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The Baltimore Ravens have had some of the best defenders in football play for the franchise over the years. Linebacker Ray Lewis is one of the best to ever put on the purple and black and one of the best to ever play defense.
Well, Lewis did not like what he saw from the Philadelphia Eagles during their wild card round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Lewis was a guest on ESPN’s “Peyton and Eli” Manning cast with former New York Giants QB Eli Manning and former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning.
He did not like what he saw from the Eagles in terms of tackling. “Practicing tackling every day is based off angles. When you see the angles of these guys and the way they approach tackling it’s crazy,” Lewis said heatedly.
His comments occurred at the end of the third quarter, when the game was still 18-9, and Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield found WR Trey Palmer for a 56-yard touchdown. It wasn’t the touchdown that set the Hall of Fame LB off, but rather the fact that it was a 6-yard throw that evolved into a touchdown due to poor tackling.
Palmer broke out of a tackle by CB James Bradberry IV and then made safety Kevin Byard III completely whiff based on the angle he took.
Lewis was visibly frustrated at the effort stating, “That is why sometimes I get outside and go sit on my water because I can’t deal with this stuff Peyton.”
Eagles Played an ‘Individual’ Game According to Ray Lewis
Nothing appeared to go right for the Eagles on Monday, January 15, as they were bounced from the playoffs. However, their poor defensive effort shocked Lewis.
Lewis lamented, “Nobody plays together. Put’em in a cup. If you put them guys in a cup you not gonna see big plays like this. But everyone is playing individual football and that’s insane to me man.”
The touchdown was a microcosm of the night as they were unable to stop the Bucs offense for the most part. Tampa Bay scored on their first four possessions jumping out to a 16-3 lead towards the end of the first half.
Additionally, the Buccaneers first touchdown of the night to WR David Moore had him running through four Eagles’ defenders.
The two teams met in Week 3 with the Eagles coming out on top 25-11; however, both teams looked nothing like they did when they met earlier this season.
The Buccaneers were able to control the ball for 34 minutes and 3 seconds of game time with the Eagles poor tackling contributing to 23 first downs for Tampa Bay.
“From pop warner football that was what we were taught [angles of tackling] …. Look, look all you gotta do is slow the guy down,” Lewis finished his rant with.
Hall of Fame LB Ray Lewis Will Be in Attendance Against Texans
The Ravens will start their journey for a Super Bowl on Saturday, January 20 against the Houston Texans. It looks like Lewis will be in attendance for the start of what Baltimore hopes to be a magical run.
Host Eli Manning asked Lewis if he would be attending the game against the Texans. Lewis responded, “You know I’m gonna be there. You know I’m gonna be there for sure.”
The Ravens have won two Super Bowls in franchise history (2000 and 2012) and Lewis was a key part of both teams.
The 2012 victory over the San Francisco 49ers allowed Lewis to end his Hall of Fame career as a Super Bowl champion for a second time.
Heavy Sports’ projections powered by Quarter4 give the Ravens a 71% chance of victory over the Texans, with a 6-point expected win margin.
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