I have never hid my distaste for the Ravens and their arrogant d-bag coach Brian Billick. This morning is no different. Not like I stayed up to watch it (we fell asleep just after a classic Kyle Boller bad intreception in the fourth quarter), but the Patriots received some unbelievable luck during their game winning drive. On a 4th and 1, Tom Brady was stopped way short on his QB sneak attempt, but just before the snap, Ravens coaches called a timeout from the sideline. "The coaches called timeout, so that's out of our hands," Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle said. "I can't comment on that. I don't know what happened. The coaches make those decisions."On the second attempt, Heath Evans was stopped short on an inside handoff, but the whistles blew a false start, giving the Patriots a third shot on fourth down. Brady scrambled for the first down and the drive continued. On another 4th down in the red zone, Brady threw a pass intended for Ben Watson, which was broken up, but out came the dirty laundry. Defensive holding on Ravens Safety Jamaine Winborn, automatic first down.
With yet another chance, Brady hit Jabar Gaffney for the game winning TD, yet the play was reviewed. It appeared that Gaffney may have been juggling the ball out of bounds, but it was too close to overturn. The ruling on the field stood. Game over. Pats win 27-24.
Then came the fireworks. Ravens players began throwing their helmets like 3rd graders who didn't get their way. Brat Scott took a penalty flag and chucked it against the endzone wall. Walking off the field, the Ravens players were freaking out. Moving it into the postgame comments and you will see a bunch of sore losers. Don't miss these:
Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs on officiating: "Everybody is kind of cheering for them to go undefeated and break all the records. They called them the greatest offense on earth. So who knows? ... They made one more play than us and they got a little help. It's kind of the feeling of the 2001 tuck rule. It kind of feels like the tuck rule. That is the NFL for you, man. When they got a guy like that that is selling a lot of tickets, you want to keep him selling tickets."
Ravens receiver Derrick Mason: "Allow the players to dictate how the game is going to go, especially the last couple of seconds. It's kind of like basketball. There's three seconds on the clock. Let the guys play. The best team is going to win. You don't let outside circumstances dictate how the game is going to go. It's hard to play against the best team in the NFL and beat them. You are out there and working hard. You are playing against them and then also you have the other guys and it seems you are playing against them, also."
More from Mason on officiating: "I'm going to take it back to last game. San Diego. Quinn Sypniewski runs down the field, runs into one of their DBs, we catch the ball and they call offensive pass interference. OK. Great. This game, same thing happens. Randy Moss runs right into Samari Rolle. They call defensive pass interference. I don't understand that. One game it's called one way, the next game it's called another way. At the end, you have a phantom call. That's why it's hard to play and win a game when you are playing against more than just the best team in the NFL."
More from Mason on how hard it is to beat the Patriots: "It's kind of like that old Bulls team when they were running the tables. You were playing against Jordan, Pippen and the bunch and it was hard to beat them because everyone was on their side. That's the way it is now. You've got Brady and the bunch. It's hard to beat them when you're playing against them and extra people."
Mason on whether the refs can get caught up in talk of an undefeated season: "I think everybody can get caught up. You should have heard some of the verbal blasts we were taking from the refs. It was just despicable. They don't want us to say anything to them, but they treat us like we're little kids out there, saying anything they want to say. As players, we can't say anything back. We can't report it to anybody because it's our word against theirs. But you have to give it up to New England. They did what they had to do. They scored at the end and that's all you can ask of a team."
Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister on whether the NFL wants the Patriots to win: "They get a lot of calls. I'll say that. We've been watching film on them all week and I mean, they do get a lot of calls. As far as the NFL wanting them to win, you can't totally not think about it in those terms."
Ravens running back Willis McGahee: "I felt like we played our hearts out tonight and got some bogus calls, but it is what it is."
McGahee on which calls bothered him the most: "Shhh. Pass interference, the holding on [Jamaine] Winborne. There was a lot. I can't even remember them all."
Quotes Courtesy of Matt Mosley of espn.com
At least Billick didn't make excuses or call out the refs. He was pretty quiet after the game. To me, if the Pats are playing anyone else last night, I am rooting against them, but Brian Billick doesn't deserve any wins of this magnitude. Neither do his Ravens. Although give McGahee, Mason, and Boller a lot of credit last night. They played extremely well and Rex Ryan's defensive scheme worked most of the game. They were all over Brady.
Total Collapse - David Steele, Baltimore Sun
Winds of Change - Rick Maese, Baltimore Sun
No comments:
Post a Comment