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NFL SCOREBOARD: Recap

Recap | Box Score | This Week's Scoreboard

Baltimore 21, Denver 3

Posted: Monday January 01, 2001 01:59 PM

Denver Broncos Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Denver Message Boards: • Broncos • NFL

Baltimore Ravens Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Baltimore Message Boards: • Ravens • NFL

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- It was well worth the wait for Baltimore football fans.

Rookie Jamal Lewis provided the power, Shannon Sharpe the flair and Ray Lewis and Michael McCrary led yet another dominant defensive effort as the Baltimore Ravens rolled to a 21-3 victory over the Denver Broncos in the city's first playoff game in 23 years.

The Ravens (13-4), who closed the regular season with seven straight wins, will meet AFC Central rival Tennessee in the divisional playoffs on January 7.

Lewis played the role of workhorse and rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. He plunged into the end zone from the 1-yard line in the second quarter and scored on a 27-yard run in the third quarter.

Sharpe haunted his former team with the biggest play of the game, a 58-yard touchdown on a pass that deflected off two players in the second quarter.

A seven-time Pro Bowl tight end, Sharpe played his first 10 seasons with the Broncos and caught 552 passes for 6,983 yards and 44 touchdowns. He left after last season and signed a four-year, $14 million contract with the Ravens.

Sharpe helped the Ravens reach the playoffs for the first time in the five-year history of the transplanted franchise with a team-leading 67 catches for 810 yards and five touchdowns.

Today, he got his chance to face the Broncos for the first time and stung them with his 58-yard TD with 4:06 left in the half after Denver scored its only points on a 31-yard field goal by Jason Elam. He finished with three catches for 73 yards.

The Broncos (11-6) averaged 30 points a game and entered as the AFC's second-best rushing team, averaging 145 yards per contest. But they got past midfield just once against a defense that set league records for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season (165) and fewest rushing yards (970).

Lewis, the perennial Pro Bowl middle linebacker, had seven tackles and an interception, while McCrary recorded three sacks.

Broncos rookie Mike Anderson, who ranked third in the AFC with 1,500 rushing yards, was held to 40 on 15 carries.

Gus Frerotte started for the injured Brian Griese and completed 13-of-28 passes for 124 yards with an interception.