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Posted: 6:00 a.m. Monday, Feb. 4, 2013

Love 'em or hate 'em, Ravens are the best

lewistrophy
Ray Lewis was part of a late-game goal-line stand that enabled the Ravens to hold on for their second Super Bowl title.

By Jeff Schultz

NEW ORLEANS —

So maybe it’s not the team that most feel like giving a big ol' bear hug to.

The Baltimore Ravens didn’t follow the standard blueprint for greatness. They lost four of their last five games. They fired their offensive coordinator with three weeks left in the season. They were led by their outgoing polarizing Hall of Famer in waiting, Ray Lewis, who lied during an investigation into a double-murder in Atlanta and more recently was accused of reaping the benefits from – wait for it -- deer antler extract spray.

But Baltimore is champion of the NFL again and nobody deserves it more. The Ravens capped an improbable four-win run in the postseason in the most improbable of ways, building a 28-6 lead (sound familiar, Falcons?), then being forced to cling to life after a bizarre 35-minute power outage in the Superdome, before defeating San Francisco 34-31 Sunday night.

The last Harbaugh standing was John. The Ravens’ coach beat his younger brother, Jim, just as he did in the first-ever meeting of coaching brothers last season in Baltimore.

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