Subscribe to our newsletter

How Ravens Compare to Wild Card Losers

Justin Tucker screaming "woo!" as Joe Flacco pats him on the helmet. Both wearing their white jerseys at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh
Share
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Two days removed from Wild Card Weekend, the chatter about missed field goals, boneheaded penalties, and lopsided blowouts still linger around the water cooler.

Sure, the absence of the Ravens in the playoffs put a damper on the postseason around town, but in watching the games this weekend, and watching how things shook out for the losing teams, the silver lining became clear to me.

Yes, the Ravens were on the outside looking in thanks to an abysmal season, but is it all truly doom and gloom? Are things really worse for the Ravens than those teams that were just ousted from the playoffs?

I for one, being the glass half full guy that I am, believe that things could be much worse for our boys in purple and black, and we can look no further than the Wild Card losers to see how great we really have it here in Baltimore.


 

Cincinnati Bengals

Steelers WR Antonio Brown receives a helmet-to-helmet hit from Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict.
Photo credit: ESPN.com

In Saturday’s 4th quarter meltdown by Cincinnati, we all witnessed what could very well be the beginning of the end for Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis.

Everyone knows the story by now: Vontaze Burfict picked up a personal foul for a helmet-to-helmet shot on Antonio Brown, followed by Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones doubling up the penalty yardage with an unsportsmanlike conduct infraction. Steelers win on a chip shot field goal and Cincinnati’s embarrassing playoff win drought reaches 8 straight games and 25 years.

But the question remains: where was Marvin Lewis during all of this? Why didn’t Marvin Lewis gather the troops to get everybody’s head back in the game? After all, they still had the lead and Pittsburgh was just inside a 50 yard field goal attempt after Burfict’s penalty. There was no guarantee that the Steelers would come away victorious…

Instead, Lewis sat back from the sideline and watched as his players continued to jaw at the officials about a penalty, which never works to reverse a call after it’s been announced. It eventually led to the Pacman/Joey Porter/official confrontation that turned the Steelers 50-50 field goal into a chip shot.

Meanwhile, our 5-11 Ravens seemed to have never lost their focus throughout the entire season. They maintained a ‘1 game at a time’ mentality, and while it didn’t always work in their favor, beating the playoff bound Steelers twice would never had happened if Harbaugh allowed the typical ‘doom and gloom’ mentality to encompass the team. Harbaugh kept spirits up, kept the team hungry and kept them fighting for another win: an attitude that continually rubs off on players.

Flashing back to 2012, there was a time when many thought John Harbaugh had lost the locker room. There was dissention amongst players, and concern that Harbs was in over his head.

So what did he do? He opened the dialogue, put himself on the same level as the players, and worked through it.

That was in October of 2012. Four months later, Harbaugh and the Ravens were hoisting the Lombardi trophy.


 

Houston Texans

Brian Hoyer sits on the sidelines wearing his uniform with a baseball cap, looking up at the scoreboard as the Texans were clobbered by the Chiefs.

The Texans got, for lack of better word, shellacked on Saturday.

The biggest story of the game was the play of Brian Hoyer– the on-again-off-again Texans starter, who managed a paltry 15 of 34, 136 yards, 0 TD’s, 4 INT’s & 1 lost fumble.

Meanwhile back in Baltimore, a small faction of fans still gripe about Joe Flacco. They groan about his calm and collected demeanor. They complain about his inability to break 4,000 yards. They think he should be more mobile and scramble around. They constantly revert to the tired and overplayed ‘Jumpball Joe’ tag line.

And then there’s the misconception about his contract that I won’t even touch.

But what many forget is the consistency that Joe provides this franchise. This is a franchise that has seen the likes of Kyle Boller, Elvis Grbac, Tony Banks, Stony Case and Troy Smith. This is also a franchise that had seen Joe Flacco start every game of his career until the ill-fated ACL tear that sidelined him for the final stretch of the 2015 regular season. And if there’s any question about what he means to this franchise, simply look at what was accomplished by the trio of backups in his absence.

Sure, Joe is not a perennial 4,000+ yard guy and he’s not going to run around like Cam Newton or Russell Wilson, but Flacco will always give this team a fighting chance. He’s a proven winner, a silent leader, and a guy many franchises around the NFL would love to steal away from Baltimore.


 

Minnesota Vikings

Blair Walsh (3) reacts after missing a field goal attempt against the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter of a NFC Wild Card playoff football game at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: USATSI-245810 ORIG FILE ID: 20160110_jla_ah7_134.jpg" width="1000" height="660" /> Jan 10, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh (3) reacts after missing a field goal attempt against the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter of a NFC Wild Card playoff football game at TCF Bank Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Everybody, with the exception of Seahawks fans, feels terrible for Blair Walsh.

With seconds remaining, the game on the line, and the Vikings looking at a chip shot field goal to take the lead, the typically reliable Blair Walsh shanked his attempt wide left.

With a final knee from Russell Wilson, the Seahawks stole a victory from the Vikings and move on to the next round, while Minnesota fans are left to wonder what could have been.

As Ravens fans, we’ve been there. Billy Cundiff didn’t do us any favors with his chip shot miss in a very similar playoff situation. We know the pain Vikings fans feel, and it’s going to sting for quite a while, but time heals all wounds.

Just be glad it wasn’t a Conference Championship game…

[youtube]https://youtu.be/52ahDuQPdsw[/youtube]

What we also know as Ravens fans is what it’s like to have a reliable kicker. After being spoiled by the amazing career of Matt Stover, followed by a handful of kickers that didn’t pan out for the Ravens (ironically Baltimore cast-offs, Graham Gano and Steven Hauschka have both become very reliable kickers in the league), our patience has been awarded with the leg of Justin Tucker.

Tucker’s career to date has been nothing shy of phenomenal, and yet, many fans believe he’s fallen off because of his track record this past season. Tucker missed 7 attempts this season, in comparison to 11 misses in his first 3 seasons combined, but is one bad season truly indicative of a turn in his career?

As disgruntled fans, we tend to forget that 6 of those 7 misses were over 50 yards (50, 51-3x, 55, 58), and that he won 3 of the 5 games for Baltimore this year with his leg. We also tend to forget Tucker’s game-winning field goal in Denver during the Super Bowl run, and numerous other clutch performances by the highly-energetic kicker. Seeing a botched opportunity by Walsh should have fans clamoring to keep our opera-singing kicker around for the long haul.


 

Washington Redskins

Packers LB Clay Matthews sacks Redskins QB Kirk Cousins in their Wild Card matchup on January 10, 2016.
Photo credit: Washington Sun Times

The Redskins came into the postseason on fire, while Green Bay’s sputtering offense stumbled into Landover with their tails between their legs.

And yet, despite a hot start by the Redskins, the Packers slowly but surely turned the game around and eventually walked away with a 30-18 victory.

I won’t knock Cousins for this game. There is no singular player that the team can blame for this loss. It was just a complete team victory by the Packers, where playoff experience on the road prevailed over the inexperience of Cousins and the Redskins.

Experience always provides that extra edge.

Back in Baltimore where the Ravens season ended in Week 17, we tend to forget the Ravens have reached the postseason in 6 of their 8 seasons. They have excelled on the road in the playoffs, and they brought home a Super Bowl a mere 3 years ago. And when they do find their way back into the dance-which they will- they’ll have that experience to build on, just as the Packers did over the weekend.

Taking it a step further, I’ve spoken to a handful of the Redskin-faithful following the loss, and the reactions shocked me:

“Hey, at least we got to the dance this year.”

“Much better than last year and we have some good pieces in place.”

“Finally, a 1st round draft pick to look forward to!”

This is how Redskins fans react when they get blasted at home by an underdog… and yet here I sit pouting about my 5-11 team having their first losing record under the Harbaugh regime. It was very humbling to see how positive those fans can be despite the lopsided loss and for that, I give those fans some well deserved praise.


 

I’m not saying things are all sunshine and rainbows here in Baltimore: there will be some lingering injury concerns, a few contracts needing restructured, and some holes in the roster that need filled. But at the end of the day, we should take that half-full cup of Purple Kool-Aid and enjoy every last sip.

Before you know it, our cup shall runneth over once again.

Don’t Miss Anything at RSR. Subscribe Here!
Latest posts
Join our newsletter and get 20% discount
Promotion nulla vitae elit libero a pharetra augue