The Day After: Ravens vs. Bills Thoughts
By Joe Barnes
A win is a win.
On a Sunday where Baltimore saw Ed Reed return in full force, a homeless-looking Harvard man had the game of his life. Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was on point yesterday afternoon, turning in another solid performance in this young 2010 season. Despite Fitzpatrick’s best efforts, the Bills could not pull off what would’ve been one of the NFL’s biggest upsets of the season thus far.
Despite almost losing to the BUFFALO FREAKING BILLS, the Ravens had their fair share of bright spots in the game. Reed’s two interceptions were excellent. The first one started the third quarter with a bang, and led to the masterful flea-flicker pass from Joe Flacco to Anquan Boldin. The second interception included an incredible return from Reed, which was wasted on the next play by a Willis McGahee fumble. Ray Lewis’ theft of the ball in overtime was the play of the game, and Billy Cundiff “put dah team on his back!” with three field goals, with one being the game-winner in overtime.
Three Stars:
- Ed Reed
- Ray Lewis
- Todd Heap
Ed Reed: You can’t say enough about Reed’s performance. He had the two interceptions, a forced fumble, two pass deflections, and four tackle to boot. Not only is that a hell of a game, but yesterday was Reed’s first real full-speed game action in almost a year. Considering the fact that he usually stands out near the end of the seasons, where others are worn out and he’s not, this performance shows that Reed is set for a full year of classic Ed Reed-style play.
Ray Lewis: How did he pull the ball out? Seriously, that play displayed an inhuman amount of brute strength and football-playing ability. Quietly, though, Lewis was the beast on defense that he always is. Papa Ray put up 15 tackles and a sack in the game, bringing his season total in tackles up to 60, good for 8th in the NFL. When you think about just how many tackles 15 really is, if a player had 15 tackles every game, they’d have 240 in a 16-game season. Lewis currently has the 16-game record with 183, which is about 11.5 per game. Putting up 15 tackles is impressive, the overtime strip was even more impressive, and it’s just further proof that the former Super Bowl MVP hasn’t lost a step this season.
Todd Heap: With his game status in limbo, Heap came out and showed why Baltimore loves him so much. With two touchdowns, Heap was the red-zone option Joe Flacco needed and the reason why the Ravens managed to stay in the game in the first half. Sure, he only had three receptions, but he wasn’t on the field as much as usual, and three catches with a sore neck from the tight end position is still a solid performance. Plus, when a guy gets open twice for touchdowns, he becomes the main focus of your defense. Add a shoulder injury that he picked up during the game, and those three receptions aren’t looking two shabby with the big two touchdowns next to them on the stat sheet. He’s been great this season, and has only helped Flacco connect more consistently with his new receiving weapons.
Besides that, this game shouldn’t be one the Ravens dwell on for much more than a couple of days. They go into the bye week sitting pretty with a 5-2 record, having already faced what I believe to be their three toughest tests of the season (road games at New York, Pittsburgh, and New England). Now boasting a healthy Ed Reed and a soon-to-be healthy Donte’ Stallworth, things are looking good for the Purple Birds, even if they didn’t look so good at times yesterday.