End of Season

Well unfortunately the Ravens did not beat the Colts for the divisional championship, so our season is done.

It was one hell of a roller coaster ride this year when it came to watching the Ravens.  After their amazing run in 2008 to the AFC championship, they came into the next season with some high expectations.  After the pre-season and the first three games, people were already talking Superbowl for us.  Unfortunately, that talk would quickly disappear as we would hit a stall with our offense and some of our defense.  Compound that with a kicker who was choking under pressure and we started losing some close games.  On the other hand, we did show that Tom Brady can be a real pussy at times.  Anyone who saw that Terrell Suggs brushing of his knee and Brady crying to the ref for a flag (and getting it) wasn't impressed.

Later on though, we would get our revenge in prime time against the Steelers for sweeping us last year.  Some argue that the win wasn't real because Roethlisburger was out with a concussion, but they're wrong.  The Steelers were still the number one defense and one of the top offenses when they went up against us.  So we worked hard and pulled it off.

Anyway, so still, the season from then on became a nailbiter up until the final games to make the playoffs.  It was definitely do or die for us against the Raiders, and they had this weird luck of beating elite teams such as the Steelers, then completely blowing it against teams that should have been easy wins.  Either way, we won and moved on to the playoffs. 

In the playoffs we were on fire when we played the Patriots again and utterly destroyed them by the first quarter.  It was unfortunate that we stalled against the Colts the next week.

Still though, it was a good season to be a fan of the Ravens, since there were some exciting games to watch.  There wasn't a week that went by that you didn't see me wear a Ravens jersey on Purple Friday, and I always looked forward to Sunday (or Monday), even if there was a reason to worry.  I know I drove some of my friends crazy with the fandom ;-) I got to get to more games this season at M&T Bank Stadium, including my goal to see a live Ravens vs Steelers game.  I got to witness Derrick Mason's 800th catch, Ray Rice reach 1000 yards rushing, and Billy Cundiff making the game-winning field goal under major pressure in overtime to beat the Steelers.  Totally worth it this year.

These were my top plays to see this season (in no particular order):

1.  Jarrett Johnson sacking Broncos QB Kyle Orton on the very first play of the game.

2.  Ray Lewis nailing Darren Sproles at the end of the Chargers game

3.  Paul Kruger's interception in overtime against the Steelers that would set us up for the game-winning field goal.

4.  Terrell Suggs stripping the ball from Tom Brady and running it back to the red zone in the playoffs.

I can't wait to see until the next season starts.  The spring fan fest is coming up in a few months, and you know I will definitely be there.  I'll be watching the draft and trades closely because I think we're primed to have an explosive 2010 season.  Now if I could just complete my goal of being a season ticket holder by then, but that can wait.  I should be in a position to become one in the future.

Thanks for a great 2009 season Ravens, can't wait to see what we do next.