Baltimore Ravens 34 New York Giants 7
Baltimore rolled to a 34-7 win over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV yesterday. During the game Duane Starks returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown and Jermaine Lewis ran back a kickoff 84 yards for another score within a 36-second span late in the third quarter.
Baltimore (16-4) limited New York (14-5) to 152 total yards, including 36 in the second half. The Ravens also came up with four sacks and four interceptions.
The Ravens, who finished this season 16-0 when scoring at least 10 points, lived up to their billing as the league's top defence.
Baltimore surrendered an NFL record-low 165 points during the regular season and just 23 points in four post-season games.
Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis recorded seven tackles to garner Most Valuable Player honours. It is the first time in 30 years a team from Baltimore has won the Super Bowl. The Colts beat Dallas in Super Bowl V.
The Giants lost for the first time in three Super Bowl games. New York upended Buffalo 20-19 in Super Bowl XXV in Tampa and had beaten Denver 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI.
The Ravens ended the season winning their final 11 games. It was a power-packed 36 seconds late in the third as Starks picked off Kerry Collins and raced down the centre of the field to extend Baltimore's lead to 17-0.
Collins's fourth interception tied a Super Bowl record, most recently set by New England's Drew Bledsoe in 1997.
On the ensuing kickoff New York's Ron Dixon raced 97 yards to break the shutout with 3:31 left in the quarter. Dixon raced up the left sideline and then outran the mid-field coverage.
Baltimore then reciprocated when Lewis took Brad Daluiso's kickoff at the 16-yard line, cut to the right sideline and scampered the rest of the way to the end zone. It marked the first time in Super Bowl history that two kickoffs were returned for touchdowns in the same game.
The Ravens salted away the win when Jamal Lewis pounded his way to a three-yard TD run with 8:45 left in the contest to make it 31-7.
Lewis swept left and stuck out his left hand with the ball barely breaking the plane of the goal line before he lost the ball.
The Giants challenged the play, but the ruling on the field was held up. It was the first rushing touchdown for a rookie in a Super Bowl in 13 years.
Baltimore was able to chew away most of the remaining time after Dixon fumbled away the ensuing kickoff at the New York 34. Matt Stover kicked a 34-yard field goal to round out the scoring.
Collins finished the game completing 15-of-39 passes for 112 yards, while Baltimore QB Trent Dilfer hit on 12-of-25 passes for 153 yards. Jamal Lewis rushed 27 times for 102 yards, and was just the second back to go over 100 yards against the Giants this season. Tennessee's Eddie George was the other player to accomplish the feat.
Dilfer connected with Brandon Stokley on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter, and Stover kicked a 47-yard field goal late in the second for the Ravens, who led 10-0 at halftime.
Dilfer departed the game early in the third quarter after he injured his left hand. Tony Banks replaced Dilfer at QB, but the Ravens were unable to put any points on the board following a Kim Herring interception at the New York 41-yard line. Stover missed a 41-yard field goal wide left.
Next year's Super Bowl will take place in New Orleans and the 2003 game will take place in San Diego.
TSN