Am I the only one who thinks it’s odd to see an intimidating, beastly presence like Ray Lewis who goes about 6’1″ 250, wear a t-shirt after the game that says “Best Dad?” You can’t completely see the shirt with that picture but I believe it has hand prints below the best dad script across the chest, likely coming from Ray’s kids. Let me get this straight: you run around a field for 60 minutes knocking helmets and kicking the crap out of your opponents but at the end of the day you want to remind everyone you’re just a sweet family man? I just found that shirt so paradoxical I had to post it.
As for the ballgame, it was a convincing win by Baltimore over the Patriots and it came easily considering they got up 24-0 in the first quarter. I can’t see the Ravens beating the Colts without more of a threat from their passing game but their win may have been much more significant than that. It’s hard to see such a shellacking and not question whether this playoff loss officially closes the door on the Patriots dynasty from the 2000 decade. New England’s defense was spotty as it was against the Colts and Saints, a far cry from their staunch defenses the past 10 or so years. The front office may have overestimated themselves when they dealt Richard Seymour to Oakland and their pass defense was shaky against good offenses.
On the offensive side of the ball, losing Wes Welker to a knee injury is a major hit and they lack receiving threats outside of Moss, Wes, and Edelman. In the type of offense they run, they need at least three high quality receivers. Sam Aiken, Isaiah Stanback, and Ben Watson aren’t enough — they need more depth. Lastly, and quite alarmingly, Tom Brady looked very average down the stretch. For now I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt figuring all his injuries caught up to him. The problem is I didn’t see Brady throw one tight spiral all game indicating to me his broken finger hindered his game and resulted in wobbly passes. The long off season should do him a lot of good.
