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Ed Reed, as we all know, is an all-time great and we were supremely fortunate to watch him play 11 seasons in Baltimore.
He is sixth all time in interceptions, first all time in interception return yards, first in postseason interceptions, and the first player to have an interception returned for a touchdown, fumble returned for a touchdown, blocked punt return for a touchdown, and return a punt for a touchdown. (This guy was better at scoring than some Ravens offensive players, why did the Ravens never give him the ball on offense at least once?).
And this is another story of the greatness of Ed Reed.
The Ravens were a much better team in 2008 than they were in 2004. They had a real quarterback who could stay healthy and throw the ball to the guys in Ravens uniforms and they had a brand new coach. They were winning games and looked like they were going places.
In Week 12 against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Ravens had already established a 15 point lead off of two Joe Flacco touchdown passes, two Matt Stover field goals, and a safety after Jameel McClain blocked a punt and it rolled out the back of the end zone. The Eagles were desperate for a comeback and had driven all the way down to the Baltimore 1 yard line with 7:44 to go in the 4th quarter.
And then history happened. Ed Reed stepped in front of a Kevin Kolb pass that was intended for Reggie Brown and took it back 108 yards for a touchdown. The Ravens would score another touchdown off of a one yard run by Jameel McClain and the Eagles would not threaten to score for the remainder of the game.
Ed Reed set a record in 2004 with a 106 yard touchdown off of an interception. And only Ed Reed had the ability to break the record.
Previous Entries:
#9: Ravens End Jaguar Dominance
#10: Ravens Exorcise Demons In Pittsburgh
#11: Jamal Lewis Runs To History
#12: Ravens Pummel Ben Roethlisberger
#13: Joe Flacco Explodes In Tampa Bay
#15: Ravens Close Texas Stadium
#16: Ed Reed Makes History Part One
#18: Kyle Boller's Finest Hour