Tue Oct 9 13:50:07 2007

Comment | Email | Print

Not a Welcome Flashback for Ravens

---

(Sports Network) - It felt like 2000 all over again. Trent Dilfer was in the house. The Baltimore Ravens couldn't score. Brian Billick's team played great defense. And they won.

Only thing was, after the Ravens' so-ugly-you-couldn't-look 9-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday, no one in their right mind was talking about an imminent Super Bowl run.

This Baltimore team has far too many problems to make that a realistic notion at this stage, not the least of which is an offense that consistently clams up in the red zone. After settling for three Matt Stover field goals in Week 5, the Ravens now have a grand total of one touchdown in their last 10 quarters. What's more, Billick's squad hasn't found the end zone in a meaningful situation since the first half of a Week 3 win over Arizona.

The defense carried the day against San Francisco, though it didn't have life too difficult against a 49ers attack that ranks as the worst in football and was dealing with major injuries of its own.

In 2000, the Ravens were able to recover to win the Super Bowl despite somehow not managing an offensive touchdown during a five-game stretch spanning the entire month of October. Baltimore is well on its way to the same end zone- free scenario in 2007, though it is hard to believe that the Lombardi Trophy will be the pot of gold at the end of this particular rainbow.

"We're adjusting it every way we can," said Billick of the red-zone breakdowns. "[We're] analyzing it, looking at it, talking about it, seeing what other teams are doing, bringing focus to it. We're doing everything we can to come away with a touchdown instead of field goals."

"On the offense we're doing a number of different things well that allow us to be productive, to chew up the clock. But you've got to come away with a touchdown."

The good news for the Ravens is that they have been able to move the ball consistently between the 20's, and clearly have the playmakers to produce points. Running back Willis McGahee has quietly climbed into the NFL top five in rushing, and wideout Derrick Mason leads the league in catches in what has already been his best season in three years with the team. Perhaps a re- assessment of the offensive play-calling in the red zone is in order, but it's not as if Baltimore should resign itself to gimmicks offensively.

Another silver lining revolves around the team's offensive health, which figures to improve over the coming weeks. Left tackle Jonathan Ogden (turf toe) is healing after sitting out since Week 1, tight end Todd Heap (hamstring) might be back this Sunday after missing the San Francisco contest, and Steve McNair's sore groin did not sustain any extra damage against the 49ers.

If the Ravens can make incremental progress offensively as the season nears its midway point, there won't be as much pressure on a defense which stared in the face of defeat in Week 5 despite allowing only six first downs to the San Francisco offense.

"[There are] a lot of things we've got to do better," said Billick on Monday. "Some things that we did [Sunday] will leave us vulnerable if they happen again, in terms of what we did and didn't do. But every week, I hope our fans can appreciate how hard it is to win in this league."

They can, Brian. Because your team makes it look so hard.

THE INJURY FRONT

There isn't a bigger issue for the Ravens at this stage than injuries, as the names of starting tackle Adam Terry (ankle) and center Mike Flynn (knee) were added on Sunday to a list of the ailing which already included Ogden, Heap, No. 2 tight end Daniel Wilcox (foot), defensive end Trevor Pryce (wrist), and cornerback Samari Rolle (illness).

Of those players, the two least likely to suit up for this week's test with St. Louis are Terry, whom Billick singled out as being the most serious of the new injuries in his Monday press conference, and Pryce, who probably won't play until after the team's Week 8 bye.

The tight end predicament forced second-year-pro Quinn Sypniewski to play most of the game Sunday, and the rookie managed four catches for 28 yards on the day. Terry's injury forced rookie Jared Gaither, the team's supplemental draft choice out of Maryland, into extensive action against the 49ers.

At the end of the San Francisco contest, the Ravens' offensive trench unit consisted of three rookies (Gaither, right guard Ben Grubbs, right tackle Marshal Yanda), two second-year players (Sypniewski, center Chris Chester), and the graybeard of the group, 24-year-old left guard and third-year man Jason Brown. Also assisting with the blocking was another rookie, fullback Le'Ron McClain.

85 THRIVING

Though the Ravens would like to see Derrick Mason putting up 100-yard games and touchdown catches, it is difficult to argue that the veteran receiver has been anything but the team's most consistent offensive player through five games.

Mason has a league-best 44 receptions as Week 6 begins, including 21 in his last two games, and is on pace to annihilate his own team record for catches, set in 2005 with 86. At his current rate, the 33-year-old Mason would have somewhere in the neighborhood of 141 receptions at season's end, which would threaten the NFL single-season record of 143, established by the Colts' Marvin Harrison in 2002.

Despite his sure hands, Mason is averaging a career-low 8.5 yards per catch, third on the team behind Demetrius Williams (13.9) and Heap (10.6), and is still seeking his first 100-yard outing of 2007. The Michigan State product scored his only touchdown of the year against Arizona back in Week 3.

NEXT UP

A relatively light schedule - only two of Baltimore's first 11 opponents currently sport a winning record - continues when 0-5 St. Louis visits M&T Bank Stadium this Sunday. The Rams are one of three remaining winless teams in the NFL, joining the Dolphins and Saints.

The Rams have a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with the Ravens, including a 33-22 home victory when the teams last met, in 2003. The Ravens won the only previous meeting played between the teams in Baltimore, a 37-31 overtime win at Memorial Stadium in 1996. The Rams organization last won a game in Baltimore in 1969, when the then-Los Angeles Rams beat the then-Baltimore Colts there. A St. Louis-based franchise last won in Baltimore in 1981, when the Cardinals beat the Colts at Memorial Stadium.

Billick is 0-2 all-time against the Rams. St. Louis' Scott Linehan, a former Vikings offensive coordinator like Billick, will be meeting the Ravens for the first time as a head coach.