A Ravens Coronation


For the first time all Post Season I picked the Ravens to win on Sunday. I didn't do it because I like the team — because I don't — and I didn't do it because I thought they were a better team — because they're not. I did it because the Ravens were this year's team of destiny. They are, and they did win the Super Bowl title.

What we saw yesterday was one of the strangest title games in recent memory. A game everyone thought would be close appeared to be headed toward a blow out. The Ravens got all the breaks — including the officials inexplicably not ejecting a Ravens player who hit an official — and made the most of it. Even after a whiffed fake field goal, the Ravens led 21-6 at half time.

Then, beginning the second half, Jacoby Jones returned the kick off 108 yards to give the Ravens a 28-6 lead. It appeared to be over. Then the inexplicable continued as the lights went out in the Super Dome. After that, all bets were off.

The 34 minute delay seemed to give the 49ers a chance to calm down and focus. What happened next was an epic comeback. After cutting the lead to 31-29, it seemed the 49ers had all the momentum. When the Ravens could muster only a field goal — giving them a five point lead at 34-29 — it seemed the 49ers might actually complete the comeback.

But it wasn't to be. The fourth and goal throw sailed long. You could have seen pass interference called on that play in some games. But Sunday the officials seemed to swallow the whistle, so nothing was called. Then the Ravens played smart time management and ran the game out.

It was a game that featured a lot more scoring than expected — the over/under was 47.5 points with many betting the under while the game featured 65 points — and a lot more turns than it looked like early in the third quarter. It was a long game, there was a long, unexpected delay, and, still, the Ravens were the team of destiny.

Three times this Post Season the Ravens were underdogs. In the one game where they were favored, the Colts were the hot pick because of the story of Chuck Pagano. Yet, the Ravens won each and every game.

Heading into the Post Season, football statisticians said the Ravens were one of the worst teams to qualify for the playoffs. But, still, they won four games in a row and earned the championship. Heading into the Post Season, no one outside of Baltimore believed in Joe Flacco, yet he had a perfect playoffs and earned Super Bowl MVP honors.

Here's the thing, sometimes in football there is a team that gets hot at the right moment. You may not like it or be able to believe it, but you can't stop it either. This year, that team was the Ravens. With all that happened yesterday, that was certainly confirmed.

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