Ravens Repeat?
Mar 21, 2013, 7:13 PM | Updated: 7:19 pm
The Joe Flacco dynamic is going to be interesting to watch in 2013. The Ravens signed Flacco to a big money contract while teammates with Super Bowl rings are pushed out the door.
Think of all the players the Ravens have lost from their Super Bowl team: Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe, Bernard Pollard, Cary Williams and Anquan Boldin.
When the Ravens start losing games and have a pedestrian season next year things are going to get rough for Joe Flacco, especially if he struggles. Fair or not, when things go awry next year, Joe Flacco will be looking down the spiny, ruddy finger of blame from Ravens fans.
Ravens fans will have a perception of what the problem is because somebody needs to pay, somebody needs to be blamed for the misery they will endure: Flacco got all the money and the Ravens had no cap room to keep players like Ed Reed and Anquan Boldin.
Joe Flacco better get his thick-skin suit on because he’s going to bare the brunt of the Ravens makeover. Honestly, I see Ozzie Newsome coming back to Flacco after next season and asking him to either take a pay cut or restructure his contract.
The player exodus from Baltimore makes it very improbable the Ravens will be contenders next year. You can’t lose seven starters from your Super Bowl team and expect to contend. I don’t see it happening. It’s not just the plays these guys have made for Baltimore, it’s also the leadership they brought to the locker room. Ray Lewis? Ed Reed? Anquan Boldin? These guys might be three-fourths of the NFL’s Mount Rushmore when it comes to leadership.
Joe Flacco became a superhero to Ravens fans last year. This year, he better turn into The Thing.
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