Unsung and Unloved - the Heroes of the Ravens game in 2007

[JSn]

Not all in order of occurrence, but...

1) Safety James Sanders who caught an interception at the NE 1-Yard line, which became a field goal.

2) WR Jabar Gaffney who snagged the go-ahead TD with 44 seconds remaining.

3) Linebacker Eric Alexander who stopped Mark Clayton at the 3 yard line after Clayton had snagged a hail-mary from Kyle Boller.

4) RB Laurence Maroney who had a career-high 79 receiving yards and a career-long 43-yard touchdown reception in this game.

5) Former Ravens D-Coordinator/Current Jets Head Chef... er Coach who called a very helpful timeout which ultimately kept the perfect regular season alive.

The point of this thread is that three of these guys who remain on the team are often overlooked or sometimes even get treated to the stocks and a sound whipping. How many "Sanders isn't a play-maker" and "you wouldn't want to have to rely on Alexander" and "Maroney sucks/is made of glass/kissed my sister" posts have there been this year already?

We enter this game with several players who could be classified as "unknown quantities" or "average players" and those are often the players who decide the outcome.

Props to this article that reminded of the critical plays in that epic nail-biter of a game. Worth a read, for sure.

 

[flynismo]

I still remember yelling, "KYLE F******* BOLLER!!!! YESS!!!" on that completion to Clayton.

But much like the rest of his career, too little, too late.

 

[JSn]

I still remember yelling, "KYLE F******* BOLLER!!!! YESS!!!" on that completion to Clayton.

But much like the rest of his career, too little, too late.

Besides the "YESS!!!" I imagine a good number of Pats fans yelled the same thing.

 

[ALP]

i re watched this game b4 the game against the jets....

it was amazing....how close it was, i had almot forgotten the end, where they still almost got the td....LOL, wut a game

 

[Betterthanmost]

How about just before half time. Ed Reed had an interception and he was heading for a TD, who showed up and stripped the ball from him for a fumble? I am surprised it is not on your list. I think we will have been buried if he had scored. They would have come back in the second half and run the ball down our spine.

 

[jmt57]

I had forgotten about the start of the game, 1st and goal on the one and having to settle for three.

NFL Game Center: New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens - 2007 Week 13

 

[lusdawg]

What about Bart Scott and his throwing of the yellow flag?

 

[Tunescribe]

How about just before half time. Ed Reed had an interception and he was heading for a TD, who showed up and stripped the ball from him for a fumble?

That was Kevin Faulk.

Here's another: on the same fourth-and-one after Brady was stood up during Tubby Wrecks' premature timeout call, Heath Evans lost a yard. But that play ALSO was nullified because Russ Hochstein was flagged for a false start, making it fourth-and-six. On the ensuing fourth-and-six, Brady scrambled for a first down. So, we have a rare example of a team eventually winning because of a false-start call against them. Ironically, Hochstein probably jumped early because of crowd noise, so Ravens fans can blame themselves for losing that game.

I was at that game by the way. Great experience being there. Ravens fans were devastated afterward.

 

[MetalBleachers]

I remember Don Shula openly rooting against the Pats in the announcers' booth. So, that was classy.

 

[JSn]

I think the Ravens also had about 13 penalties to NE's 5 or 6.

 

[satz]

Forgot to add 1 more whipping boy.

Matt light vs Suggs especially on the final drive light did not let suggs near brady.

 

[ricogatenby99]

I just watched teh highlights again, what a game, but man I loved Stallworth on the other side, I also love seing Maroney catch the ball in space, he seems to terrify defenders.

 

[luvbrain]

That was Kevin Faulk.

Here's another: on the same fourth-and-one after Brady was stood up during Tubby Wrecks' premature timeout call, Heath Evans lost a yard. But that play ALSO was nullified because Russ Hochstein was flagged for a false start, making it fourth-and-six. On the ensuing fourth-and-six, Brady scrambled for a first down. So, we have a rare example of a team eventually winning because of a false-start call against them. Ironically, Hochstein probably jumped early because of crowd noise, so Ravens fans can blame themselves for losing that game.

I was at that game by the way. Great experience being there. Ravens fans were devastated afterward.

On the false start call, can the Ravens decline the penalty in that situation?

 

[mayoclinic]

I just watched teh highlights again, what a game, but man I loved Stallworth on the other side, I also love seing Maroney catch the ball in space, he seems to terrify defenders.

We need more of that on Sunday. Please use Maroney and Faulk in space as well as Welker and Edelman. That's one of the big keys to the game.

 

[mayoclinic]

I think the Ravens also had about 13 penalties to NE's 5 or 6.

What I remember most about the 2007 game is that going in I thought the Ravens were simply a bad team, and that the Pats would blow them out. What I saw was a very talented team that could easily have gone 11-5 instead of 5-11, but also a very stupid and undisciplined team that kept shooting itself in the foot - dumb penalties, trash talking, undisciplined play. The inmates were running the asylum under Billick. They self-destructed in at least 3 or 4 games that year.

 

[JSn]

What I remember most about the 2007 game is that going in I thought the Ravens were simply a bad team, and that the Pats would blow them out. What I saw was a very talented team that could easily have gone 11-5 instead of 5-11, but also a very stupid and undisciplined team that kept shooting itself in the foot - dumb penalties, trash talking, undisciplined play. The inmates were running the asylum under Billick. They self-destructed in at least 3 or 4 games that year.

Might have been a Brian AND Rex problem in the discipline department. A lot of the penalties were on defense.

I keep expecting the Jets to rack up penalties this year. Maybe one positive holdover from Mangini is a shade more discipline in that department.

 

[JSn]

2 Stars? You're telling me this thread is on the same level as "week 4 roster additions" and "Is Tom Brady's arm too strong?"

Yeesh.

 

[mayoclinic]

Might have been a Brian AND Rex problem in the discipline department. A lot of the penalties were on defense.

I keep expecting the Jets to rack up penalties this year. Maybe one positive holdover from Mangini is a shade more discipline in that department.

One of the other things I remember about that Ravens team is that theywere very inconsistent. They were clearlyy revved up for the Pats and came to play with a lot of intensity. But there were some other games were they were very flat and had no intensity whatsoever. Harbaugh seems to have really brought some discipline and consistency to that team.

 

[WeezyFbaby]

Still one of the most nail biting games i have ever seen.. Easily top 5 pats games ever seen

 

[52decleetzu]

I loved what I saw watching last night, Ngata being the beast that he is inside vs Koppen, and us controlling Wilfork while McGahee racked up 139 yds a lot if them between the tackles.

If we do that on Sunday it will be a long day for the Pats.

We had so many stupid penalties giving you guys yards and a few personal fouls that absolutely killed us.

Under Harbaugh that does not happen.