Ravens best-ever free agent championship

I must admit that I'm a bit surprised. I figured Derrick Mason, the franchise's all-time leading receiver, would definitely be in the finals of this tournament. But as it stands, Jacoby Jones blew him out of the water with a percentage victory of 85-15.

It wasn't even close.

Matt Birk took care of business, too, defeating Shannon Sharpe 65-35. This sets up a championship showdown between two former teammates that helped win Super Bowl XLVII. That was Birk's final season in the NFL. Jones ran back a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown that would go a long ways for Baltimore winning a title.

So here it is, the final round:

The matchup:

No. 2 Matt Birk vs. No. 3 Jacoby Jones

Birk signed with the Ravens in 2009 after a lengthy tenure with the Vikings. Offensive linemen are typically known for their intelligence as football players and Birk was the perfect example of that. He always had the Ravens in the right calls, even when his own on-field play wasn't what it was in his prime. Birk retired following the Ravens' Super Bowl XLVII championship.

Jones had many spectacular moments as a member of the Ravens. He ran back a 108-yard kickoff against the Cowboys in 2012 in a key moment. He ran a 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half of Super Bowl XLVII. Two games before that, he caught a 70-yard bomb from Joe Flacco in the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos to send it to overtime. He had a touchdown return in the snow against theVikings. There were returns against the Steelers — Mike Tomlin got in the way of one. Jones turned out to be a great signing in 2012.

<div id="qp_all305121" style="width:100%;"><link href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'><STYLE>#qp_main305121 .qp_btna:hover input {background:#00355F!important}</STYLE><div id="qp_main305121" results=0 style="border-radius:0px;margin:0px;padding:15px;background-color:#FFF;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif, Arial;color:#000;border: 1px solid #DBD9D9;max-width: 800px"><div style="font-size: 18px;background-color: #00355F;color: #FFF;font-family:'Open Sans', sans-serif, Arial"><div style="line-height:30px;padding:10px 15px">Who wins — No. 2 Matt Birk or No. 3 Jacoby Jones</div></div><form id="qp_form305121" action="//www.poll-maker.com/results305121xF2E44fF0-11" method="post" target="_blank" style="display:inline;margin:0px;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0px"><input type=hidden name="qp_d305121" value="42123.0527662025-42123.0527149284"><div style="display:block;color:#6B6B6B;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif, Arial;font-size:16px;line-height:1.5;padding:10px;margin:10px 0px;clear:both" class="qp_a" onClick="var c=this.getElementsByTagName('INPUT')[0]; if((!event.target?event.srcElement:event.target).tagName!='INPUT'){c.checked=(c.type=='radio'?true:!c.checked)};var i=this.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('INPUT');for(var k=0;k<i.length;k++){i[k].parentNode.parentNode.setAttribute('sel',i[k].checked?1:0)}"><span style="display:block;padding-left:30px;cursor:inherit"><input style="float: left;width: 20px;margin-left: -25px;margin-top: 2px;padding: 0px;height: 20px" name="qp_v305121" type="radio" value="1" />Matt Birk</span></div><div style="display:block;color:#6B6B6B;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif, Arial;font-size:16px;line-height:1.5;padding:10px;margin:10px 0px;clear:both" class="qp_a" onClick="var c=this.getElementsByTagName('INPUT')[0]; if((!event.target?event.srcElement:event.target).tagName!='INPUT'){c.checked=(c.type=='radio'?true:!c.checked)};var i=this.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('INPUT');for(var k=0;k<i.length;k++){i[k].parentNode.parentNode.setAttribute('sel',i[k].checked?1:0)}"><span style="display:block;padding-left:30px;cursor:inherit"><input style="float: left;width: 20px;margin-left: -25px;margin-top: 2px;padding: 0px;height: 20px" name="qp_v305121" type="radio" value="2" />Jacoby Jones</span></div></div><div style="padding-left:0px;height:40px;clear:both"><a style="float:left;width:50%;max-width:140px;box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-box-sizing:border-box;-moz-box-sizing:border-box;-ms-box-sizing:border-box;-o-box-sizing:border-box;padding-right:5px;text-decoration:none" class="qp_btna" href="#"><input name="qp_b305121" style="width:100%;height:40px;background-color:#0B79D3;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif, Arial;font-size:16px;color:#FFF;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;border:0px;-webkit-appearance:none;border-radius:0px" type="submit" btype="v" value="Vote" /></a><a style="float:left;width:50%;max-width:140px;box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-box-sizing:border-box;-moz-box-sizing:border-box;-ms-box-sizing:border-box;-o-box-sizing:border-box;padding-left:5px;text-decoration:none" class="qp_btna" href="#"><input name="qp_b305121" style="width:100%;height:40px;background-color:#0B79D3;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif, Arial;font-size:16px;color:#FFF;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;border:0px;-webkit-appearance:none;border-radius:0px" type="submit" btype="r" value="Results" /></a></div><a id="qp_a305121" style="float:right;font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none" href="http://www.poll-maker.com">Poll Maker</a></form><div style="display:none"><div id="qp_rp305121" style="font-size:14px;width:5ex;text-align:right;overflow:hidden;position:absolute;right:5px;height:1.5em;line-height:1.5em"></div><div id="qp_rv305121" style="font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;width:0%;text-align:right;color:#FFF;box-sizing:border-box;padding-right:3px"></div><div id="qp_rb305121" style="font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;color:#FFFFFF;display:block;padding-right:10px 5px"></div><div id="qp_rva305121" style="background:#006FB9;border-color:#006FB9"></div><div id="qp_rvb305121" style="background:#163463;border-color:#163463"></div><div id="qp_rvc305121" style="background:#5BCFFC;border-color:#1481AB"></div></div></div></div><script src="//scripts.poll-maker.com/3012/scpolls.js" language="javascript"></script>

Follow @JasonHButt