On most any other day, if a team holds Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning to 50-percent passing while forcing him into two interceptions, they are usually talking about a great win after the game.
But that wasn?t the case for the Baltimore Ravens Saturday.
Baltimore committed four turnovers overall and allowed the Colts to put together a back-breaking 13-play, 47-yard drive that spanned more than seven minutes and led to a field goal late in the fourth quarter as visiting Indianapolis moved on to the AFC championship game with a 15-6 victory.
The Ravens (13-4) failed to capitalize on several miscues by the Colts (14-4), including safety Ed Reed?s interception of Manning at the Baltimore 45-yard line early in the second quarter. Baltimore drove to the Colts? 4-yard line before defensive back Antoine Bethea intercepted quarterback Steve McNair?s pass to tight end Todd Heap at the 1. McNair finished with two interceptions and lost a fumble at the end of the game.
“Obviously, that?s something that?s going to hurt you, but we?ve been a pretty resilient team,” said Heap, who committed Baltimore?s first turnover with a fumble in the first quarter. “I don?t think that was the one thing that hurt us. Obviously, it was a key point in the game. It was a key turnaround in the game, but I don?t think it was any one play or one drive or one thing that hurt us.”
Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason said Saturday?s loss came down to missed opportunities. Baltimore held Indianapolis without a touchdown ? five Adam Vinatieri field goals accounted for all the Colts? scoring ? but the Ravens couldn?t find the end zone, either. The game marked the fourth time in NFL playoff history both teams failed to score a touchdown.
“We just didn?t play well today,” Mason said. “You can?t sugarcoat it. Anytime you can hold that offense to [15] points, you should be able to win a football game and we didn?t. We didn?t take advantage of opportunities that we had. Like I said, we had too many turnovers. We hadn?t played that way since the beginning of the season.”
Ravens running back Jamal Lewis said Saturday?s loss was very frustrating because the team never established an offensive rhythm.
“The turnovers really killed us more than anything,” Lewis said. “You can?t turn the ball over in this league, and when they turned the ball over, we have to try to execute and get some points, and we didn?t do that.”
