MIAMI — Ed Reed felt like a kid during the Ravens’ dominating performance against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Returning to where he starred in college at the University of Miami, the safety intercepted two passes, including one he returned 64 yards for a touchdown, to lead the Ravens to a 27-9 victory and first postseason win since 2002.
Reed ran many more yards than credited as he sprinted sideline to sideline before dashing up field and reaching the end zone thanks in part to crunching blocks by Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs on quarterback Chad Pennington and receiver Ted Ginn Jr.
“It’s special because we’ve been building a team for a long time,” said Reed, who was drafted the year after the Ravens’ last postseason win. “For a lot of guys, this is their first playoff win. This team is just trying to stay focused and now it’s on to the next one.”
And that means a rematch against the Tennessee Titans (13-3) on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 at LP Stadium in Nashville, where the winner advances to play Pittsburgh (12-4) or San Diego (9-8) in the AFC title game.
The Ravens (12-5) lost to the Titans, 13-10, on Oct. 5 at M&T Bank Stadium. But the Ravens clearly are a much better team than they were more than two months ago. They have won 10 of their past 12 games. The Titans are the top seed in the AFC, but have lost two of their past three after clinching the AFC South Division title.
But the story of the Ravens’ victory was Reed, who has recorded two interceptions in three straight games, and for the fourth time in the past five weeks.
“We have arguably the greatest player to ever play the game in [linebacker] Ray Lewis and we do have the greatest safety in the game,” linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “Ed Reed can cover everybody on the field. When you’ve got a duo like that, scary things can happen.”
Just ask the Dolphins. The Ravens’ defense limited the Dolphins to 276 total yards, including just 52 rushing yards and forced Miami into five turnovers. The Dolphins tied an NFL record for fewest turnovers n the regular season with 13.
“The difference between those guys [and the rest of the NFL] is when they’ve got an opportunity to make a play, they usually make it,” Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown said. “They’re always around the ball and got a lot of guys that chase the ball and they do a great job of tackling and all of the small things as far as a defense goes.”
Quarterback Joe Flacco also was pleased with his defense, which helped mask a sub-par performance in which he completed just 9-of-23 passes for 135 yards. Still, the Ravens scored two offensive touchdowns –an eight-yard run by McClain in the third quarter and a five-yard touchdown run by Flacco in the fourth.
“That’s their job to go out and stop them, and it is our job no matter how we get the ball to go out there and put points on the board,” Flacco said. “Anytime we get that many chances because of them, it is good for us.”
