Cheers and Jeers for Ravens vs. Steelers

Simply stated…Pittsburgh got Krugered! The Baltimore Ravens extracted some form of revenge for their close losses last season, with an overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-17.  Thanks to sound offense, stifling defense, and the leg of one Billy Cundiff, the Ravens took advantage of an injuried Steelers team, much like Pittsburgh did last year in the AFC Championship game. For many Steeler fans, they will come at us with the tired of excuse of not having Caveman Polamalu and Ben Rapistberger in the game, and they are right; they weren’t in the game.  However, guess what….you still lost!  Here are my cheers and jeers.

Cheers

Krugered:  While many would argue Cundiff is the hero for this game, Ravens rookie defensive lineman Paul Kruger gets the hero of the night award thanks to his timely interception of rookie quarterback Dennis Dixon which set up the game winning field goal.

Cundiff For Mayor:  With the esteemed mayor of Baltimore, Shelia Dixon, virtually out of office, I propose a city wide campaign for Billy Cundiff as mayor of Baltimore.  He has had an amazing two games with the Ravens, making clutch kicks other than that other guy who will remain nameless.  Billy The Kid went 2/3 on the day, including a game tying and game winning field goal in overtime.

Scarlett Knight In Shining Armor:  Ray Rice = WOW! 19 carries for 89 yards to go along with his five receptions for 67 yards, including a big conversion on 4th down which allowed Baltimore to tie up the game.

Bazooka Re-Loaded:  Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense took advantage of a Polamalu-less Steelers defense, and helped put up 393 of those total yards against a still capable Steelers defense, who is ranked number one in the NFL.  Flacco went 23 of 35 pass attempts for one touchdown.

Webb of Destruction: Lardarius Webb did an outstanding job of defending the Steeler receivers, recording three passes defending, including one against Super Bowl XLIII MVP, Santiono Holmes.

Baby You Can Drive My Carr:  Chris Carr has been on my hit list all season long, for his careless mistakes, missed tackles, and inability to hit the hole on punt returns.  However, he found that hole, returning five punts for a total of 71 yards, including a game long 34 yard punt return.

When In Rome: While Lee has been critical of the rally towels, I found them to be a good way of drowining out the urine standed towels of the Steelers fans that were in attendance Sunday night. In case you were wondering, yes, I waved the towel around a few times.

Jeers

Bruised Ego: The mear fact of a rookie quarterback taking us into overtime in his first NFL start does damage the ego a tad. However, a win is a win.

Protect This Flacco: The Ravens offensive line, lead by six time pro bowler Matt Birk, gave up the most sacks this year to the Steelers.  Bazooka Joe was sacked five times, including fumbling the ball that almost cost us the game.

The Ravens will be flying high for a long time thanks to this win, but will quickly be grounded, as they travel to the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay to take on Aaron Rodgers and the explosive Green Bay Packers offense.

P.S: Rappistberger was in pads on Sunday Night. Here was his impressive pre game warm ups.  Guess that concussion caused brain damage. Enjoy, Pittsburgh!