2000 Baltimore Ravens
Ravens Defense Wins Super Bowl XXXV
NFL Films President Steve Sabol once said "there was nothing glamorous about Super Bowl XXXV."
Whether football fans agree with that or not, it was a Super Bowl, the most watched annual sporting event on the planet. And it featured the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, who made reaching that big dance extra tough. With little offensive prowess, a team that at mid-season was 5-4, on a three-game losing streak, and far behind then divisional rival (and first-place) Tennessee had to play catch-up the rest of a bizarre season.
Mid-Season Quarterback Switch
With the vast majority of the roster talent on the team's brute and historic defensive unit, Baltimore lacked an offensive spark. What they had in running back Jamal Lewis carried them well (no pun intended) through those five early victories. Yet in two of those wins, the team failed to even score a touchdown. Infact that TD-less streak actually lasted an NFL-record five straight games, with unproductive quarterbacks like Tony Banks taking much of the blame for not being able to score. The league's number one defense however kept hope afloat for Baltimore.
So come week 10, Baltimore augmented newly-acquired backup QB Trent Dilfer to first-string. A road trip to Cincinatti was where Dilfer got his first start in purple since being released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the preceeding offseason.
After a first quarter in which Ravens' kicker Matt Stover booted another of his many field goals on the season, Dilfer threw three touchdown passes in the second period, one to wide receiver Brandon Stokley, two to tight end Shannon Sharpe. The Ravens broke the plane of the end zone for the first time since their previous meeting with the Bengals over a month before. Baltimore won the contest in Cincy 27-7.
The following week also saw the breaking of a streak, a winning one for the Tennessee Titans. They had not yet lost a home game within the confines of their still new Adelphia Coliseum, now known as LP Field. A game in which the Ravens jumped out to a 14-0 lead nearly slipped away. Trailing 23-17 in the fourth quarter a late drive that culminated in a 2-yard Dilfer touchdown pass to Patrick Johnson concluded the scoring with 25 seconds left. The Ravens had become the first team besides the Titans to win at Adelphia, courtesy of a 24-23 success.
Baltimore returned home for four of their last five games, all wins. Their overpowering defense held opponents to a combined 37 points in those contests.
The 2000 Playoffs
It was New Year's Eve, 2000. Someone's 7-game winning streak was about to go down the drain. Would it be Baltimore's, or the Denver Broncos' consecutive stretch of 7 postseason wins (including two super bowls). The highly-rated Bronco offense couldn't get anything started all day. The Ravens defeated them soundly, especially via defense, 21-3.
The week after brought another trip to Tennessee. The Ravens, still the only team to beat the Titans at Adelphia wanted to repeat the feat. They fell behind early 7-0, but would muster plenty of later offense, while the D did its usual stuff. Baltimore beat Tennessee yet again, 24-10.
Then came the AFC Championship game in Oakland. This contest was the most challenging of the Ravens postseason affairs, as well as the most defensively-oriented. The lone touchdown - a 96-yard score by tight end Shannon Sharpe, was made possible by a screen pass that confused Raider safety Marquez Pope, who in turn blew his coverage on Sharpe. On the ensuing drive, Raven defensive tackle Tony Siragusa tackled Raider quarterback Rich Gannon to the ground in a peculiar manner that bruised Gannon's shoulder. The injury sent Gannon to the locker room briefly and greatly impacted his play the rest of the game. The Ravens D was able to help bang out a 16-3 win, and get their first ever trip to the Super Bowl. Siragusa however was fined for his hit on Gannon, as was linebacker Ray Lewis for a similar play on Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair the week before.
Super Bowl XXXV
Dilfer, the most talked about non-defensive Raven of the 2000 season, found himself back in Tampa on January 28, 2001...in the Super Bowl! He was facing the NFC-Champion New York Giants, another team that ended its season on a long winning streak (seven games counting playoffs).
The first half saw a Dilfer-to-Stokley 38-yard touchdown pass and 47-yard Stover field goal make it 10-0 at halftime.
The third quarter saw Super Bowl XXXV's claim to fame. Three consecutive touchdowns were scored in an NFL record 36 seconds. First, with 3:49 to go in the period, Raven cornerback Duane Starks intercepted a Kerry Collins pass, and ran it 49 yards the other way for a score. It was now 17-0 Baltimore.
The lead was cut right back down to 10 though courtesy of the Giants' Ron Dixon. He took Stover's ensuing kickoff, and ran it 97 yards for a touchdown. The Giants were finally on the board, but trailed 17-7.
New York's momentum though was crushed for good on the kickoff that followed. Baltimore's return man Jermaine Lewis took the ball 84 yards for the third-straight non-offensively scored touchdown. All of this magic took place in just over half a minute's worth of game time, and the score went from 10-0 Baltimore to 24-7 Ravens.
The Giants couldn't bounce back at all in the fourth quarter. The stingy Raven defense held New York to one first down in their last four possessions, while Baltimore tacked on 10 more points in that same final period. Final score: Baltimore 34, New York Giants 7.
Linebacker Ray Lewis was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXXV. He has long been lauded as the motor that guided Baltimore's unbreakable defense of the 2000 season, and in the game he tallied 11 tackles, 6 assists, and blocked 4 passes. The Raven defense recorded five turnovers, four sacks of Giant quarterback Kerry Collins, and afforded New York only 152 yards of total offense in Super Bowl XXXV.
It was the glamour those like Steve Sabol may sometimes overlook.
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