Ravens Overwhelm Patriots, 33-14; 51-45 OT, WOW!

By: dwil

Sunday, Captain Ray “Ahab” Lewis finally conquered the whale. And though next weekend his playoff dreams might come crashing to an end, Lewis is ecstatic over the Baltimore Ravens 33-14 win over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Lewis intimated that he watched so much video of Brady that he could tell what certain plays were being run by the inflection in Brady’s voice at the line of scrimmage. It sure appeared that way as Lewis tallied the first sack of his postseason career in Foxboro.

And while Lewis obsessed over Brady,  Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is to John Harbaugh as former USC head coach Pete Carroll was to his little brother Jim at Stanford. Even late in the fourth quarter when Ray Rice ran for a meaningless first down, Harbaugh could be seen jumping up and down repeatedly and pumping his fist as if the run protected a one point lead.

The Ravens took the Patriots out of the game in the first quarter, as they jumped out to a 24-0 lead and never looked back. Rice scored on an 83-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Meantime New England looked more interested in getting to the offseason than winning the game against Baltimore. Even after they gained some momentum in the second quarter when they scored to cut the Ravens lead to 24-7 and received some strong words of encouragement from running back Kevin Faulk on the sidelines, the Pats could barely muster consecutive first downs the remainder of the half.

Though Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had, perhaps, the poorest game for a QB in modern NFL history,  4-10, 34 yards and one interception, all he needed to do was tun and hand off to Rice and Willis McGahee. New England had no answer for the Ravens running game (52 rushing attempts for 234 yards) and seemingly no interest in stopping it. The weakness in New England’s offense, the line reared its ugly head again as the Pats looked slow and confused against Baltimore’s relatively straight-forward blitzes. Brady was rushed into making poor throws, 23-42, 132 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs, and, due to playing from so far behind, was forced to take chances forcing balls into areas that got his receivers hurt more often than the passes were completed,

This game was an ugly, boring affair. Watching the Patriots play Sunday, Belichick should be seriously considered for coach of the year honors. This New England team was a 6-10 0r 7-9 team at best under most coaching staffs. Belichick overhauled much of the defense, bringing in younger players and asking them to understand a scheme unlike any other. To give them some guidance he was forced to selectively keep too old players who had lost two or more steps. On offense Belichick was dealing with a QB in Brady who is a season away from being truly healthy after his devastating knee injury, and putting him behind an offensive line that should have been dismantled after last season.

Baltimore now gets Indianapolis. The Ravens barely lost a Week 11 meeting at home against the Colts, 17-15. Can the Ravens gear up for Peyton Manning and crew? Manning’s O-line is far better than is New England’s and Manning should have most of his receivers intact. The Colts defensive front seven is the fastest Joe Flacco and Rice will meet, and Flacco will have less time than he had Sunday to throw.

All-in-all the outlook is bleak, but the Ravens secondary is as healthy as it has been the entire season and can cover for any mistakes made by the front seven. Led by Ed Reed, Baltimore’s defensive backs should keep then in the game. The Colts will make sure to put the game in Flacco’s hands. Can he come through? We’ll just have to wait and see.

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The Arizona Cardinals looked like they were going to run away with the game. Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay on a gallant comeback. Neil Rackers choked a game-winning 34-yard field goal. Karlos Dansby scored the game-winning touchdown when Rodgers was sacked fumbled, and somehow managed to kick the ball into the air and Dansby’s waiting arms. Other than his first pass and the final play, Rodgers (28-42, 422, 4 TDs, 1INT) was incredible. Kurt Warner (29-33, 379, 5 TDs) was ridiculous. Now, Arizona moves on to New Orleans.

51-45 in OT. Wow.

Tags: aaron rodgers, arizona, arizona cardinals, baltimore ravens, bill belichick, cardinal, choke, coach of the year, coaching, colts, comeback, defense, dreams, england, final, head coach, image, injury, interception, kurt warner, new england patriots, new orleans, patriots, pete carroll, peyton manning, quarterback, riots, scoring, tom brady, willis mcgahee

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