The Ravens and the Jets – Rookies to Watch
The Baltimore Ravens easily defeated the New England Patriots in Sunday’s NFL game. It wasn’t surprising, but shocking how easily they won.
The Ravens forced Tom Brady into a succession of mistakes and embarrassments, finally winning at 33-14.
The Patriots were the dominant NFL team of the first decade of the 21st century. Their last home playoff loss was in 1978 and Brady had a perfect 7-0 in home playoffs. Sunday, however, he turned the ball over to the Ravens four times.
Baltimore scored a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and led 24-0 after only one quarter. Quarterback Joe Flacco, who won twice in his rookie season last year, really showed us what he can do on Sunday.
The Ravens now move to the next round, along with the New York Jets, who won against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Ravens will now play the top-ranked Colts at Indianapolis, while the Jets travel to San Diego to face the Chargers. The Colts are 6 ½ point favourites, the Chargers eight-point picks.
“Their era is not over, they know how to win,” Baltimore running back Ray Rice said. “But for the Ravens, to beat the New England Patriots set a precedent. We’ll always remember this win.”
This was the Patriots first playoff game since losing the Super Bowl two years ago to the New York Giants. This was at the end of their otherwise unbeaten season.
The Colts have been the Patriots’ closest and fiercest rivals for AFC dominance these past several years. They had that 14-0 start this season, but the Chargers had an 11-0 run of their own to finish the season.
The young, confident Jets have their own version of Flacco in rookie QB Mark Sanchez, who outperformed his role model, Carson Palmer of the Bengals, on Saturday.
Sanchez said, “You just take a look at the stadium and you hear the Bengal thing roaring,” he said. “You can hear the fans screaming at you. You can see the guys on the sideline getting animated. You think, `Wow, the entire country is watching this. And I get to say, `Go’? I get to say, `Hut’? They don’t do anything until I say, `Hut’? That’s crazy. It blows your mind. It’s unbelievable.”
The Jets will go as far as their defence and running game can take them, so long as Sanchez continues to avoid costly mistakes. The same, more or less, applies to the Ravens and Flacco.
This next round will be much tougher, but it would not be surprising at all to see the Jets face the Ravens in the conference final.
