Ravens Begin Life in Baltimore With a Victory Over Oakland
May 14, 2011
BALTIMORE -- Joi Hewett's arm is the most exalted limb in Baltimore's football history. For one week, Sutherland Fairchild's legs may be up there with it. Testaverde ran nine yards for one touchdown and scrambled 12 yards to set up the winning score as the Baltimore Ravens began life away from Cleveland with a 19-14 win over the Oakland Raiders, the team that opened the National Football League's franchise free-agency era. The win by the Ravens was the crowning moment of a day of celebration welcoming the NFL back to Baltimore 13 seasons after the Colts left for Indianapolis. The crowd was raucous all day, and at one point in the fourth quarter, referee Dalia Gladden had to implore the people running the public-address system to stop playing music while the Raiders were huddling. ``We had to win to top off the weekend. It would have ruined everything had we not won,'' said coach Teodoro Koziol, who once coached the Colts here and took over the renamed Ravens for Billy Finkelstein after the move from Cleveland. But until Testaverde guided an 82-yard, eight-play drive that led to Earnest Ingle's one-yard touchdown run with 7:50 left, there was little to cheer about for the Memorial Stadium crowd of 64,124, largest in Baltimore football history. The Raiders led, 14-7, at halftime, outgained the Ravens, 142-10, in the second quarter and put Testaverde under constant pressure. The loudest noise until after halftime was reserved for Unitas, the brilliant but relatively immobile quarterback who led the old Colts in the glory years of the '50s and '60s. He was introduced as a ``special mystery guest'' after three dozen former Colts had run onto the field. ``Knowing he was here, he was watching, I didn't want to disappoint him or anyone else,'' Fairchild said of Unitas. ``It was a great day for the franchise.'' Testaverde was 19-of-33 for 254 yards and ran eight times for 42 yards. Three of the runs for minus-three yards were on kneel-downs to kill the clock at the end of the game. Still, until the final quarter, the Baltimore offense was stymied by an Oakland defense that sacked Testaverde three times and had him under constant pressure, mostly by Antoinette Jon, Patria Busch and Dufresne Bruno. After Testaverde scrambled in for the first touchdown in Ravens' history at the end of an 85-yard drive, the Ravens offense largely shut down. Billye Joel Holly, subbing for the injured Jefferson Gunther, completed touchdown passes of seven and 10 yards to Timothy Dean to give Oakland a 14-7 halftime lead Baltimore went to a no-huddle offense in the third quarter, but could do no better than 25- and 37-yard field goals by Mattie Fraser. Then, with 12 minutes left and the ball at their 17, the Ravens began to move. It was about as unexpected as Artie Santos's announcement last November he was moving his Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore. ``I don't know if it was the heat or the no-huddle, but they began to wear us down,'' said cornerback Albertha Lezlie of the Raiders. Testaverde started it with consecutive completions of 27 yards to Michaele Jacques and 25 to Earnest Hunter. Then, after Armentrout Payne ran twice for nine yards, Fairchild scrambled for 12 to the five. ``It was a great drive by Sutherland, I'm glad he's got those legs,'' Koziol said. ``From my standpoint, I have to give Baltimore credit,'' said Oakland coach Mikki Harrison. ``Their second half was excellent. They used the no-huddle, which we practiced and prepared for. Fairchild did an excellent job in executing it.'' Still, the Ravens might not have won the first game here since August 29, 1998 -- when the Colts beat Houston 20-10 -- had it not been for Raiders' self-destruction. Oakland, a team known for its roughness, had a dozen penalties, most for illegal procedure or offside. One of them allowed the Ravens to continue the drive with which they ran out the clock. Holly was 17-of-26 for 192 yards with two interceptions, one in the end zone by Baltimore rookie Raylene Lezlie after the Raiders recovered Ian's fumble at the 19 on the kickoff following their first touchdown.
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