The Ravens were just too much for the Giants this time out.
Kerry Collins threw four interceptions.
Giants only scoring was off a kickoff return by Ron Dixon.
Ravens Jermaine Lewis ran one back on the very next play.
It's the first time successive kickoffs were run back for TDs in a Super Bowl.
The Giants had a good run - Wait until next year.

It was a good ride while it lasted.
"Yes it was, and I'll treasure some of the great moments we had this season. Now it's over. It's finally over, and I can't believe how stressed out I've been over this one game. The two weeks before the Super Bowl seemed to last forever. I was reading everything I could get my hands on. There were so many stories on all the players and the Giants organization. It was great! We have to do this again next year and come away with the win."

You don't sound so disappointed
"Oh of course I am, but overall it was a great season. The Giants were never expected to get this far. They came together and played like a real team and gave us a shot at the big game. They're always out there playing their best. Did you notice at the end of the game, they didn't fold like Minnesota did against us two weeks ago? They were putting stops on the Ravens, trying to get the ball back. That's my Giants!"

So what went wrong?
"It looks like the Ravens defense was better than what we expected. Collins looked terrible trying to pass against them. We're on the other side of what we've done to other quarterbacks we've faced, and it's not pretty. You have to remember though, just as they brought their teams to the playoff games that they lost against us, Kerry brought us all the way to the Super Bowl."

No regrets?
"Sure, some, but like you said it was a nice ride while it lasted. The Giants were 7-9 last year, finished this season at 12-4, and won two post season games that included a seven game winning streak. Next season we'll have mostly the same top players, a few extra draft picks, and a whole year to figure out the Ravens defense."

It was a tough loss to take.
"Yes, and a loss not so totally unexpected the way the game started. The Ravens were able to stop the Giants right away on the first drive, and that was after spotting them 5 yards on an encroachment penalty. The Giants failed to get a first down, starting out on a 1st and 5. The Ravens offense did no better when they got the ball, and so it became a punting war with the Giants losing more and more field position each punt, until Baltimore scored. It went like this. The Giants started at the NYG 21. The next time they had it at the NYG 13, and then the NYG 1.
Meanwhile during this time, Baltimore was improving their field position first from the BLT 37, and then, the BLT 49, and next the NYG 41. So you knew what was going to happen."

The Ravens were going to score first.
"Right, and they did, and not with a field goal as you might expect since they had made no first downs in their 'march' downfield, but instead with a 38 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley. Dilfer throwing deep caught the Giants by surprise, and besides, would you expect the Ravens to throw to Stokley if you were covering? He had only 1 catch in 1999, and just 11 this whole season. Shaun Williams should have been deeper, and Sehorn couldn't catch up with Stokley who raced in for the touchdown, and the score became Baltimore 7, Giants 0."

That was a real big play for the Ravens.
"The next big excitement for the Tampa crowd was a Kerry Collins pass intended for Toomer that was intercepted, followed up on the very next play by a Trent Dilfer pass that was intercepted by Armstead and run in for a 43 yard touchdown. The trouble is, it won't make it into the record books, because of a defensive holding call on Keith Hamilton. Replays didn't show too much, but the call stood. At the end of the half, the score was Baltimore 10, Giants 0."

The Giants only score was on Ron Dixon's kickoff return.
"Another Kerry Collins pass intended for Toomer was intercepted by Duane Starks who had studied Collins, and noticed that when Collins dropped back in a certain way, it was going to be a slant pass. Starks was ready, got his interception, and ran it back for a touchdown to make the score 17-0 Baltimore. Ron Dixon took the next kickoff at the 3 and ran it back 97 yards for a touchdown, and the Giants were finally on the scoreboard.
That got the Giants fans going, but with the score Baltimore 17, Giants 7, Jermaine Lewis took Brad Daluiso's short kickoff from the 16, all the way back for a Raven touchdown. In 36 seconds of playing time, the score jumped up to Baltimore 24, Giants 7. The Ravens went on to score another touchdown and field goal in the fourth quarter to make the final score Baltimore 34, Giants 7."

Both quarterbacks got beat up in this game.
"Trent Dilfer got sacked three times and had to leave the game for awhile. Kerry Collins got sacked two times and continued playing even though he suffered a separated shoulder in the third quarter."

What would have made a difference in this game?
"If Keith Hamilton hadn't been called for that penalty, the score would have been 7-7. If head coach Jim Fassel had used Jaret Holmes for deeper kickoffs instead of Daluiso, maybe the Giants would have had better field position throughout the game, and maybe Jermaine Lewis doesn't run one back for a touchdown.
However, then Fassel wouldn't have been able to activate Joe Montgomery.
Montgomery was needed because the Giants had given up on any ideas that Ron Dayne would be effective against this Ravens defense, and if anything happened to Tiki there would be no running game at all.
If Kerry Collins had been more effective with his passing, things would have certainly have been better. If the Giants had covered better in the secondary, that would have been good too. In the end though, even with all that, it's hard to say that the Giants would have come away with a win against the Ravens in that game."

Stats

Passing
Giants - Kerry Collins 15-38 for 110 yards, 4 INT.
Ravens - Trent Dilfer 12-25 for 153 yards, 0 INT, Tony Banks 0-1 for 0 yards, 0 INT.

Rushing
Giants - Tiki Barber 11-48, Kerry Collins 3-12, Joe Montgomery 2-5.
Ravens - Jamal Lewis 28-102, Priest Holmes 4-8, Trent Dilfer 1-0.

Receiving
Giants - Ike Hilliard 3-30, Amani Toomer 2-24, Tiki Barber 6-24, Ron Dixon 1-16, Howard Cross 1-7, Pete Mitchell 1-7, Greg Comella 1-2.
Ravens - Brandon Stokley 3-52, Qadry Ismail 1-44, Ben Coates 3-30, Pat Johnson 1-8, Jermaine Lewis 1-6, Shannon Sharpe 1-5, Priest Holmes 1-4, Jamal Lewis 1-4.

Kickoff Returns
N.Y. Giants - Ron Dixon 6 for 150, Damon Washington 1 for 17.
Ravens - Jermaine Lewis 2 for 84.

Punt Returns
Giants - Ike Hilliard 3 for 33, Tiki Barber 2 for 9.
Ravens - Jermaine Lewis 1 for 23.

Missed field goals
Ravens - Matt Stover 41.

Interceptions
Ravens - Jamie Sharper 1 for 2, Kim Herring 1 for 0, Duane Starks 1 for 49, Chris McAlister 1 for 4.

Opponent's fumbles recovered
Ravens - Robert Bailey.

Fumbles Lost
Ron Dixon.

Tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial)
Giants - Shaun Williams 5-2-0, Michael Barrow 6-0-0, Jason Sehorn 6-0-0, Michael Strahan 5-1-1.5, Sam Garnes 5-0-0, Keith Hamilton 5-0-0, Ryan Phillips 4-0-0, Jessie Armstead 2-1-0, Christian Peter 2-0-0, Cornelius Griffin 1-1-1.5, Emmanuel Mcdaniel 1-0-0, Cedric Jones 1-0-0, Dave Thomas 1-0-0.
Ravens - Rod Woodson 5-1-0, Duane Starks 5-0-0, Ray Lewis 3-2-0, Keith Washington 4-0-1, Corey Harris 3-1-0, Rob Burnett 3-1-1, Michael Mccrary 3-0-2, Jamie Sharper 2-0-0, Sam Adams 1-0-0, Chris Mcalister 1-0-0, Tony Siragusa 1-0-0, Lional Dalton 1-0-0, James Trapp 1-0-0.

Net yards rushing
Giants - 65
Ravens - 110

Net yards passing
Giants - 84
Ravens - 133

Time of Possession
Giants - 25:54
Ravens - 34:06

Scoring:

1ST QUARTER:
BAL - Brandon Stokley 38 Yard TD Pass from Trent Dilfer (Matt Stover Extra Point), 6:50. Baltimore 7-0.
2ND QUARTER:
BAL - Matt Stover 47 Yard Field Goal, 1:41. Baltimore 10-0.
3RD QUARTER:
BAL - Duane Starks 49 Yard Interception Return for TD (Matt Stover Extra Point), 3:49. Baltimore 17-0.
NYG - Ron Dixon 97 Yard Kickoff Return for TD (Brad Daluiso Extra Point), 3:31. Baltimore 17-7
BAL - Jermaine Lewis 84 Yard Kickoff Return for TD (Matt Stover Extra Point), 3:13. Baltimore 24-7
4TH QUARTER:
BAL - Jamal Lewis 4 Yard TD Run (Matt Stover Extra Point), 8:45. Baltimore 31-7
BAL - Matt Stover 34 Yard Field Goal, 5:28. Baltimore 34-7.

Super Bowl records set or tied

Official Super Bowl XXXV play-by-play

Giants instant replay

Notes

During 36 seconds, late in the third quarter 3 touchdowns were scored.

Two of them were on back-to-back kickoff returns by the Giants' Ron Dixon and Baltimore's Jermaine Lewis.

Ron Dixon's return was the fourth longest in game history.

The teams set a Super Bowl record with 21 punts.

Ravens tied a Super Bowl record with their four interceptions.

Each team had only one first down in the first quarter.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was named the game's most valuable player.

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