Leadership matters and Ravens are still recovering from the void it. Although they have some leaders but they are not as effective as Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were. John Eisenberg says the whole talk of leadership is over-rated, but it cannot be overrated if it shows on the football field and affect the game. Examples on the field of football: 1)Flacco said after the Bengals win that he could sense offense losing momentum and going conservative, and that they should have kept the foot on the gas. Instead of expressing it in the media after the game, an offensive leader should have addressed it right in the middle of the game and gotten everyone back on track. When Boldin was around, there had been a few examples when offense was not performing in the first half. Boldin rallied them and got them back on track. 2)Blowing the leads - Very rarely Ravens blew the lead until 2012. Since then it is a growing pattern. For three quarters, defense would play well, but make critical mistakes in clutch that cost the games. Even on it's worst days, Lay Lewis's defense would step up in the 4th quarter and make the big plays. Do you ever wonder that changes in the 4th quarter. It's the same players, playing with the same technique for 3 quarters. But in 4th quarter the things start to change. It's the leadership factor! 3)Technique, and learning the game - Coaches can only coach so much. Lot of time, its the players teaching each other and giving confidence to each other. That's what makes the difference in playing fundamentally and taking next step. Go Ravens!!!
