Ravens vs. Colts Redux

I wasn't surprised by the Indy victory in Baltimore. It was a set up all the way. How could the Ravens actually be favored against a team that has dominated the league for the past five years? The Colts had all the motivation they needed. After all, they only missed making it to the Superbowl last year by inches against the Steelers. Remember the defensive back who intercepted the pass and couldn't juke Roethelsberger because of a knife wound? Instead of acting like it was a done deal, the Ravens should have played it like they were the underdogs. The defense performed well but the offense never hit stride all season. They showed flashes of brilliance under McNair, but the unit never completely jelled. In fact, the Ravens have never had a potent offense in all the years they have been in Baltimore. Resurrecting the ghost of Irsay moving the Colts in 1984 made the loss even tougher to take. It was Irsay who ran the franchise into the ground. Many lackluster teams took the field under Irsay's ownership. Remember Columbia Lion QB Marty Domres at the helm of quarterback trying to compete against the likes fo Namath. Even when the Colts were good enough to challenge the Raiders and Snake Stabler, Coach Ted "Furrowed Brow" Marchibroda relegated Bert Jones, owner of the strongest arm in football, to screen passes and running plays. Stealing the Colts was a horrible moment for this fan. I will never follow the Indy 500 Colts, but I think they have a talented team and a great quarterback. They are exciting to watch and one day they will win it all with Manning at the helm. As a professional football fan, I am a disenfranchised soul wandering the desert. I jumped on the Giants bandwagon in the 90s when I lived in NYC, having played sports as a kid with Sean Landeta, but the Baltimore Colts will always be my team. Perhaps Manning is the quarterback for a new generation just as Unitas was, and it will be the city of Indianapolis that reasserts the prominence of the NFL in the years ahead. Peyton is the poster child for a league that badly needs some likable characters. And let us not forget the place of Baltimore in the history of the NFL as it helped put the league on the map in 1958 in what is still the greatest game ever played and once again in 1969 losing to the Jets. Needless to say, I will be pulling for the Bears in two weeks.