It was Sunday before wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. even went down with a torn Achilles when linebacker Ray Lewis was preaching to the Ravens in the pre-game locker room.
“You still have a leader in Joe Flacco,” Lewis said. “You’ve got to rally around him. You’ve got to get behind him.”
At the very end of his speech, Lewis turned and looked at Flacco.
“Joe Flacco, lead your team,” he said. “It’s your fight.”
Now without Smith, the Ravens’ top offensive playmaker, it will be even more on Flacco’s shoulders – even though he shrugs those shoulders when that notion is brought up.