Maybe no second in ESPN Films’ “30 for 30″ documentary “Bullies of Baltimore,” which aired Sunday evening, captured the 2000 Super Season greater than coach Brian Billick holding up the Sports Illustrated cowl declaring the Tennessee Titans the perfect crew within the NFL.
“Maybe they are, but just not today,” Billick mentioned to his gamers as they yelled, screamed and celebrated a 24-23 upset win over the host Titans in Week 11. The Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl, beating the New York Giants, 34-7, in Tampa, Florida, but that sport versus the Titans, in addition to a 24-10 divisional playoff win over Tennessee, have been the defining moments of one of many league’s most fascinating groups.
The documentary captured the flavour of that squad. The Ravens have been bullies as a result of they beat up on opponents, holding them to an NFL report of 165 factors in 16 regular-season video games, together with 4 shutouts and 7 different video games by which they held opponents to a landing or much less.
On the best way to the title, the Ravens backed up each phrase with an simple swagger that the movie encapsulated effectively.
As center linebacker Ray Lewis mentioned, “if they don’t score, they can’t win.”
But the documentary was additionally about among the characters on the roster. Watching and listening to the late Tony Siragusa once more was priceless. There have been instances when he was direct and charming, and others when he was brutal or vulgar. The locker room was his area.
There won’t ever be one other Shannon Sharpe. He was the voice the Ravens wanted on offense. The tight finish talked trash whereas trying to achieve a psychological benefit.
In the primary “Hard Knocks,” which featured on the 2001 Ravens, Sharpe was hilarious and stole the present. Linebacker Tim Johnson impersonating him was unforgettable, however his greatest line was proper earlier than the Ravens performed the Titans within the divisional playoffs the 12 months earlier than.
There was quite a lot of chatter between the groups and the Ravens’ pregame quotes had grow to be bulletin board materials in Tennessee. In pregame introductions, the Ravens have been closely booed.
“Whatever they said we said, we said it,” Sharpe yelled on the sidelines.
That summed up the 2000 Ravens: they didn’t apologize and backed up their trash discuss.
The Ravens’ playoff win in opposition to Tennessee continues to be my all-time favourite as a result of it had every thing you’d need in a win-or-go-home sport. Billick had grow to be public enemy No. 1 together with his rant within the locker room following the Week 11 win, and it was proven on the Jumbotron earlier than the sport. Billick and Titans coach Jeff Fisher didn’t like one another, and neither did their gamers. Tennessee opened the sport with an 11-play, 68-yard scoring drive that was adopted by expletives yelled from the group at Billick.
The Ravens answered with a four-play, 57-yard scoring drive to open the second quarter, and Billick screamed expletives again on the crowd. It was a grueling, punishing sport, however the Ravens scored off a 90-yard return by Anthony Mitchell within the fourth quarter and Lewis secured the win with a 50-yard interception return for a landing.
Afterward, Billick delivered the “banshee speech,” certainly one of his greatest postgame information conferences ever, and Titans working again Eddie George got here into the Ravens’ locker room to present Lewis a hug.
It was that form of a second, that form of sport and Lewis was merely the perfect participant within the NFL at the moment. Because of the crew’s dominating protection and Lewis’s involvement in a double homicide case in Atlanta following a Super Bowl occasion on Jan. 31, 2000, the Ravens have been hated outdoors of Baltimore. Lewis ultimately negotiated a plea and was ultimately discovered responsible of a misdemeanor cost of obstruction.
That nationwide hatred solely fueled the Ravens, who went on to beat the Oakland Raiders within the AFC championship sport earlier than thrashing the Giants for his or her first title.
The 2000 Ravens didn’t simply beat groups; they took away opposing gamers’ need to compete in opposition to them. Ask Cincinnati working again Corey Dillon, who selected not to return on the sphere in a Week 3 sport in Baltimore that season. Bengals coach Bruce Coslet resigned the following day.
The Ravens had an opportunity to repeat in 2001, however these ambitions have been wiped away early in coaching camp when each working again Jamal Lewis and proper offensive sort out Leon Searcy went down with season-ending knee accidents. The Ravens additionally introduced in Elvis Grbac to interchange beginning quarterback Trent Dilfer, a transfer that drew criticism however was desperately wanted.
The documentary touched on these matters however missed out on another nice contributors throughout that season. I’d have favored to have seen defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis get extra credit score. He modified that unit from a run-and-react type underneath former Browns coach Bill Belichick to an attacking type right here in Baltimore. The protection was loaded with characters, and Marvin Lewis saved all of them underneath management.
ESPN additionally missed out on the defensive position and the way they have been the center and soul of the crew. Besides Siragusa, there was moody sort out Sam Adams and ends Michael McCrary and Rob Burnett. McCrary was the overgrown child who would fly round with the laser jet backpack and drive military tanks, and Burnett was the quiet, underrated strongman.
The Ravens had two dynamic move rushers in McCrary and outdoors linebacker Peter Boulware, and cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Duane Starks specialised in press protection. Special groups additionally had their standouts in gunner Billy Davis and kicker Matt Stover, who made all 30 of his additional factors, 35 of 39 area targets that 12 months and was a first-team All-Pro.
There was additionally no point out of Ted Marchibroda, the late former Ravens coach who couldn’t win in Baltimore as a result of the crew had no money circulation. But he deserves credit score for lining issues up for Billick, particularly when you think about offensive sort out Jonathan Ogden, Boulware, Ray Lewis, receiver Jermaine Lewis and weakside linebacker Jamie Sharper have been drafted underneath his watch.
Overall, ESPN may have turned this right into a three-hour movie. Instead, they captured the spirit and fervour of a metropolis nonetheless in love with soccer and has a particular place in NFL historical past. They introduced again among the characters who made the 2000 Ravens playoff run particular.
And they captured the flavour of all of it fairly effectively.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com