The Baltimore Ravens defeated the New England Patriots 28-13 in their AFC title rematch Sunday to reach their first Super Bowl in 12 years. The Ravens will now face the San Francisco 49ers in the title decider.
The Patriots were leading 13-7 at the half time, but in the second half the Ravens' defense stepped up to quell the New England offense. Baltimore outscored the Patriots 21-0 in the second half.
For Baltimore, quarterback Joe Flacco had 240 yards and three touchdowns.
"We kind of made a decision on the second half to cut it loose a little bit more," the Associated Press quoted coach John Harbaugh as saying. "We were running the ball with some effectiveness, but they were doing a good job on defense.
"Their front seven is as good as any in football and we had to get away from that. We had to get away from challenging them and give Joe a chance to make some plays."
New England started with a 3-0 lead when Stephen Gostkowski struck a 31-yard field goal with 6.21 left in the first period.
Baltimore answered with Ray Rice's touchdown to lead the Patriots 7-3 with 9.28 left in the second quarter, but New England's Tom Brady threw for a TD and the Patriots led 10-7 with 4.18 left in the second period.
Stephen Gostkowski's 25-yard field goal further extended the New England's lead to 13-7 right at the end of the first half.
The Ravens dominated the third quarter. Flacco passed to Dennis Pitta for 5-yard touchdown to put Baltimore in the lead 14-13.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Baltimore increased their lead to 21-13 when Flacco threw for a TD with 14.56 remaining in the game. Flacco passed to Anquan Boldin to the right for a 11-yard gain to extend the Ravens' lead to 28-13 with 11.13 left.
"It was pretty awesome," the quarterback said. "We were here last year and thought we had it, but came up a little short.
"Guys came out in the second half and made plays. ... We put pressure on them like that, and it worked pretty well."
Baltimore's Ray Lewis, who missed 10 weeks with a torn right triceps, will retire after the Super Bowl game with the 49ers. He made 14 tackles Sunday and had a total of 44 in three postseason games.
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