It is Wednesday my dudes and dudettes! Unfortunately, we are still without Baltimore Ravens football and still will be for quite some time, but thankfully Ravens Flock is always active on Twitter! Let’s see what’s buzzing around the Flock these days on today’s Out to Lunch!
If you were able to catch the Manning-Cast of Monday night’s playoff matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams, you hopefully picked up on this cool little nugget from Peyton Manning about Baltimore Ravens legend Ray Lewis:
Peyton Manning: “Every time Baltimore Ravens Ray Lewis hit me, he’d drive me down into the ground and then he’d use me to help himself get up and he’d whisper in my ear, ‘I’ll be back in a couple minutes, you punk.’” pic.twitter.com/hsWZZuKA0T
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) January 18, 2022
Does this honestly surprise anybody? Ray was an absolute dog on the football field and was someone you simply loved to hate. He defined what it means to “Play like a Raven” and this quote proves exactly that.
Ray didn’t care who you were; all that mattered was that you were his enemy and in the famous words of Michael Jordan, he took that personally.
The offseason talk is in full effect and the first player being speculated is in-division rival safety, Jessie Bates. Dev Panchwagh put out this piece about a possible edition to the Ravens:
Jessie Bates to Baltimore? 🤔
First of all, yes on fit. Second, not sure he gets out of Cincy given their cap space. Third, not sure if EDC will pony up the money given the contracts of Humphrey & Peters.
That being said, I wouldn't be surprised. https://t.co/hu4WX3nppp
— Dev Panchwagh (@devpanchwagh) January 18, 2022
Bates should be one of the most coveted players on the free agent market. I won’t lie, I was stunned to find out he hasn’t inked a long-term deal with Cincinnati yet. The Bengals know how important he is to their defense, however, considering he is likely the best player on that side of the ball. It would be an absolute long-shot to envision him coming to Charm City, but stranger things have happened. #ComeToTheRavens
Say what you want about his sports opinions (I personally don’t care for them), but Shannon Sharpe was an absolute monster for a Baltimore Ravens team that lacked any spark on offense during the team’s first Super Bowl journey. Take in example this throwback:
21 years ago today, Shannon Sharpe took a Trent Dilfer pass to the end zone for a 96-yard touchdown to put the Ravens up early over the Raiders in the AFC Championship
Baltimore would win the game 16-3 and advance to their first Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/j4hLn7lLdE
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) January 14, 2022
Sharpe was well into his 30s when he came to Baltimore and seemingly out of his prime, but he sure looked spry on this massive catch and run that proved to be the ultimate dagger in the Ravens crushing the Oakland Raiders Super Bowl hopes back in 2000. Thank you, Mr. Sharpe! We may not have won that championship if not for your heroics.
The Ravens may not have made it to the playoffs this year, but at least they won a game the last time they went… unlike a familiar AFC North rival:
Days Since Last Playoff Win:
Cincinnati Bengals-2
Cleveland Browns-362
Baltimore Ravens-362
Pittsburgh Steelers-1,835— Days Since Last Playoff Win (AFCN) (@PlayoffWsAFCN) January 17, 2022
What a fun little stat this is! While it’s unfortunate to see the Bengals only have five days since their last playoff win (as of writing this), it’s unreal to see the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone over 1,800 days(!) without a playoff win. Man, that has to be so brutal to endure.
We will have all sorts of NFL Draft talk this offseason, but let’s take a look at the Ravens first round pick at 14th overall. The team has never drafted with the 14th overall pick, but here are the closest picks the team has had in that ballpark:
The @Ravens have never drafted exactly 14th. Closest slots:
2006: Traded 13th pick and #181 to Cle for 12th overall: Haloti Ngata
2017: 16th pick: Marlon Humphrey
2018: Traded down from #16, passing up Derwin James to stockpile value in Oz's amazing final draft.#RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/UTh8muTAKD— Ken McKusick (@FilmstudyRavens) January 15, 2022
Haloti Ngata and Marlon Humphrey turned into All-Pros and the traded down picks yielded a lot of talent that built a great foundation for what the Baltimore Ravens are today. While we absolutely wish that Derwin James was a Baltimore Raven, there’s no telling how different this Ravens team would be with him. I mean, we may not have Lamar Jackson… just something to think about the next time you complain about us trading down with James available.
We’re ending this Wednesday edition of OTL with some kind words from Lacie DeCosta, a.k.a. Eric’s wife:
The future is bright #RavensFlock get healthy! Miss you! Good night! 💜
— Lacie DeCosta (@DeCostaLacie) January 18, 2022
Lacie is one of the absolute best members of Ravens Flock and her positive, upbeat attitude is exactly what we all need right now. Whenever you’re feeling down about our favorite football team, just remember that the higher ups care about us and Lacie has proven that she has a pulse on the fan base with the way she interacts with us all. Thanks, Lacie!
Have a great rest of your week, Ravens Flock, and I’ll see you next Wednesday!
