2000 Baltimore Ravens season The Baltimore Ravens concluded the 2000 NFL season with a 12 – 4 record , good for second place in the AFC central , and earning them a spot in the playoffs as a wild card entrant . The Ravens won three straight games in the AFC playoffs , culminating in a trip to Tampa for the Super Bowl , where they defeated the New York Giants , 34 – 7 , to win their first championship . Offseason . The Ravens spent most of the off - season concerned with the status of their star linebacker Ray Lewis , who along with two other acquaintances , was arrested and charged with murder after an incident outside of an Atlanta nightclub on January 31 , 2000 . On June 5 , a plea bargain was struck , and murder and aggravated assault charges were dropped in exchange for testimony against his companions . Lewis pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and was sentenced to a year of probation . Season summary . The Ravens started the season with a 5 – 1 start , with three of their victories coming by shutout . Despite the great play of the defense , the offense hit a major swoon after the first month of the season . Following a 37 – 0 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals , the Ravens would not score a touchdown for five consecutive games . The Ravens won the first two of these games thanks to their defense , but lost the next three , including a critical division loss at home to the Titans . During this game , quarterback Tony Banks was benched in favor of Trent Dilfer , who would take over for the rest of the season . After a loss at home to Pittsburgh , the Ravens broke both their touchdown - less streak and losing streak against the Bengals the next week . It would be the first of seven straight wins to end the season . The Ravens finished one game behind the Tennessee Titans in the AFC central , so the Ravens had to begin their playoff run at home in the wild card round against the Broncos . The team cruised to a 21 – 3 victory , setting up a date with the Titans the following week in Nashville . The Ravens prevailed 24 – 10 , thanks to linebacker Ray Lewis ' 50 yard interception return for a touchdown that put the game away . The team then traveled to Oakland to meet the Raiders for the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl , and the Ravens advanced to their first , 16 – 3 , as the defense held Oakland , the league ' s top rushing offense during the season , to just 24 yards rushing . The Ravens easily defeated the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV , 34 – 7 , as Ray Lewis led another dominant performance by the defense and was named most valuable player of the game for his efforts . The Ravens relied heavily on their defense , which set several records during the 2000 season , including fewest points allowed during a 16 - game season ( 165 ) and fewest rushing yards allowed ( 970 ) . The defense finished the season number one overall in points allowed , and Ray Lewis was named defensive player of the year by the Associated Press . Starting cornerback s Chris McAlister and Duane Starks combined to intercept ten passes , and defensive end Rob Burnett contributed with 10 . 5 sacks . The defense is one of the greatest ever . Offensively , the Ravens relied heavily on the running game . Rookie running back Jamal Lewis led the way with 1364 yards and veteran Priest Holmes added 588 yards . The passing game was rather pedestrian ( 23rd in yards passing ) , but Trent Dilfer brought stability to the position when he took over for Tony Banks mid - season . Tight end Shannon Sharpe , acquired as an unrestricted free agent from Denver during the offseason , was the team ' s leading pass receiver with 67 catches for 810 yards . Punt returner Jermaine Lewis scored two touchdowns on punt returns during the season , and ran back a kickoff in the Super Bowl , while placekicker Matt Stover made 35 field goals on 39 attempts . Defensive legacy . The Ravens defense in 2000 is often named among the greatest NFL defenses of all time . A 2007 ESPN Page 2 list ranked the 2000 Ravens defense at # 3 in NFL history . Baltimore gave up only 970 rushing yards ( 60 . 6 per game ) all year , 186 fewer yards than the next lowest team , Baltimore ' s Super Bowl XXXV opponent , the New York Giants . Baltimore gave up only five rushing touchdowns all season , and allowed a paltry 2 . 7 yards per rush , both league bests . Furthermore , the Ravens recovered an astronomical 26 fumbles during the season , double the total the second - ranked team . Statistical site Football Outsiders noted , " One more interesting note on the Baltimore defense : it was the only dominant defense of the past few years to be based on stopping the run instead of controlling the pass . For all the cliches about the need to stop the run , in general the best defenses are ranked the highest because they have the best ratings against the pass , not against the run – just like the best offenses are ranked the highest because they are the best through the air , not on the ground . The 2000 Ravens only rank seventh in defense against the pass , but their rushing defense . . . is far and away the best of the past six seasons . " Interestingly , for all its fanfare , the Ravens defensive statistics were very comparable to their division rivals , the Tennessee Titans in 2000 . The Titans gave up fewer total yards ( 3813 to 3967 ) , passing yards ( 2423 to 2621 ) , fewer yards per play ( 4 . 3 to 4 . 2 ) and net yards per passing attempt ( 4 . 7 to 5 . 3 ) . However , Baltimore won nearly as many games as Tennessee , despite a significantly worse offense . Tennessee ' s passing offense was statistically better than Baltimore ' s , passing for 3266 yards to Baltimore ' s 2815 , as well as 6 . 7 net yards per attempt to Baltimore ' s 5 . 1 . In fact , Tennessee ' s overall offense gained 5 . 2 passing yards - per - attempt , a half - yard more than Baltimore ' s 4 . 7 YPA . Regular season . Results . Week 1 : at Pittsburgh Steelers . In the opening game for Baltimore ' s regular season , they squared off against division rivals Pittsburgh Steelers at their turf . In a game where the Ravens had 336 yards of total offense , they first scored points with a field goal kick from Matt Stover . Later in the first quarter , Qadry Ismail would complete a pass from Tony Banks for seven more points . After another field goal kick , the Steelers were being shut out by the end of halftime , 13 – 0 . The final score in the game resulted from another field goal from Stover , and the final score resulted with the Ravens winning 16 – 0 . With this win , the Ravens began their season at 1 – 0 . Week 2 : vs . Jacksonville Jaguars . At the Ravens first home game , Baltimore trailed the Jacksonville Jaguars for the majority of the game , where the home team gained another 300 + yard total offense . The first quarter was dominated by Jacksonville , where the time period ended with 2 field goals from Mike Hollis and a touchdown pass from Mark Brunell to Jimmy Smith ( 13 – 0 ) . Baltimore put up their first points in the second quarter with a touchdown pass from Tony Banks to Travis Taylor . However , the first half ended with two more field goals from the Jaguars . The third quarter began with the Ravens trailing 23 – 7 . Two further touchdowns by the Ravens ( one which was for two extra points ) and a field goal from Jaguars put the home team with less than a touchdown differential . In the continuing scoring shootout , the Ravens scored first in the fourth quarter with a touchdown to lead for the first time during the entire game , 29 – 26 . By the later portion of the quarter , the Jaguars had surpassed Baltimore once more at 36 – 32 . In the last scoring drive of the game , Shannon Sharpe completed a 29 yard pass from Banks to defeat Jacksonville , 39 – 36 . With this win , Baltimore ' s record elevated to 2 – 0 . Week 3 : at Miami Dolphins . In week 3 , the Ravens and the Miami Dolphins gained little offense in a defensive struggle for both teams . The first half was dominated by the Dolphin ' s placekicker Olindo Mare with two field goals . The Ravens attacked back during the second half , with two field goals of their own by Matt Stover ; however , with a touchdown pass from Jay Fiedler to Lamar Smith and a rushing touchdown from the latter player , the Dolphins overcame Baltimore 19 – 6 . In a game where the Ravens got just above 250 yards of total offense , Baltimore ultimately fell to a 2 – 1 record . Week 4 : vs . Cincinnati Bengals . In an attempt to redeem their road lost to the Dolphins , the Ravens faced division rivals Cincinnati Bengals . In a complete shut out , the Ravens gained a near 400 yards ( 391 yards exact ) in a game where the defense shut down the Bengals for only 94 yards of offense . During the first half , the Ravens scored three touchdowns ( two passes from Tony Banks to Travis Taylor and Shannon Sharpe , and a rush by Jamal Lewis ) and a field goal by Matt Stover . The second half ended with two more field goals and a rushing touchdown from Obafemi Ayanbadejo to finish with a score of 37 – 0 . With this win , Baltimore ' s record elevated to 3 – 1 . Week 5 : at Cleveland Browns . The Ravens began a five – game touchdown drought with their matchup against Cleveland . In a game dominated by both defenses , the Ravens allowed just under 250 offensive yards . The first half ended with three field goals from kicker Matt Stover , with the longest being from 45 yards in order to advance the Ravens to the locker room at 9 – 0 . The final scoring in the game came during the third quarter when Stover kicked another field goal from 22 yards . In a shutout for the Browns , the Ravens improved their record to 4 – 1 . Week 6 : at Jacksonville Jaguars . Baltimore would travel back to Jacksonville in a Week 2 rematch against the Jaguars at their turf in Jacksonville . The Ravens went with their second consecutive game without a touchdown with their kicker Matt Stover delivering all their points . In the first quarter , Jaguars kicker Steve Lindsey delivered a 49 yard field goal but was answered with a Stover 47 yard field goal to tie up the game . The second quarter ended with another Stover kick that would take the game to halftime with the Ravens winning 6 – 3 . Stover would kick three more consecutive field goals to increase the score to 15 – 3 , but the Jaguars retaliated with the final score of the game : a 1 yard rushing touchdown from Fred Taylor . However , the game was ultimately decided at 15 – 10 and the Ravens record elevated to 5 – 1 . Week 7 : at Washington Redskins . The Ravens traveled to their Capital Beltway neighbors , Washington Redskins , for their third straight road game . In a defensive struggle , both teams allowed under 250 yards of total offense . Halftime ended with both teams tied at 3 – 3 as a result of two field goals : one from the Redskins ( 37 yards by Kris Heppner ) and the Ravens ( Matt Stover from 51 yards ) . That field goal from Stover would be the only score that the Ravens put up in this game , where in the fourth quarter , James Thrash ran for a 33 yard touchdown that put Washington 10 – 3 over the Ravens . With this final score , the Ravens suffered their second loss and fell to 5 – 2 . Week 8 : vs . Tennessee Titans . In Week 8 , the Ravens flew back home to face off against division rivals Tennessee Titans . The Ravens continued their touchdown - less streak , where Matt Stover produced the only score for Baltimore with two field goals ( from the 21 and 38 yard lines ) . In the second quarter , Titans quarterback Steve McNair threw a 9 yard pass to Rodney Thomas to go ahead of the home team . Just under one point , the Ravens sought to get ahead of Tennessee , however , Tony Banks produced a game high of 3 interceptions , with the last one being the game winner for the Titans as they won 14 – 6 . With this loss , the Ravens fell to 5 – 3 . Week 9 : vs . Pittsburgh Steelers . In a rematch from week 1 , Baltimore continued their streak without a touchdown . However , second - string quarterback Trent Dilfer started in replacement of Tony Banks , who in the past four games had not thrown one touchdown but rather more interceptions . In this game , unlike Banks , Dilfer threw no interceptions but was unable to connect with any receiver into the endzone . The Ravens had the advantage heading into halftime with two field goals from Matt Stover that were over 40 yards . In the third quarter , the Steelers retaliated with six points of their own as a result of a touchdown and a missed extra point from Kris Brown . Week 10 : at Cincinnati Bengals . In a Week 4 rematch , the Ravens traveled to Ohio against AFC Central adversaries , Bengals . Matt Stover put the Ravens on the board with three points after a 38 yard field goal in the first quarter . Baltimore entered their season best second quarter in this game with three touchdown passes from new starting quarterback Trent Dilfer that had the Ravens up by 24 unanswered points . Cincinnati answered with a touchdown , and their only score , during the third quarter with Peter Warrick ' s 4 yard rush . The game came to a close following a field goal from Stover that had the Ravens defeat the Bengals 27 – 7 . The Ravens improved their record to 6 – 4 and began a six - game winning streak . Week 11 : at Tennessee Titans . Just after battling against Tennessee two weeks earlier , Baltimore traveled to Nashville to face off against the Titans . The Ravens attacked by adding seven points to their score in the first quarter after a reception by Qadry Ismail from Trent Dilfer . Jamal Lewis would then double the points with a 2 yard rush that put up the Ravens 14 – 0 during the second quarter . The Titans answered with two touchdown passes from Steve McNair to Derrick Mason and Lorenzo Neal , respectively . After a field goal from Matt Stover , halftime stood at 17 – 14 , favoring the Ravens . In a defensive struggle in the third quarter , no team was able to score . However , the game became tied at 17 – 17 with a 23 yard field goal from Al Del Greco upon the final quarter . Tennessee sought to end the game after Perry Phenix intercepted a pass from Dilfer and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown ; however , Del Greco failed to convert the extra point . This allowed the Ravens to end the game with a touchdown pass to Patrick Johnson from Dilfer and a successful extra point conversion . With this win , the Ravens raised their record to 7 – 4 . Awards . Middle linebacker Ray Lewis was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press . Five players represented the Ravens in the Pro Bowl : Lewis joined defensive tackle Sam Adams , safety Rod Woodson , offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden , and kicker Matt Stover . Kicker Matt Stover joined Lewis and Ogden on the associated press ' All - Pro first team . Defensive end Rob Burnett joined Adams and Woodson on the AP All - Pro second team . References . 1 . < br > 2 . < br > 3 . < br > 4 . < br > 5 .