Terrell Suggs: Ravens' Super Bowl run 'next to impossible' if Ray Lewis hadn't retired

The Baltimore Ravens' successful Super Bowl march is the ideal case of addition by subtraction. After all, according to a prominent defender on the team, the Ravens would not have secured the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history had linebacker Ray Lewis not lit a fire with his retirement revelation Jan. 2, four days before the playoffs began.

"What sparked it was Ray's announcement when he said this would be his last playoff run with us, I would definitely say that was hands down what sparked it and got our minds right," fellow linebacker Terrell Suggs told NFL Network's NFL Total Access on Friday night.

"We've always been a pretty dangerous team in the playoffs. We knew with Ray's announcing that he was retiring and how we normally play in the playoffs, those two combined together rallied one of the most emotional runs I've ever been a part of."

Though Baltimore lost four of five to end the regular season, surely with an ascending offense and (finally) a fairly healthy defense, the Ravens could have won it all even if Lewis had decided to return for an 18th season ... right, Terrell?

"Um, no. Probably not," Suggs claimed. "We needed something to get us over the hump. To do what we had to do — to beat the future in Andrew Luck, and to go into (Denver with) Peyton Manning having an MVP season and going there and winning, and then going up to Foxborough, a place where we lost the previous year against arguably one of the best quarterbacks (Tom Brady) of our time — without that emotional lift, it probably would've been next to impossible.

"But with the lead of 52 (Lewis' jersey number), we had enough to do it."

Really? A success-laden, veteran team like the Ravens needed something else to fuel a championship sprint? Even when other telegraphed retirements (Tiki Barber) have proven distractions? Maybe it's further testament to the intangibles that are so critical to success in the NFL and/or the fact that every locker room responds differently to real or perceived adversity ... or it's just Suggs' way of further burnishing the legacy of his retiring buddy.

But if this is really what works for the Ravens, then they need to get veteran center Matt Birk to hang around for one more year, re-sign free safety Ed Reed for two and perhaps get an emotional last ride out of Suggs in 2015.


(usatoday.com)