AFC Divisional Playoffs: Baltimore Ravens Shock Peyton Manning and Denver Broncos in Double Overtime 38-35

The Baltimore Ravens and retiring all-pro linebacker Ray Lewis’ Cinderella story continues …

The Baltimore Ravens, a 10 point underdog, have stunned the Denver Broncos at Mile High and knocked off the number #1 seed in the AFC 38-35 in double overtime. All of the talk was about Peyton Manning and his MVP like year, yet it was the Ravens QB Joe Flacco who outplayed Manning and threw for 3 TD’s and no interceptions. The talk was all about the Broncos defense, yet it was the Ravens D behind their inspirational and 17 year veteran LB Ray Lewis who won the day and intercepted Manning two times and turned three Manning turnovers into 17 points, including the game winning FG in double overtime.

The Broncos were primed to win the game and many pretty much had thought they had when with 31 seconds left in the game and a Bronco defense playing a deep prevent defense some how allowed a receiver to get behind them as Flacco hooked up with Jacoby Jones on what is beng referred to as the “Flacco Fling”.

Somewhere up there in the all-time playoff archives near the “Hail Mary” by Roger Staubach and the “Immaculate Reception” by Franco Harris now lives the “Flacco Fling” by the Baltimore Ravens quarterback.

One big throw down the sideline, 70 make-or-break yards on a wing and a prayer — a high, arcing touchdown pass that soared through the icy air, flew over two defenders, landed in the hands of Jacoby Jones, saved the game for Baltimore and kept Ray Lewis’ 17-year career going at least one more week.

The record will show Justin Tucker kicked a 47-yard field goal 1:42 into the second overtime Saturday to give the Ravens a 38-35 victory over Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. The highlight? That would be Flacco’s game-tying touchdown to Jones on third-and-3 from the 30 with 31 seconds left in regulation and no timeouts.

Sorry I cannot resist the following, but it would appear that Tim Tebow has the last laugh, as his brother tweeted, on the Denver Broncos and John Elway, who all but ran the former Bronco QB out of town last year. Question: Who has more playoff wins with the Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning or Tim Tebow? The answer would be Tebow. Peyton Manning now has a post season record of 9 wins and 11 losses and the temperature at kickoff was 13 degrees, and Manning record fell to 0-4 lifetime in playoff games when the temperature is 40 or less. Good luck ever winning a playoff game in Denver. I had always wondered when the Broncos brought Manning in to play who had played in a Dome his entire career, how exactly they were going to get over the outside weather issue. Looks like they have not.

The Broncos had this game won except for the fact that they played the final minutes of the game not to lose, rather than to win. The play calling by the Broncos at the end of the game was as stunning as was the Ravens come back and eventual victory. How do the Broncos take the ball out of Peyton Manning’s hands with the game on the line? Manning, who is considered ne of the best QB’s of all time and an obvious unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer had a 3rd down and 6 to go with just under 2 minutes to go with a 7 point lead and they ran a simple off tackle running play. Really? Isn’t this the reason why you brought Manning in to win the game? Then after the Ravens scored the tying TD with 31 seconds left in the game, with two time outs and Manning as the QB, he took a knee and they played for OT. What in the hell were the Broncos thinking? Peyton Manning is supposed to be the greatest QB of all time and on two separate occasions with the game on the line, the Broncos took the ball out of his hands. To borrow a line from the movie, ‘The Replacements’ … “winners want the ball”.

After an exceptional come back and MVP-like year by Peyton Manning, it will be the terrible and rookie-like pass that he attempted in OT that was intercepted that eventually lead to the game winning FG by Baltimore that will be the lasting image.

UPDATE I: Tim Tebow’s brother trolls the entire city of Denver on Twitter

Tebow’s brother Peter took to Twitter with a simple message: “Am I the only one in Denver who’s happy right now?” Well, the Ravens are probably celebrating, but you get the point. (And just to drive that point home, Tebow retweeted someone who wrote, “That’s karma, Elway.”)
Of course, it’s easier to make pro-Tebow jabs on Twitter than it is to score on Denver’s secondary. Even so, this nonsense isn’t going to stop until Peyton Manning actually wins a playoff game for Denver.