[Blogs] At First Glance: AFC Championship

[BR News]

John Eisenberg: The Ravens are going to have a hard time watching the Super Bowl in two weeks. They had a great chance to knock off the New England Patriots, and certainly a great chance to take the game into overtime. There’s nothing you can say about Billy Cundiff’s missed 32-yard field goal except that he should have made it. There’s no excuse for missing it. There’s a lot you can say about the defensive holding penalty that went uncalled one play before that and would have given the Ravens a first down. Bad break there. Brutal. The Ravens played well enough to win. Joe Flacco was brilliant. The people who continually criticize him should be quiet. He put the winning touchdown in Lee Evans’ hands in the final seconds. A Patriot defender knocked it out. Great play. The Ravens followed their intended blueprint all day. They moved the ball, forced Tom Brady to settle for field goals, had the Pats on the ropes. The loss will be tough to forget.

Ryan Mink: The Ravens gave the Patriots a heck of a game. It was a classic AFC championship. But that was an absolute brutal, brutal way to lose. You cannot get any closer than that. A touchdown pass gets stripped out of Lee Evans’ hands, then Billy Cundiff misses a 32-yarder to send the game into overtime. Once again in the playoffs, the Ravens fell short of the Super Bowl. This one will sting for a long time.

Garrett Downing: The Ravens came close but it wasn’t enough to take down the Patriots on the road and return to the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history. Quarterback Joe Flacco responded to a mountain of criticism this week by playing one of his best games of the season, but a missed field goal by Billy Cundiff at the end of the game concluded the Ravens season with a devastating loss. This one will sting for a long, long time.

Sarah Ellison: Joe Flacco can’t do this by himself. He hit receiver Lee Evans square in the numbers in the end zone, but he allowed a defender to strip it lose. Then they brought out kicker Billy Cundiff to kick a 32-yard field goal, but he shanks it wide left. Nobody will feel worse than those two men. Prior to the mistakes, the AFC’s top two seeds traded blows for 60 minutes, but the Ravens were just a touchdown catch short of a second Super Bowl trip in franchise history. The truth is that Baltimore played inspired football, but there are no moral victories in the AFC championship. It’s heart-breaking for a first-class organization.

[url=http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/2012/01/22/at-first-glance-afc-championship/]View the full article[/url]

[IH EART DA RAVENS]

Why?

[llxxGrimxxll]

can we fire cundiff now? he's cost us way too much.

[delraven]

Hats off to the team. They out played the Patriots. In my opinion, Ravens deserved this game. All i know is we need a new kicker this offseason. My high school kicker can make that.

[RavenFan28105]

Cundiff....smh....Flacco was doing so well!! Now the critics will be hating on him still. Come back next season Ray, we have the Patriots at home and you still have unfinished business

[RavensMANIAC!!]

Ughhh...... Unreal... We had it... Speechless.

[llxxGrimxxll]

how many games must he cost us. missing a 38 yarder something most rookies can do consistantly.. he's become a liability

[Purple&Black]

ok so is it safe to say lee evans and billy cundiff will not be back next season?

[Berkeley_Raven]

Lee Evans and Billy Cundiff. First two releases. Cam soon after.

It was a good season. It could have been great. Proud of my Ravens, sorry for Ed and Big Ray. And ashamed of Cundoofus.

[redravenfan]

well i think evans was the go to guy for the touchdown he has dropped passes all year so of course he would be the right choice for the winning score, and lets not forget cundiff who has done this all season. four years and we can't get it done and i dont care who negatives me . time to clean house from coaches on down .

[bioLarzen]

Well, hard to write anything worth writing... It was all in our hands - quite literally.

Congratulations to the guys, they proved they're rightly in the final four.
Congratulations to Flacco, he proved his case beyond doubt.

Now let the pain eat us for some time and then... let's get back to football.

bio

PS: Last year it was Boldin, this year it was Evans... I hope we'll eventually get a WR that won't drop the winning ball in the dying seconds of a playoff game...

bio

[chappers11]

Played so well all game. Joe Flacco silenced every single one of his critics there. Defence did what they needed to and kept Brady off the field. It was just down to 3 plays.
1) That draw play call on the 3rd and 3 that then led to the 4th down attempt and not a field goal.
2) The Lee Evans in the end zone. Should of been reviewed, had both feet down.
3) That field goal. I love Billy, he's a great kicker but when you can't make kicks like that you have to go.
The Patriots are so one dimensional and have such a poor defence, hope someone teaches them a lesson in the Superbowl. Ravens were the best AFC team over the season, including that game.

Off season needs based on that game:
New offensive coordinator
New kicker

Im still speechless. Next season Ball So Hard Will be back.

Also Skip Bayless can shut the hell up.

[Purple&Black]

cam cameron should be let go. he literally went out those first couple possesions and had the most predictable offense I have ever seen and a draw of third and one....run a screen or something at least. im not totally upset with joe bc he actually played better than brady. he just had really 2 awful plays. throwing out of bounds on 4th and the int

[No.20alltheway]

I feel like I have to say straight away. What a game. What a team. Really proud of our guys but heartbreaking finish. I don't blame Lee that much cos the DB made a great play on the ball, but the kick...........self explanatory.
The last thing I'll say, idiots want to stop blaming Flacco now? Thanks, roll on next year cause we WILL get back to this game.

[F4113N]

I certainly hope Cundiff doesn't even bother coming home with the rest of the team. Cameron should be let go too. Going for it on that fourth down was the most bone-headed call I've seen in awhile.

[raven-in-england]

Hats off to Joe Flacco, he threw one hell of a game

[SinisterRaven]

Lee Evans ,Billy Cundiff need i say more Cundiff has been doing this all year and he still will be back next year sad

[ravne05]

Cleveland Browns all over 1980,1986,1987 harbaugh keeping a injured Cundiff should be fired along with Cam Cameron. Steve sell this team you do not deserve to own such a great team and you should stick to what you know and thats not football. Don Cockroft cost the 1980 Cleveland Browns a superbowl Marty cost the 1986 browns a superbowl and Byners fumble cost the Browns another trip so if heads are not rolling after this the Ravens will never be superbowl team

[BecksterH]

Joe was brilliant and totally clutch. Too back Evans and Cundiff were not.

[scrock]

Joe Flacco really stepped up, it sucks it went down like it did...I think CAM still needs to go

at the end I almost wish we let Flacco go for it, Cundiff has had me nervous all season

[bioLarzen]

[quote name='No.20alltheway' timestamp='1327275957' post='965429']
I feel like I have to say straight away. What a game. What a team. Really proud of our guys but heartbreaking finish. I don't blame Lee that much cos the DB made a great play on the ball, but the kick...........self explanatory.
The last thing I'll say, idiots want to stop blaming Flacco now? Thanks, roll on next year cause we WILL get back to this game.
[/quote]

Hi,
I agree with you totally - with one little exception: Evans had the ball in his hands. He should have held on to it.

bio

[rmcjacket23]

1. No problem with going for it on 4th down. If you saw Cundiff's numbers from 50 , no intelligent person chooses to kick.

2. I don't totally blame Lee Evans for the dropped pass... I thought it was a great play by the defender.

3. A lot of missed opportunities on offense, most will go unnoticed.

4. I can't help but question what would have happened if Joe ran for the 1st on 3rd and 1 at the end. He still has a timeout in his pocket, and would have had at least 2 shots and the endzone.

5. Cam's playcalling was better than I expected, but his ridiculous draw on 3rd and 3 was terrible. I still hope he is fired.

[Purple nd Black]

Keep lee, hat goes off to Joe hopefully the critics are silenced. Get A OC that goes 4-5 WR and work those guys. Cam needs the boot

[MrRavens]

So close guys.. So close.. Thought we had it..

[ravne05]

Negative me all you want keeping Cundiff on the roster huge mistake that should cost Harbaugh his job.

[RavenArmor]

I never would've imagined that Flacco would outplay Brady, get us close to the endzone like he did against the Steelers round 2 and we still lose.

[RavensRumRunner]

What a shame!

The Ravens actually "outplayed" the Patriots all game long.

Lee Evans has to hold on to that ball for dear life as though his life depended on it!

Well, the Ravens 2011 season "life" did depend on it!

Damn ... we had it ... what a bummer!

[ZooDane]

I'm really glad we pay Cundiff 3 million dollars a year to be horrible.

He gets 5 extra yards on kickoffs and struggles to kick it in the endzone. He is 1 for 10 on long field goals. We don't trust him to kick a 50 yarder when the game is on the line. And he misses a 32 yard chip shot when Lewis, Reed, Birk, Suggs, Johnson, and other aging players are looking at potentially their last shot at a Super Bowl.

Yes, Lee should hold onto that catch. But Cundiff has been horrible for us all year long. He is over paid and doesn't even consistently kick touchbacks or long field goals, which is what we pay him for. I obviously looks like a knee jerk reaction but after the horrible season he had, this 32 yard field goal, AND the $3 million we pay him a year, there is NO reason he should be on our roster next year.

And our play calling wasn't predictable again either...

[Purple&Black]

really who runs a draw on like 3rd and 3 against a blitz. fire cam for the sake of our future. ray and ed will hopefully come back next season, but they were vocal all year about their disdain for the OC. if he is back, i dont think they both will be. sadly

[Ravens♥Legacy]

Flacco played his butt off. Honestly, he always does when the pressure is on him. But for some reason, there's always some other factor that makes us fall short. I'm bummed but....WE WILL GET A SUPERBOWL RAVENS. You're still my team. You're the best team. And I'm glad I'm a RAVENS fan.