2012 Ravens Super Bowl Run: Farewell

2012 Ravens Super Bowl Run: Farewell

2012 Baltimore Ravens: Farewell to a Legend

The 2012 Ravens Super Bowl run began with a regular season that gave little hint of what was coming. Baltimore won the AFC North with a 10-6 record, but the numbers told a mixed story: the team ranked 10th in total points scored, and for the first time since 2007, it fell outside the top ten in points allowed. The defense, long the heart of the franchise’s identity, was aging and no longer as dominant as it had been in years past. The Ravens lost four of their last five regular-season games and limped into the playoffs looking nothing like a contender. Then the postseason began, and suddenly they looked like a different team.

Ray Lewis’s Final Season

Before the regular season ended, Ray Lewis, who had debuted at middle linebacker when football returned to Baltimore in 1996, announced he would retire at the end of the year. Lewis wasn’t just any player. Since the Ravens’ inception in Baltimore, he had been the franchise’s heartbeat, its all-time leader in tackles and the Super Bowl XXXV MVP. He was, without question, the leader of the team. Before announcing his retirement, Lewis had been sidelined since Week 6 with a triceps injury, and the team feared his season was over. Instead, he returned for the Ravens’ Wild Card game against the Indianapolis Colts, hoping the emotion and intensity that had driven the team for 17 years could carry it one more time.

The Ravens’ Playoff Run to Super Bowl XLVII

Wild Card Round vs. Indianapolis Colts

Lewis returned against the Colts and led the team with nine tackles. The defense forced two turnovers and kept Indianapolis out of the end zone entirely, limiting the Colts to three field goals while the Ravens’ offense took care of the rest. Joe Flacco threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns, Anquan Boldin caught five passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, and running backs Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce combined for 170 yards rushing and a touchdown. The Ravens won handily, 24-9.

Divisional Round vs. Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos and their potent offense, led by Peyton Manning, awaited the Ravens in the Divisional round. It was a high-scoring affair, with both teams finding the end zone three times in the first half. Denver’s kick returner, Trindon Holliday, broke the tie early in the third quarter with a 104-yard kickoff return touchdown, his second of the day. Ray Rice tied the game with a one-yard touchdown in the final seconds of the third quarter, and Manning answered with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas with seven minutes remaining. Denver led 35-28 when Flacco found Jacoby Jones for a 70-yard touchdown with just 30 seconds left to play. The game went to overtime, and then a second extra frame, before Justin Tucker nailed a 47-yard field goal to send the Ravens to the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.

AFC Championship vs. New England Patriots

The matchup was a rematch of the 2011 AFC Championship game, which the Patriots had won 23-20. The game was played in Foxborough again, but this time the result was different. Flacco continued his excellent postseason form, throwing for 240 yards and three touchdowns while failing to throw an interception for a third consecutive playoff game. In fact, the Ravens didn’t commit a single turnover against New England. The defense held the Patriots scoreless in the second half, and Flacco threw all three of his touchdown passes in the third and fourth quarters to lead Baltimore to a 28-13 victory.

Super Bowl XLVII: The Perfect Send-Off

The 2012 Ravens Super Bowl run reached its final stop against the San Francisco 49ers. For Ray Lewis’s last game, Baltimore built a 28-6 lead early in the third quarter, capped by Jacoby Jones’s record-setting 108-yard kickoff return touchdown. San Francisco fought back with 17 unanswered points to cut the deficit to five entering the fourth quarter, and Colin Kaepernick’s 15-yard rushing touchdown trimmed the lead to two points with less than ten minutes to play. That was as close as the 49ers would get; Justin Tucker added a field goal to seal it, and the Ravens held on to win 34-31. Flacco, who earned Super Bowl MVP honors for his playoff performance, and the rest of the Ravens gave their franchise’s greatest player the farewell he deserved, closing out the 2012 Ravens Super Bowl run in unforgettable fashion.