January 18, 2009

Eating Crow

I guess I'm not really eating crow since I predicted that the Steelers would beat the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game before the playoffs started, but I will admit a few things tonight.

--Troy Polamalu outplayed Ed Reed by a lot

--Both teams hit hard, but the Steelers really laid the crushing shots on Corey Ivy and Willis McGahee

--After Hines Ward left the game, I realized that I found the Steelers much harder to hate

--For all the talk this week about the bye teams losing and home field being overrated, the Ravens sure would have liked one less game of attrition. If Hines Ward and Nate Washington had stayed healthy, the Steelers could have put up 38. The Ravens were down to part-time special teamers playing corner.

--When I have to double-check the spelling of your first name, Daren Stone, you probably shouldn't be taking egregious 15-yard penalties in a 16-14 game to take away 26 yards of field position. I think that might have been your last NFL play.

--Joe Flacco finally looked like a rookie, but with McClain out the Ravens probably had to put it in his hands.

I feel like the Ravens had a great season and I'm really optimistic for next year. I tried to be realistic going into these playoffs, but getting one game away makes it hard to avoid the hype. As Bill Simmons would quote Herm Edwards, "WE CAN BUILD ON THIS!"

7 Responses:

W said...

Remember in September we were hoping for an 8-8 season. The Ravens gave us a lot more than we expected but it is tough to get so close and then lose to the @#$%@# Steelers. I'm now Kurt Warner's newest fan. In the name of all old men, Go Kurt!

Daren who?

Meghan said...

I feel the same way. I tried to not get my hopes up too much. But man that was a rough loss. And now we lost Rex Ryan too. It's been a hard couple of days.

Grant said...

I'm a skins fan and even I rank Hines Ward as one of the most annoying players in the NFL. God he rubs me the wrong way.

Anonymous said...

At least there were some good injuries.

Nic said...

Off Topic...but I have to share.

I went to the Civil Rights Museum today, waited in line for an hour and half to get in, but during the wait Julius Erving comes out and stands on the balcony out front of the all too famous hotel room. I was freaking out...none of my friends knew who he was...then I started freaking out at them for being so naive.

When we finally got inside he was doing a press conference an arms length away from me...I became more civilized then however I convinced a friend to be the annoying guy that stands next to the camera man taking a hundred photos.

J-Red said...

I'm assuming that was in Memphis, and the hotel room was THE hotel room?

Nic said...

Yes, and yes. Sorry...should have been more specific.

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