The most impressive aspect of the Ravens playoff win over Miami was the businesslike, perfunctory manner in which the Ravens did their business.  Not skipping a beat from how they rolled through the regular season, they remained in a steady gear of grinding out the opposition with a dominating defense and a power running game on offense.  Would a rookie quarterback be a drawback in the playoffs?  No more than it was to have a rookie lead the way for 11 wins in 16 regular season games.  Fact is, that rookie QB was pretty unspectacular against the Dolphins (9 completions for 135 yards) but he didn’t have to be any better than that.  What Flacco did that was most impressive is that he turned the ball over ZERO times (compare that to the four interceptions thrown by Dolphins veteran QB Chad Pennington).

 

            The Ravens beat a team they were expected to beat and did so in a manner that was their way all season.  No shock, no awe, no big deal- they go into opposing stadiums with the attitude that says: “we’re better than you and we know it, and we’re going to play that way”…and more times than not, they do.  That being said, who will be surprised if the Ravens roll into Nashville and do the same to the Titans?  It won’t be easy, but this Baltimore team doesn’t figure it’ll take an “upset” to beat a team they thought they’d rightfully beaten during the regular season.  There are other factors:  Tennessee has had extra rest (bye week) and the Ravens are on a short week (Saturday game following a Sunday).  But the best factor going the Ravens way is their way of doing business- they’ll approach the assignment as usual.  And the “usual” from the Ravens defense is what Titans QB Kerry Collins has on his mind right now.

Posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 5:09 pm.
Categories: Mark's Blog.
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