Baltimore Ravens concede their defeat, finally – NFL feature
It is official now that the Baltimore Ravens have lost the American Football Conference (AFC) championship to the New England Patriots.
The defeat had come about a week ago. It stunned the team so much that none of their players and staff could believe it for many days to come.
They, having failed them yet again, were apparently in search of excuses to justify it. They little succeeded in their efforts of finding one.
First, it was controversial possession of ball by their wide receiver, Lee Evans. It was rejected by the National Football League office.
Then it was the scoreboard error, which according to certain circles might have affected their kicker’s Billy Cundiff’s failed field-goal kick.
Almost all the Ravens players have expressed of their shock and disappointment over the loss that had ended their hopes for the Super Bowl run.
For many of them, the defeat was ruining of their last chance of redeeming their reputation of being part of the side that has lost four Super Bowl playing opportunities in four years.
Apparently, all of the players refrained from making any single of their colleagues a scapegoat to their defeat. It was yet again that they refrained from admitting the defeat.
Finally, it was the team’s coach, John Harbaugh, who conceded the defeat. He said that the faulty scoreboard should serve as an excuse to their AFC championship routing.
He went on to appreciate his team’s performance on the field, which had made them felt home at a couple of occasions. It was perfect finish by the New England Patriots that left the Ravens with no chance of victory whatsoever.
The Ravens performance ended up repeating their history for fourth consecutive season. It was gain their famous loss in the playoff round that ended their 2011 NFL run on a disappointing note.
Cundiff had earlier conceded his failure of field goal attempt. The player’s was apparently frustrated to have missed the kick, which he had attempted over a thousand times before, and was successful most of the times.
Otherwise, none of the Ravens are unable find a clue of their loss, in spite of a week of scratching their heads. The team has not formally met at a post-routing meeting to throw a light on their failure.
It again many of veterans who had been a part of the team during all previous years are well aware of it. They might have done a good job to achieve the perfect home record; their exposure in the road games remains a bone of contention for them.
They at many occasions have managed to survive through the road games scare but at many could help themselves from the inevitable defeats.
It was the only difference between in their playoff game against the Houston Texans and AFC game against the New England Patriots. They ended up with the fate that their opponents, Texans, had suffered at their hands a week earlier to AFC championship.
With the apparent approval of their defeat to the Patriots the next step for the Raven coach should be the review of his defensive strategy. It is probably the distinct characteristic of Harbaugh brothers’ coaching approach that at the end cost them their
respective games.
Jim Harbaugh, the head coach at the San Francisco 49ers, is brother of the Ravens coach, John Harbaugh. Both teams lost their respective AFC games. Both of them have been dependent on their defence for pull of wins in the regular season and in playoff.
It is time for them now to think over it again to see if it is sustainable and helpful in achieving desire results consistently.
The AFC games showed that the strategy stands exposed against a better outfit and there could be a possible shift in it to avoid chances of such losses in the future.
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