Giants, Ravens in Super Bowl

This will be an old pals Super Bowl, with two coaches who are longtime buddies leading teams operated by the two of the NFL's most venerable owners. <br><br>Jim Fassel of the New York Giants and Brian

Monday, January 15th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

This will be an old pals Super Bowl, with two coaches who are longtime buddies leading teams operated by the two of the NFL's most venerable owners.

Jim Fassel of the New York Giants and Brian Billick of the Baltimore Ravens are close friends who steered a pair of unlikely teams into the NFL championship game. Giants co-owner Wellington Mara and Art Modell of the Ravens have held key roles on various league committees during the last 40 years.

Now maybe these friends can agree that the first team to score wins. Points figure to be at a premium with both teams coming into the big game with impressive defenses.

Baltimore is favored by 2 1/2 points with Las Vegas bookmakers setting the over-under at 34 points, one of the lowest in Super Bowl history.

There is good reason for that.

The Ravens set an NFL record, allowing just 165 points in 16 games. They had four regular-season shutouts and have allowed just 16 points in playoff victories over Denver, Tennessee and Oakland.

The Giants shut out Minnesota for the NFC title, allowing the Vikings just 114 yards, tying the record for third-fewest yards allowed in a postseason game. No team has allowed fewer yards in a playoff game since 1959, when the Giants allowed the Cleveland Browns just 86 yards.

Both teams had stretches during the regular season when it seemed the only way they'd reach the Super Bowl would be to buy a ticket. The Ravens went five games without scoring a touchdown and the Giants went five months without impressing anybody.

Baltimore survived its offensive dry spell with a record-setting defense. The Giants overcame their anonymity with Fassel's playoff guarantee at a time when the team was struggling at 7-4.

Fassel was still expressing confidence in his team after it mauled Minnesota.

``I feel good about my team because I got a sense after today's game that they feel like they have unfinished business,'' the Giants coach said. ``We still have one more game to win.''

It will not be easy against the Ravens' defense.

Baltimore did not score a touchdown in October but managed to win two of five games, beating Cleveland 12-0 and Jacksonville 15-10, both on the road.

The Ravens beat Denver at home in the wild-card round of the playoffs and then advanced to the championship game by defeating Tennessee on the road. That sent them to Oakland, where they eliminated the Raiders on Sunday, 16-3.

The Giants won five straight following Fassel's playoff guarantee, then beat Philadelphia and Minnesota handily in the playoffs.

The defensive leaders of the Ravens are linebacker Ray Lewis, who averaged almost nine tackles and defensive end Rob Burnett, who had 11 1/2 sacks. Baltimore's offense includes veteran receivers like Shannon Sharpe, Ben Coates and Qadry Ismail, with Trent Dilfer at quarterback.

The Giants counter with a defense constructed around Michael Strahan and Jessie Armstead, Pro Bowl regulars, and a suddenly potent offense led by Kerry Collins, who set franchise playoff records with 28 completions, 381 yards and five touchdowns.

``This is sweeter because of the problems we had this year,'' Strahan said. ``This is sweeter because when we were 7-4 everybody wrote us off.

``That's the sweetest thing about this.''