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The Ravens find themselves leading the AFC North after a Steelers’ 17-14 loss to the Chicago Bears. Bears kicker Robbie Gould hit a 44-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining to seal the victory. Do I have to say it? I think I do. There is a lot of football left to be played. But leading the defending Super Bowl champs after two weeks of play is a great way to start the season.
How is the national media characterizing Ray Lewis’ game-winning tackle? Check it out.
“The greatest play of Ray Lewis’ career,” Rodney Harrison said on NBC Football Night in America.
In a spirited battle between two AFC contenders, “all that mattered was one man’s two-second burst of brilliance that some witnesses will be talking about for decades,” Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports said.
“I can’t let this column pass without acknowledging the greatness of Ray Lewis,” said Peter King in his infamous Monday Morning QB column. “And I bet the Ravens are pretty happy they re-signed Ray Lewis instead of low balling him and pushing him to go elsewhere — when he still, obviously has some great football left.”
Speaking of Monday Morning QB, Peter King also has Joe Flacco listed No. 3 on his MVP watch, Ray’s big play as his defensive play of the week, and he lists the Ravens tops in his Fine Fifteen power rankings.
In his weekly report card on the Ravens’ game performance, Mike Preston gave the Ravens’ offensive line an A-minus. The Baltimore Sun columnist remarked that the O-line pushed the Chargers off the line in short yardage situations, and only allowed one sack and just four quarterback hurries.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the Bengals upset the Green Bay Packers, 24-21, tying the Steelers for the second spot in the AFC North standings with a 1-1 record. Wow. Some media members felt a Bengals’ loss would be the “lock-of-the-week.” If it weren’t for an improbable 87-yard touchdown-winning reception in the final seconds of last week’s Broncos-Bengals contest, our AFC North Division rivals would also be 2-0.
“It’s official: The Browns Stink” said CBSSports.com’s Clark Judge after a 27-6 Cleveland loss to Denver. Even though the Browns have only scored one touchdown in eight quarters, the Ravens cannot overlook their visit to Baltimore this week. We already re-learned the phrase, “Any given Sunday” when the Kansas City Chiefs played the Ravens closer than expected.
The Jets backed up all their trash talk by beating the Patriots, 16-9, for the first time at home since September of 2000. I’m happy for former Ravens Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, Jim Leonhard and Marques Douglas. The Jets’ defense played phenomenally against the infamous Tom Brady-led offense. Plus, how cool is it that Rex recorded a 70-second message that was sent to every season-ticket holder asking them to help in making life “miserable” for the Patriots?
