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High-flying rookie Lewis carries Ravens' sluggish offense in playoffs
Updated: Wednesday January 10, 2001 7:45 PM
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- The Baltimore Ravens are winning games with an old formula -- playing good defense and running the football. The first part of that equation was never a question. The second part was entrusted to the fifth pick of last year's draft -- running back Jamal Lewis from Tennessee. "It's a little easier than I thought," Lewis said. "I left college early, I thought I was ready for the NFL and the next level. I took that chance and here I am now and everything's going pretty good." "Pretty good" is Lewis' understated way of saying that he rushed for 1,364 yards in his debut season -- second among rookies and seventh overall in the league. All this after being slowed by a dislocated elbow suffered in preseason. And perhaps the most impressive statistic is that Lewis didn't lose a single fumble during the regular season. "We knew that he had the physical skills," head coach Brian Billick said. "We liked the mental makeup, the composure that he had. I don't know that he's doing anything we didn't think he could do because, again, we used the fifth pick of the draft on him. So obviously we thought a great deal of him." Lewis' biggest contribution came at the season's halfway point. The Ravens, in the midst of a two-game losing streak and five games without a touchdown, replaced Tony Banks with Trent Dilfer at quarterback.
Baltimore again failed to score a touchdown and lost that first start by Dilfer but is undefeated since. "Just for him to have that recognition," said Billick, "just for him to have the maturity to understand that we would be relying on him during that transition I think tells you a lot about him and his perspective of the game." That was the time for Lewis to step forward. "Things weren't going too good with the passing game or whatever," Lewis said. "The offense just wasn't gelling at that point. Somebody had to step up and try to keep something going. I thought that maybe if I ran the ball good and just held up my end, it'd help the quarterbacks out, no matter who's in there."
And if he can capably carry the ball and the burden on Sunday, Baltimore can become the first team to reach the Super Bowl with a rookie as its featured running back since Washington and Timmy Smith in 1988.
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