Ravens safety Matt Elam tugged on Megatron’s cape this week when he said that the Ravens secondary was going to be physical with Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson on Monday night because the 28-year-old Johnson was too old to play a physical game.
As you’d imagine, the comments made their way to Johnson on Thursday. Johnson joked that he would show Elam and the Ravens what he could do with his old-man strength and then pointed out that Elam could say just about anything he wants since he and Johnson won’t be going head-to-head during the game.
“He can talk all he wants. He plays back. I don’t see him every play unless I run past him,” Johnson said, via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.
Johnson also said he thought that Elam and fellow Ravens safety James Ihedigbo were “nothing extraordinary” and that he thought the Lions will be able to make plays downfield against the Baltimore defense. The statistics bear that out as the Ravens have given up 16 passing plays of 40 or more yards this season, the most in the league.
The Lions are No. 2 on that list, so there’s a pretty good chance of a shootout on Monday night.