The Ravens lost to the New England Patriots on Sunday, but the opinion of the Ravens here hasn't diminished. In fact, it's improved because the Ravens showed they can compete with the Patriots, and can win the Super Bowl.
I'll explain: It's still early in the season, and almost anything can happen because of injuries. But if the Ravens had cut down on some mistakes, and hadn't outsmarted themselves, they would have beaten the Patriots despite some poor officiating.
You can attribute the loss to Chris Carr's fumbling the opening kickoff or Mark Clayton's dropping a pass late in the game or Cam Cameron's desire to throw more than run or the officiating, but that would be foolish.
The outcome of any game is never decided by one play, but by a lot of plays, and that's where the Ravens fell short. The good thing to come out of playing a quality team as opposed to the Cleveland Browns or Kansas City Chiefs is that you can work on things you didn't know about before.
Sometimes you can't make adjustments or proper decisions until you're in that situation, or in a tight game. Overall, it was an impressive and gutsy performance by the Ravens, and they learned a lot about themselves.
Even though they lost, you left Gillette Stadium knowing that the Ravens were the more balanced and physical team, and they will knock New England off if they meet again in the postseason, as long as the game is not in Foxborough.
"It was a tough loss for us, but this is the National Football League," Ravens rookie linebacker Dannell Ellerbe said. "What it does is make us stronger at the end of the season."
Bigger than the game
Now, with that said, there is a star system in the NFL just as there is in the NBA and Major League Baseball. If you don't believe it, just go back and look at the storied careers of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.
Playing the New England Patriots at home is much like playing the Dolphins in Miami when Don Shula was the boss.
Sometimes, the coach and even the quarterback, become bigger than the game. That's why the Patriots definitely are worth a three-point advantage at home, and that's why you never bet against Patriots coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady when they are playing in Foxborough.
Who are these Bengals?
The Ravens play Cincinnati at home Sunday, and the Bengals will bring a 3-1 record to Baltimore. If the Bengals weren't a little unlucky, they might be 4-0.
