“We fly high, no lie, you know this. Ballin?!”
Those words ? lyrics to Jim Jones? song “We Fly High” ? rang off the walls in the Baltimore Ravens? locker room Sunday, bellowing out of the mouths of a number of Ravens after the team?s season-ending 19-7 win over Buffalo. If you ask any of the players, they feel the team is “ballin?” as a unit ? and more importantly ? at the right time.
“I don?t think it?s time to peak yet,” running back Jamal Lewis said. “As long as we?re winning and we?re doing good things and we?re winning the way we?re winning, scoring good points or whatever, what more can you ask for? We?re going to peak at the righttime, and I think it?s coming.”
In comparison to the team that won the Super Bowl after the 2000 season, this Ravens team feels it has more to offer in all aspects of the game.
“We win on defense, we win on special teams and sometimes we win on offense,” Lewis said. “We?re just putting it all together.”
Lewis credits head coach Brian Billick, quarterback Steve McNair and the developing passing game for alleviating the defensive pressure he has seen since that Super Bowl season.
“This is a team effort, and I think with this offense here it?s all about ball control,” McNair said. “It?s all about getting the ball into the people?s hand, and we?ve done that so far.”
The Ravens are ranked 17th in total offense and 11th in passing offense. Much of that credit, according to the players, is due to Billick?s more hands-on effort with the offense.
“He uses all of his assets,” Lewis said. “It?s just wide open right now, and that?s a big deal.”
But, like with any Ravens team, it?s also about defense. That unit is ranked No. 1 in the league, much like it was in 2000.
While linebacker Ray Lewis thinks the defense is primed for a title run, Billick guards against any comparisons of this defense to the Super Bowl XXXV team.
“There is a lineage there, so yes, we are very proud of what we did before,” Billick said. “But this is a totally different team, a totally different makeup. We?ve got a different coordinator, different styles, so yes, we are very proud of the heritage. But they are their own group.”
