Call me jealous. Call me bitter. Call me whatever you want. But there is no way Joe Flacco got that ball snapped before time on the play clock expired. If I'm right (and I know I am), then I saw the play clock expire, and another second on the game clock tick off, then the snap. It would have backed the Ravens up and it would have forced a 4th down because the Ravens would have needed more yards to get the first down. And then they would have had to punt, and that would have meant no field goal.
I don't give a damn who you are, that was not a legal snap and I will hold that to Ravens' fans til the end of time. And let me justify that by saying... when the Titans won in the regular season, the same Baltimore fans said the refs were on our side. Which is not true... because I saw how many "penalties" Tennessee got in that first half.
But let's stop dwelling in the past. Let's focus on the future, and why Baltimore simply can not - and will not win next week's battle against the winner of San Diego @ Pittsburgh. For one, Baltimore forced three turnovers, and only scored 13 points. Just 13... and don't forget three of them were handed to them on a penalty that didn't exist. Also, the Ravens' defense allowed an exorbitant 391 total yards by the Titans, 281 of them in the air. Believe me... when a team like Pittsburgh or San Diego, both of whom hold on to the ball a lot better than the Titans do, faces Baltimore, those kinds of yards will lead to points. Joe Flacco won't get the benefit of facing a beat up defense, either.
And now let's focus on the further future. Where to go with the team in the offseason? The first priority has to be re-signing Albert Haynesworth. I don't care if the Lerner family themselves are running the Titans... Haynesworth needs to be re-signed, and it's going to take a raise. We also need to make sure that there are a couple good young defensive tackles in the system in case Haynesworth isn't re-signed, and/or when he retires. Haynesworth is an excellent player, and he needs to be secured. He's the face of the defense (though some might argue for Vanden Bosch or Bulluck).
The second priority is establishing a second big-play threat. The Titans offense had bite, until Chris Johnson went down with his ankle injury. After that, there was nothing out of the Titans all day... a key reason why the team signed him last offseason. It seems as though there is a lack of talent and/or depth at wide receiver. The offseason needs to be establishing a big-play receiver on this team who can lead the team to a deep playoff run; the pieces are coming together elsewhere.
Another priority has to be finding a long-term solution at quarterback, and we know Kerry Collins is aging fast. Collins had an excellent season, but isn't the most reliable of passers. Cut him or keep him around for another year, but make sure the future is secured with the next great quarterback. Is it Vince Young, Chris Simms, or someone else? Decide that sooner rather than later so we can return to the playoffs and go deep. We've seen what happened when Tampa Bay made the playoffs with no quarterback. It wasn't pretty.
A lesser priority seems to be special teams. Love him or hate him, and most hate him, but Pacman Jones was an incredible athlete who always had the potential to run back a big one. Maybe the next return specialist needs to be found. This goes under the category of a big play threat.
So here's the priorities in summary for this offseason: re-sign Haynesworth, find a big play threat, get a receiver, and find the long-term solution at quarterback.
And, congratulations has to go out to the Arizona Cardinals, for winning two playoff games and reaching the NFC Championship Game. Just goes to show you that even the seemingly hopeless-forever franchises can improve and succeed. I'll talk about Arizona another time. But I've got to wash my jersey, pack it in the closet, and shave the few hairs off my playoff beard. Until next year, Go Titans!
