Ravens are a flock of fresh faces
BALTIMORE – They may lag behind in most of the important statistical categories, but the Baltimore Ravens come into today’s game against the Steelers with a 3-3 record that mirrors Pittsburgh’s. The teams will battle for sole possession of first place in the NFC North Division at Ravens Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and CBS will provide live television coverage.
How important is this game? How big can a game be when a pair of .500 teams get together? Well, forget the records when these teams get together, according to Steelers coach Bill Cowher.
“Probably our leading rivalry in this division right now is with Baltimore,” Cowher said. “They were the last team out of this division to win a Super Bowl. It’s going to be a big test for us.”
Trouble is, you have to look beyond Cowher’s Super Bowl analogy. What you’ll find is a drastically different cast of characters in this Ravens’ locker room than the group that won Super Bowl XXXV a few Januarys ago.
Gone are the likes of Rod Woodsman and Duane Strakes from the secondary, not to mention Tony Sargasso and Sam Adams from the defensive line. Offensively, running back Jamal Lewis is the most recognizable player from a group that used to include Trent Dilfer at quarterback, Shannon Sharpe at tight end and Qadry Ismail at wide receiver.
What’s left, at least on defense, ain’t bad, but this Ravens team won’t soon be compared with the 1967 Packers. Not favorably, anyway.
The Ravens went through what has become known as salary cap hell. It is loosely described as a salary-based purging of a roster in order to abide by NFL salary cap rules. The Ravens dumped a boatload of money to get under the cap and ended up with one of the youngest rosters in the league. But at least they saw it coming.
“After we lost in January, it’s not like we woke up and said, holy (crap) we have cap problems,” Ravens coach Brian Billick said. “We knew what the 2002 season was going to be about.”
Billick related a story about tight end Todd Heap, perhaps Baltimore’s greatest rising star, that tells you just how young the Ravens have become.
“We are like most teams in that when we travel, the veterans get to ride in first class based on seniority,” Billick said. “You have the Shannon Sharpes and the Tony Siragusas and the Rod Woodsons riding in first class.
“So, I come to our first mini-camp practice back in April or May and looked at all these young faces. Todd Heap, who is in his second year, calls me over and said, Coach, it looks like I’m in first class this year. I said to him, I’m afraid you are right.”
Simply because they are young doesn’t mean the Steelers are in for a cake-walk. There are enough players who remain to earn the respect of any opponent, even if the nastiest of them all, linebacker Ray Lewis, probably won’t play due to a shoulder injury.
Cowher said early in the week that he fully expects to see Ray Lewis play and added that Billick probably had to hog-tie his star to keep him out of last week’s game.
“There is no question that we are going to prepare for him to play,” Cowher said. “He is, without a doubt, one of the premier football players, offense and defense included, in the National Football League. He is a difference-maker.”
The Steelers will be without two offensive starters. Running back Jerome Bettis and center Jeff Hartings both have been ruled out of the game with knee injuries. Billick, always looking for some sort of edge, said Ray Lewis, listed as questionable, will be a game-day decision.
The Ravens are ranked low both on offense and on defense. The offense is 30th in overall offense, while the defense ranks 24th overall and 28th against the pass.
Still, they are 3-3, just like the Steelers and they got there with a couple of big wins, none bigger than a Monday night win in Denver. It was Baltimore’s first win of the season and springboarded the Ravens, who have won three of their last four games. Also, they should have beaten the Colts, to whom they lost on a controversial pass interference penalty late in the game.
Have the Ravens grown up enough during this winning streak to challenge the Steelers in the AFC North?
“Well, we’ll find out,” Billick said.