MVN - Most Valuable Network

Ray Lewis vs. Jamal Lewis: The Return

     Well in the days leading up to the first return of Jamal Lewis as a Cleveland Brown is getting interesting to say the least.

     Jamal Lewis talking with reporters yesterday said “It’s not that I know the scheme; [it’s that] I know the personnel and the players,” Lewis said in a conference call with Baltimore reporters. “I know what they do best and what they don’t do best. I think that gives me a little bit of an edge.” 

     You would think that of all people Jamal Lewis knows that Ray Lewis is one of those players to not get motivated. Ray, who has been pretty “professional” in his comments about Jamal’s return had this to say after hearing Jamal’s comments “I do know this: If he touches the football, it’s going to be more than one person hitting him. Jamal knows there are no weaknesses,” Ray Lewis said. “You can pretend there’s a weakness if you want to run at our corners and our secondary. Jamal knows who he has to deal with, so if there’s a weakness, tell him to come and find it. We’ll be waiting for him Sunday when we get there.”

      The funniest line in Ray’s comments is about Jamal running the corners. Jamal Lewis run the corners, oh my god that is funny. Now I did not get to see his 200+ yard game last weekend, so maybe someone can fill me in. Did Jamal Lewis suddenly become an outside runner?

     In regards to Jamal’s decision to leave he had this to say “It wasn’t this past year; it was the year before [2005]. I knew what kind of direction Billick was trying to go with the offense and I didn’t fit that scheme. It was the year before when I was really ready to leave.”

     What a coincidence, that is about the time he stopped trying in my opinion. Jamal Lewis had more carries last season than in every year except his 2000+ yard season. From 2001 - 2004 he averaged 4.6 yards per carry. In 2006 and 2006 he averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Now don’t get me wrong, up until his stupid stutter stepping last year, I liked Jamal Lewis. But what I saw last year wasn’t the same player I saw in 2003. In 2003 he hit the line so hard nobody could tackle him. Jamal Lewis IS a power running back. Just in the likes of John Riggins and Jerome Bettis. He isn’t going to cut and change directions like Walter Payton, he is going to run you over and make you stop him. That is the Jamal Lewis we loved. That is the Jamal Lewis who set the NFL game record for yards. Last year I remember saying that he wasn’t even trying. Now I know it ois the truth. The Ravens gave him a job, didn’t drop him for the felony he made a plea bargain for and paid him very well. Maybe it is time for him to grow up and be a man.

     Stop blaming others and do your job Jamal. I sincerely hope you bring it Sunday because though Ray Lewis may still be your friend, Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs are not. It is funny reading the transcript. This guy really is big on himself. I do not remember hearing the greatest player say how great they were, they just did it.

     I stand by my less than 100 yard prediction. Thank you Jamal, maybe you are what this defense needed to bring it back to life. 

 (All quotes are from conference call with Baltimore reporters taken from the The Baltimore Sun. You can view the entire transcript here.)

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Mike Zoran, Ravens Roost Writer Articles / Opinions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.