Quotes of Note: Ravens on Toppling Titans
The Tennessee Titans will spend the next few days talking about the unexpected end to their season, what went wrong and what they intend to do about it before the next campaign.
That is standard operating procedure for every NFL team that does not win the Super Bowl.
For the Baltimore Ravens, those questions – if they come at all – will wait. Their 20-13 victory over the Titans in an AFC Wild Card playoff game Sunday at Nissan Stadium means that they will play at least one more week. It also means they get to talk about beating the team that ended their season a year ago.
Here is a roundup of some of what Ravens players and coach John Harbaugh had to say following the contest.
• Harbaugh, on the fact that the Ravens trailed 10-0 in the first quarter: “We just kept playing. We knew it was going to be this play and this play and this play – that’s how the guys approached it. It’s a very simple approach, and that’s how they approach everything. That’s how they approach practice. They keep it about football. They have tremendous leadership. … In a sideline situation like that when you go down 10 [points], that’s what holds a team together. That’s what keeps guys fighting, and those guys did a great job with that. I’m really proud of them for it.”
• Quarterback Lamar Jackson, on trailing 10-0: “My guys – they just came up to me [and said], ‘We’ve got your back.’ And I was telling them the same thing. But I wasn’t shying away from the game at all. After the turnover, I just locked in even more, and we just battled. We just came out with the victory.”
• Defensive end Derek Wolfe, on trailing 10-0: “You don’t look at the scoreboard. When it comes to the playoffs, you do not look at the scoreboard until it’s the end, as a player, because you can’t let up. You’ve got to just keep pounding, keep going, and eventually, it’ll work out for you.”
• Harbaugh, on limiting the Titans to 209 yards of total offense: “The defensive effort, like you said, it was disciplined. It was eyes on your luggage. It was finishing. It was running to the ball. It was tackling. Up front, our defensive line did a very good job against their very good offensive line. So, we had them stopped a lot of times before [Derrick Henry] got started. All of those things came into play. You go right to the end with the interception by Marcus [Peters].”
• Cornerback Marlon Humphrey, on the Ravens celebration on the midfield logo: “We just like to celebrate; you know what I mean? It was a good celebration, I think. Usually whoever makes the play, you run to that person; that person just so happened to end up being on the logo. It was a celebration. It was a game-winner by [Peters].”
• Outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, on limiting Derrick Henry to 40 yards on 18 carries: “Just hit him. Just keep hitting him, keep hitting him and play for 60 minutes. I took it upon myself, whenever they tried to run it to my side, don’t let it get outside of me, set a great edge, and I’ll hit him. I think I did a good job.”
• Wolfe, on the defense’s approach to Derrick Henry: “Physical. Physical, physical, physical – yeah, yeah, yeah.”
• Jackson on the victory: “[It was a] hard fought team victory. They played great as well. Tennessee played a pretty good game on both sides of the ball. But I’m grateful for the win.”
• Wide receiver Marquise Brown, on beating the Titans: “Everybody was just excited. We know the work we put in. We know the last few times that we played them, we came up short. So, we put it all on the field and were able to get the victory.”
• Humphrey, on beating the Titans: “Just from the start of the week, [the] guys just had a different approach [that] we’re not going home this week. … It seemed special just because it was the Titans. They had our number a couple of times, and I felt like we owed them one. I felt like they knew that as well, and it turned out in our favor.”
