The Baltimore Ravens took the title of the best team in the NFL away from the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16, dominating to the tune of a 33-19 win. The team was playing with a chip on their shoulder, especially after the talking that the national media did before the game.
Yes. Everybody was writing us off before we even had a chance to play. We knew what we were capable of, and everybody counted us out. [They] didn’t expect us to even hold up. Everybody was saying we were going to get blown out by double digits or whatever, so we just had to come out and play our style of ball. We all understood the assignment. We all understood what Coach [head coach John Harbaugh] wanted from us, and we just went out there and capitalized.”
Following the game, Baltimore inside linebacker Patrick Queen was asked if the team was playing with a lit fuse due to the disrespect. He said they were, and said that they knew what they were capable of even though everyone else counted them out.