"Here come the Ravens," Baltimore safety Ed Reed said. "The team you don't want to see."

And after what transpired Sunday, the Dolphins certainly would agree, as the Ravens left Miami's feel-good story in shambles in a 27-9 victory in an AFC wild-card game. The Ravens now roar on to face the Tennessee Titans on Saturday in the divisional round at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.

Not since Baltimore's defense carried along a low-risk offense to a Super Bowl win to close out the 2000 season have the Ravens plowed into a postseason like they did Sunday.

The Dolphins entered as the league's stingiest team, having turned over the ball only 13 times all season, and quarterback Chad Pennington had thrown only seven interceptions, tied with Tennessee's Kerry Collins for the least among the league's starters.

"But who likes to get hit?" asked Ravens defensive end Trevor Pryce, a former member of the Broncos. "We kept the pressure on. And sacks are a title; pressure is what gets you interceptions."

The Ravens intercepted Pennington four times Sunday - it was Pennington's first four-interception game since Dec. 20, 2003, when he threw a career- high five, against New England - including two in the second quarter. Reed had two of the interceptions, including one he returned 64 yards for a touchdown.

The Ravens also sacked Pennington three times and pounded him repeatedly in the pocket. Baltimore held the Dolphins to only 52 yards rushing, 22 in the second half, and made their throwback nod to the winged-T offense of yesteryear - the Wildcat - a nonfactor.

"There were some times out there it was the (pass rush), there were some things I'm sure we wish we had back . . . ," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "It's OK to play Monday Morning Quarterback tomorrow somewhere as we look at this thing. Right now, it's just disappointing."

"Guys say he gambles, but that's because they don't know what they're talking about," Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said of Reed. "He's never out of position. He's the best playmaker in the league. . . . Best ballhawk at least I've ever seen, and I saw (Hall of Famer) Paul Krause - that was at the end of (Krause's) career, but I wouldn't trade Ed for anybody. Ed's just always there."

It was Reed's second-quarter interception that shook loose a 3-3 game for good. Facing third- and-8 at the Miami 19-yard line, Pennington tried to push a ball deep down the right sideline to Ted Ginn.

But the ball was a little too far to the inside, and Reed had a far better angle at it than Ginn, making the catch over his shoulder. By the time he turned to begin his crisscross journey to the end zone, the Ravens defenders had formed a line of blockers.

"On the zigzag?" Reed said when asked how far he might have run on the play. "I don't know. It felt like 200 (meters) from track. But I saw the wall, everybody was over there."

"We jumped up a touchdown right there, and that was big," Ryan said. "It just set the tone . . . put them on their heels."

Reed's second interception, with slightly more than two minutes to go in the third quarter, also ended the Dolphins' last legitimate shot at a comeback when he snared a Pennington pass at the Ravens 8-yard line.

The Dolphins added a touchdown to finish their first possession of the fourth quarter, but even that came with a defensive stop of sorts from the Ravens. Baltimore blocked the extra- point attempt to keep things at 20-9.

Miami took its next possession to the Ravens 25-yard line, but linebacker Ray Lewis blasted into Pennington as he was handing the ball to Ginn. Ginn fumbled the ball away, then was forced to chase it down before recovering it at the Miami 44-yard line.

"We picked the wrong time to play one of our worst games," Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter said. "Everything we prided ourselves on doing, we didn't do . . . we didn't hold up our end of the bargain."

"We heard all week they don't turn the ball over, they don't turn the ball over," Lewis said. "But bottom line, we force turnovers."