The Baltimore Ravens finished the 2011 season with a 12-4 record, earning themselves a first round bye in the playoffs. The Ravens dominated their AFC North counterparts, winning all six games, including their games with future possible playoff opponents, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. In terms of fantasy stars, the Ravens had several, but who are the biggest surprise and disappointments, and which star can say they were the Ravens 2011 fantasy MVP?

MVP – Ray Rice

The fourth-year back from Rutgers continues to improve each season and is now known as one of the best running backs in the NFL. He accumulated more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage this season and scored 15 touchdowns. On the ground, he rushed for 1,364 yards, while he made 76 receptions for 704 yards. It was his third straight season of rushing for more than 1,200 yards and earning more than 550 in the passing game. He is an easy one of the top three running backs off the board, especially in PPR leagues.

Biggest Surprise – Torrey Smith

The rookie from Maryland had a solid season, lining up opposite of Anquan Boldin. He made 50 catches for 841 yards and scored seven touchdowns. With other rookie studs like Victory Cruz, A.J. Green and Julio Jones getting all the notoriety, Smith constantly had solid performances without getting the same recognition. That is something that will change, especially if he has a great run in the playoffs. As a second-round draft pick, Smith wasn’t expected to be the second receiver, but an injury to Lee Evans forced him to that role and it is a spot he will not be moving from anytime soon.

Biggest Disappointment – Joe Flacco

While Flacco still had a solid season, throwing for 3,610 yards and 20 touchdowns, he could have done a lot more for this offense. He threw 12 interceptions and lost six fumbles and continues to struggle to improve his game from when he burst onto the pro scene in 2008. A year ago, he had the best season of his career, but failed to live up to the expectations his past success have made for him. With their stellar defense and Rice controlling the offense, Flacco doesn’t necessarily need to do more, but if he wants to hear his name mentioned with the best, he needs to.

For a closer look at All-Injury teams for all major fantasy positions and biggest stars and busts from each NFL team, click here.

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Hobson Lopes has been playing fantasy football for more than 10 years and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.

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If the Baltimore Ravens are going to finally break through and win their division, they are going to have to do it without their best wide receiver. The Ravens will lose Anquan Boldin for the final two games as a result of torn cartilage in his knee. This is a significant loss for a team that is looking to win their division and earn a playoff bye. The Ravens are currently 10-4 and tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers atop the AFC North. The Ravens have the tiebreaker but won’t have an easy time winning the final two games. For an offense that is already less than stellar, this is a tough loss for the Ravens.

Boldin will have minor surgery to repair the torn cartilage. While surgery on the knee is usually really serious, Boldin shouldn’t require an extensive coverage. In fact, he is expected to return for the playoffs. Apparently, the injury has been lingering and it was decided that now was the best time to get everything fixed. Baltimore did not disclose which knee was injured. However, the team did announce that Boldin will be ready for the playoffs. That is a good thing for this team, but it could make winning the division difficult.

Boldin has 57 catches and was on track for a 1,000 yard receiving season. He is one of the best threats in the Baltimore passing game. Without him, Lee Evans should get more action in the final two games. Baltimore still has Joe Flacco and Ray Rice so they should still be able to move the ball. However, losing a receiver like Boldin at this point in the season can’t be easy.

Baltimore has played seven playoff games in the past three seasons and all of them have been on the road. This team knows more than any other how important it is to get a home playoff game. The Ravens were on track for that until they lost to the San Diego Chargers. They still control their destiny. If they beat the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals in the final two weeks, they will win their division and earn a bye. They are still good enough to do that. However, losing Boldin is definitely a blow.

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“Anquan Boldin is getting surgery this afternoon,” Harbaugh said. “He’s got a slight tear in his meniscus. It flapped up on him, I think it was Tuesday night after the walkthrough. He’s going to have to get it repaired.

“It’s a two-week thing. It’s two weeks and he’ll be back for the playoffs, whatever round we happen to play in. It will be a little bit tighter if we have to play in the first round.”

Meanwhile, Harbaugh announced that newly-acquired kicker Shayne Graham will handle the kicking duties Saturday against the Cleveland Browns with Pro Bowl kicker Billy Cundiff being rested this week due to his left calf injury.

“We anticipate Shayne being the kicker this week,” Harbaugh said. “Billy’s dealing with his calf and Shayne’s been practicing. Even if Billy was ready to go,and I still think he’s nursing that thing back and he’s not 100 percent, Shayne got the week of practice in so we’ll go with Shayne.”

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Baltimore (9-3) set a franchise record with 55 rushing attempts against the Browns in a 24-10 victory. Ray Rice led the way with a career-best 204 yards rushing on 29 carries, and Ricky Williams chipped in with 76 yards on 16 attempts.

The Ravens won their only Super Bowl in 2001 with an offense dominated by running back Jamal Lewis and a defense centered around middle linebacker Ray Lewis. Jamal Lewis is retired and Ray Lewis has missed three straight games with a toe injury, but the formula for success hasn’t changed.

“We believe in running the football, absolutely,” coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “We think you have to run the ball and stop the run to be the kind of physical football team we want to be.”

Flacco threw only 23 passes against the Browns, but Harbaugh attributed the run-pass imbalance in part to the muddy field in Cleveland.

“We felt like we could run the ball, possibly. We wanted to be able to do that,” the coach said. “On the same token, it was rainy and it was windy and the field was real sloppy. The conditions for throwing the ball weren’t really ideal. … We try to be built for all weather conditions, but I think the way the game played out, the type of game it was, the best approach was to run the ball and keep running the ball because we were having some success doing it.”

In losses to Jacksonville and Seattle, the Ravens abandoned the run and attempted to win through the air. Baltimore has won its share of games on the strength of Flacco’s throwing arm, but this team seems to be at its best when it uses the run to set up the pass.

Against the Browns, the offensive line was only too happy to surge forward instead of drop back into pass protection.

“The guys up front did a great job,” fullback Vonta Leach said. “Ray did a good job of hitting those holes. Obviously with the weather the way it was and the field the way it was, you got to run the ball. We established the run and we kept with it.”

Center Matt Birk said, “That’s what we need to do. It was that kind of game. As an offense, we were able to run the ball.”

The Ravens have thrown 412 passes this season and have 284 rushes. That is, in part, because the NFL has become a passing league and Baltimore has a host of capable receivers, including Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith.

So Harbaugh isn’t about to commit entirely to the run as the Ravens seek to stay on course to capture the AFC North title — and perhaps the top seed in the conference.

“The teams that are scoring the most points are the teams that are throwing the ball the most,” Harbaugh said. “But our objective here is not to score the most points, per se. It’s to score more points than our opponent on any given Sunday. That’s why we’re really not willing to sit here and say that we are a run-first outfit.”

But to win in December, when the weather gets cold and the pressure to win intensifies, the Ravens have found that smashmouth football is far more effective than finesse.

“We’ve always had good teams. We play good defense. We’ve been able to run the ball,” Harbaugh said. “Some years we’ve been better running the ball. We’d like to believe that we’re built for December. Everything we do is built for December. We’re trying to be our best in December and January.”

The Ravens have four games left, the next three against losing teams. The winless Indianapolis Colts (0-12) come to Baltimore on Sunday, and although it seems as if the Ravens could afford to let Lewis rest his ailing right toe another week, Harbaugh doesn’t see it that way.

“We’re going to try to win the game against the Colts,” Harbaugh said. “We want to go in there full strength. Obviously a healthy Ray Lewis, playing at the caliber he’s capable of playing at, helps us beat the Colts. Is he going to be ready to do that? We don’t know. He says he’s going to be ready to do it. He’s got some orthotics that may give him a chance.”

Baltimore has won three straight without Lewis, who has watched from the sideline in each instance.

“We have, probably, been somewhat cautious,” Harbaugh acknowledged. “We want to make sure that he doesn’t re-injure it. So, we’ll just have to see how it goes again this week.”

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