"If that happens to run through Bank of America Stadium, put your goggles on cause there's going to be blood and guts everywhere." That was former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith talking after his release about what would happen if he signed with a team that happened to have Carolina on the schedule this season.
Steve Smith brings the blood and guts
Few things are more fun than watching Ravens firebrand receiver Steve Smith ball out on the field, especially when his play matches up with his mouth.
Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
Of course, Smith signed with the Ravens who, yes, had the Panthers on their schedule this season. Last Sunday, he got his opportunity for revenge. Not only did Smith back up his trash talk, it was even uglier than he predicted. Hell, if this was a horror movie, I'm not sure the MPAA would ever allow it to be shown in theaters, certainly not to anyone under the age of 21. He let the choppa sing like Pavarotti at the Met and there are probably little bits of Panthers defensive backs still scattered all around M&T Bank Stadium in his wake.
It wasn’t just that Smith put up gaudy numbers, but on top of that, Smith was disrespectful with the way he beasted on those cats whole putting up said numbers. Let’s start with catch number one ...
The first play of the day for the Ravens offense and they run a little play action/bootleg scheme where the tight end to Smith’s side runs a deep clear-out route, and Smith runs a quick in-and-out route about about two yards across the line of scrimmage. Nothing special at all about the play itself. You figure Smith makes the catch and gets maybe three or four yards in the flat, then you line up and play the next play. Wrong. WRONG!
Smith makes the catch, but instead of continuing outside toward the sideline, he spins back inside where he sees that the Panthers have rolled down safety Roman Harper to the flat to cover him. I'm not sure if you remember this, but a few years back, Harper hit Smith late on a play where Smith was going to score and coasted across the end zone. The funny thing was that Smith initially didn't retaliate because he had to get his celebration in, but when he was done celebrating, he went over and jacked Harper's teammate Malcolm Jenkins up by his face mask, taking him right to the ground. I don't know if Smith had mistaken Jenkins for Harper or just decided to whup the closest Saints player he could find, but I don't recall Smith ever having paid Harper back for that transgression.
Now maybe Smith still harbors that grudge, maybe not (let’s go with maybe here, knowing Smith). Either way, the bone rattling stiff arm that Smith delivered to Harper’s dome on that first play should just about make them even. Harper is not a little dude, usually a good tackler, but when Smith gave him that one piece with no biscuit, his body just crumpled to the ground in a heap. Smith didn’t even break stride and ended up gaining 17 yards on what was essentially a five-yard play for most guys.
And he was just getting started.
Smith’s third catch was of the circus variety, but ended up as a 61-yard touchdown. Smith was inside the numbers on left side of the field and a basic out-and-up route our wheel type route if you prefer. The tight end to his side ran something that looked kind of like an out route and a corner route were making out for the first time.
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
And that the tight end's terrible route ended up putting him in the same area as Smith ... that is generally a bad idea. I think Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was trying to throw the ball to the tight end, but I can't say for sure. I also think Smith thought the pass was for him the whole time. That probably explains why, after Owen Daniels ended up tipping the pass in the air, Smith caught it in stride, adjusted his course slightly to make Panthers safety Thomas DeCoud spontaneously donate his jock strap to Goodwill and raced right on into the end zone to give his team the early 7-0 lead.
For his fifth catch, Smith was once again lined out wide to the left side of the field. This time the Panthers decided to match secon- year cornerback Melvin White up man-to-man with him. If you aren't familiar with White, he's a big corner standing 6'1 and weighing over 200 pounds. For whatever reason he did not try to use his size to jam Smith at the line.
Smith is pound for pound as strong as a damn ox, so maybe White knew from practicing with him all last season that Smith would be able to beat the jam anyway. All I know is that when Smith got that free release to the outside, White had to know his day was about to take a turn for the worse.
Even though Smith is the smaller guy, I kept getting this crazy visual as I watched Smith run that fade route over and over, seeing White doing everything short of hitting Smith with a foreign object, WWE style, to try to prevent him from catching the ball. You know the one big kid with his arm extended keeping the smaller kid who wants to hit him at bay with his hand on his forehead? No matter what White did, and he basically tackled him right at the end of the route, it just didn’t matter. Smith was just not going to be denied that touchdown catch.
To add insult to injury, as White turned around and sat on his butt watching Smith celebrate, he was almost pelted by two penalty flags that were thrown at him simultaneously.
Smith ended the day with seven catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns against his old team. He single-handedly outscored them by four (or technically two) points. He also managed to catch at least one ball against every member of the Panther’s starting secondary and one of their backups. Yep, he gave em all a li’l taste.
I still believe it was the right decision to let Steve Smith go (though I do think they should have added more talent at the position afterwards). I also have to admit that it was fun watching him give his old team the business. I’m sure he would have taken offense to it no matter how the Panthers handled releasing Smith; it’s just how he is built. And there’s nothing like seeing a guy mete out his revenge, not just with words, but on the field.
He promised blood and guts and, dammit, that’s exactly what he delivered on Sunday.
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