Oakland, CA (Sportsbooks) - Willis McGahee scored all three touchdowns for Baltimore to get the Ravens into the playoffs with a 21-13 win over the
Oakland Raiders.
The Ravens (9-7) needed a win to get into the postseason and McGahee put the team on his back with his 167-yard performance on 16 carries, which included a 77-yard touchdown run.
"This offense has a lot of power to it," said McGahee. "The blocking was outstanding, they did a great job. Actually I thought some of it was too good to be true, I was looking for a flag of some of them."
Joe Flacco went 11-for-19 with 102 yards while Dannell Ellerbe had an interception and a fumble recovery for Baltimore, which won three of its last four games.
Baltimore, a wild card team, will play on the road against New England next Sunday at 1 p.m (et) in the wild card round.
"First of all, congratulations to our guys," said Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh. "It's not easy to make the playoffs in the NFL and our guys did it. It's been a tough road, we've suffered our share of disappointments. But congratulations to our players and coaches who made it happen under difficult circumstances.
Charlie Frye started under center for the Raiders (5-11) but injured his back and ankle and was not on the field for the start of the second half. He finished the game 18-for-25 with 180 yards and a touchdown.
JaMarcus Russell finished the game at quarterback and went 9-for-14 with 102 yards, an interception and a lost fumble for Oakland, which dropped three of its last four games.
"It was a tough game cause you walk into the locker room and feel like you had every opportunity to win the game," said Oakland head coach Tom Cable. "If we could have made a play here or there it might have turned out different. But it was a great effort by our team."
Trailing in the third quarter, the Raiders made it a one-point game on a 39- yard field goal from Sebastian Janikowski to make it a 14-13 contest with just over four minutes to play in the third.
Baltimore was held to a three-and-out on its following drive, but Russell was picked off by Ellerbe and Baltimore found itself with the ball at the Oakland 22.
Five plays later, McGahee punched the ball into the end zone around the right side from two yards out with 13:16 to play to give Baltimore a 21-13 lead.
On Oakland's next touch, the team was driving and got to the Baltimore 25, but Russell fumbled as he was sacked by Antwan Barnes and Ellerbe fell on the ball.
Baltimore was able to kill off almost six minutes of the clock, but came away empty as Billy Cundiff's 51-yard attempt fell short with 3:43 to play.
However, Oakland was held to a three-and-out and punted the ball away and Baltimore was able to kill off the rest of the clock.
On its second drive of the game, Baltimore took a 7-0 lead as McGahee punched it into the end zone on 2nd-and-goal from the two with 3:47 left in the first quarter.
Oakland responded with an 11-play drive that covered 61 yards, but the march stalled at the Baltimore 19 and a 37-yard field goal from Janikowski made it a 7-3 game early in the second.
After a punt pinned the Ravens at their own five, Flacco hit Todd Heap for an 18-yard completion before McGahee took the ball through a gap at the right side and raced into the end zone for a 77-yard score and 14-3 advantage with 3:54 left in the half.
The Raiders, though, came right back and made it a 14-10 game with 47 seconds left in the first half as Zach Miller made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone from 12 yards out to cap the eight-play, 79-yard drive.
Baltimore moved down the field before the end of the half but Cundiff hooked a 37-yard field goal wide right.
Game Notes
Janikowski's second field goal put him at 1,000 points for his career...The Ravens have taken three straight against Oakland and are 5-1 in the series...The Raiders finished the season 2-6 at home...Baltimore went 3-5 on the road this season...The Ravens totaled 391 points on the season and tied the franchise mark set in 2003...Chaz Schilens led Oakland's receiving corps with eight catches for 99 yards.
