Ravens beat Texans to reach AFC title game

BALTIMORE -- In the midst of all the excitement, high-fives and fist pumps near the Ravens' sideline, the sight of Ed Reed was unsettling.

The Ravens' gritty 20-13 win over the Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs Sunday earned them a trip to Foxboro for the AFC Championship Game on Sunday. But the Ravens may be forced to face Tom Brady and the top-seeded Patriots without their star safety.

On the Texans' last chance, a fourth-and-1 from the Ravens' 43, rookie T.J. Yates threw the ball into a crowded end zone, where Reed swatted it away with 11 seconds left. But when the swarm dispersed, Reed was left struggling to walk because of a left ankle injury.

"I'll be all right," said Reed, who had to be helped off the field and stood hunched over on the sideline. He told reporters he rolled his ankle and "pinched it real bad" after batting away Yates' attempted Hail Mary. "I'll go get treatment and I'll be ready to go."

The Ravens will need every healthy body, particularly Reed's, to slow down New England's arsenal of potent tight ends and receivers. Baltimore also will need to put forth a better offensive attack than the one that netted only 227 total yards and 11 first downs Sunday. If not for three turnovers by the Texans, the Ravens might have lost.

"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."

The Texans' Arian Foster had another outstanding performance, rushing for 132 yards and racking up 22 yards on five receptions. He's the first player to rush for at least 100 yards in the playoffs against the Ravens. But Foster, who ran for 153 yards last week against the Bengals, couldn't carry Houston by himself.

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The Texans dug themselves a 17-3 hole in the first quarter thanks to a muffed punt return by Jacoby Jones (recovered by Baltimore at the 2) and cornerback Lardarius Webb's first of two interceptions of Yates.

Webb also picked off Yates with 7:21 remaining to tie Reed's and Duane Starks' franchise record for interceptions in a playoff game.

Houston made it 17-13 on Foster's 1-yard run in the second quarter, but the Ravens' stifling defense eventually got to Yates, who completed 17 of 35 for 184 yards with three interceptions.

And although Joe Flacco's numbers (14-for-27, 176 yards, two touchdowns, five sacks) weren't that impressive, the Ravens quarterback didn't throw a pick.

"For Joe to come in and lead us to the playoffs the last four years -- if that was anybody else, you'd praise him," Ray Lewis said. "Joe Flacco has done a heck of a job putting us in the positions to go and win."

With 1:51 left, Reed intercepted an ill-advised deep pass from Yates to Andre Johnson at the Ravens' 4, seemingly quashing any hope of a Texans comeback. But the Ravens went three-and-out and had to punt, but Reed bailed them out again.

Coach John Harbaugh, whose younger brother Jim will coach the 49ers against the Giants in Sunday's NFC Championship Game, didn't seem overly concerned about Reed's injury.

"He seems like he's in pretty good shape," he said. "Ed's a tough guy. And that's who Ed Reed is."