Wild-Card Afterword: Ravens vs Colts

Anquan Boldin had 5 receptions for 145 yards and this
touchdown in Baltimore's Wild-Card matchup with Indy.
Photo credit to USA Today.

The Colts got out to a terrible start and never recovered. They had multiple opportunities to steal this game from the Ravens, and they never took them.

Joe Flacco didn’t look very good in the first half. He wasn’t protected well, he made poor decisions and often even poorer passes. But his receivers came to play, Anquan Boldin more than anyone else.

A pair of very impressive receptions by Boldin in the first half went a long way to settle down his quarterback. Flacco looked like a completely different player in the second half, putting great touch on balls thrown down the field and trusting his receivers to keep making plays. Boy, did they.

The game had a closer feel than the 24-9 final score would suggest, but Baltimore’s offense played like they were never threatened.

On the other side of the ball, Ray Lewis was a bigger factor than I expected. I knew he would provide a huge emotional boost, but to have 13 tackles in his first game since Week 6? He was everywhere on the field. That wouldn’t have surprised me much, but even before his injury he didn’t appear as involved as he was Sunday.

What impressed me most was the overall play by Baltimore’s defense. Indianapolis ran roughly 23 plays in the first quarter. Baltimore was in the single-digits. Even though Baltimore kept Indy from scoring, that is a lot more time spent on the field than they would like to have spent. Remember that the Colts have come up with explosive plays throughout the season, so to play so tired but keep Indy out of the end zone all game impressed me very much.

An emotional season for the Colts ends in Chuck Pagano’s old home, and the coach shared an emotional moment with a Baltimore defensive player as time expired, which was very touching.

Baltimore will play in Denver next week, a tough task for anyone. It will be a much bigger challenge to take on Peyton Manning and his receiving corps, as well as to face a much more talented defense, but Baltimore’s performance today certainly did not hurt their outlook for that game. It should be a good one, and I will preview it Thursday.