 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |
Adelphia encore Ravens hope to repeat November upset in Nashville
Updated: Tuesday January 02, 2001 2:09 AM
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -- If the road to the Super Bowl travels through Tennessee, the Baltimore Ravens know they can win there. The Ravens (13-4) are the only team to defeat the Titans in Adelphia Coliseum in 17 games over two years, rallying for a 24-23 victory Nov. 12. That was part of a team-record winning streak that reached eight games Sunday with a 21-3 triumph against the Denver Broncos. It was the Ravens' first playoff game since moving from Cleveland in 1996 and the first time a Baltimore team won an NFL postseason game since the Colts beat the Browns in 1971. "There are hurdles that you face," head coach Brian Billick said Monday. "It's amazing, in 24 hours we've gone from a team that had never been in the playoffs to a team that now has playoff-win experience. The next experience is to play in that next level." That means facing the defending AFC champions, and this year's top-seeded team, on the road. "Fortunately for us, where there could be some of the anxiety of playing a team we're not familiar with, we're playing a team we're very familiar with at a place we've played before, and played well," Billick said. "It's unfolded in a very nice way for us." Although the Titans (13-3) had the best record in the NFL this season, the Baltimore-Tennessee rivalry is evenly matched -- six of the 10 games have been decided by four points or less, and the Titans and Ravens have split the series over the past two seasons. One of the Titans' three losses during the regular season last year was 41-14 at Baltimore. One of the Ravens' four defeats this season came at home against the Titans. "These are two teams that respect one another," Billick said. "We know each other, so there's a familiarity that makes your preparation a little easier, but it's the same thing for them. They know what our strengths are, we know what their strengths are." Playing at Adelphia Coliseum is not easy, but the Ravens won in November on a touchdown pass by Trent Dilfer with 25 seconds left and a missed field goal by Tennessee's Al Del Greco as time expired. Now Baltimore must do it again. "You're always dealing with barriers," Billick said. "When I got here, it was, `Can you beat Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh?' OK, we did. Then it was, `Can you beat Jacksonville anywhere?' We did that. `Can you beat Tennessee in Tennessee?' We did that, too. "Had that not happened, that might be one additional barrier that we would have to deal with, in a playoff environment, that doesn't exist now. That doesn't mean we don't respect the fact that they're home and it's going to be tough." The Ravens lifted weights Monday but did not practice. The only Baltimore injury of note is to safety Kim Herring, who sprained his ankle Sunday and was limping. Dilfer, who left briefly after taking a hard hit, was fine, Billick said. While the Titans had a bye Sunday, the Ravens played a tough game. "This team is tired, they're sore and they're beat up, as you might expect after the first round in a playoff," Billick said. "That's why you fight so hard for the bye." And home-field advantage, which the Titans earned by edging Baltimore for the best record in the AFC. "It helps that we won there, that we got that out of the way," said Ravens defensive end Michael McCrary, who had three sacks Sunday. "We know we're capable of doing it."
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
