Torrey Smith relies on Ravens to handle grief, defeat Patriots

Torrey Smith was a key factor in the Baltimore Ravens 31-30 victory over the New England Patriots. Smith turned to his Raven teammates Sunday after his brother died in a motorcycle accident. "I gave him a psalm," teammate Ed Reed said.

|
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith walks off the field after Baltimore beat New England 31-30. Smith, who was playing less than 24 hours after the death of his 19-year-old brother, had six catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns for the Ravens.

Torrey Smith showed up at the stadium tired and drained, unsure if he would suit up for the Baltimore Ravens.

No one would have blamed him if he didn't. After all, his younger brother had died in a motorcycle accident less than 24 hours earlier.

Smith opted to play, and the second-year wide receiver caught touchdown passes of 25 and 5 yards to help the Ravens beat the New England Patriots 31-30 Sunday night in a rematch of the AFC title game.

RECOMMENDED: NFL lockout: Four reasons replacement refs are still on the field

Tevin Jones, 19, died late Saturday night in Virginia. Smith left the team hotel at 1 a.m. Sunday and spent much of the day with his family before heading back to Baltimore.

"I texted my mom when I got to the stadium. That was when I knew I was going to play," Smith said. "She was excited about it. She said, 'He'd want you to play.'"

With his teammates offering him encouragement and prayers, Smith not only played, but contributed heavily. He had six catches for 127 yards to help Baltimore (2-1) win its 12th straight at home.

"I gave him a psalm," teammate Ed Reed said. "God's in control, and God has a bigger plan than ours."

Ray Rice, who ran for 101 yards, praised Smith for his determination and courage.

"He's a stronger man than I am," Rice said. "If I had to face death within hours of playing the game, that would be a tough decision. He's got two families, and he knows we have his back."

Upon arriving at the stadium, the familiar surroundings helped Smith get ready to go.

"When I came here, the more I was grounded. The more comfortable I began to feel," he said. "I'm glad I came back up here. It helped me out a lot."

Coach John Harbaugh said: "If you're around athletics, I guess you feel like it's an escape, an opportunity to do what he does. He's being doing it his whole life; he knows what to do. When Torrey said he wanted to play, the decision was finished. He was going to get the opportunity to play. He deserved that."

A moment of silence was observed before the game for Smith's brother.

"That touched me right there," Smith said. "That the organization would honor my brother, one of my family members who had absolutely nothing to do with this program besides me."

When the teams met in January, the Patriots squeezed out a three-point win at home to advance to the Super Bowl. The stakes weren't nearly as high in this one, yet the game was eerily similar.

In the previous meeting, Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal in the closing seconds. In the encore, rookie Justin Tucker — who took the job away from Cundiff in training camp — drove his 27-yard kick just inside the right upright.

The game-winner followed a pass interference call against Devin McCourty, who was covering Jacoby Jones.

"It's a football game and we can't control that," McCourty said. "If a flag is thrown, that's something we can't worry about."

As the officials were leaving the field, Patriots coach Bill Belichick grabbed one of them by the arm. He didn't pursue as the official continued to run off the field.

"I'm not going to comment on that," Belichick said. "You saw the game. What did we have, 30 penalties called in that game?"

Actually, 24 — including 14 against the Ravens for 135 yards.

Joe Flacco went 28 for 39 for 382 yards and three touchdowns for the Ravens, who amassed 503 yards in offense.

Tom Brady completed 28 of 41 passes for 335 yards and a score as the Patriots (1-2) fell below .500 for the first time since Week 1 of 2003.

"We didn't move the ball consistently enough to score points, score touchdowns," Brady said.

But Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said, "We didn't do what we needed to do to help our offense tonight."

New England led 13-0 after the first quarter and 30-21 with 14 minutes left, but couldn't make either lead stand up.

Wes Welker had eight catches for 142 yards and Brandon Lloyd caught nine passes for 108 yards for the Patriots, who fell to 6-1 against the Ravens in the regular season — 7-2 including the playoffs.

Down 20-14, the Ravens opened the second half with an 80-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Rice. Brady matched that with an 80-yard march of his own, repeatedly picking on cornerback Cary Williams, before Danny Woodhead scored on a 3-yard run to put New England ahead.

After Stephen Gostkowski kicked his third field goal to make it 30-21, Smith caught a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:01 left to get the Ravens to 30-28. Flacco went 6 for 7 for 76 yards in the 92-yard drive.

Baltimore executed the game-winning drive in the final 2 minutes.

Brady answered with a touchdown pass of his own, a 7-yarder to Julian Edelman with 2 seconds left to cap an 81-yard, beat-the-clock march.

RECOMMENDED: NFL lockout: Four reasons replacement refs are still on the field

NOTES: Brady moved into 12th place on the career yardage list, past Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana (40,551). ... Flacco's ninth 300-yard passing game passed Vinny Testaverde for most in Ravens history. ... Edelman left with a hand injury. ... Baltimore punted only three times.

___

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Torrey Smith relies on Ravens to handle grief, defeat Patriots
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0924/Torrey-Smith-relies-on-Ravens-to-handle-grief-defeat-Patriots
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe