Bye, bye blackbird: The Baltimore Ravens are about to tap on the wrong window

There may or may not be some New England Patriots fans who read this blog out of sheer pity for their state school English major friend (or son, as the case may be). But everybody, not just them, knows about the time when the wet blanket Red Sox had to face their fears and the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.

A friend of mine wanted the Sox to play the Twins that year in the ALCS. He’s a CPA, so rationality and calculation are hardwired. These are good qualities in a CPA, but they don’t apply when a reckoning is at hand; when a narrative arc needs to keep on rising. The Red Sox had to go through the Bronx to really win anything, to make the story what it was — if the Twins had beaten the Yankees and the Sox got past the Twins to beat the Cardinals, 2004 would not be the legend it is in Boston. The bully would’ve been back at school the next year.

The Patriots Get Haunted
Things are shaping up in a similar fashion for the Patriots this post-season. The Ravens are the team that took the Pat’s toy and threw it ’round the playground in 2009 playoffs, with a final score of 33-14. The Ravens were up 21-0 in the first quarter. It was the first playoff loss for the coach/QB unit of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady at home ever.

That was also the year that Wes Welker shredded his ACL in the final, meaningless game of the regular season, a loss against the Houston Texans. Losing to the Texans? Forgettable. The Pats were locked in as AFC Division Champs the week before. Losing Welker? Unthinkable. It meant that losing in the first round was a chilling possibility when you watched the Pat’s best short yardage weapon limp off the field.

Oh, Memorable Losses
None of the Patriot’s losses are as permanent as the one to the Giants in the 2007 season Super Bowl. This year, the chance to meet Eli Manning’s team in Indy would be irresistibly sweet to fans of either team. If the Giants pulled it off, they are giant killers, smacking the cocky Pats down once again. But if the Pats win, the 18-1 season ghost will vanish, and Tom Brady and the Patriots will chisel the final word in the monument to their ability as a football team.

The vengeance story line doesn’t feature the Giants yet. It’s the Ravens that Patriots fans feel hard done by. The Ravens are Johnny Ringo, surprised to see Doc Holliday ready to square off down at the oak grove. The Ravens are the team that didn’t have to face one of the best screen pass catchers who ever wore a mustache in 2009. The Ravens are the team that picked a fight against the stoic, beleaguered Patriots and won it.

A Baltimore lover of bad blood if there ever was one, Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston but despised the city and it’s inhabitants. He adopted Maryland’s charming seaside town as his home, which led to delightful idea of naming a football team after Poe’s poem that details a man’s descent into madness over a lost lover.

A Reckoning is Nigh
In the NFL Network documentary, A Football Life: Bill Belichick, the coach laments early in the 2009 season that his only offensive weapons that year are the inimitable Randy Moss and Welker. He sees the limitations even before they are further limited by a ligament tear.

This season, the Patriots have multiple offensive options, moves and tactics that defy game planning by anything other than IBM’s Big Blue. Hernandez from the backfield or the strong side, BJGE up the middle, Welker on a screen pass, Branch on an out route, or Gronkowski anywhere the ball goes.

The 2011 Patriots team has been built to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. You can keep Ed Reed and Ed Poe.