He started off slow. So did the entire Ravens offense for that matter, but once Anquan Boldin got going, he took the whole team with him. Boldin entered the second half with zero catches and finished the game with five receptions for a Ravens postseason record of 145 yards and two touchdowns. For what it's worth, the Ravens needed every one of those catches.
The final score of 24-9 doesn’t reflect nearly how close the game was from turning into a large upset for the Black and Purple. For one, two Ray Rice fumbles put the Ravens ever so close to an early postseason exit. Rice isn’t as a persistent fumbler, but every running back has a game once in a while where the rock ends up on the ground due to hard hits, sloppy exchanges and defensive swipes. What you don’t want to have, is that inevitable multiple turnover game, taking place during the playoffs–especially in the final home game for Ray Lewis. Fortunately for Rice and Raven fans, this bout of fumblitis didn’t inflict any harm as the Joe Flacco and Boldin connection blew open what was a close game.
Indianapolis, for their part, played well on both sides of the ball–particularly impressive when you consider that Colts OC Bruce Arians had to be hospitalized prior to the start of the game for an unreported illness. Hard to know whether Arians’ unavailability played a factor in Luck attempting 50 plus passes, either way, that coupled with way too many dropped passes by the Colts receivers, put an end to whatever comeback the Colts tried to muster.
Regardless, the MVP of the game was Boldin, who since he came over from Arizona three years ago has been a good contributor but not quite the passing-game difference maker the Raven envisioned. Lauded for his physical style, Boldin is still capable of having big plays, but up until this year hadn’t really put up the numbers you would expect from a player of his caliber. This year has arguably been his best season for Baltimore, leading the team in receptions (65) and yardage (921). If he can repeat his output from today’s game against the Colts and carry that on through the rest of the postseason, then Baltimore has as good a shot as anyone to lift the Lombardi Trophy next month.
