Not the Way For the Ravens to Go
It could’ve have been any other opponent but the arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
Any other running back but Willis McGahee.
Any other coach but the defensive coordinator.
This wasn’t the way the Baltimore Ravens were supposed to end a dream season. This team is prime for an implosion, but it was supposed to be a summertime affair. Something we could put to the back of our minds after thinking about and playing in a Super Bowl.
But now, how are Ravens fans supposed to easily get over losing to the team they may just hate more than the Indianapolic Colts? That’s the burden of exceeding expectations. Nobody is ever quite ready for you to stop exceeding them.
With the season over from a brutally physical game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, you look ahead to many unanswered questions. What happens to the defense with the departure of Rex Ryan? We know who would be a good replacement, but what we don’t know is which linebacker is going to depart with Ryan and further deplete the defense.
We don’t know if Willis McGahee, who really came on towards the end of the regular season and throughout the playoffs, will return to the team. His season was marked by injuries and capped off with a jarring and frightening hit towards the end of last night’s game.
And while many believe that the development of Joe Flacco, Le’Ron McClain and the Ravens offense will get them to a place of regular contention, people close to the team know that it won’t be the same. Not with uncertainty surrounding Ray Lewis’ free agency and how it will impact other free agent linebackers in Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs. Not with questions about defensive sustainability.
And it just isn’t the way any of us could have imagined.
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