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EVENTS
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TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- It's probably fitting that Super Bowl XXXV will be followed by "Survivor II" on CBS. After all, the battle between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants will be survival of the fittest. The Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Redskins, 14-7, in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl back in January 1973, but this one may set a new standard. Three touchdowns were scored in Miami's Super Bowl VII victory, although one came on the famous fumble by Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian. Will the Ravens and Giants combine for three touchdowns? The Giants erupted for 41 points against a porous Minnesota secondary in the NFC championship game, but the offense managed just a pair of field goals in the divisional playoff victory over Philadelphia. Now they will butt heads with a unit -- led by NFL defensive player of the year Ray Lewis -- that set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season with 165 and posted four shutouts. In becoming the third AFC wild card team in four years to reach the Super Bowl, the Ravens yielded a total of 16 points, including only one touchdown, in playoff wins over Denver, Tennessee and Oakland. "I've been in the league for 10 years and I've never seen a defense like this," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. In Baltimore's 16-3 win at Oakland in the AFC championship game, the Ravens forced five turnovers, battered quarterback Rich Gannon and held the NFL's top-rated rushing team to 24 yards. But can the Ravens score on a Giants defense which held Minnesota's high-powered offense to 114 total yards and nine first downs in a 41-0 rout? The previous week, the Giants yielded only a late touchdown in a 20-10 win over Philadelphia. "It's going to be a defensive battle, that's no secret," Giants three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan said. "I don't see this as a game of big plays." Ravens quarterback Trent Dilfer has managed only 23 completions in Baltimore's three playoff wins. That's the same number Giants quarterback Kerry Collins had in the first half alone against Minnesota. Fortunately for Dilfer, three of those completions resulted in big plays to seven-time Pro Bowl tight end Shannon Sharpe, including a postseason record 96-yard touchdown in the win at Oakland. Sharpe was a starter on the Denver Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl winning teams after the 1997 and 1998 season. But without John Elway running this offense, Sharpe knows defense will rule in Super Bowl XXXV. "I'd settle for 3-2, as long as we get the three," Sharpe said. "If the rest of the country can't handle that, too bad. Deal with it, America." Along with Lewis at middle linebacker, the Ravens clog the run with defensive tackles Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa and possess speed on the outside with ends Michael McCrary and Rob Burnett and linebackers Peter Boulware and Jamie Sharper. Baltimore allowed a league-best 60.6 rushing yards per game. The Giants have 1,000-yard rusher Tiki Barber and rookie Ron Dayne in the backfield, but running against the Ravens appears to be hopeless. Tennessee's Eddie George, perhaps the league's most physical back, managed 91 yards on 27 carries in the playoffs against Baltimore, but the Ravens shut down Denver's 1,500-yard rusher Mike Anderson and Oakland's potent ground game. They have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 36 straight games. Look for Giants coach Jim Fassel to utilize spread formations and rely heavily on the arm of Collins, who set NFC championship game records with 381 yards passing and five touchdowns against the Vikings. But Minnesota's secondary is atrocious and the Ravens ranked eighth in the league in pass defense. Cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Duane Starks, both former first-round picks, progressed in 2000 and veteran safety Rod Woodson is the leader of the Baltimore secondary. In the regular season finale, the New York Jets realized trying to run against the Ravens was fruitless, so they attacked with a no-huddle offense and spread formations and produced 524 total yards and 20 points. It should be noted that the aerial attack also resulted in three interceptions, including one which was returned 98 yards for a touchdown by McAlister. The Giants have the ability to deploy a similar strategy and possess more talent at the receiver position than the Jets with starters Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard and reserves Joe Jurevicius and rookie Ron Dixon. Hilliard had 10 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns in the NFC championship game and Toomer has enjoyed back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Barber, an all-purpose back, and fullback Greg Comella are also used in the passing game. Baltimore's offensive scheme under Billick is built around rookie running back Jamal Lewis, who rushed for 1,364 yards, and a short passing game with Sharpe as the main target. The Ravens actually went five straight games -- the entire month of October -- without scoring a touchdown. That caused Billick to switch from Tony Banks to Dilfer at quarterback. After losing their first game with Dilfer, the Ravens have won 10 in a row. Jamal Lewis has been a workhorse in the playoffs, carrying 76 times for 236 yards and three touchdowns. But the Giants ranked second only to the Ravens against the run, yielding 72.3 yards per game, and will likely key on Lewis and dare Dilfer to beat them. Defensive tackle Keith Hamilton and middle linebacker Mike Barrow have effectively stuffed the run and linebacker Jessie Armstead, a Pro Bowler the last four years, and Strahan provide speed on the outside. The Giants will likely double Sharpe with strong safety Sam Garnes and nickel back Emmanuel McDaniel, the team leader in interceptions, and allow cornerbacks Jason Sehorn and Dave Thomas to single cover Ravens receivers Qadry Ismail and Patrick Johnson. Special teams can become the difference in the game and the Ravens have perhaps the league's best punt returner in Jermaine Lewis and Pro Bowl kicker Matt Stover. Jermaine Lewis averaged 16.1 yards per return with a pair of touchdowns. Stover was 35-of-39 on field goals. Dixon did return a kickoff for a 97-yard touchdown in the Giants' playoff win over Philadelphia. This will be a Super Bowl with a number of storylines -- the redemptions for Ray Lewis and Collins, the long-awaited first one for Ravens owner Art Modell and the return of Dilfer to Tampa. The Giants are also celebrating the 10th anniversary of their last Super Bowl triumph here in Tampa. Hours after last year's Super Bowl in Atlanta, two men were stabbed to death outside a nightclub and Ray Lewis was jailed on double murder charges. Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for impeding the investigation, but murder charges were dropped against him. Modell testified on Lewis' behalf at his bond hearing and Lewis rewarded the 40-year owner with his first trip to the Super Bowl. Modell came close three times, but watched his old Cleveland Browns lose three times in the AFC championship game to Elway and the Broncos. Ironically, Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi worked for Modell in those years as the Browns' director of football operations. But Modell became villified in the city that embraced him for 35 years when he relocated the franchise to Baltimore in 1996 and renamed it the Ravens after he was rebuffed in his attempts to get a new stadium for the Browns. Accorsi took plenty of criticism for signing Collins to a four-year, $17 million contract two years ago. After helping the Carolina Panthers reach the NFC title game in 1996, Collins regressed and told then-Panthers coach Dom Capers to bench him in the middle of the 1998 season. Capers waived him, Collins signed with New Orleans and was arrested later that season for drunken driving. Before the Giants signed Collins in 1999, he checked into an alcohol rehabilitation center. Collins replaced Kent Graham as the starting quarterback midway through the 1999 season. Dilfer played the first six years of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but lost his starting job to rookie Shaun King in 1999 and signed as a free agent with the Ravens. He will become the fourth former Bucs quarterback to start a Super Bowl, joining Doug Williams (SB XXII), Steve Young (SB XXIX) and Chris Chandler (SB XXXIII). Tight end Howard Cross is the only Giant remaining from the Super Bowl XXV triumph over Buffalo in January 1991. Former Giants coach Bill Parcells, who led them to both Super Bowl wins, will participate in the coin toss along with running back Ottis Anderson, the Super Bowl XXV MVP. Fassel is hoping to make the Giants 3-0 in Super Bowls. Since he guaranteed his team would make the playoffs following back-to-back home losses to St. Louis and Detroit in November, the Giants have won seven straight. Although this will be the first Ravens-Giants Super Bowl, it will be the third title game pitting Baltimore and New York. The first was the 1958 NFL championship between the Baltimore Colts and the Giants and the second was Super Bowl III between the Colts and Jets in January 1969. The Ravens won the only previous meeting, 24-23 in 1997.
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