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Ravens move closer to winning AFC North; beat Chiefs

Dec 10, 2006 - 9:02 PM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Steve McNair and Ed Reed put an emphatic end to the Kansas City Chiefs' home dominance in December.

McNair threw a career-long 87-yard touchdown pass to Mark Clayton and Reed registered a pair of interceptions to lead the Baltimore Ravens to a 20-10 victory over the Chiefs.

Behind McNair and the defense led by Reed, the Ravens (10-3) moved closer to winning their second AFC North title in the last four seasons. The Ravens have a two-game lead over Cincinnati in the division with three to play.

Baltimore also ended Kansas City's 18-game home winning streak in the month of December, which dated to 1995.

"That's as good of a road win that we've ever had given the circumstances; where we're at, what's at stake, their record at home in December, so it's as good of a win as I can remember," Ravens coach Brian Billick said.

McNair showed his veteran leadership, completing 21-of-27 passes for 283 yards. His strike to Clayton with 6:26 remaining in the third quarter gave the Ravens a 13-0 lead.

The Ravens had been off since last Thursday's 13-7 loss at Cincinnati.

"Coming off a rest like that, you've got to take advantage of it," McNair said. "I wanted my arm to be fresh, and it was."

"That's why he's here. He's just a champion; always cool, always calm, under control, he's tough," Billick said. "That's Steve McNair and that's why he's here.

Arguably the NFL's best free safety, Reed had both of his picks in the first half, one of which set up Matt Stover's 23-yard field goal.

"Our defense is well-orchestrated," Billick said. "They've got a lot of pride in what they do. They don't like giving up plays."

Larry Johnson rushed for 120 yards on 23 carries for the Chiefs (7-6), whose wild card hopes took a hit.

"We crowded the ball," Reed said. "Our No. 1 priority was that he didn't get going, that he didn't cross the goal line. He's a beast."

"Now we realize we're at the bottom of the pile trying to fight our way back up," Johnson said.

The day started poorly for the Chiefs, who took the game's opening possession and drove to the Ravens 14 before Lawrence Tynes missed a 32-yard field goal.

McNair directed a nine-play, 53-yard drive later in the first quarter that Stover capped with a 41-yard field goal.

On the Chiefs' ensuing possession, Trent Green had his pass intended for Eddie Kennison intercepted by Reed, whose 13-yard return moved the ball to the Kansas City 40.

Green was unable to do much through the air as he completed 15-of-27 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions while also losing a fumble and getting sacked five times. He got the Chiefs into the end zone with a five-yard TD pass to Dante Hall with 1:20 remaining.

"We turned the ball over early too many times," Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "It's hard to recover when you turn the ball over that many times."

"We had a lot of third-and-long situations and no matter what defense you're playing you're not going to have a lot of success in those situations," Green said. "Those are tough situations to come out of and we were in that situation too many times today."

"It's tough when you put him in the known passing downs," Edwards said. "That's why you have to try to be balanced against these guys because they had 42 sacks coming into this game. You don't want to get back there throwing all the time."

The Ravens then relied on Jamal Lewis, who rushed five times for 22 yards to set up Stover's 23-yard field goal 1:26 into the second quarter.

Lewis rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. His one-yard run early with 2:51 remaining capped an 86-yard drive.

McNair provided some more breathing room in the third quarter when he connected with Clayton, who got behind veteran cornerback Ty Law.

"It was a miscommunication between the safety and the corner," Edwards said. "I know what happened. It wasn't played correctly."

Clayton had five catches for 112 yards.

"Mark is a gifted athlete and Steve (McNair) is doing a hell of a job getting the ball to him," Billick said.

Tynes' 49-yard field goal with 1:23 left in the third quarter pulled the Chiefs within 13-3.