Combined, confidence and aggression can be a good thing.
It can also be a bad thing if not channeled properly.
Sprinkle in a little preparation and focus with confidence and aggression and you get the Baltimore Ravens’.
Gone are the days of bravado and arrogant swagger. Gone are the days when Ray Lewis would pound his chest after stopping an opposing player for a 3 yard gain. Gone are the days of launching penalty flags into the chest of a fan seated in the third row behind the end zone. Gone are the days of 21 penalties. Gone are the days of hearts enveloped in malice.
These are John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens.
These Ravens have developed and uncanny ability to learn from mistakes of the most recently completed game and apply them to the most immediate task at hand – winning the next game. Regardless of the upcoming opponent, the team’s collective focus under Harbaugh is the next team on their schedule. That’s it!
And that’s why all the concern around town about being overconfident is irrelevant. All of the premature talk about an AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh or San Diego from fans has no bearing on what the team does against the Titans. None of it matters. The only thing that matters is what the team is doing and thinking and right now, they are living and breathing Tennessee Titans.
Yes it’s an old cliché: One game at a time. But old clichés are usually spot on.
What happened in the past is only relevant in that it provides learning tools – clues if you will on how to affect the outcome of future games.
Looking back to the earlier meeting between the Ravens and Titans this season, you could argue that the game was actually a good loss. The Ravens stood toe-to-toe with a team that was undefeated at the time and a team that ultimately finished with a 13-3 mark. A very questionable roughing the passer penalty against Terrell Suggs helped pave the way to a game winning TD drive engineered by Kerry Collins to drop the Ravens 13-10.
But since that day, both teams have changed. The Titans would go to 10-0 before falling to the New York Jets 34-13 at LP Field in Nashville. Since then they’ve been rather average splitting their remaining six games. Meanwhile the Ravens have gone 10-3 and enter the Divisional Playoff game as one of the hottest teams among the elite 8, winners of 6 out of 7. Plus their rookie QB has gained invaluable experience that should bode well on Saturday.
The Ravens are also about as healthy as they’ve been since the start of the season while the Titans will have to deal with a couple of key injuries. Special teams stalwart Josh Stamer is on IR and All Pro center Kevin Mawae is out with an elbow injury.
Mawae’s injury may loom large since he is the offensive line signal caller. Second year player LeRoy Harris steps in for Mawae and he will be severely tested. The Ravens multiple sub packages and pre-snap morphing alignments will challenge Harris cerebrally and that will slow down his reaction time, something that will undoubtedly bring a smile to the faces of Justin Bannan and Haloti Ngata.
Defensively the Titans front four is nicked up. Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch are returning from injuries while DE Dave Ball who spells both is out with a back injury. Given the physical way in which the Ravens ran on the Titans back in October, the depleted depth could become a factor.
Injuries and momentum have these clubs heading in opposite directions. The Titans aren’t exactly on a steep decline. Their fall off is subtle and their momentum is neutral at best. That’s not the mojo teams want to bring to the post season dance – quite the contrary.
Each year in the NFL teams that gather momentum late in the season and carry it forward become dangerous post season opponents. During the 2005 season the Steelers caught fire and rolled off four consecutive playoff wins. In 2006 the Colts did the same and then the Giants followed suit in 2007. All three teams were wild card entries during the dance and ended their seasons with a Silver Betty in hand.
In a few weeks, the Ravens could embrace a Lombardi Trophy of their own but first they must take care of the Titans.
To do so, it’s important that the Ravens start fast and not allow the Titans to establish any momentum. Right now the Titans have none and it behooves the Ravens to keep it that way. Take advantage of back-up center Harris. Challenge the limited depth and mobility of the defensive line and run some no huddle. Keep Haynesworth and Vanden Bosch on the field longer than they want to be. Tire them out, force the Titans into mistakes and then reap the rewards.
Yes, that sounds confident, perhaps overconfident and yes this Super Bowl talk qualifies as looking ahead.
Fortunately the Ravens are not doing the same.
Confidence, aggression, focus and preparation define the 2008 Baltimore Ravens.
One game at a time.
And for this one game, it’s Ravens 20, Titans 13.
AFC Championship, here we come!
