NFL Playoffs: MVPs and LVPs of Wild Card Weekend

The Baltimore Ravens’ Defense

The Baltimore Ravens may have been one of the last teams to secure a playoff spot in week 17, but that does not mean they are any less talented or had less of a chance to win in the first week of the NFL Playoffs; especially against their hated rivals.

The Ravens won three of their last four games and needed a little help from the Kansas City Chiefs to secure the final wild card spot. However, with the Ravens facing the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, Baltimore needed a special effort in what was anticipated to be just another routine Ravens-Steelers blood bath. The Ravens defense did their part.

The Ravens may have allowed Ben Roethlisberger to throw for 334 yards, but they intercepted him twice in fourth quarter; once with 8:10 left in the game to stop a Pittsburgh drive that could have tied the game and another with 3:04 left in the game with the Steelers in the red zone that squashed any real chance of a comeback.

The Ravens sacked Roethlisberger five times on Sunday, which has become a sort of calling card for the Ravens in the playoffs against the Steelers since Roethlisberger became the starting quarterback, sacking him a total of 10 times in the two postseason meetings prior to this past Sunday.

The Ravens defense was putting a lot of pressure on Roethlisberger and was equally vicious towards other ball handlers. Linebacker Daryl Smith forced two fumbles, one of which was recovered by the Ravens late in the game, which brought Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco out to kneel the Ravens to victory.

With Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on deck for next week, the Baltimore Ravens will need to continue their hot play on defense if they want to have any chance of advancing to the AFC Championship game.

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