BALTIMORE -- In the midst of all the excitement, the high-fives and the fist pumps near the Ravens' sideline, the sight of Ed Reed was unsettling.
Baltimore's gritty 20-13 win over the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs Sunday earned them a trip to Foxborough, Mass., and the AFC title game. But the Ravens may be forced to face Tom Brady and the New England Patriots without their star safety.
On Houston's final play of the game, former North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates threw the ball into a crowded end zone and when the swarm dispersed, Reed was left struggling to walk. But his left ankle injury was the least of his, or the Ravens', concerns.
"I'll be all right," said Reed, who had to be helped off the field and stood on the sideline hunched over. He told reporters he rolled the ankle and "pinched it real bad" after batting away Yates' pass. "I'll go get treatment and I'll be ready to go."
The Ravens will need every healthy body -- particularly Reed's -- to slow New England's arsenal of potent tight ends and receivers. Baltimore also will need a better offensive attack than the one that netted 227 total yards Sunday.
"I always say, there's a right way to do things, a wrong way to do things and there's just the Raven way of doing things," linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "It wasn't pretty, but hey, we're not really a pretty team."
Texans running back Arian Foster had another breakout performance, rushing for 132 yards and racking up 22 yards on five receptions to become the first player to rush for 100 yards in the playoffs against the Ravens. But Foster, who ran for 153 yards a week earlier against Cincinnati, couldn't carry Houston by himself.
The Texans dug themselves a 17-3 hole in the first quarter thanks to a muffed punt by Jacoby Jones (which was recovered by Baltimore) and Lardarius Webb's first of two interceptions against Yates. The Houston quarterback finished 17-of-35 for 184 yards with three interceptions.
Houston 3 10 0 0 -- 13
Baltimore 17 0 0 3 -- 20
Hou--FG Rackers 40
Bal--Wilson 1 pass from Flacco (Cundiff kick)
Bal--FG Cundiff 48
Bal--Boldin 10 pass from Flacco (Cundiff kick)
Hou--FG Rackers 33
Hou--Foster 1 run (Rackers kick)
Bal--FG Cundiff 44
A--71,547
Houston Baltimore
First downs 16 11
Total net yards 315 227
Rushes-Yards 28-131 31-87
Passing 184 140
Punt returns 6-4 0-0
Kickoff returns 4-133 1-25
Interceptions ret. 0-0 3-1
Comp-Att-Int 17-35-3 14-27-0
Sacked-Yards lost 0-0 5-36
Punts 5-40.0 9-49.3
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 3-0
Penalties-Yards 3-20 0-0
Time of possession 28:40 31:20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Houston, Foster 27-132, Yates 1-(-1). Baltimore, Rice 21-60, R.Williams 6-27, Leach 2-1, Flacco 2-(-1).
PASSING--Houston, Yates 17-35-3-184. Baltimore, Flacco 14-27-0-176.
RECEIVING--Houston, A.Johnson 8-111, Foster 5-22, Daniels 2-26, Walter 2-25. Baltimore, Boldin 4-73, Rice 4-20, Pitta 2-29, Evans 1-30, Dickson 1-14, T.Smith 1-9, Wilson 1-1.
MISSED FIELD-GOAL ATTEMPT--Houston, Rackers 50 (SH).
Not all of the newspaper's content appears online.
*There is a fee for downloading some older articles.