These Defenses Know the Score

De-fense, De-fense.

It’s not just a chant. It’s the story of today’s AFC divisional playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans.

It’s the Baltimore crew, led by defensive player of the year Ray Lewis, against a Tennessee group featuring the most talked-about defensive player of 1999, Jevon Kearse, who still had 11 1/2 sacks in what was considered a drop-off this season.

The Ravens were No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed and second in total yards allowed.

The Titans were No. 1 in yards allowed and second in points allowed. So which category is more important?

The NFL judges the top defense based on yardage. But aren’t the outcomes of games decided by points? What about a team that gives up yardage between the 20s but clamps down inside the red zone and turns opponents away without touchdowns?

Then again, point total can be deceptive because it doesn’t take into account points directly off turnovers or turnovers that lead to opportune field position--such as the touchdown scored against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend after the Philadelphia Eagles recovered a fumble on the Tampa Bay 15-yard line. Indeed, 13 of the 165 points scored against the Ravens this year were on interception returns, or the new NFL record would be even lower.

And don’t forget about points scored by special teams. How could anyone forget special teams when the Titans are in a playoff game? Especially when they’re at Adelphia Coliseum, home of the Music City Miracle.

But don’t ignore the Ravens’ special teams either. Jermaine Lewis averaged a league-leading 16 yards per punt return this season and he took back two punts for touchdowns against the New York Jets in the last regular-season game. Kicker Matt Stover made 35 field-goal attempts--and the Pro Bowl. He provided the team’s point production in October.

Special teams decided the outcome the last time these teams met Nov. 12. More specifically, it came down to Titan kicker Al Del Greco. He missed an extra-point attempt that would have tied the score with 2:30 remaining, then missed a potential game-winning 43-yard field-goal attempt as time expired and the Ravens won, 24-23, to become the first and only visiting team to win at Adelphia Coliseum.

The Ravens sound confident they can do it again. They sound confident, period, based on their comments to reporters this week.

“When we go out and play our game, Jim Brown couldn’t run on us,” defensive end Rob Burnett said.

“We’re the No. 1 defense; there’s no doubt about that,” according to defensive end Michael McCrary.

The Ravens allowed an average of 60.6 rushing yards a game and the total of 970 yards was the lowest for a 16-game season.

Now they’ll have to make those numbers hold up against Titan running back Eddie George, who finished second in the AFC with 1,509 rushing yards.

“You are going to have to call run plays,” Titan Coach Jeff Fisher said. “That is going to have to be part of the offensive complexities this week for both offenses. If you are to assume both defenses can shut the run game down and you go to one-dimensional games offensively, then it is going to be difficult to do some things. Both clubs are going to have to line up and run the football.”

Baltimore will do it by handing off to Jamal Lewis and letting him run behind a tough offensive line led by left tackle Jonathan Ogden from UCLA. Lewis rushed for 1,364 yards this season and banged out 110 yards last week in the Ravens’ 21-3 victory over Denver in the wild-card round.

Quarterback Trent Dilfer is 8-1 since replacing Tony Banks as the starter in the last game of October.

The Titans’ Steve McNair has more postseason experience than any quarterback remaining in the playoffs. He has started four games and won three of them, and looks more poised with each game.

“Steve has become a much better pocket passer this year,” Fisher said. “He has shown that week in and week out. Steve is not looking to pull it down and go as often as he was in the past. . . .

“He trusts his receivers now. He is not trying to win the game by himself.”

If the game is going to be won single-handedly, it will probably be done by a kicker or punt returner. Don’t look for an individual to triumph against these two defenses, because entire teams haven’t been able to do it.