The “victory formation” is checkmate in football. It’s when your quarterback is taking a knee to end the game and drain the clock. Usually there’s one safety lining up as a distant running back in case there’s an errant snap. Tight ends coach Wade Harman, the remaining holdover from the Super Bowl XXXV staff, told Lewis: “Don’t tackle the quarterback. We’re on offense, baby!”
As the crowd chanted, “We want Ray!” he took the field behind Flacco as the Ravens drained the clock. Lewis went to the referee and as his last act in an NFL game in Baltimore, he said, “I’m reporting eligible!”
Before the final gun, the ball was snapped and Lewis cleared the way and did his patented “Squirrel Dance” celebration to the delight of the Baltimore faithful. As his teammates Jacoby Jones, Torrey Smith, and Bobbie Williams circled him he said, “I love you all to death, man!”
The Ravens fans who had supported Ray Lewis for 17 years, the ones who had cheered the dance – watching all of the joy, passion, and effort that No. 52 brought on the field since 1996 – had one last chance to thank him with a symbiotic salute. Lewis then did a four-minute victory lap – reminiscent of Cal Ripken’s jog around Camden Yards in 1995 on the night he broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak.
As much as Flacco played well and the offense put up points, once again it was the Ravens defense that proved stingy in the red zone, allowing the Colts offense just three field goals all day despite having the ball for 38 minutes.
It was a coming out party for Paul Kruger, who finished a with two and a half sacks, five quarterback hits, one forced fumble, one pass deflection, and one tackle for loss. “That dude is making money,” said safety Bernard Pollard, who was acknowledging that Kruger would be getting a healthy contract somewhere in the NFL from his pre-free agent efforts in the playoff win.
On offense, the Ravens put up 24 points despite two fumbles from Ray Rice and several drops by Tandon Doss. Pierce wound up having a monster day with 103 yards on 13 carries. But it was the big plays in the passing game from Flacco, who was 12-of-23 for 282 yards and two TDs, that led the way.
Boldin told Flacco before the game that he wanted the ball. “I went up to him before the game and told him I felt like 200 yards today,” said Boldin, who settled for 145 yards. “I don’t know if he thought I was joking, but he gave me a shot in the second half.”
“I just wanted to go out and give everything,” Boldin said. “I think everyone in this locker room wanted to make sure this wasn’t our last game. I think we all have a goal in mind, and we’re focused in on that goal. The only way we’re going to get there is if we go out there and give our all on the field. I was real motivated [today]. I’ve said it before, I came to Baltimore to win a championship. That’s my goal.”
As for next week in Denver? “I was hoping we would get them,” Boldin said. “I wanted Denver because they beat us. We’ll make it different.”
Left tackle Bryant McKinnie was rock solid in his second game back, as the offensive line allowed just one sack on Flacco against an imposing pass rush led by Robert Mathis. “I feel like I’m improving,” McKinnie said. “I got to improve in a hurry because I don’t have that much time left. I was trying to use that game just to get a feel for game speed and everything again and being in there for a long period of time. But I definitely feel like I’m getting better and I just feel better too.
McKinnie also complimented and thanked his brothers on the offensive line for their team spirit. “I’d like to thank Michael Oher, just for being a trooper and a veteran for moving back over to the right,” he said. “And you got to give props to K.O. [Kelechi Osemele] for being a rookie and pretty much having to learn guard again. I felt like everybody did a great job. Communication was great.”
The Ravens were headed back to Denver and for all of the storylines and playoff excitement in Baltimore, the real story was the end of a storied tradition, sendoff, and the march to win another Super Bowl for Ray Lewis.
“I think we’re all appreciative, grateful for the opportunity to be here and to witness this historic moment in sports,” Harbaugh said in the postgame afterglow. “And, it wasn’t just about one guy. Nobody understands it more than the one guy we’re talking about. It was about a team. It was about a city, a fan base, about a great sport, about a great career. I’m just humbled to be a part of it. It was a great victory.”
Lewis appeared emotionally spent at the end of it all.
“I just think it’s one of those things that when you recap it all and you try to say what is one of your greatest moments … I knew how it started, but I never knew how it was going to end here in Baltimore,” Lewis said. “For it to go the way it went today, I wouldn’t change anything. There were so many moments today, so many fans and just the things that were said, the tears I was seeing from people, and I’m trying to hold it in myself, because I’m trying to play a game. [It was] just a very, very emotional day.”
“Everything I did to get back, if it wasn’t for my team, it was for my city. That’s one thing that I bought into from Day One. I’m not just here in this city to play football, I’m here to actually create real change in this city. If my effort can give you hope, faith or love, then so be it. I’ll give everything I have, and today was about me giving everything that I had, showing people that no matter the circumstances that you may be going through, just push through it. If you can push through it, you will encourage somebody. Today, hopefully through what I did today, somebody was uplifted.”
But through all of the dancing, tears, emotions, and family feel of the day, Lewis hadn’t lost sight of the big prize.
“I’ve already turned my iPad in to get Denver film now,” Lewis said. “It’s onto the next one. That’s one thing about being in this business so long. I told them, ‘We don’t have the 24-hour rule now. We have a less-than-12-hour rule,’ because we are back to work. We know who we have next week. Denver is going to be well-rested. We saw them earlier in the year, but now we get them again with all of our guys back.”
And then Mufasa rested.
