Ray Lewis set the tone, but Paul Kruger and Bernard Pierce stole the show…

Andrew Luck was superb for Indy. Reggie Wayne played like a Hall-of-Fame wideout (which is probably likely)…

Ray Lewis, in his last home game as the Ravens' 17-year veteran linebacker, came out with an elaborate arm brace to protect his right triceps, but played like he was a 25-year-old again.

The end result was a 24-9 win for the Ravens.

The real story was written by two relative unknowns— OLB Paul Kruger and RB Bernard Pierce.

Kruger played the game of his life, generating unbelievable pressure on the Colts' passing game and QB Andrew Luck in particular. Pierce took the offensive load off Joe Flacco and Ray Rice and ran with it.

Anquan Boldin set a franchise record with 145 yards receiving in one half, including the clinching touchdown in the Ravens' 24-9 victory Sunday over the Colts in an AFC wild-card game. The win delays star linebacker Lewis' retirement for at least another week as Baltimore (11-6) heads to top-seeded Denver (13-3) next Saturday.

Ray Lewis, who made 13 tackles (and a near-interception) Sunday, ended his last home game in Baltimore at fullback, of all things, for the final kneel-down. He then went into a short version of his trademark dance before being mobbed by teammates. He followed with a victory lap, his right arm, covered by a brace, held high in salute to the fans after playing for the first time since tearing his right triceps on Oct. 14 against Dallas.

"My only focus was to come in and get my team a win. Nothing else was planned," the 37-year-old Lewis said. "It's one of those things, when you recap it all and try to say what is one of your greatest moments. I knew how it started but I never knew how it would end here in Baltimore. To go the way it did today, I wouldn't change nothing."

He would like nothing more than to change past results next Saturday against Peyton Manning, who was 2-0 in the postseason against Baltimore while with the Colts. "It's on to the next one," the 17-year veteran said. "We saw them earlier in the year and now we get them back again, but with all of our guns back."

The loss ended the Colts' turnaround season in which they went from 2-14 to the playoffs in coach Chuck Pagano's first year in Indianapolis (11-6). Pagano missed 12 weeks while undergoing treatment for leukemia and returned last week.

Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who went 9-3 as interim coach, was absent Sunday after being hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. Pagano said Arians "is fine" and would stay overnight for observation before rejoining the Colts on Monday. Quarterback coach Clyde Christensen called the plays, but Baltimore's suddenly revitalized defense — inspired by Lewis' pending retirement, no doubt — never let standout rookie QB Luck get comfortable.

"It's great making the playoffs, but you can't make mistakes and expect to beat a playoff team like we did," said Luck, who was sacked three times, Paul Kruger getting 2 1/2 of those. "We'll have to look back at those and hopefully fix them."

Joe Flacco now has won at least one postseason game in all five of his pro seasons, the only quarterback to do it in the Super Bowl era. Flacco made some big throws in the first half which were either dropped or missed by his receivers. Had Tandon Doss only caught one of them, the game would have probably been out of reach for the Colts early on.

Flacco's main target Sunday in the 2nd half was Boldin, who had receptions of 50 and 46 yards, plus his 18-yard TD on a floater from Flacco into the corner of the end zone with 9:14 to go. "I told (Flacco) before the game I was going to get 200 yards," Boldin said with a chuckle. "It's huge for us. It's huge for this city, they've supported us this entire year and they expect a lot from us. In return, we want to give it to them."

Baltimore overcame the first two lost fumbles of the season by Ray Rice, too, as John Harbaugh became the only head coach in the Super Bowl era with opening wins in his first five playoff campaigns.

Backup halfback Bernard Pierce rescued Rice with a 43-yard burst that led to Boldin's touchdown, and ran for 103 yards.

Flacco also connected with Dennis Pitta for a 20-yard TD and rookie Justin Tucker made a 23-yard field goal.

Indy's only points came on three field goals by Adam Vinatieri, from 47, 52 and 26 yards. Luck completed 28 of 54 passes for 288 yards. It was the most attempts by a rookie in a playoff game.

Reggie Wayne had 108 yards on eight receptions and moved into second in career playoff catches with 91 — 60 behind leader Jerry Rice. But the Colts, who moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984 — and still are despised here in Crabtown — became the second NFL team to improve to 11 wins following a two-win season and then lose in the opening round of the playoffs.

Both teams were sloppy early on, with Rice losing a fumble, Lewis dropping a potential interception, and Luck being stripped of the ball on a sack. But Rice atoned with a 47-yard gain on a screen pass, leading to Vonta Leach's 2-yard touchdown.

That Pro Bowl backfield was bolstered by the kick returns of another Pro Bowl player, Jacoby Jones. He gained 60 yards on kickoff runbacks and 57 on punt returns.

Vinatieri, familiar with big kicks in the playoffs after winning two Super Bowls for New England with field goals, made a 47-yarder in the second quarter, a 52-yarder as the first half expired, and a 26-yarder near the end of the third period. But he also missed a 40-yarder wide right, his first miss against Baltimore after 18 successes.

Ravens LB Dannell Ellerbe sprained an ankle late in the game. .. Harbaugh is 6-4 in playoff games, as is Flacco. … Rice finished with 70 yards rushing and Flacco threw for 282. … Rookie Vick Ballard rushed for 91 yards for Indy. …

It was a bend-but-don't-break outing for the Ravens defense, and they'll need every ounce of that formula going into Denver next Saturday against Peyton Manning.