Divisional Round Afterword: Broncos vs Ravens

Rahim Moore watching painfully as Joe Flacco's pass sails just over his
finger tips and into Jacoby Jones's waiting arms.
Photo credit to Gridiron Rats.

I know the Broncos had one of the easiest second-half schedules this season, but I am at a loss as to how their defense was ranked #3 in the NFL against the pass.

Forgive me if you find fault with me for still being hesitant to give full credit to Joe Flacco. No doubt he played a pretty good game. But when you complete barely over 50% of your passes, and still average nearly 10 yards/attempt and toss 3 TD passes, that’s an indication that your receivers, and the opposing defense, are bailing you out.

And with that, I turn my attention to those fantastic Ravens receivers. Anquan Boldin had six receptions in the game and extended several drives, but was not a scoring factor like he was against Indianapolis. Torrey Smith, the Maryland graduate, had three catches for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including one fantastic hanging catch. I don’t know another way to describe it besides that he hung in the air for what felt like forever while the ball was vacuumed into his hands.

The play of the game, of course, came with just over 30 seconds left, with the Ravens trailing by 7, when Joe Flacco just threw the ball as far as he could. Rahim Moore was caught way out of position and couldn’t get back, even as Jacoby Jones waited for the ball to get to him.

Surprisingly, the Broncos, who had three timeouts, did not try to drive the field for a field goal to win in regulation, and the Ravens ended up winning with a field goal early in a second overtime period.

Certainly, some blame has to fall on Peyton Manning. His first interception was absolutely not his fault. Not only was the pass tipped, but also, after watching the replay from several different angles, I could see that there should have been defensive pass interference called on the play. There wasn’t, Baltimore scored a touchdown, and you have to live with that. Peyton was stripped of the ball later in the game, and in overtime he made a very poor decision, tried to force something, and was picked off again.

But did Baltimore really deserve to win that game? You can say what you want about the Ravens making plays when they mattered, and you would be right. But what the heck was that play calling about? About 15 times in that game I watched Ray Rice gain one yard on a first down run and another yard or two on a second down run.

So why do I think Baltimore deserved to win? Because Denver didn’t deserve to win. How do you force your opponent into that many 3^rd & 7-or-longer situations and still allow them to convert? How does a team force that many difficult situations and still give up 35 points in regulation? I can’t answer that question, but I know that the answer will be the same answer to the first question I posed in this paragraph.

It was a disappointing end to the season for Denver, but Peyton Manning put things in their proper perspective after the game. “When you’re not playing, you miss out on all the highs, but you also miss these disappointments. But I would rather be in the arena to be excited or be disappointed than not have a chance at all. That’s football. That’s why everybody plays it. You have to be able to take the good with the bad.”

As for Baltimore, they advance to the AFC Championship game for a second consecutive year, and will play in New England, just as they did last year. New England won that game, or, rather, Baltimore lost that game. This year, in Ray Lewis’s final go, they hope to turn the tables and advance to Super Bowl XLVII.

The AFC Championship will kick off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on CBS.