Ray Lewis and his Ravens travel to Denver to face off with the Broncos in a divisional-round matchup Baltimore hopes is far more successful than its 34-17 loss to Peyton Manning and Co. back in Week 15.
Baltimore, the reigning AFC North champions, punched its ticket to the second round of the postseason with a 24-9 win over Indianapolis last Sunday behind Lewis and quarterback Joe Flacco, who threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns en route to becoming the only signal-caller in NFL history to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons.
"We're looking forward to this," said Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who had all of his 145 receiving yards against the Colts in the second half, the most after intermission in a postseason game since Jerry Rice collected 157 in Super Bowl XXIII. "I was hoping we'd get Denver again. This time we'll make it different."
To do that Lewis will have to extend his final season yet again, this time against one of his few peers in the legacy department, Manning.
As the Ravens' win over the Colts was winding down last weekend Lewis raced to the center of M&T Bank Stadium and the Baltimore crowd erupted. The seven-time All-Pro, who had announced his retirement at season's end in the week before the game, was part of the Ravens' victory formation and did his trademarked "Squirrel Dance" one last time for the hometown faithful after Baltimore wrapped up the emphatic win.
"There's no great reward than for me to take this last victory lap for me to see my team," Lewis told CBS after the game. "Because we have a vision. We're not trying to end here. This is just my last game at Ravens stadium, and it's the most awesome thing you could ever ask for in any professional career."
It's been a long and often surreal ride for Lewis -- once indicted for murder and now regarded as one of the faces of the NFL.
During the pregame festivities, Lewis was almost a one-man receiving line, accepting well-wishes from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, along with his teammates and children.
If you thought Lewis, who is bound for Canton as the heart and soul of the Ravens franchise as well as a leader of one of most consistent and ferocious defensive units of this generation, might be distracted, however, think again. In his first game since suffering a torn triceps in mid-October, the 17-year veteran was credited with 13 tackles in spearheading Baltimore's win.
"My only focus was to come in and get my team a win. Nothing else was planned," Lewis said. "It's one of those things, when you recap it all and try to say what is one of your greatest moments. I knew how it started, but I never knew how it would end here in Baltimore. I wouldn't change nothing."
Perhaps inspired by the return of Lewis, the Ravens defense, which has been pedestrian for most of the season, held the upstart Colts to three Adam Vinatieri field goals, and spoiled the playoff debut of potential NFL Rookie of the Year Andrew Luck and the return of Chuck Pagano to Baltimore. Pagano, of course, spent four years as an assistant under John Harbaugh before taking over the Colts last January.
"We definitely wanted to come out and put on a great performance for (Lewis') last time at M&T Bank Stadium," Boldin said.
Outside linebacker Paul Kruger proved to be a Philip Seymour-Hoffman-like co- star to Lewis, registering 2 1/2 of the Ravens' three sacks during the game and causing one of three takeaways with a forced fumble.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/10/3176267/nfl-playoff-preview-baltimore.html
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