LITTLE ROCK — 6:30 p.m. Central, CBS LINE - Patriots by 8LAST MEETING Baltimore beat New England 31-30 on Sept. 23, 2012.
LAST WEEK Baltimore beat Denver 38-35 in two overtimes. New England beat Houston 41-28.
RANKINGS Ravens: offense (16), defense (17); Patriots: offense (1), defense (25) NOTES Teams meet for second consecutive season in AFC Championship Game and third time in playoffs, all in Foxborough. Baltimore won 33-14 in wild-card game Jan. 10, 2010. Ravens beat Patriots this season on last-play 27-yard field goal by Justin Tucker. Ravens lost AFC title game last year when Joe Flacco threw two incompletions from Patriots’ 14 followed by Billy Cundiff’s failed 32-yard field goal attempt on next to last play. Victory sends Ravens to Super Bowl for second time, first since 34-7 victory over New York Giants on Jan. 28, 2001. Ravens’ 8-5 postseason road record is best in NFL for teams with minimum of 10 road games. LB Ray Lewis retiring after this season, his 17th. He’s 12-7 in postseason games and only Raven remaining from last championship team. He has 30 tackles in two playoff games this season. ... New England is going for second consecutive Super Bowl appearance and third in 6 years, but lost previous 2 to New York Giants. Victory sends Patriots to eighth Super Bowl, tying Dallas and Pittsburgh for most all-time. Patriots are 14-3 at home in postseason. Tom Brady’s 17th postseason victory last Sunday broke tie with Joe Montana for most by NFL quarterback. Brady is 7-6 in postseason after starting 10-0. His 78.4 passer rating in seven career games against Ravens lowest against any opponent.
Sports, Pages 25 on 01/20/2013