The Hatred Between The Ravens And Jets Only Intesifies

The Hatred Between the Ravens and Jets Only Intesifies

The first week of the NFL season will wrap on Monday night with a doubleheader between Ravens vs. Jets and Chargers vs. Chiefs.  While the second game will most likely be a blowout, the same can’t be said about the game being played in New York.  The Ravens vs. Jets game has all of the hype and drama leading into it similar to how it is leading up to the Super Bowl.  Both teams consider themselves favorites to reach Super Bowl XLV, Darrelle Revis is finally signed and back playing football, the Jets are opening up their $1.6 billion dollar New Meadowlands Stadium, and the war of words between Rex Ryan and Ray Lewis will finally be settled on the field come Monday night in Jersey.  I can’t help but get the feeling that we’re starting to brew a Rex vs. Jets rivalry in Baltimore, and likewise in the Big Apple.  What else do you want for the Monday Night Football opener?  Let the games begin.Ravens Tight End Todd Heap joined WFAN in New York to talk about how he sees the acquisition of Boldin and Houshmandzadeh is going to affect him this season, what he thinks about going up against the Jets defense on Monday, and whether Darrelle Revis has made himself a target after the holdout.

Whether people are going to see a different offense this year with Joe Flacco now heading into his 3rd season:

“Well we have added a few more weapons to the mix this year, talking about Anquan Boldin and most recently Houshmandzadeh, as well as Derrick Mason and we have all seen what he has done over the years.  So we have got some weapons that Joe is going to be pretty excited to play with this year.”

How he sees the acquisition of Boldin and Houshmandzadeh is going to affect him this season:

“I think it will help me if anything.  It is something where the defenses won’t be able to double everyone so if there is going to be single coverage there is going to be matchups.  That is the main thing on the offensive side of the ball, you want to get matchups and take advantage of where you get the positive matchups.”

His thoughts on how well Ray Rice played last year and how he is going to add another dimension to the offense:

“No question, you look at what Ray was able to do last year, his first Pro Bowl, he made so many plays both handing the ball off and catching the ball out of the backfield so he is just one of those guys that is a versatile guy.  He can do a lot of different things besides he is about as good a blocker you can get in the backfield so he is going to have a big year.  I think we can expect a big year out of him this year.”

Whether he was surprised by the way Joe Flacco played during his rookie season:

“I wouldn’t say that I was surprised.  He came in right away and you could tell kind of the demeanor he had about him.  You could tell that he had a strong arm.  You could tell he was a smart guy so it wasn’t surprising for us being together all offseason seeing what he was capable of.  I think the more surprising thing is that he did become the starter with the three guys we had here at the time and I think the turn of events happened before the season.  Just the fact that he was in there and he was able to carry the team the way that he did and really start to become the leader that he has become.”

Whether their defense is the Ravens defense people have become accustomed to seeing:

“In my mind it definitely is.  I see these guys every day in practice.  I know what they are capable of.  I know the type of athletes they are.  I know the type of physicality they bring so I see it every day.  I saw that same team back in the day, not that Super Bowl year but right after that so I kind of know the makeup of what that looks like and these guys can definitely do the same type of things.  They are all physical guys, they all fly to the ball.  Just the versatility that they have and the different skills that they bring I think they are going to be a dangerous defense this year.”

What he thinks about going up against the Jets defense on Monday:

“We are excited.  It is going to be a true test for us the very first week and on top of that it is Monday night so you can’t…  There is going to be no lack of hype.  We know what we are capable of.  We have seen their defense and obviously having Rex Ryan around here for so many years we know the style of football that they like to play.  We are expecting the best game and we are expecting to play a playoff caliber team from week one.  I think that it is going to be a good game.  We are all excited over here and looking forward to it.”

Whether Darrelle Revis has made himself a target after the holdout:

“I wouldn’t say that he is a target, obviously with so many people there are only a few stories out there and so many people talking about you.  Definitely it is going to be a story, it is going to be headline going into the game but we can’t let that affect us.  We just have to go out and do what we do and play our game and try to offset his skills and his talents with what we do.  We can’t really get involved in all of that, the hype and the storyline part of it.  But we definitely will notice that he is out there on the field that is for sure.”