Ravens-Dolphins Playoff Postmortem
It’s 2009 and the Ravens are still playing football.
The defense put on another amazing show in Miami as Ed Reed made his case for defensive player of the year on a national stage. Chad Pennington and the rest of the Miami offense couldn’t handle it and were chewed up.
Pennington was under pressure all day and was forced to make four awful throws that found their way into Ravens’ hands. The Dolphins had been playing mistake-free football, but in the end the Ravens’ defense was just too fired up. A lot of the Ravens’ success came from the fact that Miami rarely started with a short field thanks to the boot that is Sam Koch. How that guy was skipped over for the pro bowl, I’ll never understand.
Despite the success, Joe Flacco and crew did give me some cause for concern. Flacco went 9 for 23 and only passed for 14 yards in the second half after missing Mark Clayton deep a few times in the fourth. However he did face his share of pressure throughout the game and dealt with it well and didn’t toss any interceptions. The running game held its own and in the end, the best offense proved to be a good defense.
Next stop is Tennessee. To take on the number-one seed at home is going to be a difficult task. We came pretty close to beating the Titans back in October, so hopefully karma will come back for us this time around and the football gods will look on the Ravens kindly.
I think the Ravens are playing their best football of the year right now and the Titans have been on a slide lately. Either way, the Ravens’ mindset seems to be in the right place and they left Miami without any significant injuries. Let’s hope Tennessee is just one more stop on the way to a title. Until then …
Is Ed Reed the greatest safety to ever play the game? He probably has a lot more to prove yet, but I think you can start putting his name in the mix for the best ever at this point.
I watched most of this game and the Ravens looked stellar. The Ravens made Pennington look like the same peice of crap that the NY Jets were only to happy to dump. The dolphins couldn’t run, they couldn’t pass…they didn’t even resemble the team that made a lot of opponents look silly this year.
It’s hard to jump on the Baltimore bandwagon too much though. They still have their flaws, i.e. – rookie quarterback, among other things. I would love to see the Ravens make it to the Super Bowl, but they have struggled with beating the top tier teams this year. They have the record they have because they beat all the teams that they should beat.
Can they beat the Titans? Yes they can. Can the beat the Steelers/Chargers? Yes they can. But will they? It’s yet to be seen, but if the AFC Championship Game is Ravens vs. Steelers, then I will be rooting for the Ravens so hard I think Baltimore will hear me from Columbus, Ohio.
As someone who’s not emotionally invested in the Ravens I can tell you this: they look like the favorites to me right now.
I would sacrifice vital parts of my anatomy to see Baltimore beat Pittsburgh in the AFC title game
The whole city wants it. I can’t even imagine the tension that would hang in the air that week. It’s actually kind of frightening.
In more Pittsburgh/Baltimore related news, James Harrison beat out Ed Reed for Defensive Player of the Year.
Damn I hate the Steelers….SOOOOOOO BAD!
Ravens should WANT to play Pittsburgh.
They would definitely beat them.
San Diego would be a different match-up…and maybe not a favorable one.
Pittsburgh is the best scenario for Baltimore.
@df1570 – If it’s one thing I enjoy hearing you talk about it, it’s football. As soon as your show touches on baseball, the switch is flipped. But I do dig your football jive.
Just curious, what’s your thinking behind this:
I second that, Drewski. You’re my go-to guy for Ravens talk, even if I demand more often than not to argue with you about the Orioles. I don’t think that, if the Ravens beat Tennesse (and I think they will), either Pittsburgh OR San Diego is going to be able to stop them. I’m guessing that the Ravens themselves would rather see the team they know and the team they need redemption against instead of the Chargers, but I really don’t think it matters a lick. And I think Harbaugh is keeping their focus on the Titans and away from the Steelers and the Chargers.
I guarantee that the Steelers are going to be rooting for the Titans, though. There’s no way they want to see Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Bart Scott, and Ed Reed down their gullets again, not with the depantsing they just gave the Dolphins.
You all know I’m a Steelers fan (born in Pittsburgh and all) but I completely agree. The Ravens would have the edge in a rematch without question. It’d be a hell of a game, probably, but the Ravens would look great going in.
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah bl…..
dude what the fuck bring back the off the page lines!
seriously.
regarding the next two games:
i don’t buy into this frenzied THE RAVENS WILL SLAUGHTER AND PULL THE CARRION OFF ALL ROTTING AFC CARCASSES bullshit but i feel pretty confident about this weekend.
btw the blahs filled the line in the comment box when i was making that joke.
didn’t work out.