Miami — While a shaky playoff past hangs over Elvis Grbac, the shadow of Trent Dilfer looms larger.
Winless in the postseason over his nine-year career, Grbac was lured to replace a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, bringing pressure never experienced before as the Ravens open the playoffs today against the Miami Dolphins.
Three victories will secure a return trip to the Super Bowl for the defending champions and provide the only shot at glory for Grbac. One loss likely will pin him as the scapegoat in a town emotionally tied to Dilfer, its energetic Super Bowl-winning quarterback from a year ago.
These playoffs will rescue or doom Grbac's season.
"Quarterbacks are defined by the playoffs," Grbac said. "There's another level that you get when you win in the playoffs and when you win the Super Bowl. It's a category that every quarterback strives for.
"That's why I came here. I look at it as an opportunity to go out there and shine and help this team get back to the Super Bowl. That's the only way you've got to look at it."
Those expectations have weighed on Grbac this season.
Signing Grbac to a $30 million contract only 37 days after winning the Super Bowl, the Ravens promoted the Pro Bowl quarterback as a substantial upgrade in talent over Dilfer, who was rarely spectacular yet rarely lost.
That decision brewed into weekly debate as the Ravens struggled to clinch the final playoff spot under Grbac. Hampered by poor decisions and porous pass protection, Grbac finished as the lowest-rated passer among this year's playoff quarterbacks and was the only one to have more interceptions (18) than touchdowns (15).
For the past two months, Ravens coach Brian Billick has had to defend his quarterback. Does he still have confidence in Grbac? Would he bench Grbac in favor of backup Randall Cunningham? Is he committed to Grbac as his quarterback of the future?
"We knew coming in, Elvis was going to be held to an unrealistic standard," Billick said. "Anything less than a Super Bowl was not going to be adequate and was going to be his fault.
"I'm probably not handling it well. I should probably just tell everybody to shut up and I'm not going to answer questions on that anymore. I'd be better served in doing that because I've made my perspective very clear. We're a 6-10 team and we're not in the playoffs if it wasn't for Elvis Grbac."
A telling moment of the season occurred just before a playoff berth was celebrated Monday night.
When Grbac walked into PSINet Stadium, he was booed and greeted with a sign that read: "Will Elvis please leave the building?" Then, when a Seattle Seahawks highlight featuring Dilfer was played on the video board, the crowd broke into cheers.
"People are going to forever remember Trent Dilfer as the guy that quarterbacked the Baltimore Ravens in a Super Bowl," offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. "If Elvis is fortunate enough to have that same scenario, he'll be forever remembered as the second quarterback to take us to the Super Bowl. Nobody comes to me and asks me what was Trent's completion percentage or was he accurate. All they know is that he won a Super Bowl."
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