On Saturday night, Dan Dierdorf and his CBS broadcast partner, Greg Gumbel, will be calling the Ravens-Colts AFC playoff game at 8:15 p.m. from Indianapolis.
The play of the Ravens has not gone unnoticed. Dierdorf, via conference call this week, says he knows Saturday night’s game will be a real battle from start to finish.
Dierdorf on Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh » He is the kind of a guy who appreciates the team leaders, like Ray Lewis, but when it comes to who is in charge there is no doubt this is John’s team. He is a bright young coach and in our interviews he is a joy to talk football with. He knows and understands the game as well as anyone in the business.
Dierdorf on playing the Ravens right now » This team would scare me if I were to see them in the playoffs. They have Ray Rice and Ray Lewis, who have pulled together a solid running game on the offensive side of the ball, with Rice, and a swarming defense that is always looking to cause mistakes and get turnovers, led by Lewis and Ed Reed. Also, I am a big fan of the work of rookie Michael Oher; he has a chance to be a dominating offensive tackle in this league for a very long time.
Dierdorf on the Colts » The team led by Peyton Manning will be ready to play come Saturday night. I know that we have heard a great deal about them resting their players at the possible expense of an undefeated season, but these guys are proud and they really want to show anyone who might have doubted them that they are the best team in the AFC. They will be ready for Baltimore and they won’t be rusty in any way.
Dierdorf on how he sees the game playing out » I did the regular season game between the two in Baltimore. The Colts won a tough, 17-15 game and I really think that we will see another close game with the Ravens doing their best to run on Indy while the Colts will, no doubt, use Peyton’s ability to find openings in the Baltimore defense. It should be a great game and worthy of its prime-time slot on Saturday night.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.
