Larry Brown Sports

Ravens kicking consultant Randy Brown confirmed that the Gillette Stadium scoreboard was inaccurate during the end of the AFC Championship Game Sunday, leading to a rushed kick from Billy Cundiff. He thinks it’s possible the error was made on purpose.

During an appearance with Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team on 94 WIP in Philadelphia Tuesday, Brown said “The scoreboard was one down behind, the entire last three plays, from what we understand. That caused Billy Cundiff to have to rush on to the field with just seconds left on the play clock to try and make the kick, which he missed.”

When asked if he felt the error was done purposely to mislead the Ravens, he replied “I don’t think you can rule anything out in New England, can you?”

Even if you believe the conspiracy theory that the Pats’ scoreboard operator intentionally misled the Ravens — and it wouldn’t be the first time the Pats messed with the opposing team through stadium technology — Brown says it’s no excuse for the missed kick.

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We hear coaches say it so often that it has become a cliche. When guys like Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin take the podium the week before a game, they always mention special teams. It is the third phase of the game that people tend to ignore. When analyzing the match-up between two teams on paper, we look at offenses and defenses. On Sunday, we were all reminded of how important the forgotten phase of the game truly is.

In the AFC Championship game, it was Billy Cundiff. The game was headed to overtime. Both the Ravens and Patriots had come up with timely turnovers to keep the game close. Tom Brady had an unimpressive day throwing the ball, but he led a go-ahead drive in the second half that was capped off by an uncharacteristic leap into the end zone over a pile of Ravens defenders.  Joe Flacco put Baltimore in a perfect position to send the game to overtime by bringing his team to the New England 21-yard line.  Perhaps the Patriots would block it, but no NFL kicker is going to shank a field goal inside 40 yards, right?  Cundiff shanked it, and the Patriots advanced.

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Nothing brings a community together quite like a local team making a run.  Considering it’s Friday and there are only four teams remaining in the Super Bowl hunt, I’m sure there are plenty of people wearing their Niners, Giants, Patriots, and Ravens gear to school and work on the east and west coasts.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with doing that as long as young children are not forced to support the Ravens like Roland Park Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore tried to mandate.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Roland Park is now doing a bit of backpedaling after they were chosen by the Baltimore Ravens organization to be a part of pep rally that is touring the city.  Here is what a couple of teachers emailed to parents in preparation of the television appearance.

“Students must wear purple or Ravens attire to attend, as there will be many TV cameras there,” one teacher wrote to parents in an email obtained by The Baltimore Sun. “Not wearing purple or Ravens attire means making a choice not to attend.”

Another teacher emailed that “students must wear purple in order to attend. If your child does not wear purple or you do not wish them to attend, I believe staff will supervise the students in the library.”

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Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and safety Ed Reed made light of what appeared to be potential conflict within the team by staging a fake fight before practice Thursday.

According to the Ravens’ website, Flacco and Reed pretended to get into an argument in front of the media by playfully shouting back and forth.

The fake fight was a response to the questions about the team’s chemistry sparked by Reed’s comments on the radio earlier in the week. Reed said that Flacco didn’t appear to have a hold on the offense during the team’s win over the Texans last weekend.

A few days later, Reed says there’s no longer a conflict.

“We’re past it,” Reed said Thursday. “We’re focused on the game at task now.

“We’re good, man. We’re honest with each other as a team. We’re not focused on that … We’re thinking about this game. What happened last game is last week.”

Flacco said on Wednesday that Reed’s comments were “not that big of a deal.” The All-Pro safety agrees.

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In the media era that has become all Tebow, all the time, it is tough for any NFL team to get the recognition they deserve.  What Tim Tebow has done in Denver — and the way he has done it — has been truly remarkable.  That being said, there are four teams in the AFC that have 10-3 records.  The Broncos are 8-5.  The Patriots and Steelers get a good amount of recognition because of Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and the history of their franchises.  The Texans get some coverage because they are one of the year’s biggest surprises.  The Ravens, however, are often forgotten.  As Sports Radio Interviews shared with us, Joe Flacco would even call it disrespected.

“If you watched Sportscenter today it was Tim Tebow then something else, Tim Tebow then something else, and Tim Tebow then something else,” Flacco said during an appearance on WNST in Baltimore earlier this week. “When we beat the Steelers were we on TV? No. I couldn’t even find a Baltimore Ravens highlight. I think that’s kinda the way it is around Baltimore.

“Last year we were a 12-4 football team. I mean we didn’t win the division because Pittsburgh had a tiebreaker and we won a playoff game. Yeah it’s not what everybody wants to hear and we didn’t win the Super Bowl but it was a pretty good year by our football team and I had a pretty good football season myself. You go home and all you want to do is not be criticized and it does seem like that. And hey my standpoint is I just think we’re disrespected as an organization when it comes to the media.”

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This has truly been a strange year in the NFL.  Granted, every year is strange in the world of professional football.  We have teams that start out smoking hot and finish the season 6-10.  We have others that start out 1-4 and scratch and claw their way into the playoffs.  This season, however, seems to be more of a mystery than ever — particularly in the AFC.  The Packers are the clear-cut favorite to win the NFC and the Super Bowl at this point, but what about the rest?  With the AFC up for grabs, here’s a look at the teams that are in the hunt. We start with the least likely to play in Indianapolis on Feb. 5 and end with the most.

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The Baltimore Ravens lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 12-7 in a pitiful performance Monday night. They only gained 16 yards by halftime, including one passing yard by Joe Flacco, and they didn’t record their first first down until under six minutes left in the third quarter. Coach John Harbaugh called the disgrace “almost as bad as you can play on offense.” Flacco said the team needs to be better even when they’re off their game. But nobody was as straightforward regarding the team’s problems as linebacker Terrell Suggs.

“It baffles me that Ray Rice only had seven carries,” Suggs said. “This is a Pro Bowl running back you’re talking about. They fed their horse. We have to feed our horse. It’s all right, just calling a spade a spade.

“When I have a Pro Bowl running back, and he’s not getting his touches, I’m going to feel some kind of way about it. He wants the ball. And I think we should feed him. Ray Rice is a phenomenal player. You have to use your phenomenal players. I have to question how many touches Anquan [Boldin] had. We’ve got guys on this team that can do some great things. We have to use those guys. It’s that simple.”

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