Tonight at 9

[vmax]

Don't miss this on NFL Network...

 

 

The filmmakers get it right from the beginning, giving viewers the voice of WBAL Ravens play-by-play announcer Gerry Sandusky saying, "The Ravens need help from above. There are no timeouts, and the clock is running ...."

And then, the screen fills with that fabulous pass to Jacoby Jones that put an end to Peyton Manning's comeback season and put Baltimore on the road to New Orleans.

And right there, the filmmakers stop the narrative to cut from an image of Joe Flacco throwing the bomb against Denver to a younger Flacco in a similar pose throwing in college. Norton tells the story of Flacco transferring down from the University of Pittsburgh to the University of Delaware where he would get more playing time.

And then we get John Harbaugh talking about Flacco coming into the league with a "chip on his shoulder" and how that helped define last year's Ravens.

Great stuff. Right down to archival film in the Flacco family living room when the young quarterback was drafted by the Ravens -- with some more commentary by Flacco and Harbaugh about the maneuvering the Ravens did to get him.

Don't worry, the filmmakers do get back to most of the high and low points of the season.

One of my favorite segments involves the near team mutiny after a wretched loss to the Houston Texans and a bye week.

The filmmakers let Harbaugh lay down his spin as to how he had everything under control during a tense, angry 30 minute confrontation behind closed doors between players and coaches.

"It was challenging. It was tough," Harbaugh says. "A bunch of strong-minded men. But the good news was they had a strong-minded head coach standing in front of them. So if there was going to be a fight, let's have a fight."

Harbaugh talks about the session as being the most productive 30 minutes of the year and makes it sound as if it was part of his "open mike" strategy for managing the team.

Flacco, kind of sidesteps what happens without denying that it got ugly.

"People get crazy every now and again," he says in the film. "Guys get in arguments, and that is what happened."

But Lewis, who was away from the team at the time with an injury, shares the report on the meeting that he got from Terrell Suggs.

"Sizzle was like, 'You need to get back. Everything is out of order.. As soon as the General leaves, it is all messed up. I have never had a meeting like that in my life.'"

In the end, probably the best recommendation for "America's Game" is the backstage access NFL Films gets. But they don't rest on that. They push for great pictures and revealing audio like the interviews with Lewis, Flacco and Harbaugh. And some of the sideline audio is even better -- Flacco telling Harbaugh, "get off my back." Flacco complaining about the conservative plays being called and saying they will never get to the Super Bowl with that kind of offensive game plan.

We all know how it ends -- happily in New Orleans. But for all the Ravens video and TV I've seen in the last month, this is my favorite TV ride. Don't miss it at 9 p.m. tonight on the NFL Network.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-baltimore-ravens-nfl-films-super-bowl-20130901,0,5642266.story#ixzz2dkOuskVl

 

Edited September 2, 2013 by vmax

[cravnravn]

im there

[Oldschool739]

It's our modern day version of "The Catch" from Montana to Clark

It's Flacco to Jones....."The Snatch"

Ohhhhhhhh how sweet it is .......

 

SB REPEAT !!!!

[vmax]

That was an excellent video. Really good.

I feel like last season is put to rest and I'm moving on ready for 2013.

[cravnravn]

It really did my blood pressure wonders as they showed Cundiff & Evans miscues from 2011