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Ravens rally to stun Broncos

Jan. 13, 2013 - 20:06 By Korea Herald
DENVER (AP) ― Baltimore’s Justin Tucker kicked a 47-yard field goal 1:42 into the second overtime Saturday, ending the NFL’s longest game in 26 years and giving the Ravens a 38-35 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC playoffs.

The Ravens (12-6) forced overtime on a 70-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds left in regulation, after Jones slipped behind a pair of Broncos defenders along the sideline.

Late in the first overtime, Peyton Manning threw across his body on second down and Corey Graham picked off the ball to give the Ravens the ball on the Denver 45.

Two plays later, the first overtime ended and the teams switched directions, and after three Ray Rice runs up the middle, Tucker sailed his game-winner through the uprights with room to spare.

Baltimore will travel to either New England or Houston for the AFC title game next Sunday, as linebacker Ray Lewis’ career extends at least one more game.

The last NFL game that went to two overtimes was on Jan. 10, 2004, when Carolina beat the Rams 29-23 in St. Louis on the first play of the second quarter.

Leading 35-28 with 1:15 left in regulation, the Broncos punted to Jones, the Pro Bowl returner who was overshadowed all day by Trindon Holliday. He made a fair catch at the 23 with 1:09 to go.

On third-and-3 from his own 30, Flacco wound up and found Jones down the right sideline for the stunning score. Tony Carter let Jones go and Rahim Moore tried to go up to bat it down, but mis-timed his jump.

The Broncos got the ball at their 20 with 30 seconds left, but Manning took a knee to send the game to OT. Denver also went into overtime in the playoffs last year, when Tim Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard TD on the first play to beat Pittsburgh.

Manning atoned for a fumble that led to a score by Baltimore by driving Denver 88 yards in 10 plays and hitting Thomas from 17 yards out for the go-ahead score that broke a 28-all tie midway through the fourth quarter.

And Holliday became the first player in NFL playoff history to return both a punt and a kickoff for scores.

The Broncos (13-4) became the latest No. 1 seed to lose in the divisional round. Since 2005, nine top-seeded teams lost their first game in the playoffs.

In the regular season, Denver breezed past the Ravens 34-17 in Baltimore on Dec. 16 after racing to a 31-3 lead but this one was close all the way before the Broncos saw their winning streak end at 11 games.

Holliday, the NFL’s shortest ― and quite possibly fastest ― player, followed an amazing block by Jacob Hester to return the second-half kickoff 104 yards to put Denver ahead 28-21. That was 2 yards longer than the record set in 2010 by Atlanta’s Eric Weems.

Niners oust Packers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Colin Kaepernick ran for a quarterback playoff record 181 yards and two touchdowns and threw two scoring passes to Michael Crabtree in leading the San Francisco 49ers back to the NFC championship game with a 45-31 victory against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night.

Playoff first-timer Kaepernick outshined reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, who never got in sync for the Packers (12-6) in finishing 26 of 39 for 257 yards with two touchdowns.

Kaepernick ran for scores of 20 and 56 yards on the way to topping the rushing mark of 119 yards set by Michael Vick in 2005 against St. Louis. Crabtree caught TD passes of 12 and 20 yards in the second quarter and wound up with nine receptions and 119 yards for the Niners (12-4-1) in the NFC divisional matchup.

San Francisco had 579 total yards, 323 on the ground.

Kaepernick, the second-year pro out of Nevada who supplanted Alex Smith at quarterback in a much-debated move by coach Jim Harbaugh, shook off an interception that Sam Shields ran back 52 yards for a touchdown on San Francisco’s first possession to twice rally the 49ers from a TD behind.

Kaepernick’s 56-yard TD run on a read-option keeper in the third quarter ― the longest by a quarterback in franchise history ― gave the 49ers a 31-24 lead. He stopped in the end zone and flexed his right arm, smiling all the way back to the sideline.

The scores mark the fourth time in NFL history a player had two touchdowns rushing and two touchdowns passing in a postseason game.

Kaepernick also led another drive that David Akers finished with a 36-yard field goal to put the 49ers ahead 24-21 as the first half ended.

Frank Gore also ran for a 2-yard touchdown 3 seconds into the fourth quarter to extend San Francisco’s lead to 38-24.

Rodgers rallied the Packers after tossing his own interception. The former Cal star threw a 20-yard scoring strike to James Jones, and DaJuan Harris ran for an 18-yard touchdown.

The amped-up crowd at Candlestick Park endured a flurry of emotions at the start.

With San Francisco looking to return to the NFC title game for the second straight season, Kaepernick’s costly error quieted the 49ers faithful.