The similarities were too striking to ignore.
Lee Evans, like T.J. Houshmandzadeh in last year’s playoffs, couldn’t corral a pass that would have kept the Ravens’ hopes for a Super Bowl alive. (In Evans’ case, his catch would have likely sent Baltimore to the big game.)
Just like Housh, Evans was a desperate veteran acquisition by a Ravens team hoping to fill a hole at wide receiver. Just like Housh, Evans was emotional and took responsibility after the devastating defeat.
“It is what you saw. It was an opportunity for us to go to the Super Bowl, and I let it go,” Evans with tears in his eyes via the Baltimore Sun. “Honestly, the most disappointing part of all this is that I feel personally that I let everybody down. This is the greatest team that I’ve been on, and I feel like I let everybody down. Yeah, it’s on my shoulders.”
Evans is taking a lot of blame for the play, but we give Patriots cornerback Sterling Moore most of the credit. It was a bang-bang play and Moore swiped at the ball as hard as he could. It was more of a great defensive play than a gag job by Evans.
Unfortunately for Evans, he may share something else with Houshmandzadeh. We’d be surprised if Evans wasn’t one-and-done in Baltimore. He’s due a $1 million roster bonus in March and he’s due $3.27 million in base salary in 2012.
Evans caught only four passes in an injury-plagued regular season. He added four more in the playoffs, but it seems unlikely the Ravens will bring him back at that high salary.
UPDATE 2:01 p.m. ET: Here’s Florio talking about the play on PFT Live Monday.