Quickly embraced as fans turned Whacko for Flacco, Baltimore's "Joe Cool" won over the city's sports fans wearing #5, a number distinguished by one of Baltimore's greatest legends, Brooks Robinson. May the young Flacco be blessed with good health and great performance so perhaps some day he could be mentioned in the same breath as Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken, and Johnny Unitas.The carriage turned back into a pumpkin just a few minutes too soon as the Baltimore Ravens amazing “Cinderella” season came to a painful loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers moving down the field just a Matt Stover field goal field goal away from a trip to their second Super Bowl. All hell broke lose in the final moments including a devastating turnover which left Ravens’ runner Willis Magahee lying motionless on the field for several minutes before being removed on a stretcher. It seems like the game was playing in reverse as so often Ed Reed would strike with the decisive interception that would break the back of the opponent, but there’s one other player lurking in the secondary who can turn lose ruination on the unsuspecting opposing offense, Troy Palamalo. Clearly, the Steelers were the stronger team on this frigid winter night in the Steel City, nevertheless, the Ravens were in a position to win deep into the fourth quarter perhaps due in part to sending Heinz Ward to the sidelines early in the first quarter after Ward was successful in achieving two first downs for Pittsburgh.
Congratulations to the Steelers. Though they have had their sloppy moments at times, when they won, they looked like the best team in the NFL. They might not play with the soldier like precision of the recent dominant New England Patriots teams nor does their offensive attack play with the smoothness and harmony of a Peyton Manning led attack in Indianapolis. Instead, the Steelers brawl with their opponents, and in most slug-outs they’re the bullies no one wants to face when something important is on the line.
Losing always hurts even when a team has overwhelmingly exceeded the loftiest expectations for the entire season. However, the Ravens entered the post season two years ago with the second best record in the AFC and tied for the second best record in the NFL overall, they looked wimpy and confused in playoff action against the Indianapolis Colts. Right out of training camp, the Ravens’ fortunes began to slip away with one key injury after another as Quarterback Steve McNair looked suddenly old and frail and Kyle Boller showed no growth from a year in apprenticeship under McNair eventually suffering an injury that would remove him from action at the end of the year. The losses mounted, and team unity fell apart where players appeared openly defiant of their coaches on the field as best witnessed by their meltdown against New England where they were poised to end New England’s perfect season but as the game slipped away in the final minutes, discipline totally broke down with insane penalties and little coordination on the field including many reserves called into action as many starters’ seasons were already finished. Owner Steve Bischiotti, despite earlier intentions, promptly fired head coach, Brian Billick looking for a assertive but fair coach who could restore discipline and a sense of team play which had eroded so miserably. Against that backdrop, Quarterback, Kyle Boller, became a scapegoat for many fans fearing the 2008 team would suffer through yet another attempt to try to get the struggling QB righted as a winning field general. Fans looked to Troy Smith who just completed his rookie year after winning a Heismann trophy for Ohio State and playing in national championship games. The Ravens appeared close to signing Dallas Cowboys’ offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett to replace Billick, but after visiting Baltimore amidst much media hoopla, Garrett declined the Ravens offer. While some more prominent names were mentioned, the Ravens hired John Harbaugh, brother of former Ravens and long time Chicago Bears’ QB, Jim Harbaugh and Special Teams Coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Harbaugh name was familiar, his experience to become a head coach seemed like a bit of a gamble to many, but his straight forward and disciplined manner created a strong first impression. He was able to retain defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan, and brought Cam Cameron, architect of successful NFL offenses including building that of the San Diego Chargers, as offensive coordinator.
As the NFL draft approached, the Ravens sought to deviate from their normal practice of selecting the best player available in favor of maneuvering to find a candidate who had the necessary qualities to hopefully be the franchise quarterback the team had lacked from its move from Cleveland. Boston College’s Matt Ryan was clearly the top prospect in the draft, but the Ravens saw no way they could get in a position of drafting Ryan, so they positioned themselves to pick Joe Flacco from the University of Delaware. Despite Delaware not being a BCS Bowl eligible school, they were impressed with Flacco’s abilities and demeanor hoping studying the position on the sidelines in the NFL, he would be ready in a season or two to assume the starting role.
As training camp opened, two things were clear: the Ravens ultimately saw themselves in rebuilding mode despite having many key players from the team that ran away with the AFC North title in 2006; furthermore, the quarterback for 2008 would either be Kyle Boller or Troy Smith with many fans and Ravens players not so secretly were pulling for Smith to dominate in preseason as another year of watching Kyle Boller struggle was beyond tolerance.
Entering the preseason, few would have suggested the Ravens could play for a winning record much less be one game away from the Super Bowl. The happiest projection most of the most knowledgeable local media could offer was the Ravens could finish 7-9 if all the pieces fell into place. A .500 record would be a miracle. The Preseason turned ugly fast. After edging the New England Patriots by one point, the Ravens would drop their next three games looking progressively uncertain with many positions being question marks as the body count due to injuries mounted. Kyle Boller suffered a shoulder injury and looked unlikely to start the season. All signs pointed to Troy Smith locking up the starting QB job, but the organization was insistent they wanted to bring Joe Flacco along slowly. When Smith couldn’t start because of an apparent stomach ailment, Flacco was rushed in to make a preseason start, but when Smith was not able to perform for a second week in a row and his illness turned out to be a more serious infection, suddenly Flacco was being prepped for a bigger role.
The first day of the 2008 season was at hand. Joe Flacco was the next man standing and would be the Ravens’ starting QB. Joe Flacco held his own as the team beat the Cincinnati Bengals convincingly in week one. They were scheduled to play in Houston for week two, but Hurricane Ike forced the game’s postponement until week ten. As such, the Ravens would have the second week off and then carry on for the rest of the season without benefit of a bye.
Confidence would be elevated some when the Ravens obliterated the Cleveland Browns in Baltimore 28-10, but that confidence would be tested and all those nasty questions from the preseason got louder over the next three weeks as the Ravens lost to Pittsburgh then Tennessee by a field goal and then lost miserably to the Indianapolis Colts who had been struggling up to that point in a 31-3 blowout. The coaching staff appeared to tightened wraps on Flacco to try to present simple, fail-safe game plans, while trying to build a more competitive offense with the assortment of seemingly mismatched pieces they had.
The Ravens travelled to south Florida for week seven to engage the Miami Dolphins who just one year early won their only game against the Ravens. The Ravens won decisively and returned home to play the Oakland Raiders. Though the Ravens were a touchdown favorite to beat the Raiders, this game introduced the 2008 NFL world to what would go on to become a dominant playoff quality team implementing trick offensive schemes and furthering their vicious defense to new extremes where by the second half many opponents would look dazed and bewildered after experienced “organized chaos” the Rex Ryan defensive scheme executed by Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Bart Scott, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, and a cast of specialists, thugs, and bullies. They’d take their show on the road as they faced Cleveland and Houston essentially turning their seasons into total chaos.
A trip up the road to the New Jersey swamps to face the defending Super Bowl champs gave the Ravens a painful jolt as the teams they had been feasting upon did not have a winning record between them. The Ravens looked overmatched across the board against the Giants, but those distinctions would no longer prove relevant as the Ravens marched through the remaining six games of the season winning five out of six of their remaining games where after a brilliant pounding of the Philadelphia Eagles the next week would heat up talk of the Ravens being a legitimate playoff contender, but they were also now in the tough part of their schedule aside from getting a breather against Cincinnati. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers would defeat the Ravens in a late controversial touchdown that gave the Steelers the win.
Rumor had it that given week 16 slotted the Dallas Cowboys against an AFC North opponent, rumors spread through the media that Jerry Jones pulled some strings to have the Ravens square off against his team to hopefully assure the Cowboys with a victory playing their last game at Texas Stadium with a huge farewell ceremony scheduled for after the game. The Ravens proved to be gracious party-poopers embarrassing the ‘Boys to a convincing 33-24 defeat where Ed Reeve interceptions and long record setting running plays broke the back of the Dallas Cowboys all but destroying the Cowboys’ shot at post season play unless a lot of crazy luck went their way the next day during the regular Sunday schedule.
All the Ravens needed to do was beat a struggling Jacksonville team and they’d be playoff bound. The Ravens would take their final bow before their admiring home fans establishing an unthinkable 11-5 record looking strong going into the Wild Card round of the playoffs where they were favored to beat Miami.
While the Ravens surely proved themselves a respectable team by the time they destroyed Philadelphia, the gig was surely up when they’d face the Tennessee Titans, the NFL’s most winning team. Ravens fans were confident that the Ravens would find the secret to success since they only lost by a field goal earlier in the season and were a much stronger, more experienced team by the playoffs’ second round. In what was becoming typical fashion, the Ravens played conservative offense while the defense gutted their confidence. Turnovers killed the Titans leading the Ravens off to Pittsburgh as the one remaining foe to conquer before a possible Super Bowl bid.
With four minutes remaining the Ravens could have been marching down the field to win by one point on a Matt Stover automatic field goal. Instead of hitting between the uprights, the Ravens hit the Pittsburgh defense that appeared to present the Ravens with the same little shop of horrors that the Ravens had so expertly laid upon their opponents for most of the season.
Pittsburgh was the number one defense against the Ravens’ number two. While the Steelers clearly dominated the Ravens in all areas, the Ravens held the Steelers close until the final collapse.
It hurts to end in defeat, but John Harbaugh, Joe Flacco, and the entire team provided Chesapeake Bay country with one of its most exciting football seasons ever even with the large number of players on injured reserve lost for the season.
Perhaps the sports world witnessed the makings of what could be one of the hottest rivalries in sports for years to come as the Pittsburgh Steelers truly look like they could now be the AFC’s top team and should remain solid for years to come. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens are a team on the rise.
To repeat their 2008 performance in 2009 will be difficult. No one will be surprised by the Ravens next year. Opposing teams will be prepared and much more familiar with the organized chaos they face. In the free agent/salary cap era, teams struggle to hold on to all their top talent regardless of the teams’ bankrolls. Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Bart Scott are all at the end of their contracts. Signing all three of them will be difficult particularly if the team seeks to find a stud top notch receiver or some other skill position standouts to help give Joe Flacco’s offense more options. Finally, the Ravens will face a particularly tough schedule next year. While they will compete against the AFC West and NFC North gives them foes like the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions, by finishing in second place, they’re slotted to face both the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots while the Steelers are rewarded with the first place teams of the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins. Having new leadership having fired their head coaches, teams like the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos might have new energy not shown in 2008. In a league built to try to achieve parity, the Ravens will be pushed to their limits to try to advance to the next step, a division title and a Super Bowl bid for 2009. By the time most readers see this column, it is a strong possibility Rex Ryan will be introduced as the next head coach for the New York Jets.
The Baltimore Ravens have a good blend of veterans and young players with a developing nucleus that could make them strong contenders for years to come. Fans and players alike will look to next year with high hopes of turning the tables on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s been awhile since there has been such a strong rivalry within a division for national bragging rights, but nothing could help make the Ravens a truly national team than the AFC North having a hot rivalry much like the great battles between the Redskins and the Cowboys during the ‘Skins’ first Joe Gibbs era. Meanwhile, if they’re not there already, the Ravens surely belong in the fraternity of the well-established AFC elite with Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, New England, and Denver.
Once the memory of the final loss against Pittsburgh subsides, the 2009 offseason should be one of interesting developments as the Ravens move toward the draft and finding a few missing pieces to make them the team to beat when training camp opens in just a little over six months.
Go Ravens! You’ve made Baltimore and the Chesapeake Region proud!!
Congratulations to the Steelers. Though they have had their sloppy moments at times, when they won, they looked like the best team in the NFL. They might not play with the soldier like precision of the recent dominant New England Patriots teams nor does their offensive attack play with the smoothness and harmony of a Peyton Manning led attack in Indianapolis. Instead, the Steelers brawl with their opponents, and in most slug-outs they’re the bullies no one wants to face when something important is on the line.
Losing always hurts even when a team has overwhelmingly exceeded the loftiest expectations for the entire season. However, the Ravens entered the post season two years ago with the second best record in the AFC and tied for the second best record in the NFL overall, they looked wimpy and confused in playoff action against the Indianapolis Colts. Right out of training camp, the Ravens’ fortunes began to slip away with one key injury after another as Quarterback Steve McNair looked suddenly old and frail and Kyle Boller showed no growth from a year in apprenticeship under McNair eventually suffering an injury that would remove him from action at the end of the year. The losses mounted, and team unity fell apart where players appeared openly defiant of their coaches on the field as best witnessed by their meltdown against New England where they were poised to end New England’s perfect season but as the game slipped away in the final minutes, discipline totally broke down with insane penalties and little coordination on the field including many reserves called into action as many starters’ seasons were already finished. Owner Steve Bischiotti, despite earlier intentions, promptly fired head coach, Brian Billick looking for a assertive but fair coach who could restore discipline and a sense of team play which had eroded so miserably. Against that backdrop, Quarterback, Kyle Boller, became a scapegoat for many fans fearing the 2008 team would suffer through yet another attempt to try to get the struggling QB righted as a winning field general. Fans looked to Troy Smith who just completed his rookie year after winning a Heismann trophy for Ohio State and playing in national championship games. The Ravens appeared close to signing Dallas Cowboys’ offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett to replace Billick, but after visiting Baltimore amidst much media hoopla, Garrett declined the Ravens offer. While some more prominent names were mentioned, the Ravens hired John Harbaugh, brother of former Ravens and long time Chicago Bears’ QB, Jim Harbaugh and Special Teams Coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Harbaugh name was familiar, his experience to become a head coach seemed like a bit of a gamble to many, but his straight forward and disciplined manner created a strong first impression. He was able to retain defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan, and brought Cam Cameron, architect of successful NFL offenses including building that of the San Diego Chargers, as offensive coordinator.
As the NFL draft approached, the Ravens sought to deviate from their normal practice of selecting the best player available in favor of maneuvering to find a candidate who had the necessary qualities to hopefully be the franchise quarterback the team had lacked from its move from Cleveland. Boston College’s Matt Ryan was clearly the top prospect in the draft, but the Ravens saw no way they could get in a position of drafting Ryan, so they positioned themselves to pick Joe Flacco from the University of Delaware. Despite Delaware not being a BCS Bowl eligible school, they were impressed with Flacco’s abilities and demeanor hoping studying the position on the sidelines in the NFL, he would be ready in a season or two to assume the starting role.
As training camp opened, two things were clear: the Ravens ultimately saw themselves in rebuilding mode despite having many key players from the team that ran away with the AFC North title in 2006; furthermore, the quarterback for 2008 would either be Kyle Boller or Troy Smith with many fans and Ravens players not so secretly were pulling for Smith to dominate in preseason as another year of watching Kyle Boller struggle was beyond tolerance.
Entering the preseason, few would have suggested the Ravens could play for a winning record much less be one game away from the Super Bowl. The happiest projection most of the most knowledgeable local media could offer was the Ravens could finish 7-9 if all the pieces fell into place. A .500 record would be a miracle. The Preseason turned ugly fast. After edging the New England Patriots by one point, the Ravens would drop their next three games looking progressively uncertain with many positions being question marks as the body count due to injuries mounted. Kyle Boller suffered a shoulder injury and looked unlikely to start the season. All signs pointed to Troy Smith locking up the starting QB job, but the organization was insistent they wanted to bring Joe Flacco along slowly. When Smith couldn’t start because of an apparent stomach ailment, Flacco was rushed in to make a preseason start, but when Smith was not able to perform for a second week in a row and his illness turned out to be a more serious infection, suddenly Flacco was being prepped for a bigger role.
The first day of the 2008 season was at hand. Joe Flacco was the next man standing and would be the Ravens’ starting QB. Joe Flacco held his own as the team beat the Cincinnati Bengals convincingly in week one. They were scheduled to play in Houston for week two, but Hurricane Ike forced the game’s postponement until week ten. As such, the Ravens would have the second week off and then carry on for the rest of the season without benefit of a bye.
Confidence would be elevated some when the Ravens obliterated the Cleveland Browns in Baltimore 28-10, but that confidence would be tested and all those nasty questions from the preseason got louder over the next three weeks as the Ravens lost to Pittsburgh then Tennessee by a field goal and then lost miserably to the Indianapolis Colts who had been struggling up to that point in a 31-3 blowout. The coaching staff appeared to tightened wraps on Flacco to try to present simple, fail-safe game plans, while trying to build a more competitive offense with the assortment of seemingly mismatched pieces they had.
The Ravens travelled to south Florida for week seven to engage the Miami Dolphins who just one year early won their only game against the Ravens. The Ravens won decisively and returned home to play the Oakland Raiders. Though the Ravens were a touchdown favorite to beat the Raiders, this game introduced the 2008 NFL world to what would go on to become a dominant playoff quality team implementing trick offensive schemes and furthering their vicious defense to new extremes where by the second half many opponents would look dazed and bewildered after experienced “organized chaos” the Rex Ryan defensive scheme executed by Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Bart Scott, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, and a cast of specialists, thugs, and bullies. They’d take their show on the road as they faced Cleveland and Houston essentially turning their seasons into total chaos.
A trip up the road to the New Jersey swamps to face the defending Super Bowl champs gave the Ravens a painful jolt as the teams they had been feasting upon did not have a winning record between them. The Ravens looked overmatched across the board against the Giants, but those distinctions would no longer prove relevant as the Ravens marched through the remaining six games of the season winning five out of six of their remaining games where after a brilliant pounding of the Philadelphia Eagles the next week would heat up talk of the Ravens being a legitimate playoff contender, but they were also now in the tough part of their schedule aside from getting a breather against Cincinnati. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers would defeat the Ravens in a late controversial touchdown that gave the Steelers the win.
Rumor had it that given week 16 slotted the Dallas Cowboys against an AFC North opponent, rumors spread through the media that Jerry Jones pulled some strings to have the Ravens square off against his team to hopefully assure the Cowboys with a victory playing their last game at Texas Stadium with a huge farewell ceremony scheduled for after the game. The Ravens proved to be gracious party-poopers embarrassing the ‘Boys to a convincing 33-24 defeat where Ed Reeve interceptions and long record setting running plays broke the back of the Dallas Cowboys all but destroying the Cowboys’ shot at post season play unless a lot of crazy luck went their way the next day during the regular Sunday schedule.
All the Ravens needed to do was beat a struggling Jacksonville team and they’d be playoff bound. The Ravens would take their final bow before their admiring home fans establishing an unthinkable 11-5 record looking strong going into the Wild Card round of the playoffs where they were favored to beat Miami.
While the Ravens surely proved themselves a respectable team by the time they destroyed Philadelphia, the gig was surely up when they’d face the Tennessee Titans, the NFL’s most winning team. Ravens fans were confident that the Ravens would find the secret to success since they only lost by a field goal earlier in the season and were a much stronger, more experienced team by the playoffs’ second round. In what was becoming typical fashion, the Ravens played conservative offense while the defense gutted their confidence. Turnovers killed the Titans leading the Ravens off to Pittsburgh as the one remaining foe to conquer before a possible Super Bowl bid.
With four minutes remaining the Ravens could have been marching down the field to win by one point on a Matt Stover automatic field goal. Instead of hitting between the uprights, the Ravens hit the Pittsburgh defense that appeared to present the Ravens with the same little shop of horrors that the Ravens had so expertly laid upon their opponents for most of the season.
Pittsburgh was the number one defense against the Ravens’ number two. While the Steelers clearly dominated the Ravens in all areas, the Ravens held the Steelers close until the final collapse.
It hurts to end in defeat, but John Harbaugh, Joe Flacco, and the entire team provided Chesapeake Bay country with one of its most exciting football seasons ever even with the large number of players on injured reserve lost for the season.
Perhaps the sports world witnessed the makings of what could be one of the hottest rivalries in sports for years to come as the Pittsburgh Steelers truly look like they could now be the AFC’s top team and should remain solid for years to come. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens are a team on the rise.
To repeat their 2008 performance in 2009 will be difficult. No one will be surprised by the Ravens next year. Opposing teams will be prepared and much more familiar with the organized chaos they face. In the free agent/salary cap era, teams struggle to hold on to all their top talent regardless of the teams’ bankrolls. Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Bart Scott are all at the end of their contracts. Signing all three of them will be difficult particularly if the team seeks to find a stud top notch receiver or some other skill position standouts to help give Joe Flacco’s offense more options. Finally, the Ravens will face a particularly tough schedule next year. While they will compete against the AFC West and NFC North gives them foes like the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions, by finishing in second place, they’re slotted to face both the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots while the Steelers are rewarded with the first place teams of the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins. Having new leadership having fired their head coaches, teams like the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos might have new energy not shown in 2008. In a league built to try to achieve parity, the Ravens will be pushed to their limits to try to advance to the next step, a division title and a Super Bowl bid for 2009. By the time most readers see this column, it is a strong possibility Rex Ryan will be introduced as the next head coach for the New York Jets.
The Baltimore Ravens have a good blend of veterans and young players with a developing nucleus that could make them strong contenders for years to come. Fans and players alike will look to next year with high hopes of turning the tables on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s been awhile since there has been such a strong rivalry within a division for national bragging rights, but nothing could help make the Ravens a truly national team than the AFC North having a hot rivalry much like the great battles between the Redskins and the Cowboys during the ‘Skins’ first Joe Gibbs era. Meanwhile, if they’re not there already, the Ravens surely belong in the fraternity of the well-established AFC elite with Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, New England, and Denver.
Once the memory of the final loss against Pittsburgh subsides, the 2009 offseason should be one of interesting developments as the Ravens move toward the draft and finding a few missing pieces to make them the team to beat when training camp opens in just a little over six months.
Go Ravens! You’ve made Baltimore and the Chesapeake Region proud!!
No comments:
Post a Comment