Ravens' defense dominates Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Ray Lewis knows a championship defense when he sees one. Now the Chiefs do, too.

Lewis and the Ravens' tough, savvy defense overwhelmed the young Chiefs Sunday, sacking Matt Cassel three times and forcing five turnovers in a 30-7 victory in an AFC wild-card game.

The Chiefs, who won the AFC West with a six-win improvement and took pride in not beating themselves, managed only 25 yards in the second half.

"To set records is one thing," said Lewis, who forced a fumble and had a sack in the second-half dismantling of the Chiefs. "To come out and play the way we've played in the third quarter all year and the last two weeks, just giving up seven points to opponents, that's championship-caliber football."

Baltimore broke open a close game with a touchdown and two field goals off turnovers in the second half. Joe Flacco threw two TD passes, Billy Cundiff kicked three field goals and Willis McGahee closed the scoring with a 25-yard run in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens will head to Pittsburgh Saturday to renew one of the league's fiercest rivalries. They split their season series with the Steelers, with each team winning on the road.

Kansas City was saddled with its record seventh consecutive playoff loss, dating 17 years.

"Our defense played phenomenal," Ravens running back Ray Rice said. "They came out in the second half and gutted that offense. It was impressive. It's impressive to be a part of this."

On a raw, windy afternoon, with temperatures hovering in the low 20s, Flacco and Cundiff took advantage of three interceptions by Cassel and fumbles by Dexter McCluster and Jamal Charles to pull away. Lewis and safety Ed Reed led the charge.

"You just come in and make up your mind when things start going your way they [keep] going your way," Lewis said. "We knew that this was a very tough place to come play. They have a very talented ballclub. We were able to show them and that's kind of how we are built. We are built for 60 minutes."

The Ravens led 10-7 in the third quarter when Kansas City lost a fourth-and-inches gamble and then collapsed, quickly.

Safety Dawan Landry stopped the play, throwing Charles for a 5-yard loss. On the next play, Tamba Hali drew a 15-yard penalty for a late hit on Flacco and the Ravens drove for Cundiff's 29-yard field goal, making it 13-7 with 6:36 left in the third.

A moment later, Lewis put a jarring hit on McCluster, knocking the ball loose. Chris Carr recovered at the Chiefs' 17, leading to another 29-yarder by Cundiff.

Then a harried Cassel was intercepted by Landry, and Flacco made sure to convert this opportunity into a touchdown.

On second down, he connected with McGahee for 20 yards, then followed with a 13-yarder to tight end Todd Heap (10 catches, 108 yards). On second-and-4, Flacco fired over the middle to Anquan Boldin in the back of the end zone, beating cornerback Brandon Flowers for a 23-7 lead.

"We turned the ball over and that's not characteristic of us," Chiefs guard Brian Waters said. "When we had to make plays, we weren't able to. When they had to make plays, they did. You can't turn the ball over."

With a little more than four minutes left, McGahee went up the middle on fourth-and-1 and broke into the secondary, dragging a tackler with him into the end zone at the end of a 25-yard run.

Charles gave the Chiefs a 7-3 lead in the first quarter with a 41-yard run after Hali sacked and stripped the ball from Flacco, recovering it himself.

The Chiefs' postseason drought stretches to the AFC Championship Game at Buffalo in January 1994.

"It was a tough one," Chiefs coach Todd Haley said. "I thought we got great experience for a lot of young guys that hadn't been part of this."