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BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- After a pregame Super Bowl celebration, the Baltimore Ravens went about their business of winning ugly. With 2000 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Ray Lewis and fellow linebackers Jamie Sharper and Peter Boulware leading the way, the Ravens kept the Chicago Bears out of the end zone and posted a 17-6 victory in the season opener. New Ravens quarterback Elvis Grbac did not have the benefit of an effective running game, but was sharp throughout, completing 24-of-30 passes for 262 yards. But the heavily-favored Ravens trailed 6-3 before Grbac engineered an 11-play, 87-yard drive which he capped with a six-yard scoring pass to fullback Sam Gash with 1:48 left in the third quarter. An interception by Lewis off a pass deflected by Sharper set up Baltimore's second touchdown -- a one-yard run by Terry Allen with 2:36 remaining in the fourth quarter. Sharper led the Ravens with 12 tackles and three passes defensed, Boulware had two sacks, two forced fumbles, 11 tackles and two passes defensed and Lewis finished with eight tackles, a 21-yard interception return and two passes defensed. "We knew we had to step it up (in the second half) and play our type of football," Lewis said. The Ravens set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season with 165 and posted four shutouts last year and continued the dominance in the postseason, allowing a total of 23 points, including just one offensive touchdown, in four games. With 10 of the 11 defensive starters back, the Ravens are expected to dominate again. But the Bears were able to move the ball in the first half, totaling 147 yards although managing just a 20-yard field goal by Paul Edinger. "We moved the ball enough to have more than three points," Bears coach Dick Jauron said. "That was really disappointing." Following a fumble by Allen which was recovered by defensive end Bryan Robinson at the Chicago 49 early in the third quarter, the Bears drove 23 yards with the help of a pass interference call against Ravens safety Rod Woodson and settled for a 46-yard field goal by Edinger. But Baltimore's defense shut the door thereafter, recording two interceptions and holding the Bears to three first downs the rest of the way. In Chicago's final five possessions, the Bears managed just 30 yards on 19 plays with three three-and-outs and two turnovers. "We were still getting the kinks out in the first half," Woodson said. "In the second, we were back to our old days, making guys not want to catch the football." Shane Matthews completed 24-of-39 passes for 138 yards, but just 22 of those yards and two interceptions came in the second half. Marty Booker had nine receptions for 49 yards. "We shot ourselves in the foot," Matthews said. "We just didn't put it in the end zone when we should have. We had some chances and we didn't execute them. The turnovers killed us." Chicago's James Allen, the last player to rush for more than 100 yards against the Ravens in the next to last game of the 1998 season, was held to 43 yards on 21 carries. He caught eight passes for 32 yards. Without Jamal Lewis, who is out for the year with a torn ACL, the Ravens also struggled to establish a running game as Terry Allen managed just 37 yards on 20 carries. "I was very disappointed we couldn't run the ball at all," Terry Allen said. "Their game plan was outstanding. They had us fighting for everything in the first (half)." Qadry Ismail was Grbac's favorite target, catching six passes for 88 yards. Todd Heap, the team's first-round pick, had five receptions for 57 yards. The Ravens held a Super Bowl celebration for the fans before the game. "I was reluctant to do anything on the field during the game but it was important that we share our joy with the fans of Baltimore who made the championship possible," said Ravens owner Art Modell. But after the celebration, the Bears stunned the sellout crowd of 69,365 with a game-opening 14-play, 74-yard drive which resulted in a 20-yard field goal by Edinger. Matthews completed 6-of-6 passes for 53 yards, including four straight passes to Booker for 25 yards. But with a 2nd-and-1 at the Baltimore 1, James Allen was stuffed for no gain on successive running plays -- the first time by Sharper and Michael McCrary and the second time by Lewis and Larry Webster -- and the Bears settled for a field goal. Matthews completed 7-of-9 passes for 49 yards as the Bears drove 68 yards to the Baltimore 10 in the second quarter. But a personal foul on guard Chris Villarial pushed the Bears back to the 25, and after two incompletions, Edinger missed a 43-yard field goal. Baltimore finally scored on its fourth possession of the half. From their own 10 with 1:06 left in the half, Grbac completed 6-of-7 passes for 52 yards to key a nine-play, 72-yard drive. The Ravens were especially helped by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on safety Mike Green, which turned an eight-yard pass to Heap into a 23-yard play to the Chicago 18, setting up the field goal. But on Baltimore's first possession of the second half, Terry Allen fumbled and Robinson recovered at the 49. After a pass interference penalty by Woodson negated an interception by Lewis, Edinger kicked a 46-yard field goal 5 1/2 minutes into the third quarter. The Ravens took the lead for good with an 11-play, 87-yard drive in the third quarter. Grbac started it with a six-yard pass to tight end Shannon Sharpe and a 24-yard completion to Heap. After two more passes for 27 yards to Brandon Stokley and Obafemi Ayanbadejo, Terry Allen rushed twice for 13 yards and Jason Brookins broke off an eight-yard run to the Chicago 9. Three plays later, Grbac hit a wide-open Gash in the end zone off a play-action fake to give Baltimore its first lead of the game with 1:48 left in the third quarter. "We knew we had to come out and adjust ourselves and play our type of football," Grbac said. "We needed to change the path of the game." Lewis again made the key defensive play when he picked off a pass that was deflected by Sharper and returned it 21 yards to the Chicago 34. Three plays later, Grbac connected with Patrick Johnson on a 25-yard pass to the Chicago 1, setting up Terry Allen's touchdown. "It's all about winning the game," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. We're going to take great delight in beating a worthy opponent who fought their butt off and we're going to enjoy that and now we're going to move on to the Vikings."
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