onto the field hours before this game, the officiating crew received a round of applause and shouts of encouragement from fans in the lower sections. Head linesman Wayne Mackie and line judge Jeff Seeman both tipped their caps to acknowledge the support.Many in the sellout crowd of 70,944 stood and roared their approval.Afterward, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh echoed the sentiment of the crowd."Welcome back to the officials. Good to have them back," he said. "These guys are really good. The communication was good. I didn't agree with every call, but they were excellent."Joe Flacco went 28-for-46 for 356 yards, threw one touchdown and ran for another. Yet, it wasn't until Cary Williams returned an interception 63 yards for a score at the end of the third quarter that the Ravens (3-1) put some distance between themselves and the young Browns (0-4)."I thought our secondary made plays that had to be made, especially at the end there when they were knocking at the door," Harbaugh said.The fans waited until the third quarter to boo the officials. On a 13-yard completion from Weeden to Benjamin Watson, Ravens safety Bernard Pollard was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit. The crowd jeered the call, but replays appeared to confirm the penalty.The 15-yard mark off set up a 51-yard field goal by Phil Dawson that got the Browns within 16-10.Late in the quarter, Williams ambushed an out pattern by Travis Benjamin and took the interception down the right sideline for a 13-point lead.Anquan Boldin caught nine passes for 131 yards, and Torrey Smith had six catches for 97 yards and a score.Weeden went 25-for-52 for 320 yards, but rookie running back Trent Richardson gained only 47 yards rushing on 14 carries.Dawson kicked field goals of 51, 50 and 52 yards, the last one with 4:33 left to make it 23-16.Cleveland played the majority of the game without wide receiver and punt returner Josh Cribbs, who sustained a concussion while returning a kick late in the first quarter.
Showing posts with label Ravens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ravens. Show all posts
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Ravens hold off Browns as real officials return to field
BALTIMORE — The regular NFL officials returned to action, and the ending of their first game was eerily familiar to the one that hastened the exit of the replacement refs.Decleated: Baltimore's Morgan Cox tackles Cleveland's Josh Cribbs on a kick return in the first quarter on Thursday night. The Ravens beat the Browns 23-16. APThis time, however, there were no replays or arguments at the end. Just another win by the Baltimore Ravens over the Cleveland Browns, 23-16 on Thursday night.If not for two failed desperation passes into the end zone in the closing seconds, the returning officials might have had to work overtime on their first night back.Cleveland began its final drive with 1:05 to go on its own 10. Rookie Brandon Weeden moved the Browns to the Baltimore 33 before a fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete. But a personal foul penalty on Baltimore linebacker Paul Kruger gave winless Cleveland one more chance.That pass sailed out of the end zone."Too much juice," Weeden lamented.The final sequence was not unlike the controversial ending of Monday night's Green Bay-Seattle game, when a Hail Mary pass was ruled a touchdown. That play, and the furor it created, hastened negotiations that brought the regular officials back.The lockout ended late Wednesday, bringing about the exit of the unpopular replacement refs. And so, finally, the tenured officials were in place for Week 4."I felt so bad for that Green Bay situation," Ravens running back Ray Rice said. "Replacement refs, their families, I can't knock them. The scrutiny they were under. That kind of scrutiny is bad. It's hard going from like Pop Warner to the big leagues."As they walked onto the field hours before this game, the officiating crew received a round of applause and shouts of encouragement from fans in the lower sections. Head linesman Wayne Mackie and line judge Jeff Seeman both tipped their caps to acknowledge the support.Many in the sellout crowd of 70,944 stood and roared their approval.Afterward, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh echoed the sentiment of the crowd."Welcome back to the officials. Good to have them back," he said. "These guys are really good. The communication was good. I didn't agree with every call, but they were excellent."Joe Flacco went 28-for-46 for 356 yards, threw one touchdown and ran for another. Yet, it wasn't until Cary Williams returned an interception 63 yards for a score at the end of the third quarter that the Ravens (3-1) put some distance between themselves and the young Browns (0-4)."I thought our secondary made plays that had to be made, especially at the end there when they were knocking at the door," Harbaugh said.The fans waited until the third quarter to boo the officials. On a 13-yard completion from Weeden to Benjamin Watson, Ravens safety Bernard Pollard was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit. The crowd jeered the call, but replays appeared to confirm the penalty.The 15-yard mark off set up a 51-yard field goal by Phil Dawson that got the Browns within 16-10.Late in the quarter, Williams ambushed an out pattern by Travis Benjamin and took the interception down the right sideline for a 13-point lead.Anquan Boldin caught nine passes for 131 yards, and Torrey Smith had six catches for 97 yards and a score.Weeden went 25-for-52 for 320 yards, but rookie running back Trent Richardson gained only 47 yards rushing on 14 carries.Dawson kicked field goals of 51, 50 and 52 yards, the last one with 4:33 left to make it 23-16.Cleveland played the majority of the game without wide receiver and punt returner Josh Cribbs, who sustained a concussion while returning a kick late in the first quarter.
Decleated: Baltimore's Morgan Cox tackles Cleveland's Josh Cribbs on a kick return in the first quarter on Thursday night. The Ravens beat the Browns 23-16. APThis time, however, there were no replays or arguments at the end. Just another win by the Baltimore Ravens over the Cleveland Browns, 23-16 on Thursday night.If not for two failed desperation passes into the end zone in the closing seconds, the returning officials might have had to work overtime on their first night back.Cleveland began its final drive with 1:05 to go on its own 10. Rookie Brandon Weeden moved the Browns to the Baltimore 33 before a fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete. But a personal foul penalty on Baltimore linebacker Paul Kruger gave winless Cleveland one more chance.That pass sailed out of the end zone."Too much juice," Weeden lamented.The final sequence was not unlike the controversial ending of Monday night's Green Bay-Seattle game, when a Hail Mary pass was ruled a touchdown. That play, and the furor it created, hastened negotiations that brought the regular officials back.The lockout ended late Wednesday, bringing about the exit of the unpopular replacement refs. And so, finally, the tenured officials were in place for Week 4."I felt so bad for that Green Bay situation," Ravens running back Ray Rice said. "Replacement refs, their families, I can't knock them. The scrutiny they were under. That kind of scrutiny is bad. It's hard going from like Pop Warner to the big leagues."As they walked onto the field hours before this game, the officiating crew received a round of applause and shouts of encouragement from fans in the lower sections. Head linesman Wayne Mackie and line judge Jeff Seeman both tipped their caps to acknowledge the support.Many in the sellout crowd of 70,944 stood and roared their approval.Afterward, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh echoed the sentiment of the crowd."Welcome back to the officials. Good to have them back," he said. "These guys are really good. The communication was good. I didn't agree with every call, but they were excellent."Joe Flacco went 28-for-46 for 356 yards, threw one touchdown and ran for another. Yet, it wasn't until Cary Williams returned an interception 63 yards for a score at the end of the third quarter that the Ravens (3-1) put some distance between themselves and the young Browns (0-4)."I thought our secondary made plays that had to be made, especially at the end there when they were knocking at the door," Harbaugh said.The fans waited until the third quarter to boo the officials. On a 13-yard completion from Weeden to Benjamin Watson, Ravens safety Bernard Pollard was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit. The crowd jeered the call, but replays appeared to confirm the penalty.The 15-yard mark off set up a 51-yard field goal by Phil Dawson that got the Browns within 16-10.Late in the quarter, Williams ambushed an out pattern by Travis Benjamin and took the interception down the right sideline for a 13-point lead.Anquan Boldin caught nine passes for 131 yards, and Torrey Smith had six catches for 97 yards and a score.Weeden went 25-for-52 for 320 yards, but rookie running back Trent Richardson gained only 47 yards rushing on 14 carries.Dawson kicked field goals of 51, 50 and 52 yards, the last one with 4:33 left to make it 23-16.Cleveland played the majority of the game without wide receiver and punt returner Josh Cribbs, who sustained a concussion while returning a kick late in the first quarter.
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
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Vick rallies Eagles late to beat Ravens
PHILADELPHIA — With the game on the line, Michael Vick made all the right decisions — again.
Take the high road: Eagles tight end Brent Celek hurdles Ravens safety Ed Reed during their game on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Eagles won 24-23. APVick scored on a 1-yard TD run with 1:55 left, helping the Philadelphia Eagles overcome a slew of turnovers to beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-23 on Sunday for their second straight comeback win.The Eagles are 2-0 for the first time since Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens led them to the Super Bowl in 2004."In the moment, you have to be at your best," Vick said. "It's got to be an any-means-necessary mentality."Rookie kicker Justin Tucker made field goals of 56, 51 and 48 yards for the Ravens, but Joe Flacco couldn't get Baltimore (1-1) in his range in the final minute.Flacco overthrew Ray Rice on fourth-and-1 from the Ravens 46, and the Eagles ran out the clock.Vick threw four interceptions at Cleveland last week, but rallied the Eagles to a 17-16 win.He did it again, though the replacement officials almost made a costly mistake.Down 23-17, the Eagles started at their 20 with 4:43 left. Vick threw passes of 24 and 13 yards to Brent Celek. A 19-yard pass to Clay Harbor coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty put the ball at the 3.Vick then threw incomplete as he was being hit by Haloti Ngata, but the play was ruled a fumble and it was recovered by the Ravens. A replay overturned the call and Vick scored on the next play."There's some serious calls the refs missed," Baltimore's Ray Lewis said. "It's just the way it is, man, all around the league. We have to correct that. These games are critical. Guys are giving everything they've got all across the league. But these are calls, with the regular refs, if they were here, we know the way the calls would be made."The Eagles committed three turnovers in the red zone in the first half and lost two starting offensive linemen in the second. They have nine turnovers in two games, a major reason why they only have 41 points despite totaling 942 yards of offense."We have to get better at it," coach Andy Reid said. "You have to take care of the football. You have to throw the football to the right person. This isn't something we planned on having."Vick finished 23 of 32 for 371 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Celek had eight catches for 157 yards and DeSean Jackson had seven receptions for 114 yards.Giants 41, Buccaneers 34: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Eli Manning came up with a near-record performance in throwing for 510 yards, and Andre Brown scored on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left.Manning's yardage total was the second most for a Giants quarterback, and tied for the eighth highest in NFL history.Cardinals 20, Patriots 18: In Foxborough, Massachusetts, backup quarterback Kevin Kolb threw for one touchdown and ran for another, Stephen Gostkowski missed a potential winning field goal in the final seconds, and Arizona moved to 2-0.Panthers 35, Saints 27: In Charlotte, North Carolina, Cam Newton threw for 253 yards and ran for a career-high 71 yards to hand New Orleans its first 0-2 start since 2007.One week after tying a franchise low with 10 yards rushing in a loss to Tampa Bay, the Panthers ran for 219 yards and Newton, DeAngelo Williams and Mike Tolbert all scored on short touchdown runs.Colts 23, Vikings 20: In Indianapolis, Adam Vinatieri made a 53-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give Andrew Luck his first NFL victory.Minnesota (1-1) rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the final 5? minutes and tied the score on a 6-yard TD pass from Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph with 31 seconds left.Dolphins 35, Raiders 13: In Miami, Reggie Bush ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dolphins won a home opener for the first time since 2005.Ryan Tannehill threw his first NFL touchdown pass, ran for another and avoided any turnovers after tossing three interceptions in his pro debut a week earlier.Texans 27, Jaguars 7: In Jacksonville, Arian Foster ran for 110 yards and a touchdown, Ben Tate added 74 yards and two scores, and Houston dominated from the start.The Texans improved to 2-0 for the third consecutive season by winning their fourth in a row against the AFC South rival Jaguars, who started 0-2 for the third time in the last five years.Bills 35, Chiefs 17: In Orchard Park, New York, C.J. Spiller scored twice and had 123 yards rushing in sparking Buffalo.Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes, including a 49-yarder to Stevie Johnson, and Leodis McKelvin scored on an 88-yard punt return — the second longest in team history — in the Bills' home opener.Bengals 34, Browns 27: In Cincinnati, Adam "Pacman" Jones returned Cleveland's first punt 81 yards for a touchdown, and Andy Dalton matched his career high with three touchdown passes.Steelers 27, Jets 10: In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns, and the Steelers smothered the Jets in the second half.Roethlisberger completed 24 of 31 passes. He hit Heath Miller for a 1-yard score to give the Steelers (1-1) the lead late in the first half, then found Mike Wallace for a 37-yard strike early in the third quarter to break the game open.Rams 31, Redskins 28: In St. Louis, Sam Bradford threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and Danny Amendola caught 15 passes for 160 yards in rallying the Rams.Seahawks 27, Cowboys 7: In Seattle, Marshawn Lynch ran for 122 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and the Seahawks' special teams came up with two huge first-quarter plays that led to 10 points.Rookie Russell Wilson threw for 151 yards and directed a 90-yard scoring drive in the third quarter capped by a 22-yard touchdown strike to Anthony McCoy to give Seattle a 20-7 lead.Chargers 38, Titans 10: In San Diego, tight end Dante Rosario had three touchdown catches for the first time in his NFL career and the Chargers' defense harassed Jake Locker all day.Before the game, the Chargers (2-0) retired Junior Seau's No. 55. Seau, the hard-hitting, fist-pumping leader of the Chargers for 13 seasons, committed suicide May 2.49ers 27, Lions 19: In San Francisco, the 49ers' stingy defense denied Matthew Stafford another milestone and Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 21 and 23 yards from Alex Smith.
Take the high road: Eagles tight end Brent Celek hurdles Ravens safety Ed Reed during their game on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Eagles won 24-23. APVick scored on a 1-yard TD run with 1:55 left, helping the Philadelphia Eagles overcome a slew of turnovers to beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-23 on Sunday for their second straight comeback win.The Eagles are 2-0 for the first time since Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens led them to the Super Bowl in 2004."In the moment, you have to be at your best," Vick said. "It's got to be an any-means-necessary mentality."Rookie kicker Justin Tucker made field goals of 56, 51 and 48 yards for the Ravens, but Joe Flacco couldn't get Baltimore (1-1) in his range in the final minute.Flacco overthrew Ray Rice on fourth-and-1 from the Ravens 46, and the Eagles ran out the clock.Vick threw four interceptions at Cleveland last week, but rallied the Eagles to a 17-16 win.He did it again, though the replacement officials almost made a costly mistake.Down 23-17, the Eagles started at their 20 with 4:43 left. Vick threw passes of 24 and 13 yards to Brent Celek. A 19-yard pass to Clay Harbor coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty put the ball at the 3.Vick then threw incomplete as he was being hit by Haloti Ngata, but the play was ruled a fumble and it was recovered by the Ravens. A replay overturned the call and Vick scored on the next play."There's some serious calls the refs missed," Baltimore's Ray Lewis said. "It's just the way it is, man, all around the league. We have to correct that. These games are critical. Guys are giving everything they've got all across the league. But these are calls, with the regular refs, if they were here, we know the way the calls would be made."The Eagles committed three turnovers in the red zone in the first half and lost two starting offensive linemen in the second. They have nine turnovers in two games, a major reason why they only have 41 points despite totaling 942 yards of offense."We have to get better at it," coach Andy Reid said. "You have to take care of the football. You have to throw the football to the right person. This isn't something we planned on having."Vick finished 23 of 32 for 371 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Celek had eight catches for 157 yards and DeSean Jackson had seven receptions for 114 yards.Giants 41, Buccaneers 34: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Eli Manning came up with a near-record performance in throwing for 510 yards, and Andre Brown scored on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left.Manning's yardage total was the second most for a Giants quarterback, and tied for the eighth highest in NFL history.Cardinals 20, Patriots 18: In Foxborough, Massachusetts, backup quarterback Kevin Kolb threw for one touchdown and ran for another, Stephen Gostkowski missed a potential winning field goal in the final seconds, and Arizona moved to 2-0.Panthers 35, Saints 27: In Charlotte, North Carolina, Cam Newton threw for 253 yards and ran for a career-high 71 yards to hand New Orleans its first 0-2 start since 2007.One week after tying a franchise low with 10 yards rushing in a loss to Tampa Bay, the Panthers ran for 219 yards and Newton, DeAngelo Williams and Mike Tolbert all scored on short touchdown runs.Colts 23, Vikings 20: In Indianapolis, Adam Vinatieri made a 53-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give Andrew Luck his first NFL victory.Minnesota (1-1) rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the final 5? minutes and tied the score on a 6-yard TD pass from Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph with 31 seconds left.Dolphins 35, Raiders 13: In Miami, Reggie Bush ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dolphins won a home opener for the first time since 2005.Ryan Tannehill threw his first NFL touchdown pass, ran for another and avoided any turnovers after tossing three interceptions in his pro debut a week earlier.Texans 27, Jaguars 7: In Jacksonville, Arian Foster ran for 110 yards and a touchdown, Ben Tate added 74 yards and two scores, and Houston dominated from the start.The Texans improved to 2-0 for the third consecutive season by winning their fourth in a row against the AFC South rival Jaguars, who started 0-2 for the third time in the last five years.Bills 35, Chiefs 17: In Orchard Park, New York, C.J. Spiller scored twice and had 123 yards rushing in sparking Buffalo.Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes, including a 49-yarder to Stevie Johnson, and Leodis McKelvin scored on an 88-yard punt return — the second longest in team history — in the Bills' home opener.Bengals 34, Browns 27: In Cincinnati, Adam "Pacman" Jones returned Cleveland's first punt 81 yards for a touchdown, and Andy Dalton matched his career high with three touchdown passes.Steelers 27, Jets 10: In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns, and the Steelers smothered the Jets in the second half.Roethlisberger completed 24 of 31 passes. He hit Heath Miller for a 1-yard score to give the Steelers (1-1) the lead late in the first half, then found Mike Wallace for a 37-yard strike early in the third quarter to break the game open.Rams 31, Redskins 28: In St. Louis, Sam Bradford threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and Danny Amendola caught 15 passes for 160 yards in rallying the Rams.Seahawks 27, Cowboys 7: In Seattle, Marshawn Lynch ran for 122 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and the Seahawks' special teams came up with two huge first-quarter plays that led to 10 points.Rookie Russell Wilson threw for 151 yards and directed a 90-yard scoring drive in the third quarter capped by a 22-yard touchdown strike to Anthony McCoy to give Seattle a 20-7 lead.Chargers 38, Titans 10: In San Diego, tight end Dante Rosario had three touchdown catches for the first time in his NFL career and the Chargers' defense harassed Jake Locker all day.Before the game, the Chargers (2-0) retired Junior Seau's No. 55. Seau, the hard-hitting, fist-pumping leader of the Chargers for 13 seasons, committed suicide May 2.49ers 27, Lions 19: In San Francisco, the 49ers' stingy defense denied Matthew Stafford another milestone and Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 21 and 23 yards from Alex Smith.Sunday, January 22, 2012
High-powered Pats pitted against tough Ravens
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts — Tom Brady and the New England Patriots made it to the AFC Championship Game with a high-powered offense that piled up points and yards.
Strong track record: QB Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are favored to beat the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's AFC Championship Game. APRay Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens got there with a hard-hitting defense that made it a major challenge for opponents to move the ball.On Sunday, one of those teams will advance to the Super Bowl because, most likely, of what they do best."We've got our hands full this week," Lewis said. "You watched what they did last week against Denver, just the way they came out and ran their offense, how efficient (Brady) was, how many different receivers he hit with the ball. I think their offense, is playing at a very high level."From start to finish, Brady picked apart the Denver defense in a 45-10 divisional playoff win.The Patriots (14-3) needed five plays to score on their first series on Brady's 7-yard pass to Wes Welker. It took them seven plays to reach the end zone on their second series on Brady's 10-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski. By halftime, Brady had thrown five of his six touchdown passes.He had plenty of time to survey the field as the Broncos put little pressure on him. The Ravens don't plan to let that happen."You don't want him back there just like, 'Oh, we're just going to play catch today,' " Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "You don't want him to zone in, get in his zone, so to say. So I think pressure is going to be crucial, but it's always crucial. But, particularly when you are playing these type of quarterbacks, it's pivotal."Brady's regular season was exceptional, even by his lofty standards. He threw for 5,235 yards, second most in NFL history, with 39 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and the league's third best quarterback rating of 105.6, behind only Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.The Patriots, with Welker and Gronkowski doing most of the damage, were second in the NFL with 428 yards per game and third with an average of 32.1 points."It's a very clever offense," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. "It's well put together."Just like the Ravens defense.Baltimore (13-4) allowed the third fewest average yards, 288.9, and points, 16.6, this season. It had four takeaways in last Sunday's 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Houston Texans, the last by Ed Reed with 1:51 left. Lewis had a team-high seven tackles.
Strong track record: QB Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are favored to beat the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's AFC Championship Game. APRay Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens got there with a hard-hitting defense that made it a major challenge for opponents to move the ball.On Sunday, one of those teams will advance to the Super Bowl because, most likely, of what they do best."We've got our hands full this week," Lewis said. "You watched what they did last week against Denver, just the way they came out and ran their offense, how efficient (Brady) was, how many different receivers he hit with the ball. I think their offense, is playing at a very high level."From start to finish, Brady picked apart the Denver defense in a 45-10 divisional playoff win.The Patriots (14-3) needed five plays to score on their first series on Brady's 7-yard pass to Wes Welker. It took them seven plays to reach the end zone on their second series on Brady's 10-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski. By halftime, Brady had thrown five of his six touchdown passes.He had plenty of time to survey the field as the Broncos put little pressure on him. The Ravens don't plan to let that happen."You don't want him back there just like, 'Oh, we're just going to play catch today,' " Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "You don't want him to zone in, get in his zone, so to say. So I think pressure is going to be crucial, but it's always crucial. But, particularly when you are playing these type of quarterbacks, it's pivotal."Brady's regular season was exceptional, even by his lofty standards. He threw for 5,235 yards, second most in NFL history, with 39 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and the league's third best quarterback rating of 105.6, behind only Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.The Patriots, with Welker and Gronkowski doing most of the damage, were second in the NFL with 428 yards per game and third with an average of 32.1 points."It's a very clever offense," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. "It's well put together."Just like the Ravens defense.Baltimore (13-4) allowed the third fewest average yards, 288.9, and points, 16.6, this season. It had four takeaways in last Sunday's 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Houston Texans, the last by Ed Reed with 1:51 left. Lewis had a team-high seven tackles.
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