BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Ravens won the game, yet showed exactly why they had to depend on outside help to reach the playoffs.

Baltimore needed to beat the Miami Dolphins and have three other games fall its way to earn a wild-card berth. The Ravens did their part by stumbling to a 30-23 victory Sunday, but they left the field unsure if it was their final game of the season.

Baltimore (9-7) had to have Buffalo lose to Pittsburgh, Denver lose to Indianapolis and Jacksonville either tie or lose to Oakland.

Ravens coach Brian Billick instructed the scoreboard operator not to post the running score of the ongoing Buffalo-Pittsburgh game, lest his players become distracted. Buffalo lost, and the other two games started later Sunday.

Playing against a downtrodden Miami team that was forced to start third-string quarterback Sage Rosenfels, Baltimore built a 27-7 lead, then allowed the Dolphins to close to 27-21 before holding on.

Jamal Lewis scored a touchdown and ran for 167 yards, giving him 1,006 for the season.

Baltimore’s Jarret Johnson returned an interception for a score and teammate Ed Reed got his ninth interception and returned it 41 yards to get an NFL record for return yardage in a season (358).

But the Ravens’ defense, playing without injured linebacker Ray Lewis, was burned for a touchdown on the game’s first play and later yielded a 90-yard drive against a team that concluded its worst season since 1969.

The Dolphins (4-12) finished 3-4 under interim coach Jim Bates. Nick Saban has already been hired to coach the team next season.

Down by 20 in the third quarter, Miami used a 95-yard kickoff return by Wes Welker – the Dolphins’ first kickoff return for a score since 1989 – and a 35-yard TD run by Sammy Morris to get to 27-21.

It was 30-21 when Travis Minor appeared to score a touchdown for the Dolphins, but officials ruled he came up short and Anthony Weaver ended the drive with an interception.

Rosenfels launched his first NFL start in grand style, throwing a 76-yard touchdown pass to Chris Chambers his opening play. Chambers got behind cornerback Gary Baxter, caught the pass at the Baltimore 42 and sprinted down the left sideline to complete the longest reception of his career.

Rosenfels went 16-for-38 for 264 yards and three interceptions. He started for A.J. Feeley, who had a rib injury.

After Rosenfels shocked the Ravens with his opening pass, Baltimore countered with a 64-yard touchdown drive capped by a 1-yard shovel pass from Kyle Boller to tight end Terry Jones.

The Ravens led 10-7 before Johnson tipped a pass with his left arm, gained control and took it 6 yards for his first NFL touchdown.

Baltimore led 20-7 at halftime and went up by 20 on a 2-yard run by Lewis early in the third quarter.

AP-ES-01-02-05 1653EST