Raven's 'D' dominates Raiders

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Even Shannon Sharpe acknowledges that the Baltimore Ravens don't have the typical Super Bowl offense.

"We're not that good, but we're effective," the Ravens tight end said after Baltimore beat the Oakland Raiders 16-3 Sunday to reach the first Super Bowl in the history of the franchise that, until 1996, was the Cleveland Browns.

In truth, the offense needed to make just one play, a 96-yard pass to Sharpe from Trent Dilfer on a third-and-18 from their own 4-yard line in the second quarter. It was the longest pass play in NFL postseason history, gave the Ravens a 7-0 lead and Baltimore turned the rest of the work over to the defense.

They now face a similar team in the New York Giants, a team whose strength is its defense. New York's defense isn't quite as good as Baltimore's, but its offense is better - it beat Minnesota 41-0 in the NFC title game on Sunday.

Nonetheless, the Ravens were installed as 2 to 2 1/2-point favorites, primarily because the AFC is a bit stronger than the NFC and because Baltimore's offense might have scored 41 points against Minnesota the way the Vikings' defense played Sunday.

Dilfer did what he had to do Sunday, notably the one big play and ball security. He was intercepted early in the third quarter with the Ravens leading 10-0. But the defense did its work afterward -- with a first-and-goal at the Baltimore 2, the defense held Oakland to a field goal by Sebastian Janikowski.

Then, Dilfer took the offense down the field for 51 yards and Matt Stover's field goal boosted the lead back to 10. That was all the Ravens needed, although the defense played loosely in the fourth quarter and Oakland almost scored - a TD pass from Bobby Hoying to Andre Rison was nullified by pass interference on Rison.

Hoying was in because Rich Gannon was hit in the shoulder in the second quarter by Tony Siragusa. He went out of the game, returned in the third quarter, but then left again.

"I don't know if it would have made a difference if I had been 100 percent healthy in the second half," Gannon said. "They were the better team today."

The Ravens, 15-4 on a 10-game winning streak, will play a team that's 14-4 and on a seven-gamewinning streak.

And it will be two defenses that stop the run - the Ravens were first and the Giants second in rushing defense this season.