This was an old school Baltimore beatdown. No other way to put it. The Ravens simply beat an over-matched Chiefs team in all aspects of the game.
This has been what Ravens fans, and the media, have been expecting this team to do all year. Flacco played his best playoff game to date, setting multiple playoff quarterback records along the way. Todd Heap came up huge, as the Chiefs just seemed to ignore him, as well as the entire middle of the field, the whole game.
The play of the day, at least to me, came when Terrence Cody stripped Jamaal Charles of the ball. At the time, the score was very much in doubt. Charles had undress the Ravens defense earlier and the Chiefs were moving the ball. After that, there seemed to be a momentum shift, with the more experienced team winning out.
However, the Chiefs shouldn't get too upset over this defeat. They had no expectations after coming off a 4-12 campaign. This year they were surprise division champions, after going 10-6. The good news for this team, is that they are among the youngest in the NFL. With or without a lockout, they shouldn't be too effected, and could be a competitor for years to come.
I think Joe Flacco silenced some critics today. I've always been in his camp, but many criticize him unfairly. He's been nothing but a winner, being only one of three quarterbacks to get his team to three postseasons in a row their first three seasons. Today he added yet another road playoff victory to his resume. Not only that, this was by far his best game. I mentioned he set some records today, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Until the end, he was the offense. The line didn't really play well today, allowing multiple sacks and quarterback hits as well as struggling to get the running game off the ground (Or on the ground?) Flacco was clutch. He did fumble twice losing one, but he didn't throw an interception, and got better and better as the game went along.
When the offense got the ball back with the score 23-7 near the beginning of the fourth quarter, all I was hoping for was the offense to take a little bit of time off the clock. What I didn't expect was the Ravens to construct a near perfect drive. The Ravens ate ten minutes of clock, scoring a touchdown when Willis McGahee busted a 4th and 1 for a touchdown. It was just something nice to see after failing to close out games multiple times during the season.
That's all for me. I'll have more on the Steelers game later in the week. For now I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy another playoff victory, just being happy that my favorite football team isn't the Washington Redskins.
