Ravens fans barely had a chance to bask in the glow of a second Super Bowl win before the team was seemingly dismantled, right before our eyes. After Joe Flacco signed his cap-friendly contract, I had visions of the Ravens extending Anquan Boldin, resigning Dannell Ellerbe, Ed Reed, and Bryant McKinnie, and cutting Vonta Leach, Brendan Ayanbadejo, Jameel McClain and Mount Cody, all the while bidding a fond farewell and best wishes to Cary Williams, Paul Kruger, Ray Lewis and Matt Birk. Only the last four transactions happened. Not only … Continue reading →

A Writer’s Fantasy S.I.’s Peter King ignites an internet furor over Joe Flacco’s future with the Ravens In his Sports Illustrated.com column Monday morning, senior NFL writer Peter King ignited a fire storm of speculation concerning whether the Ravens will or will not pay, will or will not or franchise, Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.  It quickly made cannon fodder for many NFL analysts, web sites, and cable shows. After listening to the Ravens State of the Team press conference, King decided that Ozzie Newsome, while declaring the Ravens were … Continue reading →

Cleaning out the Closet It’s been a week since that fantastic Super Bowl win and the glow still lingers.  While we continue to wait for Jim Harbaugh to publicly congratulate his brother on winning Super Bowl 47 here are a fan’s insights on the season, the playoffs, and the Super Bowl. I think there are 3 events that enabled the Ravens fabulous run to the Super Bowl: 1)     the firing of Cam Cameron, 2)     The foot injury to Jah Reed, and 3)     The game-tying TD pass to Jacoby Jones in … Continue reading →

In honor of Super Bowl Media Day, here are some takes on recent football stories as well as the latest Ray controversy. News Item:  Patriots coach Bill Belichick blows off the AFC Championship post-game interview with CBS’ Steve Tasker.  It goes unnoticed until the Hoodie is pointedly called out by Shannon Sharpe on the CBS post game show. A Fan’s Take:  Long version – its bull when Belicheat apologists insist that fans should expect nothing more from the notoriously taciturn Hoodie. Short version – sore loser. Second Take:  Considering that … Continue reading →

Nobody does it better Today’s game will be 150% on the emotion meter. It would have been awesome enough to see former Ravens Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano return to the Purple Vault as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, fresh off a scary, but successful battle against leukemia, but even that remarkable event has been superseded by the imminent retirement of Mr. Raven, Ray Lewis.  Both will make this an unforgettable event. Regardless of how one feels about seeing the old horseshoes back in town (there are still tons of … Continue reading →

The Ravens did well to rest their starters – as long as it doesn’t backfire on Sunday As Tony Lombardi so aptly noted in his game column (The Good, the Bad, and the Megan Fox), the Ravens closed out the 2012 regular season by playing their 5th preseason game of the year, closing out the 2012 regular season with a 23-17 defeat in Cincinnati. I had no problems with John Harbaugh resting the walking wounded.  When I saw the text of the Ravens inactives on my cell phone I realized Harbs … Continue reading →

The outcome of 4 AFC Games this weekend can have a significant impact on the January playoff schedule. The Jekyll and Hyde Baltimore Ravens did it again.  Forecast as a 2-3 point home underdog and picked by most national analysts to lose the game, the Ravens put together 60 minutes of solid football to easily beat the New York Giants 33-14 last Sunday and send the defending Super Bowl champs to the brink of an early off season.   The victory allowed the Ravens to clinch the AFC North for the … Continue reading →

The Ravens finally ran out of horseshoes For the better part of this season the Baltimore Ravens have been playing and winning with horseshoes. Not the kind the Baltimore Colts left behind when they moved to Indianapolis 28 years ago. Lucky horseshoes. It has made for a storybook season so far and, to this point, the ‘shoes have been mostly ringers and leaners. How else do you explain the wins against New England, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Diego – all games the Ravens arguably should have lost? But horseshoes … Continue reading →

A Disconcerting Trend It’s been 4 days since the near-debacle at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and I still can’t get the bad taste out of my mouth.  What should have been a cakewalk against a 1-3 Chiefs team that, incidentally, should have been 0-4, turned into a nail biter. It’s hard to believe that in the 21st Century two NFL teams could play 60 minutes of football in picture-perfect weather and not score a touchdown.  And throw only 45 passes TOTAL between the two teams.  If that had been any … Continue reading →

Hollywood Couldn’t Write This Script In what could be argued as being the most pulsating, heart-stopping game in M&T Bank Stadium history, the Baltimore Ravens snatched victory – by the smallest of margins and by the merest of inches of a goal post upright – from the jaws of defeat as they finally bested their long-time regular season nemesis, the New England Patriots. At first I wasn’t sure the game would even be competitive.  When word broke late Sunday morning that Torrey Smith had lost his brother the night before, … Continue reading →

News and Notes from a Fan’s Perspective A Tale of Two Joes The Talk of Flacco as an Elite Quarterback is Useless & Counterproductive Elite: Noun.  (Often used with a plural verb)  Persons of the highest class.  Only the elite were there.  Adjective: The choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.  He’s one of the elite quarterbacks in the league. Elite can be an objective or subjective term, sometimes defined with data and statistics, other times as what is simply in the … Continue reading →