Five Things We Learned from the Ravens' 28-13 win over the New England Patriots
Baltimore Sun reporter/blogger Matt Vensel analyzes the Ravens' victory over the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game.
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1. Eight weeks ago, I said that something special was happening with this team. And despite more key injuries, a coaching staff shakeup, and a three-game losing streak, the Ravens never stopped believing in themselves. Now, here they are -- already a special team -- back in the Super Bowl with a chance to seize their football immortality.
It seems like so long ago that Ray Rice did the highly improbable, catching a dump-off from Joe Flacco and evading seemingly everyone on the San Diego Chargers active roster as he picked up 29 yards to keep the Ravens alive in Week 12 so they could win in overtime. That crazy play best represents what the Ravens have pulled off this season. Despite seemingly long odds, they never took their eyes off where they wanted to go, they never stopped battling for each other, they never stopped churning their legs. I said in this space then that something special was happening with this team. That looked foolish for a few weeks, when the Ravens lost four games in December, but it now seems more prescient than ever. These Ravens are a special group of special players with a special bond, and it didn't take another miracle for them to get where they are today (though that bomb to Jacoby Jones last weekend may beg to differ). They flat-out earned it. The Ravens were the better team when they schooled Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. They were the better team when they wore down Peyton Manning and made a mockery of the Denver Broncos defense. And they were the better team when they took all that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots could give them and then attacked back, dominating the second half in Sunday's 28-13 win in the AFC championship game to get to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2001. Even after a difficult December tested them, the Ravens knew they would be there all along, that the last ride of Ray Lewis would end in New Orleans, even though an ice-cold reality suggested otherwise. They heard their critics and doubters (I was among them at times) talk. That the mounting injuries to stars like Lardarius Webb, Haloti Ngata and Lewis would be too much to overcome. That they were crazy for firing Cam Cameron with three weeks left in the regular season. That a champion had to coming screaming into the playoffs on a six-game winning streak to win the Super Bowl. That the defense was too old, Flacco was too enigmatic, Rice was fumble-prone. They heard it all. They filed it away. And then they unleashed a fury on the football field. "We came, we saw, we conquered," Terrell Suggs said Sunday as the Ravens spilled into the locker room. Suggs recently admitted that he believed last year's team was better than this year's bunch, at least in terms of talent. And maybe it was on paper, whatever that is good for. But these Ravens, after a trying 12 months since the last time they were in Foxborough, are on the verge of putting their fingerprints all over the Lombardi Trophy, reaching "football immortality" as Suggs likes to put it. All that stands in their way are the San Francisco 49ers, and it figures to be one heck of a game, especially if you enjoy Harbaughs. But even if the storybook ending isn't written for Ray and the Ravens, they are already special for battling their way to the Super Bowl despite all of the obstacles they had to overcome along the way. |
Comments (35)
Add / View comments | Discussion FAQHey Matt, I'm surprised to see you comment. I’ve been critical in other posts because I can't see how nearly everyone picked NE over a team that just did to Peyton-after six days rest, in altitude-what we did to him. Barring a Ravens' special teams’ meltdown (a rarity), NE should have been the underdog. Their schedule was easier. We beat them in the earlier matchup. We nearly won last year. Clear reasons to tip the scales our way.
That aside, I look forward to reading every week. You have big shoes to fill. KVV had an acute sense for football, yes, but his style was prosaic, filled with metaphor and imagery. Sports writing needs more columnists who know language, who know style, who can turn a good metaphor, who can make one feel the passion again the next day. You're improving, and I'm sure next year will be even better.
Lastly, It's'clear you read these blogs, how much do others? Does it influence the Sun? As I watch Inside the NFL or Sportscenter, when the "analyst" comments that Flacco and the Ravens are under harsh criticism "even in their own town," I wonder whether they are referring to the 25 people who post on the Sun's boards. These posts are often overly critical, even harsh. Does this feed the Baltimore columnists? And in turn, does that feed the larger media machine?
Don’t give in to us. Try to keep that fourth wall standing.
michaelnoon? May i ask you a polite and quite serious question, please? A number of people, including myself, have been asking about the disappearance of David1117, who always agreed with you 100%. Another poster suggested that perhaps, and don't get angry, that perhaps David is really just a persona you created and posted under the name to support your own positions, er, make that position, as it seems you really have only one thing you're concerned about. It was the Manti Te'o story that suggested this possibility to this other Baltimore fan.
Sooo, what i'm asking you is this? Is, in fact, David1117 really just some sort of a Dr. Frankenstein creation of yours and from whom you have just turned off the juice temporarily? Secondly, and i'm quite serious here, is Eva actually the Bride of David1117?
Yea, the newest hack writer for the Sun, only kept around because they can get away with paying him next to nothing while real writers like Eisenburg were let go, had that special feeling so bad for this team, he had no problem picking against them the last two games.
