Ravens defeat Titans in Divisonal Playoffs

In what can only be described as one of the worst playoff games in NFL history, The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Tennessee Titans 13-10.

The Titans dominated the game moving up and down the field but turnovers, a bounty of penalties and horrible officiating were too much to overcome. The Ravens run defense was especially stout with the injury to star rookie RB Chris Johnson (still waiting for an explanation from the astute duo of Gumbel and Dierdorf).

The Titans nearly doubled the total yardage of the Ravens, winning the stat 397-211 and TOP 34:07 to 25:53. Only 3 turnovers and poor officiating could result in a loss.

The good:

The game was hard hitting with some brutal hits and was played at a high level of intensity. That was really the only good thing to watch in this game.

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The bad:

Officiating- Absolutely horrendous, this is not a surprise in the NFL. The Ravens converted a key 3 rd down on the winning drive when the play clock clearly expired. In essence, the key point of the game. It certainly seems when the media gets behind a team, they get the vast majority of the calls. That seems the case with the Ravens.

Announcers/Coverage- It would be easy to analyze the ineptness of Gumble and Dierdorf so we will leave that alone. Even worse, is the studio clan at CBS. James Brown has to dream of how things use to be on Fox when he was surrounded by analysts that were at least in the same stratosphere.

Marino’s brilliant observation of Flacco’s first half performance will certainly go down in the annals as one of the all time greats. He broke down each completion with the precision that only Dandy Dan can make. Note: Flacco was 3 for 8 in the first half.

When these former player/coach morons get on someone’s bandwagon, there is no stopping them. Flacco is solid at the very best.

I, like many thought Ravens QB Joe Flacco stepped out of the end zone on a very critical play in the 4 th quarter. There were no replays on CBS, Inexcusable.

Coaching- Titans Offensive Coordinator Mike Heimerdinger proved to be very offensive to Titan’s fans everywhere. With the momentum in their favor, the passing game humming and the O-line dominating, the brilliance of old school NFL coaches came seeping through Magic Mike’s pores. You guessed it, time to run Lendale White. Get Heimerdinger’s bust ready for Canton. Instead of having manageable third downs, it quickly changed to 3 rd and longs. White’s 1 and 2 yard gains combined with a catastrophic fumble changed the entire game.

Despite the multiple turnovers and penalties, if Heimerdinger continued to be aggressive on early downs, the Titans were so much better than the Ravens, they still would have won.

Heimerdinger is the most recent example of a coach sticking to his “raisin”, clinging to antiquated philosophies from a bygone era; when everything about the game was different.

NFL fans, it’s great we have fantasy football and gambling to keep us watching because the game sure has eroded.

Until next time, I have to go watch another brilliant QB “manage” a game.

By Scott Dryden
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer