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For generations, Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Raven" has haunted people. I would argue that the reason for this is because the speaker in the story doesn't originally feel as though the tapping on his door is that big of an issue. That reminds me of this Raven's team. The Ravens have been underestimated all season up until this point, living in the shadows of people's infatuations with teams like the 49ers and the Dolphins, who have consistently been seen as the most explosive offenses in football. The last two weeks, the Ravens have blown the doors off both teams, winning 33-19 against the 49ers, and 56-19 against the Dolphins. These scores are impressive, but what is scary about the Ravens has nothing to do with their jaw-dropping results of the past two weeks. What is scary about the Ravens is their ability to adjust on the fly. In the first half against Miami, it felt as though the Dolphins had the Ravens figured out offensively. The Ravens were up 28-13 at the half, but the game seemed to have all the makings of a shootout. Instead, after a Justice Hill 78-yard kick return to open the second half, the Ravens seemed to be a varsity team playing a pop warner, seemingly doing anything they wanted to do to the Dolphins from wide open touchdowns to flashy one-handed grabs. Meanwhile, their defense held one of the best (possibly, the best) offenses in football to six second-half points. As a Dolphins fan, it was demoralizing.
Other than ripping the heart out of me and many Dolphins fans, the Ravens are haunting the entire league. I originally thought that if the Ravens were to get the first seed, they would be in a lot of trouble based on the mistakes they made in 2019. In 2019, the Ravens had the first seed and John Harbaugh decided to sit all of his best players in week 17. In other words, the Ravens had three weeks off before their first-round playoff game against the Tennessee Titans, which they undoubtedly lost because well…they hadn't played football in three weeks. For any fan that thinks that the same scenario will happen this year, they should think again. Unfortunately, for the Ravens they will stay have two weeks off, but there is no way that John Harbaugh will sit his best players in week 17 this year. In the locker room, after the Ravens drubbing of the Dolphins, John Harbaugh (in celebration) brought up a cast of characters from behind the scenes in the Ravens organization that epitomize the type of team that he believes they are. Organizationally, the Ravens are good at just about everything they do, but the part of the locker room speech that caught my attention was when Harbaugh brought up Chanda Brigance—wife of OJ Brigance—to receive a game ball on behalf of their family. OJ Brigance is senior advisor for the Raven's player development and was a linebacker for the team back in 2001 when they had won their first Super Bowl. In fact, he made the first tackle of the game. But what makes the OJ Brigance story so powerful has been his perseverance despite the inevitable reality of having ALS, which he was diagnosed with back in 2007. Instead of allowing adversity to overtake him, Brigance and his wife created a foundation called the Brigance Brigade Foundation, committed to ALS research. OJ Brigance is such a great example for this team because like Brigance, they have refused to allow the noise to affect them. Nobody called them the best team in football until there was no doubt that they were.
Chanda Brigance told the team "Let's keep going," which though simple, looms large. There will be no road stop this year for the Baltimore Ravens. They will not be satisfied until they have run through the entire league and have held up the Lombardi trophy. The question: Is there anybody that has the fortitude to stand in their way?
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