5 Things We Learned from Super Bowl XLVI
Chris Korman: There's always something somber about watching a Super Bowl that your favorite team could — OK, should — have played in. Whereas most people whose teams were eliminated earlier approach the game as a reason to eat too much dip and gamble in strange ways, Ravens fans probably couldn't escape some nagging lack of fulfillment (no matter how many Bohs they consumed) and sense that something could be gleaned from the final game.
And, anyway, what's failure without a lesson to come from it?
So, let's dig for Five Things We Learned from Super Bowl XLVI.
And, anyway, what's failure without a lesson to come from it?
So, let's dig for Five Things We Learned from Super Bowl XLVI.
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1. It's a tough thing for fans of the team to read, but the Ravens belonged in this game.
Let's start here, by stating the obvious.
Nobody put it better than the owner of the team, Steve Bisciotti. All the Ravens had to do differently this season was to hold on to the ball. If Lee Evans had squeezed his hands more tightly around that sublime Joe Flacco pass, the city of Baltimore spends Sunday night drawn together, hoping. It really would have been a beautiful thing. I suspect it was difficult for any Ravens fan — or for any journalist who focused on the team — to not envision Ray Lewis coming out of the tunnel, or Joe Flacco responding to the Giants' pass rush. It's folly, of course, to try to imagine what a Ravens-Giants game would have looked like, but it's also just as impossible to stop the mind from wondering. Ray Rice would have been the biggest difference, I think. He's a better mix of nimble and tough than any back the Patriots have. For as steady as BenJarvus Green-Ellis has been, he doesn't present the same big-play threat as Rice. And Danny Woodhead, being more of a situational player, is easier for a defense to key on. Rice is out there every play, and he's both difficult to tackle — he'll lower the shoulder and he'll twist and turn — and capable of dashing 50 yards if a gap is there. On defense, I think the Ravens are simply more dangerous. It was hard not to admire the work done by the much-maligned, hodge-podge Patriots defense over the past few weeks; they were, it seemed, a group that was greater than the sum of its parts. But the Ravens have more play-makers and, under Chuck Pagano, more daring. We'll praise Eli Manning later, but for now, let's just say that he was terrific but also not overly hassled. Terrell Suggs, the Associated Press' Defensive Player of the Year, would have forced him to move around the pocket more, and safety Ed Reed and cornerback Lardarius Webb are instinctual players who capitalize on rushed decisions. While the Ravens might have been prone to mistakes, they also would have been much more likely to force momentum-shifting turnovers. Of course, the Ravens' defense might have struggled with the Giants' physical running attack, and their offensive line wasn't great against athletic speed rushers all year. So, it would have been a close game. As we begin discussing the draft and free agency, playing general manager in every conversation, it might be best to remember that. Change is coming for the Ravens; it's always inevitable in the NFL. But the core of a winning team already exists, and the philosophy for keeping it that way appears to be in place. |
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kichwatembo at 4:18 PM February 06, 2012
PLEASE stop crying about missing the Super Bowl. PLEASE read the title Mr. Korman. What do you think you should be writing about? Could you possibly be worse than KVV?
arkayy at 3:46 PM February 06, 2012
Things we learned #4:
"The Ravens probably could benefit from more creativity on offense"
Please tell us something that we don't already know nor has been hashed around for the past 3+ years.
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the vonte leach stuff is nonsense. lance917 you are right. just execute. its that simple. you're in position to win at just the right time. just execute. i don't know why it doesn't happen for us. coaching decisions, talent, injuries, luck, all those aside. the ravens didn't execute. sigh.
not that it matters, but a guy like welker, who has been megaclutch for them, sounds like he will be eaten alive by the catch he didn't make. not a gimme catch, but for him, you'd think so. those patriot superbowl wins are getting a little further in the rearview. they are feeling about as wretched as we did two weeks ago. only one bunch of happy campers at the end. and so, so tough to get back there again.
just execute, baby.