The Baltimore Ravens cruised to a 24-9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday and earned the right to play against the top-seeded Denver Broncos in the second round of the playoffs.
The victory also extended linebacker Ray Lewis' career by at least another week. The 37-year-old announced he would retire at the end of the season.
Anquan Boldin set a franchise record with 145 yards in receiving, which also included an 18-yard gain in the final quarter.
"Everyone in the locker room wanted to make sure this wasn't our last game," Reuters quoted Boldin as saying. "We all have a goal in mind and we're focused in on that goal.
"The only way we're going to get there is if we go out and give our all on the field.
"I wanted Denver," Boldin added, "because they beat us. We'll make it different."
The 37-year-old Lewis had 13 tackles while he played his last game at his home ground.
"My only focus was to come in and get my team a win. Nothing else was planned," Lewis said. "It's one of those things, when you recap it all and try to say what is one of your greatest moments.
"I knew how it started but I never knew how it would end here in Baltimore. To go the way it did today, I wouldn't change nothing."
No team could score in the first quarter, but the second saw a lot more action.
Ravens' Justin Tucker opened the scoring with a 23-yard field goal, giving his team a 3-0 lead with 11.18 remaining in the half.
Nine minutes later Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri struck a 47-yard field goal to equal the scores at 3-3 with 2.25 left.
With the help of Vonta Leach's touchdown, the Ravens again took a 10-3 lead, but just before end of the second period Vinatieri kicked a 52-yard field goal to cut the Ravens lead to 10-6.
With 8:26 remaining in the third quarter Joe Flacco extended Baltimore's lead to 17-6 by finding Dennis Pitta for 20-yard score. However, in the last minute of the third period Vinatieri kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it an eight-point game.
In the fourth quarter, with the help of Flacco's TD, the Ravens extended their lead over the Colts to 24-9 and with it comfortably taking the game.
With Sunday's victory over Indianapolis, Flacco set a record of posting at least one postseason win in all five of his pro seasons. He became the first quarterback to do so in the Super Bowl era.
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