Still working on the celebration here in Baltimore. The parade was bananas and it ended at the stadium. After a 70,000 or so made it in to continue the welcome home festivities, the Fire Marshall shut down the doors. The die hards still made it in.
Still all smiles.
Do you know what the players on the Baltimore Ravens defense call an interception returned for touchdown?
A Reed. (I’m not joking)
Here’s Ladarius Webb reading a bubble screen perfectly and getting a Reed against Mark Sanchez.
After an eternity… with the 27th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft the Baltimore Ravens select Jimmy Smith.
There’s all kinds of worry with Jimmy Smith. He’s had his share of off the field issues. Obviously, Baltimore feels that the strong personalities in the locker room (Ray Lewis, Ray Rice, Ed Reed) will keep him in check.
From this day on can Jimmy Smith’s nickname please be the Hoochie Cooche Man?
Ed Reed started the 2010 season on the P.U.P. list and missed the first six games of the season. From weeks 7-17 (including a week 8 bye) Reed accumulated eight interceptions. That’s good enough to put him first in the league. Slackers.
The only problem is that Ed Reed was brought up through Rex Ryan’s opportunistic defense and is now addicted to lateraling the football. It’s like he can’t control himself:
“Yeah, I think that’s when I got hurt,” said Reed, who wasn’t clear on whether he injured a rib or a muscle in that area. “I was saying to myself coming into the game, ‘No more lateraling.’ But it happens sometimes.”
(quote via The Ravens Insider)
I am ashamed.
(via NFL Fanhouse)
This afternoon, while waiting in line for entry into the Ravens’ season finale, I got to meet the one and only Ray Finkle. I was beside myself and had no idea what to say to the former Super Bowl winner.
What do you know about Ray Finkle?
Soccer style kicker, graduated from Collier High June 1976, Stetson University honors graduate class of 1980, holds 2 NCAA Division One records, one for most points in a season, one for distance, former nickname “The Mule”, the first and only pro-athlete to come out of Collier County, and one hell of a model American.
He’s a solid dude that totally committed to the joke with an official NFL jersey.
Ray Rice is having the best week ever. Sunday against the Saints he rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 5 balls for 80 yards and touchdown. Stud. Those numbers were good enough to earn Ray Rice AFC offensive player of the week.
Why did it take until week 15 for this to happen?
“Breaking news” on the Baltimore Raven’s site. The Raven’s punter Sam Koch defeats Jow Flacco in the team’s cornhole championship.
I wonder. If this team spent a little more time in their playbooks instead of playing bean bags, would they be able to secure a fourth quarter lead?
Say hello to one of the baddest men on the planet. Now, doesn’t he look soft?
(via the Baltimore Sun)
This year’s NFL schedule has a new wrinkle. To combat elite teams benching players in the last few games of the regular season, the NFL overloaded the second half of the schedule divisional head to heads. The result, we get three stellar ones this weekend.
These are all fine games (Falcons Bucs game being wrongly ignored) but the game that I can speak personally on is the Steelers Ravens. Everyone’s heard the rhetoric. The hardest hitting teams, slobberknocker, blue collar, throw the records out, play the game the way it’s meant to be played, etc… Whatever, I just know that these are historically close games.
I’m not the first one to tell you this but these two teams are so similar it’s ridiculous. The have the same personalities (almost at the same positions). A couple examples; Rice to Mendenhall, Suggs to Harrison, Reed to Polomalu, and Boldin to Ward. They are built to play each other. It’s not a fluke. In fact I think it’s common knowledge that the Ravens use the Steelers franchise as a measuring stick.
Ravens Steelers week hits on two polar opposites. On the one hand, when the Steelers come to town it is the most exciting week of the season. On the other hand, the actual game itself is normally feels like a three hour punch to the gut. But that’s my problem. I take it way to serious. I just hate the Steelers.
I hate everything about their team. Don’t get me wrong, they run a fine organization, tops in the league. The have one of the best owners, one of the top three head coaches, and consistently turn no names players into stars. And who can argue with the rings? I just hate them. Respect them, but hate everything about them.
I’d love to take this time and pick apart their players. Tell you about their behavior on and off the field, but then there is the whole glass houses/stone throwing thing. I have no delusions that the Raven’s are a couple of alter boys.
This week both teams kept it really classy. Instead of stirring the pot with smack talk it was much more of a “No, you’re awesomer” contest. Regardless of how things play out on the field, I do think there is mutual respect between these teams. Check this quote from a Peter King article where he interviews Pittsburgh’s safety Ryan Clark.
“Hatred is a strong word. I don’t particularly hate them. In fact, the ultimate respect I can give them is if I couldn’t play for Pittsburgh, I’d want to play for Baltimore.”
Maybe this has to do with the fact the Steelers biggest rivals are no longer the Ravens. The news I’ve read this week makes me think that the league itself are the Steelers biggest rivals.
Whatever the case, tonight’s game means a lot. There is a lot at stake. As long as the rest of the season carries on as usual, the winner of this game will most likely earn a first round bye and a home game in the playoffs. The loser will most likely fall back to the wild card. Pretty big for a week 13 game. If history repeats itself, this game should be memorable.
