A Royal Facade in Baltimore

 “A Royal Façade in Baltimore”

“A View from the Bleachers”

Victor M. Singletary with Curtis J. Singletary

Admittedly the Baltimore Ravens handily won the last Super Bowl.  Quarterback Jim Flacco was named mistakenly the Most Valuable Player.  That honor should have gone to the retiring Ray Lewis who as leader of the Ravens fierce and unrelenting defense enabled the run to the Super Bowl and the Ravens longstanding winning streak for many seasons.  Essentially, Lewis and the Ravens defense made Flacco look better than he is.  As the 2013-2014 season enters its fourth week, it is now rather apparent to everyone that Flacco’s royal façade will soon crumble.  Most football fans will now concur with the opinions of an unforgiving minority that Flacco and the Ravens offense are overrated.

As I write, I see Falcco’s overdependence on the offensive line to protect him as he is unable to scramble outside of the pocket.  He runs for first down with short yardage on third down only if the defense allows him.  If the pocket collapses, he appears instantaneously flustered.  If any aspect of a choreographed play fails to materialize as he envisions it, he loses the down and possibly possession of the ball.  Flacco is the football equivalent of the British general, Edward Braddock, in the American Revolutionary War, who complained about the unfairness of guerrilla warfare.  “It is not fair!  It is not fair!  They are coming out of the bushes.”  Flacco responds similarly to a defensive blitz.  His commendable quarterback rating and other stats do not tell he complete story of how the intractable Ravens defense contributed significantly to Flacco’s acquisition of those numerical achievements.  Chief among them is his new contract with a salary in excess of $120 million; thereby catapulting him to the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks in terms of compensation.  The balance of this football season will vindicate this forthright criticism of Flacco and reveal that the Ravens’ general manager and owners grossly erred in signing that contract with Flacco.

Instead, they should have invested in the retention of their most impressive defense which made the Ravens a contender in the league for more than a decade.  Not surprisingly, after a decisive Super Bowl win, a championship ring and hefty bonus, stalwart members of this defense cashed in on free agency throughout the league.  Other teams have benefited directly and indirectly from the organic and market-driven dismantling of the Ravens defense.  Understandably, these men as they near the sunset of their professional football careers have the right to shop their expertise and experience on the open market to benefit them and their families.  They have nothing to prove to anyone as it relates to records and accolades.  Incidentally, Ray Lewis traded in his uniform for the broadcasting booth and weekly analysts.  He and his former teammates deserve whatever riches they earn as they participated in sport in which their careers could end precipitately. 

Again, Lewis’s retirement greatly exposes Flacco’s impressive mediocrity notwithstanding his lucrative contract.  The Ravens loss to the Broncos by a score of 49-27 in the season opening game actually reflects their potential and talent.  The Ravens did not play like the immediate past Super Bowl champions.  They exhibited a total lack of defense in that Peyton Manning threw a record breaking seven touchdown passes in that game alone.  Flacco and the Ravens offense repeatedly failed to combat the Broncos defense as the Ravens offense pocket collapsed time and time again.  The Ravens’ second games equally demonstrated their unevenness on offense despite a Pyrrhic victory over the Houston Texans with a score of 30-9.  Their third game against the Cleveland Browns resulted in a close win with a score of 14-9 thereby reflecting the deficiencies of Cleveland more than the talent of the Ravens.  Essentially, the loss of the defensive depth, breadth, length and width of the Baltimore Ravens during the Ray Lewis era shatters the royal façade of Jim Flacco and an underdeveloped offense.

The colors of the Ravens are white, black and purple.  Usually, myriad organizations and society reserves the color purple of its elite.  It is the color of royalty, bishops and directors.  In wearing this regal color, Jim Flacco and the Ravens offense adorn themselves in a royal façade which will become more evident as the season progresses.  During off-season, chances are the general manager and owners will renegotiate Flacco’s lucrative contract as hardly anyone adorns a façade with Federal Reserve bank notes.