Larry Brown Sports

Joe Flacco had a fantastic postseason for the Baltimore Ravens, and now he is going to reap the financial rewards.

Flacco is a free agent now that the season is over. He and the Ravens were unable to agree on a contract extension before the season began and decided to table negotiations until after the year. Flacco was believed to be seeking top-five quarterback money a year ago, so his price must be even higher now that he has led Baltimore to a Super Bowl.

Flacco even said after winning the Super Bowl and game MVP honors that he is going to make the Ravens pay.

“(Baltimore Ravens owner) Steve Bisciotti told me that if this happens, I can go pound on his desk and really stick it to him. And I said, ‘that’s exactly what I’m going to do,’” Flacco said on NFL Network’s postgame show.

When host Rich Eisen reiterated that Flacco plans to “stick it to the man,” Flacco said he meant his comments “in a good way.”

“I love him but …” Flacco said of Bisciotti.

Not giving Flacco an extension before the season may have been a good thing for Baltimore. It may have motivated Flacco to prove he is one of the best quarterbacks in the game.

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Jim Harbaugh has been a part of heated handshakes many times before, but it was actually his brother John who was part of an incident after the Super Bowl ended on Sunday.

As he was walking on the field to meet Jim for a postgame handshake following the Baltimore Ravens’ 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers, John Harbaugh got physical with a photographer.

In the bottom right corner of this video, John can be seen pushing a photographer:

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Karma may have caught up with San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver during the Super Bowl.

The 49ers’ No. 3 corner was burned twice in the first half of the big game on Sunday, which seemed like payback for the homophobic remarks he made during the week.

In the first quarter, Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin beat out Culliver to catch a heave from Joe Flacco down the right side of the field that went for a 30-yard gain. The catch led to Boldin getting in Culliver’s face with some serious trash talk. Though that catch didn’t lead to any points for Baltimore, Culliver’s next blunder sure did.

Culliver was playing man-to-man coverage against Jacoby Jones on a third-and-ten play at the Baltimore 44-yard line late in the second quarter. He bit on the double-move by Jones and was beat by almost 10 yards. Flacco underthrew his pass, forcing Jones to stop to make the catch over Culliver. Jones wasn’t touched after he hit the ground, so he got up and attempted to score. All he had was Culliver in his way, and he juked the Niners DB and went left for the score.

Culliver apologized on Wednesday a few hours after his homophobic comments made national headlines. Not only did he cause the biggest distraction for the 49ers during the week, but he may also become one of the biggest reasons why the Niners lose.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Cary Williams shoved a referee while the teams had a dust-up following Colin Kaepernick’s interception in the second quarter of the Super Bowl. Williams was lucky he avoided an ejection considering making contact with a referee calls for a player to be thrown out of a game immediately.

The interception was the first ever thrown by a San Francisco 49ers quarterback in a Super Bowl. It was the second turnover of the quarter for the 49ers, but it luckily did not lead to any points for Baltimore. The Ravens elected to run a trick play on a fourth-and-nine from the 14, and kicker Justin Tucker was a yard short of gaining a first down.

The Ravens won the game 34-31, and benefited from Williams making some key plays later in the game. They’re lucky he wasn’t ejected.

GIF via Deadspin

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is looking to win his first Super Bowl next weekend, and he’ll have to beat one of the best defenses in the league in order to do so. San Francisco ranked second in points allowed this season and third in yards allowed. They had one shutout and held five opponents to 7-or-fewer points during the regular season.

When asked to compare the 49ers’ defense to another unit in the league, Flacco mentioned the Steelers.

“In terms of style of defense they run, it’s probably similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Flacco told Dan Patrick during an interview that aired on NBC Sunday. “Every team is unique in their own way. These guys are a team that can get after the quarterback. They’ve got good linebackers and all their guys in the secondary just really attack downhill and really get after the ball. At the same time, they have really good ball skills. They’re a pretty dangerous group.”

Baltimore split with Pittsburgh this season and only scored 33 points in the two games. The good news is that their offense has looked pretty good in the postseason, and that San Francisco has shown vulnerabilities against good passing offenses.

The Atlanta Falcons exploded for three passing touchdowns against San Francisco in the first half of the NFC Championship Game. And though Green Bay was unable to stop the Niners’ offense, they were able to move the ball fairly well against the Niners.

Will Baltimore’s offense be able to produce against San Francisco? They probably will. And if they win, Flacco could be in line for a nice raise from the club.

Patrick asked Flacco whether his play in the Super Bowl would influence his contract negotiations with the team.

“I’m not sure,” he answered. “You’d have to ask the guys in the front office that question. It’s not really my concern. My concern is with my teammates right now and making sure we go out there and play the best game that we can.”

Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome has already said that Flacco’s performance won’t have an impact on the contract situation. You have to figure that Flacco will be cashing in if he does win the Super Bowl, regardless of what Newsome says.

Photo Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

Terrell Suggs was more than happy to take a few shots at the New England Patriots after beating them in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

Upon entering the locker room following his team’s 28-13 win, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker began letting his criticisms fly.

“Tell them to have fun at the Pro Bowl. Arrogant F—ers,” Suggs said, according to multiple reports.

Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wetzel also quoted Suggs as saying, “These are the most arrogant pricks in the world starting with Belichick on down.”

Suggs also hit the Pats with a Spygate blast.

“That’s funny, ever since SpyGate they haven’t been able to win,” the sack master said.

Wetzel reports that Suggs finally calmed down and eventually paid respect to New England.

“All BS aside they are a hell of a ball club … They have the right to be arrogant.”

Suggs has a history of scuffling with Tom Brady, though he said last year the beef between them was over.

Sunday marked the second time in a row that the teams met in the AFC Championship Game. New England won last year thanks to a missed field goal by Billy Cundiff. The teams also met in the 2009 season when Baltimore crushed the Pats 33-14 on the road.

Contrary to what Suggs says, there didn’t seem like a ton of arrogance emanating from the Patriots leading up to the game. The sports books that had Baltimore as a 9.5-point underdog are the ones who created that feeling, as did the people behind the billboards that taunted Ray Lewis during the week.

Not only did Tom Brady show poor clock management at the end of the first half of the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, but he also had a questionable slide.

The Patriots had a second-and-10 play at the Baltimore 10 with 24 seconds left in the half. Brady scrambled to his left and slid to avoid a tackle, but he pointed his leg up high and kicked Ravens safety Ed Reed in the leg.

Baltimore safety Bernard Pollard ran toward the official to point out that Brady may have committed an unsportsmanlike play, but no penalty flag was thrown.

Rather than call a timeout, Brady tried setting up the offense for another play. He took so long to get organized that New England didn’t get another chance to score a touchdown. Brady finally used the timeout with four seconds left, and New England kicked a field goal to go up 13-7.

There is no doubt that Brady slid with his cleats high and aimed at Reed. The only question is whether he was trying to shield himself from a hit or inflict damage on his opponent.

Below is a screenshot of the kick:

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