Baltimore Is Left Feeling Empty Again

BALTIMORE Two big moving vans stood outside the Indianapolis Colts' locker room Saturday night, ready to move every shoulder pad or horseshoe helmet out of Baltimore and on to Indianapolis. However, this time the name on the sides of the trucks wasn't the infamous Mayflower line that ferreted the Colts out of this furious town in 1984. Instead, it was innocent Von Paris Moving and Storage that was shipping the Super Bowl hopes of the Baltimore Ravens out of this stunned town for a long offseason in bitter cold storage.

In a game billed all week as "Ravenege" in Crab Town, the larcenous Colts, steeped in the sin of stealing the name and heritage of Johnny Unitas's crew, had the gall to rob Bal'mer again, 15-6, in this AFC semifinal grudge battle. Wasn't this playoff injustice incarnate? Surely the wrong franchise won. After all, somewhere, an Irsay is gloating. That can't mean a better world. And, in all likelihood, the better team, if these Ravens and Colts had played 10 times not just once, probably lost.

In defeat, the Ravens seemed stunned. All week, their 13-3 regular season, their role as favorite and Peyton Manning's history of playoff miseries on the road seemed to ensure a win on their home field before a roaring crowd of 71,162 with blood in its eye. Thousands in the purple stands had deeply personal memories of a score that required settling.

"All that doesn't make it yours," linebacker Adalius Thomas said of the high dudgeon buildup. "You've got to take it."

Sport doesn't follow scripts, and constantly mocks the comparison to cheerful parable. If you commit four turnovers as the Ravens did, if you drop two easy interceptions that hit you in the hands, then the moral high ground is worthless. And if you complete five passes on third down -- repeat, complete five passes -- yet on each occasion fail to gain enough yardage to gain a first down, then history can't help you.

The Colts may have begun the day cast in the role of villains, but Ravens Coach Brian Billick will get the third degree for those bizarre play calls, as well as another "underneath" pass on third and goal from the 4-yard line that was intercepted at the Indianapolis 1. Somewhere, the spirit of Johnny Unitas is in pain. Would Raymond Barry have repeatedly run third-down patterns that ended up short of the first-down marker? Would Baltimore's original swashbuckling NFL team, the one with Lenny Moore, have settled for a game of dink-and-dunk passes without a single gain of more than 23 yards?

"We're highly disappointed and disappointed for our fans," Billick said. "You can't make [that many] turnovers in a championship level game. You can't make the mistakes we made when we got to their three-yard line."

As for all those failed third-down pass completions, Billick passed the buck. "Those plays are designed to get the first down," he said. "You throw underneath and somebody has to make a play." Unless, of course, the coach calls a better play.

"Twelve points. That's a win," Baltimore wide receiver Derrick Mason, referring to the Colts' low point total until the fifth and final game-icing field goal by Adam Vinatieri with 23 seconds left to play. "The defense played well enough. But as an offense we didn't get it done."

That offense amassed only 244 yards as Steve McNair had a lowly 49.9 passer rating, including two interceptions and a lost fumble. "This is a bitter taste," McNair said. "Everything we saw on film they did exactly the same. We just didn't execute offensively."

One Indianapolis strong point consistently foiled the Ravens. "On third downs, they can get enough pressure by just rushing four men and dropping everybody else back in pass coverage," said Ravens center Mike Flynn. "So, on third and five or more [yards to go], you are probably going to have to throw underneath."

All season, the Colts were notoriously bad tacklers and were ranked last in the league against the rush. Yet they made key stops at crucial times. However, the Ravens helped the Colts immensely by running the ball only 20 times -- for a healthy 4.2-yard average -- while resorting to 29 passes. What happened to the Ravens' power image? In contrast, the Colts, who are supposed to be the finesse passing team, ran more often than they allowed Peyton Manning to pass -- 35-30.