Giants, Ravens in unlikely Bowl
It might be the unlikeliest of Super Bowls, showcasing one team that went five games without scoring a touchdown against another that went five months without impressing anybody.
Baltimore survived their offensive dry spell with a record-setting defense. The New York Giants overcame their anonymity with opportunism.
These two long shots now have conference championship trophies and a date Jan. 28 to play for the NFL title in Tampa, where the Giants won the Super Bowl in 1991.
The Ravens opened as 1-point favorites and quickly moved to 2 1/2 .
“I feel good about my team because I got a sense after today’s game that they feel like they have unfinished business,” Giants coach Jim Fassel said after his team shocked the Vikings 41-0 in the NFC championship. “We still have one more game to win.”
But they’ll have to do it against the NFL’s best defense.
The Ravens had four shutouts during the season and allowed just 165 points, a record for a 16-game season.
Baltimore did not score a touchdown in October but managed to win two of five games, beating Cleveland 12-0 and Jacksonville 15-10, both on the road.
The Ravens beat Denver at home in the wild-card round of the playoffs and then advanced to the championship game by defeating Tennessee on the road. That sent them to Oakland, where they eliminated the Raiders on Sunday, 16-3. They’ve allowed a total of just 16 points in three postseason games.
The defensive leaders of the Ravens are linebacker Ray Lewis, who averaged 8.7 tackles and defensive end Rob Burnett, who had 11 1/2 sacks. Baltimore’s offense includes veteran receivers like Shannon Sharpe, Ben Coates and Qadry Ismail, with Trent Dilfer at quarterback.
“It’s going to be fun,” Baltimore coach Brian Billick said. “Jim Fassel is one of my best friends in football.”
The Giants turned their season around after losing consecutive home games to St. Louis and Detroit. It was then that Fassel guaranteed that his team, 7-4 at the time, would make the playoffs.
New York didn’t lose again, winning the NFC East and clinching home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They converted that edge into a divisional game victory over Philadelphia last week and the blowout of Minnesota on Sunday.
Quarterback Kerry Collins threw for 381 yards and five touchdowns, leading an offense that set a team postseason record with 31 first downs. Now that suddenly high-powered offense must deal with the league’s stingiest defense.
The Super Bowl is a rematch of a preseason game in which the Ravens defeated the Giants 24-17. It also matches old friends: Fassel and Billick are close and so are team owners Wellington Mara and Art Modell.
“It’s nice that Art Modell is going to have his team in his first Super Bowl against an old friend like Wellington,” Fassel said.