Unbelievably, the Baltimore Ravens won again on Sunday and will represent the AFC in this years Super Bowl.  They will face San Francisco who defeated the Falcons to match up two brothers at head coach.  The amount of story lines in this game are plentiful, and Baltimore holds a large share of them.  First off, lets talk about Baltimore’s path to this game.  They dominated first overall pick Andrew Luck and their former defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano.  They then traveled to Denver to beat Peyton Manning and the Broncos in a double over time thriller.  Last week they shut out another future hall of famer in Tom Brady in the second half to win by 15.  The final two games Baltimore were underdogs by more than a TD.

The first half of the game in New England was a hard fought battle.  The Patriots hit the scoreboard first with a field goal.  Baltimore were forced deep in their own territory several times after that, leading to punts on their first three drives.  On their fourth drive, they started at the 10 yard line and chipped away at the Patriots defense for a 13 play, 90 yard drive.  It was capped with a Ray Rice run of two yards.  The Pat’s answered right back with an 11 play TD drive right after.  After another punt by Baltimore, New England drove right back down the field.  Then came a play close to the end zone where Tom Brady rushed and slid down to avoid a hit.  The only problem is that he raised his foot into harms way, right towards Ed Reed.  The Ravens did not take kindly to that, and forced only a field goal after that.  New England would not score after that field goal.

The second half of this game was dominated by Baltimore’s defense and Joe Flacco.  Flacco had 3 touchdowns while Brady had 2 interceptions.  Joe, just as he has all postseason was nearly perfect.  He hit Dennis Pitta for a score and Anquan Boldin twice with great touch pass jump balls up the middle.  It was utter dominance in the second half, and not how people expected.  Baltimore just seemed to want this game a little bit more.  They put relentless pressure on Brady and the rest of the Patriot’s offense, forcing three turnovers in the second half.  When the Ravens receivers were hauling any pass coming there way, the Patriots dropped several passes, much of them would have extended drives.  Baltimore played the cleaner game, which led to the victory.

Saturday’s thriller of a victory over Denver was honestly one of, if not the most exciting game I have ever witnessed as a fan of the NFL.  The slugfest never had either team leading by more than 7 points at any time, and the score at the end of each quarter was tied.  You cannot get much closer than that.  To make it even more shocking for Ravens fans, they weren’t even given a shot.  Denver came into this game as nearly 10 point favorites.  That is a huge line in any playoff game, but that is just how good Denver was supposed to be going into this game.  They had won their previous 11 games, defeating some of the elite teams in the NFL including a trouncing of the Ravens just a month before.  They were coming off a bye, while the Ravens were coming off a short week after just defeating the Colts.  The Ravens had not defeated Peyton Manning in over a decade.  The stars had to align for Baltimore and they did.

There were a few stars in this game that deserve a little praise.  First off, Joe Flacco once again played an outstanding game.  Dating back to last years playoffs, Flacco has played sensational for two straight years in the games that really matter.  His regular season stats aren’t exceptional, but when he gets to the postseason he steps up to a whole new level.  This game was no exception.  It looked like the game may have been sealed when the Ravens couldn’t convert a late 4th down when Pitta could not haul in a tough reception.  However, the Ravens were able to get the ball back and Joe threw a beauty to Jacoby Jones for the game tying score.  He found a weak spot in the defense and took a shot deep, and it worked.  That was huge for Joe and the Ravens offense.

Next I have to give some praise to Torrey Smith.  Torrey has struggled against elite corners in previous weeks. He had one of the best of all time lining up against him in this one, and had two huge scores in which he simply out played him.  He had the Ravens first score in which he simply out ran him.  He then had the score just before halftime in which he slowed up and leaped in front of Bailey to haul in the ball and trot in for another score.  He finished with only 3 catches, but those went for 98 yards and a score.  He is an incredible deep threat, which he put on full display of Saturday.

On the defensive side of the ball you have to first look at the guy that came up with the turnovers.  Corey Graham got a little lucky on his first pick.  The ball was tipped and happened to land right in his hands.  However, he ran the right route after the catch and found his way into the end zone to take full advantage of the tip ball interception.  The second turnover was even bigger though.  He played tight coverage on Brandon Stokely and was in the exact right position to snag the ball on an ill advised throw from Peyton Manning.  That interception in overtime ultimately led to the game winning field goal.  Corey Graham came up huge.

Finally, you have to be impressed with Ray Lewis and Justin Tucker for two different reasons.  Lewis tallied 17 tackles in his second game back from a torn triceps.  I was a bit worried that Lewis might have exhausted himself a bit after last weeks emotional game against the Colts.  That was not even close to the case for the future hall of famer.  He continues to shock the world even when he has been doing it for so long.  The rookie kicker should be getting some praise for nailing the game winning 47 yard field goal.  That is an extremely high pressure kick for anyone, let alone a rookie.  47 yards is no chip shot, especially in the playoffs at Denver with the crowd erupting the stadium all screaming for you to miss.  It was a high pressure kick that a former Ravens kicker may not have hit…

Baltimore will not travel to Foxboro for a rematch of last years AFC Championship.  There are a ton of great story lines going into this game, which I will get into later.  For now though, Baltimore will get a chance for revenge after losing in a devastating manner.  The two big culprits for that loss are no longer on the team, but believe the rest of the team is still well aware of how that game went down.  Baltimore will have a short time to celebrate their huge win this weekend, but the Ravens will have to prepare for another huge game in New England Sunday.

Photo by: Zuma Press/Icon SMI

Yesterday’s showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos was one for the history books as rookie kicker Justin Tucker drove home a 47 yard field goal that ended the game for Manning and the Broncos in the second overtime.
The Ravens played like they were at home in “Charm City” coming into yesterday’s game with unwavering relentlessness and determination, and they just might make it to their first super bowl berth in 12 years after all.

The game was a very close one in which the relentless Ravens trailed the Broncos in each play. They seemed to have a response for every point scored by Denver. However, it was almost certain that Denver had victory in sight when Manning’s hopes of a super bowl game in his first season with the Broncos were dashed by a 70 yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds on the clock that evened the score at 35-35. Baltimore would later take advantage of a poor interception thrown by Manning which led to, Justin Tucker’s 47-yard field goal that sent the Ravens into the AFC Championship game for the second consecutive year.

Ray Rice rushed for 131 yards with one touchdown while receiver Torrey Smith had 98 yards and two touchdowns. Flacco completed 18 of 34 passes for 331 yards without an interception and passed for 3 touchdowns. Although it was just one game, this should show his critics that he has what it takes to win in the post season and he will soon get another chance to prove his worth. Flacco is never afraid to make big plays and that courage paid off very well for the Ravens yesterday.

Ravens now advance to the AFC championship game on January 20th where they will face the winner of today’s game between the Patriots and Texans.

Ray Lewis who will be retiring after playing for the Ravens since being drafted in 1996 played his last home game in last week’s24-9 victory over the Colts and could very well end up playing his last game in the super bowl but more obstacles lay ahead. Ray Rice is one player who definitely wants it to end that way saying “It’s his last ride, why not send him off the right way,” after yesterday’s game.

Ray Lewis’ final game in Baltimore didn’t disappoint.  Coming back from a torn triceps, Lewis played with a ton of energy and was all over the field on Sunday.  He finished the game with 13 tackles playing with a bulgy arm brace that was likely the cause for dropping an easy interception.  The star of the defense though was Paul Kruger who put relentless pressure on Andrew Luck all day.  He finished the game with 2.5 sacks and added 5 QB Hits.  It was pure dominance from Kruger who has really stepped up this year.  The defense as a whole played extremely well.  Andrew Luck racked up some yards but it took the most passes by a rookie in the playoffs ever to do it.  Overall, he was extremely inefficient and was held off the scoreboard.  Luck added one interception, and should have had another, but Lewis could not hold onto a tip ball.  Cary Williams had the one turnover, and very nearly took it to the house.

The offense for Baltimore was solid.  Ray Rice rushed pretty well, and added a 47 yard reception that set up a 2 yard TD run for Vonta Leach.  However, the big story for him was that he coughed up the ball twice.  Rice is not known a fumbler, but has nearly fumbled the ball as much in the playoffs as he has in the regular season in his whole career.  Rice has publicly stated that it will not happen again, but it has to be a point of concern.  Two players really outshined the rest of the offense though in my eyes.  One was Bernard Pierce.  Pierce handled the ball nearly as much as Rice.  That may have been because of the turnovers, or maybe they just wanted to give him the ball with a comfortable lead.  For whatever reason though, Pierce was a beast on Sunday.  He carried the ball 13 times, totaling 103 yards on the ground.  He consistently picked up chunks of yardage and broke off a big run of 47 yards showing his big play ability.

The next player that really impressed me was Anquan Boldin.  After being shut out in the first half, Boldin exploded in the second.  He showed some of the separation that he has lacked most of the time he has been im Baltimore. Despite solid coverage, Boldin snagged some incredible catches, refusing to allow the defender to knock it out of his hands.  This is likely Q’s best game in a Ravens uniform, and it could not have come at a better time.

Coming up is another meeting with the Broncos, but this one is at Mile High.  Peyton Manning and the Broncos are the hottest team in the entire NFL and trounced the Ravens in their last meeting a few weeks ago.  The Ravens have gained some reinforcements since then and have played two very impressive games against the Giants and Colts.  In the first meeting, Manning didn’t dominate, but he didn’t have to.  It will be interesting how he would react to a closer game, and if a healthier Ravens defense can match up with one of the greatest to play the game.  I am a bit more interested in the Ravens offense in this on, though.  Last meeting, Champ Bailey focused his coverage on Torrey Smith.  After Boldin’s huge game last week, it will be interesting to see who the shutdown corner shadows this game.  I’ll have more on the matchup later in the week.

Photo by: Zuma Press/Icon SMI

The Ravens desperately needed this win and they got it with a lot to spare Sunday.  The offense awoke after a dismal few weeks to erupt for over 500 yards of total offense.  That paced the defense, keeping them fresh enough to shut down the Giants for a final score of 33-14.  With the victory the Ravens sealed the AFC North over the Bengals and Steelers, leaving their week 17 matchup in Cincinnati a little less exciting.  Ravens fans won’t complain though.  The three game losing streak is over and Baltimore made a statement leaving the Giants close to hopeless for postseason contention.

It started early for the Ravens, and they kept pouring it on all throughout the game.  Torrey Smith who was just a week removed from a concussion hooked up with Joe Flacco on several occasions, including a first quarter TD to start the scoring off.  The offense kept it going and Flacco finished with over 300 yards passing a couple of scores.  He out-dueled Eli Manning who had only 150 yards and completed only half of his passes.  Ray Rice got back in the fold after a quiet month, and had 107 yards on the ground.  He added 51 yards through the air, including a 27 yard catch and run for a score.  Bernard Pierce also had a big game, finishing with 123 yards, including a 78 yard run late in the game while milking down the clock.

The defense was just as impressive in many ways.  They were not able to create any turnovers, but they kept the entire Giants offense on their heals.  New York had only a little over 200 yards of total offense with both the running and passing game struggling.  They compiled three sacks and several more pressures to keep Eli from ever being comfortable in the pocket.  Despite a laundry list of injuries the Ravens defense looked good, at least for one week.

As I mentioned before, the Ravens sealed the AFC North with this victory.  Their opponent next week, Cincinnati, also sealed a playoff spot with their win over Pittsburgh.  The only thing Baltimore has to play for next week is the #3 seed over New England.  That seems doubtful with the Patriots playing Miami next week, and it may not even be favorable.  With their current position, the Ravens would play Indianapolis the first week of the playoffs.  The other scenario would be Cincy, who they would have to beat two weeks in a row.  That is a very difficult task no matter who you are facing.  The Colts are a less experienced team that is already playing well better than expected.  They won’t let down easy to the Ravens, but should be a slightly easier matchup on paper.  Of course, Baltimore has higher hopes than just one playoff win, so whoever they play will be only a small step in what Baltimore hopes to be a long playoff run.