Ravens 28, Patriots 13 (1/20/'13): Well, I didn't see that coming. I don't mean the Ravens winning and moving on to the Super Bowl. The Ravens are a very good team. I knew they could win. But I didn't think the Patriots would score just one touchdown. And no points in the second half. Zero. None. Zip.
Did anyone see that coming?
I have not turned on ESPN or the NFL Network since the game. And I won't for a while. Staying strictly with the NHL Network (thank you, league-run networks) and the Bruins. Perfect timing for the return of hockey. I'm also staying far away from Sportsblab Radio. I don't need to hear the post mortem and T-Sizzle gloating. Watching it in person was bad enough.
But I did see a few headlines online while trying to catch up on non-football news (Obama is president again! Cool.) saying the Patriots lost because they weren't tough enough. Really? That's it? Welker's not tough? Spikes? Hernandez? Solder and Vollmer? Brady? Vince? Jones? Mayo? Not tough enough? Come on. They lost because the offense picked a bad time -- yet again -- to have a bad game. At least that's how it looked to me. They carried the play in the first half but just couldn't get rolling. It was a weird game. Like their loss to the Jets in 2010. Those games happen to even the best teams. You just hope they don't happen in the playoffs.
The Pats -- without Gronk -- weren't good enough on Sunday. But not tough enough? I don't remember the Ravens looking that tough when they were losing four out of their last five games of the season. In fact, they didn't even look like a playoff team. But they do now. And they could very well win that Super Bowl that many (including me) have been expecting them to win for about five years. The Ravens have gone to Denver and New England and won tough playoff games on the road. They have earned it.
The Patriots? They have lost a home playoff game for the third time in four years. That's a discouraging way to end what have been some great seasons. But let's not forget that there are almost no players left on this team from 2007, the greatest team ever. It's only been five years and the Pats have already rebuilt the team and been to a Super Bowl and hosted back-to-back AFC title games. They are really entering the final stage of the rebuilding now that they have very good running backs who should only get better and an improving (slowly) defense. These last two years the Pats should have been battling for a wild card spot. Instead they were battling for another title. No matter how disappointing the ending, the last few years have provided a lot of fun.
And that's really what it's all about. Fun. That feeling on a Wednesday in September. Or November. Or January. That feeling when the week is dragging when you look ahead to Sunday and the Pats. And that feeling on Monday after they win another big game. The Pats delivered more than their share of fun -- again -- this season. And it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon.
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