“You can’t put it into words,” Harbaugh said “It’s what makes sports interesting. There’s really no way to accurately describe it or predict what it means. I’m never going to get over it. It’s never going to be OK. I’m disappointed. I’m at peace with the guys. I’m happy with the way we played. I’m OK with everybody, but the fact that we lost the game? Man, you never get over that.”
Asked whether it was easier to prepare having been through it three years earlier when the Ravens lost the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh in his rookie year as head coach he curtly said, “No. Maybe it’s harder in some ways? Our ground is ploughed. We’ve been down the road with these guys and you want to finish it.”
But after four consecutive playoff ousters, Harbaugh was more resolute than ever that the Ravens would climb the mountain and the lift the Lombardi Trophy, and that they would do it while Ray Lewis was still in a purple jersey anchoring the middle of his defense.
When free agency began in early March, Newsome knew the Ravens were going to get their roster plundered by other NFL teams, but his theory about compensatory picks in 2013 would hold true to form. The Ravens lost some core starters as the avalanche of big, fresh money came. Linebacker Jarret Johnson signed a four-year, $19 million deal in San Diego. Former first-round draft pick and starting guard Ben Grubbs signed in New Orleans for five years, $36 million. Defensive tackle Cory Redding and safety Tom Zbikowski went to Indianapolis, following their defensive coordinator Pagano to the Colts. And Haruki Nakamura got starting money in Carolina. The Ravens would garner four extra compensatory picks in the 2013 draft. Newsome, as always, pointed to September as his deadline to fill his roster and bided his time waiting for the market to open up for players.
The Ravens were prepared for the turnover, but Newsome’s biggest challenge of the offseason within his walls was getting a long-term contract signed with running back Ray Rice, who was coming off his third consecutive 1,000-yard season and the most productive of his four years in Baltimore. The impact he had on the offense was obvious. In open space, he was tough to bring down, and he truly had “home run” potential every time he touched the ball. The money market in the NFL for running backs has cooled dramatically since the 1990s when the position commanded some of the highest salaries in the sport. Many lower round draft picks were making an impact at the position and were cheaper. Add to that the wear and tear of getting hit so viciously and so often, running backs in the modern era haven’t garnered the same deals as yesteryear in the NFL. So, Newsome, Moriarty, and the Ravens knew it was going to be a long battle getting Rice to sign over the offseason.
During the middle of March, Newsome got active, re-signing linebackers Brendon Ayanbadejo and Jameel McClain. The Ravens also added special teams veteran Sean Considine from Philadelphia and cornerback/special teams ace Corey Graham from Chicago. After taking almost two months to decide, Birk signed a three-year deal that everyone understood as a one-year deal that was cap friendly for the Ravens in 2012. He wanted one more chance to win a Super Bowl, and Newsome was thrilled that Flacco would have another year with the stabilizing veteran Ivy Leaguer.
After the loss in New England, Flacco essentially disappeared back into his suburban Philadelphia life in Audubon, returning once in April for a charity radio show to benefit the Living Classrooms Foundation. By now the value of his future contract, along with his teammate Rice, had become hot topics of media debate nationally. Both had come into the league together and had done nothing but win football games and make the playoffs for four consecutive years. Neither appeared close to signing a long-time deal with the Ravens, but Rice’s deal was a year shorter making this offseason his year to either get a deal done or potentially take on the franchise tag.
For Flacco, he was still trying to salve the wounds of the postseason. In addition to making his “I think I’m the best” pronouncement that night in April, he reiterated the pain of losing the AFC Championship Game once again.
“As a player you play the game and you do your best,” Flacco said. “There is an outcome, and you are either disappointed with it or its one of the best things in the world. There’s no middle ground. Winning an NFL football game — there aren’t too many things that I’ve experienced that are better than that. And I’m not talking about a playoff game — I’m talking about any game. It goes the same way when you lose one; you are so disappointed for a while especially when it’s the last game of the season. We played so well. It hurts for a while. It probably won’t be back to the way we want it until we get back out there again. But there’s a time where you have to move on and enjoy the rest of your life and get back to it. My wife’s pregnant, and I’m excited about that. So when I have other things like that on my mind it kind of keeps the fact that we lost that game off of my mind for a little bit.”
