Broncos Dismantle the defending Super Bowl Champions Baltimore Ravens
I have to admit, I think that the Ravens got screwed in the openers of both of the defenses to title seasons. In 2001, the then defending champion Ravens hosted the Chicago Bears on a game that started at one in the afternoon. No national coverage, like most Super Bowl champions earn.
Now, they tend to like to have the champs open up on a Thursday night, the first Thursday night of September, usually. That is a newer tradition. And the Ravens indeed did play.
But this game was in Denver, not in Baltimore. Usually the champions would get the opportunity to open before their home crowd, to have the banner raised, and to attempt a successful title defense with an opening game at least from the comfortable confines of home.
Instead, the Ravens went to the Mile High City. Initially, they held their own, and kept it competitive. In fact, going in to the lockers at the half, they were actually up, 17-14.
That, however, did not last too long when play resumed in the second half. The Broncos quickly pulled away in the third quarter with three unanswered touchdowns, so that entering the fourth quarter, the score was 35-17 in favor of Denver.
Now, Baltimore did eventually answer, after Denver had expended their lead to 42-17. In fact, there was one ridiculous play by one Bronco defender, Danny Trevathan, intercepted a Flacco pass and ran to a wide open end zone, for what would have made it an overwhelming 49-17 lead. Instead, in his joy, he forgot to secure the ball up to the end zone line, and let it go before the ball actually crossed the end zone, which meant that it was a touchback, and Denver did not score. Not only that, but Baltimore got the ball back.
Every now and then, we see plays like that. Boneheaded, frankly. Like Leon Lett celebrating just before reaching the end zone in Super Bowl XXVII, only to have Don Beebe (of the Buffalo Bills) catch up to him and slap the ball away just before reaching scoring the touchdown). It has happened a number of times (I remember it happening in a preseason game between the Jets and the Eagles in the Hall of Fame Game, although I cannot remember who exactly it was anymore). It happens too often for it to be acceptable or excusable anymore. It's showboating, and ultimately, it's not getting the job done. Had he gotten the touchdown, the game would have been clearly out of reach for Baltimore. Instead, they made a run and, although they never got too close, the momentum clearly shifted, and gave the Ravens a chance that nobody would have expected just minutes before. So, it was costly, even if Denver still won, and by a comfortable margin, at that.
That might ordinarily have been the highlight, or rather lowlight, for Denver in their win, a memory that would have scarred their opening game win.
But the night will be immortalized for another reason entirely, because history of a different sort was made.
Peyton Manning threw for a record-tying seven touchdowns against the vaunted defense of the defending Super Bowl champions, the Baltimore Ravens. He is only the sixth man to have thrown for that many touchdowns in one game, and the first man to have done it in over forty years, since 1969. For that matter, Manning is the only player in history to have thrown six or more touchdowns in individual games at least three times in his career now.
You could hear him doing what he is perhaps best known for last night on television: audibles. He is so smart, and he makes the adjustments necessary as he sees fit. It worked beautifully last evening, as he had a record day that will long be remembered. Any doubts as to whether he is still a very elite quarterback and a game changer have been answered. Manning came in second in votes for MVP last season, and he now has to be considered not only a serious contender for the MVP this season, but as the early favorite, if only after week one.
For fans of the Denver Broncos, this had to be a very encouraging and enjoyable game. Not only did Denver win their game opener, they did it on national television, against the defending Super Bowl champions, and in very convincing fashion. In the process, they exacted a sweet measure of revenge for their defeat on the same home field last January, in an epic playoff clash. The Broncos defense bent, but did not really break, keeping the Ravens to a mere 17 points until deep in the 4th quarter, and shutting them down when they had to. And the Broncos offense looks very strong, behind the leadership of one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
As for the Ravens? Well, this was probably the worst way that they could have opened their title defense. It's not just that they lost, but how they lost. Their offense showed some promise in the first half, but then broke down and could not answer at the most crucial point, allowing the Broncos to take over the game. And the Ravens defense? They got sliced apart, allowing seven touchdown passes, as Denver was one point shy of breaking fifty. They looked absolutely nothing like the team that took the title last February, and this was like water being splashed in their face, to wake them up. Scalding hot water. It seems obvious that they have their work cut out for them the rest of the way, and they can hardly be considered the favorite to repeat at the end of this season.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/peyton-manning-ties-nfl-record-seven-touchdown-passes-045147537--nfl.html
Unfair Hatred of Tom Brady?
Some people really seem to hate this guy. On some level, I can understand. I don't necessarily agree with it, mind you. But I can understand, because I felt the same way at times with some people, or teams. I used to feel that was about "America's Team", the Dallas Cowboys, when they seemed to represent a perfect image. I do feel that way, and largely for the same reason, with the San Francisco 49ers, the New York Yankees, and now, especially, the Los Angeles Lakers.
As a Giants fan, you might think that I revel in pot shots at Tom Brady, or savor those moments (and there really aren't that many) when Tom Brady has failed. For that matter, I never understood the mindset by people who make up the rules as they go along, and who claim that if you like one team, you have to stick with that team and only that team, and cannot like others. I grew up a fan of the New York Giants, predominately. But I always liked for and supported the New York Jets, as well. Why not? Why does liking one automatically mean that you have to hate the other? For that matter, why can't I like other teams in the league, as well?
Yet, many fans of both the Giants and the Jets love to hate the new England Patriots, and particularly Tom Brady. I can understand it, on some level.
But the truth is, I never really hated Brady, or the Patriots. Hell, I can remember them being a perennial basketcase, even the worst team in the league. That has obviously changed, but contrary to most people, I believe that Brady and the Patriots (and yes, even Bill Bilichek), handle themselves with some measure of dignity. Everyone thinks the opposite, and maybe I really am not seeing what they are seeing. But what I have seen, those guys keep it relatively classy, and simply don't go overboard with the theatrics, like some other teams and players do. You won't see Bilichek predicting the Super Bowl ring for his team, a la Rex Ryan. You won't see Tom Brady sowing the classlessness of, say, a Michael Vick, already with a checkered past, and showing an arrogant streak as well in predicting a dynasty for the Eagles (before the Eagles even ever came close to reaching a Super Bowl, let alone winning one, during the Michael Vick era).
Yet, Tom Brady dropped his usual classiness in an interview earlier this week, seeming to direct a shot at star college quarterback (and evident heartthrob) Johnny Manziel. Indirectly, he referred to Manziel after being asked about him, using Robert Kraft (referred to her as RKK), the team owner, as the example:
"And as RKK would say, if you're a turd, it's going to come back to you."
Hmmmm....
But maybe that is actually sound advice for Manziel. He is not even in the NFL, and already, he is showing signs of taking himself too seriously, and getting a lot of people sick and tired of him.
People may be sick of Brady (quite a few people are, obviously). But honestly, that seems to be more about the level of success that he tends to enjoy, with three Super Bowl rings to his name as the starting quarterback for far and away the most successful franchise of last decade, and five Super Bowl starts, tying John Elway's record. Plus, Brady himself is considered a heartthrob, with a model for a wife, and he obviously makes good money.
So, while I disagree with people inherently disliking Brady, I think it goes too far sometimes. In a poll some years back, he was rated as more unpopular than Ben Roethlisberger, which I thought was preposterous. After all, Brady never had to defend himself against serious charges of rape, like "Big Ben", who epitomizes the athlete with a sense of entitlement, taking himself too seriously and thinking that he can get away with anything because of his abilities and accomplishments on the field.
Dislike him if you want to. But he may have a point about Manziel.
Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders
I was just thinking about this last night, and realized that these two teams seem to be very similar. They both had glory days, at more or less the same time. The peak for both teams came during the seventies and first half of the eighties. They enjoyed a heated rivalry against one another, for that matter. It's hard to say that they were mirror images of one another, but they both enjoyed incredible success at more or less similar time frames.
Then, they both saw their fortunes turn in the latter part of the eighties. In 1985, both teams were 12-4, and among the favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, yet again. Instead, both lost in consecutive weeks to the upstart New England Patriots. Both went 8-8 the very next season, and neither recovered to make the playoffs until 1990.
In that season, they both, once again, finished with a 12-4 record. But once again, they both lost in consecutive weeks to the same team in the postseason. This time, it was the Buffalo Bills.
They both stayed competitive for a few years in the early nineties, and they also both began to fade a bit by the mid- to late-nineties. Later on the decade, and early into the next one, both teams became quite competitive yet again. The Raiders even managed to break through and qualify for a Super Bowl, although they lost to Tampa Bay.
But since around that time, both teams have regularly stunk. It has been a while since either team actually qualified for the playoffs (the Dolphins managed it in 2008, the only time in the last decade or so that either team has managed this feat).
Yet, something tells me that the Miami Dolphins might just make some waves this season. And i wonder if they can without the Raiders, a team that they seem inexplicably linked to in fortunes, for better or for worse.
These two franchises used to be excellent, and when they got together, the league really paid attention. Now, both teams have long been relegated to the background, but have been trying to make moves to emerge in a more competitive light. The Dolphins are closer, and maybe a lot closer, than the Raiders are. They both have strong teams in their division. For the Dolphins, it is Tom Brady & Co. on the New England Patriots. For the Raiders, it is Peyton Manning & Co. on the Denver Broncos.
And although I think the Dolphins are actually not that far from breaking out, it just seems hard for me to see one team succeeding without the other. They almost seem like one and the same, on some level.
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