Reality: Dennis Pitta will miss a significant portion of the season for the second season in a row.
Perception: Pitta had successful surgery Monday on his right hip… the same hip that was injured before. He is done for the year, and if you talk to any medical professional, they all agree that his football career is over.
Many doctors say what Pitta did to his hip is hard enough to do one time… but when you do it twice it shows there is more to it than just a normal injury.
The Ravens signed Pitta to a five-year contract extension this past offseason, and the team expected big things from him this year. He was living up to those expectations as only Steve Smith Sr. had more targets, receptions, and yards than Pitta on the Ravens this season.
For the rest of this year, the Ravens should be able to fill Pitta’s place by using Owen Daniels and Kyle Juszczyk. The question is, will the Ravens need to look at using them or another tight end after this season too?
Reality: Justin Tucker (301 points) moved past Billy Cundiff (294) for 2nd on the Ravens all-time scoring list (Matt Stover – 1,464 is 1st).
Perception: In just 35 games, Tucker is second on the Ravens all-time scoring list. Stover is in first with nearly 5 times the amount of points in 207 total games. Jamal Lewis is third on that points list, and Ray Rice is fourth. Todd Heap, who will be inducted into the Ravens Ring of Honor Sunday, is sixth.
Stover and now Tucker are two players that any fan can cheer for. They simply go about their job and do it better than anyone else. But, what does it say about the Ravens franchise offensively when their top three scorers are kickers? Not only that, but two of them did not complete three full seasons with team, and yet they are the second and third top scorers in franchise history.
It’s time for the Ravens to find some quality offensive players who can make a real impact for years to come… besides a kicker.
Reality: John Harbaugh may be “Coach of the Year” through the first 3 games of the season.
Perception: Steve Smith said after the game Sunday how the team has weathered all the controversy with two words: “We compartmentalize.”
Peter King wrote in Monday Morning Quarterback:
“The Ravens seem immune to the tornado outside their organization. In the two games since the TMZ video made the Rice story explode anew, Baltimore has hammered Pittsburgh and come back on the road to beat the improved Browns. “We’ve got high-character people who fight, and I’m proud of them,’’ [John] Harbaugh said.
“We’re the Ravens, and I know the people we have. We stand for something.”
I’ve heard Harbaugh say things like that since he took over as coach in 2008, and I’m sure people roll their eyes about it, particularly now, with the questions about how they handled the Rice matter. But Harbaugh is a lot like Tom Coughlin in that regard. He believes what he believes, and he doesn’t care if you think it’s corny or outmoded. To him, it’s real.”
I did not expect the Ravens to come out and play as well as they did last week against the Steelers. I thought the off-field issues would have the team come out flat. But Harbaugh had them ready to play. And again this week, the team was ready to play. It seems to have brought the team closer together, and that is good news. When teams are unified against everyone else, good things usually come for that team.
Let’s hope that means an AFC North title, and maybe more.
