HEADLINE NEWS - News

0 - 11/12/2000

The Ravens did what no other NFL team had done before � beat the Tennessee Titans in charged-up Adelphia Coliseum. Baltimore won the emotional see-saw contest, 24-23, as QB Trent Dilfer engineered a nine-play 70-yard game-winning drive, capped by a two-yard scoring pass to WR Patrick Johnson to give the Ravens a one-point lead. The Titans returned the ensuing �squib� kickoff 27 yards to the Tennessee 44, then Steve McNair scrambled for 20 yards to the Ravens� 25 with four seconds left. Al Del Greco, who had missed an extra point minutes earlier, pushed the 43-yard game-winning field goal attempt wide right to end the game.

The Titans entered the game with a perfect 12-0 record in their new stadium and an eight-game winning streak this season since dropping the opener against Buffalo. Their propensity for close wins this season and opportunistic play continued when S Perry Phenix intercepted Dilfer�s pass intended for Patrick Johnson at the 13 and raced 87 yards for a touchdown. Del Greco�s extra point attempt hit the left upright, but the Titans had a 23-17 lead with 2:30 left in the game. The interception thwarted a perfect scoring opportunity that presented itself after Peter Boulware forced a McNair fumble that was recovered by Rob Burnett at Tennessee's 22, giving the Ravens the ball with the game tied, 17-17.

Dilfer, who finished the game 23 of 36 for 281 yards, two TDs and the long interception, opened the scoring with a 46-yard pass to Qadry Ismail midway through the first quarter. The Ravens then took a 14-0 lead when RB Jamal Lewis (who gained 99 yards on 23 carries) capped the longest drive of the season, a 96-yard, 17-play masterpiece, with a two-yard run with 12:56 left in the first half. Derrick Mason caught a 10-yard scoring pass from McNair for Tennessee�s first TD. A Matt Stover 45-yard field goal put the Ravens up by 10, 17-7, but the Titans countered with a Lorenzo Neal four-yard TD reception with three seconds left in the first half to make the score 17-14 at intermission.

Del Greco kicked a 23-yard field goal to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter, setting up the dramatic ending.

The Ravens win was their seventh straight on the road over AFC Central opponents, and moved 7-4 Baltimore within one and one-half games of the 8-2 Titans.