Ravens Super Bowl history: Two appearances, two wins

Buffalo, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina, San Diego, Tennessee, Detroit, Cleveland, Jacksonville and Houston.

These 13 teams have never won a Super Bowl championship, with Detroit, Cleveland, Jacksonville and Houston having never even made the NFL's title game, which was originally the NFL vs. the AFL and later became the NFC vs. the AFC after the two leagues merged.

The Ravens have only been in existence since 1996 and have made two appearances with two wins. Granted, the Ravens weren't really an expansion team, they still were able to build a consistent winner after the original Browns struggled mightily through most of the 1990s.

But think about what the Ravens have been able to do in the past 19 seasons. They've won two Super Bowls and have been a consistent postseason contender.

For the sake of this blog, let's revisit the two Super Bowl wins though.

Super Bowl XXXV: Arguably one of the best defenses in NFL history, the Ravens shut down the Giants from start to finish in a 34-7 victory 14 years ago on this day. Brandon Stokley got the first touchdown of the game on a 38-yard pass from Trent Dilfer to get things started. Duane Starks had a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown, Jermaine Lewis returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score, Jamal Lewis had a 3-yard rushing touchdown and Matt Stover kicked two field goals.

The only score the Ravens gave up was on a 97-yard kickoff return from Ron Dixon in the third quarter. Though the Ravens only led 10-0 at halftime, it seemed like a much bigger hill for the Giants to climb. Giants quarterback Kerry Collins had a miserable day, going 15-39 for 112 yards and four interceptions.

Super Bowl XLVII: A much, much more competitive game than the first Super Bowl appearance for the Ravens. Dubbed the Harbaugh Bowl II since Ravens coach John Harbaugh went against his brother, the then-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, Baltimore jumped out to an early 21-6 lead at halftime.

Joe Flacco started the game on fire, tossing touchdowns to Anquan Boldin, Dennis Pitta and Jacoby Jones in the first half. Jones then returned a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown to open the second half. Then everything went dark and a 32-minute delay for an electrical malfunction that shut the lights off in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome occurred. This break seemed to spark the 49ers as they put together a strong comeback behind the arm of quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

But up 34-29, and with the 49ers threatening, Kaepernick was unable to convert for his team inside the Ravens' 10. A fourth-down incompletion to Michael Crabtree, with Jimmy Smith in coverage, essentially sealed the deal. Punter Sam Koch took a safety with four seconds to go to prevent a punt return or punt block for a touchdown and Josh Bynes made the last tackle on special teams to give Baltimore its second Super Bowl title.

So for you, the Ravens fan: Which Super Bowl championship meant more to you? The first one, in which the Ravens were a dominant defensive team that could not be stopped down the stretch? Or the second one, which featured a Ravens team many had counted out that ended up going on one of the most memorable postseason runs in modern NFL history?