Sunday morning felt unusually good to me. I threw on my Todd Heap jersey and Ravens cap I’d secured during the Blackbirds’ 2000 Super Bowl Run. I bounced out the door, took a deep breath of the crisp late summer Baltimore air, started cranking the new Harvey Danger record.
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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Anthony Wright throws in the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005, in Baltimore. Wright entered the game after quarterback Kyle Boller was injured. (AP Photo/Gail Burton) |
Every bit of me believed the Ravens were going to wallop the defending AFC East champion Colts.
Visiting my mom, I asked her for a prediction. A fan from the days when the Colts played at Baltimore’s beloved Memorial Stadium, she said the Ravens didn’t stand a chance in hell.
Hanging out with my Sunday NFL buddies, digesting a cheeseburger, a gigantic Blue Moon ale, and ten simultaneous games, I heard further predictions of Baltimore’s doom.
Even the bag boy at my local grocery store called me out, declaring Baltimore’s defense would have a brilliant day, but it was time to bench Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright a chance. I kind of shrugged him off. Kyle still deserves a chance, right?
Right?
Anthony Wright. That name keeps popping up in Baltimore.
Boller looked a bit more than decent in the first quarter of Sunday evening’s debacle, but his game fell apart in the second quarter. The boy quarterback couldn’t complete a pass longer than four yards, and anything he threw beyond the first down marker cleared the intended receiver’s head by at least five feet. Ugh.
When Larry Tripplet’s vicious tackle put an end to Boller’s night, he gave so Baltimore fans what they wanted. A chance to see a healthy Anthony Wright lead the O. Sure, it wasn’t an ideal situation, down by 17 with the 3rd quarter winding down, but it’s what a vocal majority of the Ravens faithful were waiting for.
To give a little backround, Anthony Wright is something of a folk hero in Baltimore. After engineering a brilliant comeback against Seattle in 2003, he went 5-2 as the club’s starting QB, leading the Ravens to the playoffs. A first-round loss to Tennessee did little to dissuade fans that Wright was the man. Regardless, Boller started every game in 2004. Wright nursed an injured shoulder for much of the season.
Head Coach Brian Billick has been the president of the Kyle Boller apologists club for the last two seasons. Give him time, he told the fans. He’s right around the corner from developing into a franchise quarterback. Coach Billick lectured fans to not boo him, that it would just empower the opposing defense.
The tempo change when Wright started out of the shotgun was amazing. Boller seemed afraid to make a mistake; he played like a frightened child. Play it safe, don’t to anything to shake things up. Wright made plays decisively; trying to make something happen in a game many fans had to believe was already a lost cause. Two interceptions and a fumble be damned, Anthony Wright played to win, finally securing a TD pass with a mere 15 seconds left in the game.
For now, the starting situation is obvious. With Kyle Boller’s “severe” case of turf toe, it’s fair to assume he’s out for a couple of weeks. But if Wright shows the same fire in the pocket against Tennessee, how can Brian Billick justify re-instating Boller as the starter?
I won’t be Kyle’s apologist anymore.
God knows the Ravens have other questions to answer.
Time to replace one of those question marks with a period.
Anthony Wright.
Period.
Miles Moscareillo returns to MOP Squad after a two-year hiatus spent at the Television Hill Insane Asylum. Now mostly healthy, he roots a little too enthusiastically for Baltimore sports in all forms.
