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	<title>Baltimore Ravens Blog Fan Site  and Schedule with NFL News &#187; Cincinnati Bengals</title>
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		<title>Ravens back in first place after Steelers&#8217; loss</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-back-in-first-place-after-steelers-loss/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-back-in-first-place-after-steelers-loss/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:46:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-back-in-first-place-after-steelers-loss/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh arrived for work in a good mood Tuesday morning following the San Francisco 49ers' pivotal victory Monday night over the Pittsburgh Steelers. ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div readability="85">
<p> Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh arrived for work in a good mood Tuesday morning following the San Francisco 49ers&#8217; pivotal victory Monday night over the Pittsburgh Steelers.</p>
<p>And with good reason: The Ravens moved back into first place with the Steelers&#8217; loss.</p>
<p>&#8220;He was coming in: &#8216;Did you see that game? Who won?&#8217;&#8221; quarterback Joe Flacco said of Harbaugh. &#8220;OK, we all know who won the game. We know you&#8217;re way more excited now than you were two days ago. You could definitely tell he was excited, and we should be. We&#8217;re obviously in a better position because of what happened.&#8221;</p>
<p>The 49ers&#8217; win over the Ravens&#8217; AFC North rival puts the Ravens (10-4) back in first place in the AFC North and seeded second in the playoff standings.</p>
<p>The Ravens&#8217; embarrassing 34-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday night knocked them out of first place in the division for a day, and they fell from the top-seeded team in the AFC to fifth. Now, they&#8217;re ranked second in the playoff seeding behind the New England Patriots.</p>
<p>The Ravens own the tiebreaker edge over the Steelers (10-4) after sweeping their annual series earlier this season. They are now in position to earn a first-round bye and a home playoff game provided they win their final two regular-season games against the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals.</p>
<p>&#8220;Man, it was a fun to watch,&#8221; Harbaugh said. &#8220;It was pretty cool. The fact that if we win both games now, we will win the division, that means a lot. That&#8217;s really meaningful. It&#8217;s a tough league, and we have to win every week.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, the Ravens would have preferred to not require assistance.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a gift, but we wish we didn&#8217;t have to get it that way,&#8221; outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said.</p>
<p>The Ravens are 7-0 at home heading into Saturday&#8217;s game at M&#038;T Bank Stadium against the Browns.</p>
<p>And they&#8217;re undefeated in their previous games against Cleveland and Cincinnati this season.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve just got to take care of business,&#8221; Suggs said. &#8220;We&#8217;re playing two teams that know us very well, two division foes, so it&#8217;s going to be interesting. We&#8217;ve got to get back to doing what we do best, and that&#8217;s playing Ravens football.&#8221;</p>
</p></div>
</p>
<p>What are your opinions. </p>
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		<title>Ray Lewis Set to Return in Week 15: Injury Update</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ray-lewis-set-to-return-in-week-15-injury-update/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ray-lewis-set-to-return-in-week-15-injury-update/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ The Baltimore Ravens are in a huge battle for playoff positioning. The Ravens are currently 10-3 and have the same record as three other teams in the AFC]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div readability="58.252502274795">
<p>The Baltimore Ravens are in a huge battle for playoff positioning. The Ravens are currently 10-3 and have the same record as three other teams in the AFC. Baltimore is in position to earn home field advantage throughout the playoffs if they can finish the season strong. Baltimore should be able to do that based on their remaining schedule. To make things easier, it looks like they will be getting one of their top players back. Ray Lewis is slated to return in Week 15 against the San Diego Chargers.</p>
<p>Lewis has missed four straight games with a toe injury. The injury wasn&#8217;t originally supposed to keep Lewis out this long. In fact, he was holding out hope to play soon after the injury. But it turned out to be more serious than originally thought. Now, Lewis is ready to return to practice and the Ravens expect him to be in the lineup. He should be fully healed and there shouldn&#8217;t be any lingering effects. With the four weeks of rest, Lewis should be healed and ready to play in this game. He doesn&#8217;t have much injury history either and that should work to this advantage in terms of playing his normal style of football.</p>
<p>The Ravens played well without Lewis. They won all four games he missed and that has put the team in the position they are in right now. But this is still a better football team with Lewis in the lineup. He gives them a truly elite presence in the middle on defense. There is a reason he is regarded as one of the greatest middle linebackers in NFL history. The Ravens were fortunate to win without him. Now, they will be much better for the final three games.</p>
<p>After the game against the Chargers, the Ravens close with games against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. None of those games are overly easy, but Baltimore is better than all three opponents. With a healthy lineup, the Ravens should have no problem winning out and securing the best record in the AFC. That would be a huge step forward for a team that has been forced to play on the road over the last few years in the playoffs. The return of Lewis gives them the boost they need.</p>
<p><i>Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.</i></p>
</p></div>
</p>
<p>Leave your comments on the news below.</p>
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		<title>Ravens geared up for December football</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-geared-up-for-december-football/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-geared-up-for-december-football/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:01:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-geared-up-for-december-football/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ OWINGS MILLS – The weather is cold, the ground is hard and unforgiving and harsh elements tend to fall from the sky. It’s December, the time of year when football teams with brute strength, unrelenting will and a capacity to run the football and play stingy defense tend to thrive]]></description>
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<div readability="34">
<p>OWINGS MILLS – The weather is cold, the ground is hard and unforgiving and harsh elements tend to fall from the sky.</p>
</div>
<div readability="138.04000952608">
It’s December, the time of year when football teams with brute strength, unrelenting will and a capacity to run the football and play stingy defense tend to thrive.
<p>The Baltimore Ravens are one of those teams as they demonstrated again during a 24-10 road victory Sunday where they stomped all over the last-place Cleveland Browns as running back Ray Rice rushed for a career-high 204 yards and the defense sacked quarterback Colt McCoy three times.</p>
<p>&#8220;That’s December football,&#8221; center Matt Birk said. &#8220;You have to run the ball well in order to win and we were able to do that. It was that kind of game.&#8221;</p>
<p>Since coach John Harbaugh’s arrival in 2008, the Ravens have won 9 of 13 December games.</p>
<p>And the Ravens have been the kings of the later portion of the season with a 24-9 combined mark in November, December and January for a .727 winning percentage that ranks above the New England Patriots (.719) and the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts, who both own a .697 mark.</p>
<p>With a physical running game, the third-ranked defense overall and the second-best run defense in the NFL, the Ravens are well-suited for this time of year.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think we have always just had good teams,&#8221; Harbaugh said. &#8220;We play good defense. We have been able to run the ball. We’d believe that everything we do is built for December. We are trying to be our best in December and January.</p>
<p>&#8220;The whole program is organized that way. I think our players understand that, and they begin to think that way. So, we try to improve throughout the course of the season in every area and be at our best this time of year.&#8221;</p>
<p>By design on a sloppy field on a cold, rainy day, the Ravens set a franchise record with 55 rushing attempts against the Browns.</p>
<p>As the Ravens (9-3) compete with the Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans for the top seed in the AFC, their late-season push has them on track for home-field playoff advantage provided they win their remaining four games.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’ve always played good December football,&#8221; Rice said. &#8220;We’re a December, January team. It would be great to play a playoff game in Baltimore. We just got to win football games from here on out. It’s clear-cut.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the Ravens dominated on offense with the running game, they shut down Browns star running back Peyton Hillis.</p>
<p>He rushed for only 45 yards on a dozen carries with a long run of nine yards.</p>
<p>&#8220;We believe in running the football, absolutely,&#8221; Harbaugh said. &#8220;We think you have to run the ball and stop the run to be the kind of physical football team we want to be.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Ravens only had quarterback Joe Flacco attempt 23 passes against the Seahawks.</p>
<p>After getting pass-happy and abandoning the run in losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Seattle Seahawks, the Ravens are tilted more toward running the football now.</p>
<p>For the season, the Ravens have thrown 435 passes for 2,762 yards and 339 runs for 1,378 yards.</p>
<p>The Ravens aren’t necessarily done throwing the ball, though.</p>
<p>&#8220;The teams that are scoring the most points are the teams that are throwing the ball the most,&#8221; Harbaugh said. &#8220;But our objective here is not to score the most points, per se. It&#8217;s to score more points than our opponent on any given Sunday. That&#8217;s why we&#8217;re really not willing to sit here and say that we are a run-first outfit.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Ravens have never earned the top seed before in franchise history.</p>
<p>Due to their sweep of the Steelers, a win over the Texans an edge in common opponents over the Patriots, the Ravens are primed for a first-round bye and home playoff games throughout the postseason should they beat the winless Colts, the San Diego Chargers, Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the month of December, it’s all about positioning ourselves for a playoff run,&#8221; fullback Vonta Leach said. &#8220;That’s all we talked about. We didn’t talk about letdowns. Obviously, we have had letdowns in the past after we came off big wins. We just know that it’s December and we wanted to come in here and establish ourselves and continue our winning streak.&#8221;</p>
<p>NOTE: Rice has been nominated for FedExGround NFL Player of the Week.</p>
<hr />
<p>Aaron Wilson is Ravens beat reporter for the Carroll County Times: sports@carrollcountytimes.com.</p>
</div>
<p>What do you guys think about this. </p>
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		<title>Baltimore Ravens A.M. Links: Should the Ravens&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/baltimore-ravens-a-m-links-should-the-ravens/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/baltimore-ravens-a-m-links-should-the-ravens/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ Matt Vensel of The Baltimore Sun wonders if the Ravens should fear the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. His reason? ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div readability="42.851351351351">
<p>Matt Vensel of The Baltimore Sun wonders if the Ravens should fear the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.</p>
<p>His reason?</p>
<p>The Ravens have a habit of losing to lesser opponents following emotional wins.</p>
<p>Vensel writes how the Browns have a chance to pull off the upset because the defense is the biggest reason why they have been able to hang around in tight games against teams like the Oakland Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers. </p>
<blockquote dir="ltr" readability="7">
<blockquote dir="ltr" readability="11">
<p><strong>One bright spot for the Browns, who have lost four of their past five games, was the return of “Madden” cover boy Peyton Hillis on Sunday. Hillis had been sidelined for a month and a half with a hamstring injury. In his first game back, he rushed for 65 yards on 19 carries in a 23-20 loss to the Bengals.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>Vensel writes how Hillis&#8217; running style could present a challenge for the Ravens defense if linebackers Ray Lewis and Dannell Ellerbe remain on the sidelines this weekend. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><span>More Baltimore Ravens</span></strong></p>
<p>The Ravens hope to improve offensive line play (Baltimore Sun).</p>
<p>Lee Evans will see more action for the Ravens (Baltimore Sun).</p>
<p>The Ravens need to be patient with Ray Lewis (Baltimore Sun).</p>
</p></div>
</p>
<p>If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top. </p>
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		<title>Refreshed Ravens return from mini-break to begin&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/refreshed-ravens-return-from-mini-break-to-begin/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/refreshed-ravens-return-from-mini-break-to-begin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:58:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/refreshed-ravens-return-from-mini-break-to-begin/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Baltimore’s three losses this season followed significant victories and occurred on the road against sub-.500 teams. ]]></description>
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<div>
<p>Baltimore’s three losses this season followed significant victories and occurred on the road against sub-.500 teams. The Ravens are determined to break the trend on Sunday at Cleveland (4-7).</p>
<p> “It doesn’t matter how many wins and losses they have,” linebacker Jarret Johnson said Monday. “They always play good against us. It’s going to be a dogfight, so we better bring it.”</p>
<p>Coach John Harbaugh believes the problem in Baltimore’s three defeats wasn’t so much mental as it was physical.</p>
<p> “What we didn’t do is, we didn’t play very well,” he said. “We certainly acknowledge that those three losses coming off big wins were not good performances. They’re there. They’re on the record. Now we face a similar challenge this week, but a tougher challenge, because now we’ve got to go play a team in our division.”</p>
<p>The AFC North is jammed at the top. The Ravens are tied with Pittsburgh for the lead and the Bengals are one game back.</p>
<p> “We expect it to be a tight race. We just want to uphold our end of the bargain,” Harbaugh said. “What you have to concern yourself with is winning. That’s the bottom line for us. We can’t be concerned what the others teams do. We have to be concerned with what we do.”</p>
<p>The Ravens couldn’t have asked for a better scenario entering the final five weeks of the season. Before facing Cleveland twice, winless Indianapolis and struggling San Diego, they received a lengthy break following a rugged 16-6 conquest of the 49ers.</p>
<p> “That was big to have,” defensive tackle Terrence Cody said. “We have a lot of guys banged up — nicks and bruises — and it was big to have (time off) at this point in the season.”</p>
<p>It’s been more than two weeks since middle linebacker Ray Lewis (sore right toe) has played a game, and no one on the team needed the break more than Baltimore’s 36-year-old defensive leader.</p>
<p> “The rest part is big,” Harbaugh said. “I’m hopeful. I think he’s got a real good chance” to play Sunday. “We’ll just have to see how it goes.”</p>
<p>Fortunately for the Ravens, they have flourished without Lewis. The defense had its ups and downs in a 31-24 win over the Bengals, but Baltimore had nine sacks and yielded only two field goals in turning back San Francisco.</p>
<p> “They were two huge wins in five days. You can’t say enough about it,” Johnson said. “It’s a tough thing to do. We played a really good game against the Niners, but we’re moving on. We need to get win No.9 and we’re going to try and get it this week.”</p>
<p>Much will be written and said in the next few days about Baltimore’s tendency to stumble against sub-par teams. As far as defensive tackle Cory Redding is concerned, the toughest team the Ravens will face down the stretch will be &#8230; the Ravens.</p>
<p> “It’s not the Indianapolis Colts, it’s not the Cincinnati Bengals or anybody else that’s left on our schedule. It’s us,” Redding said. “As long as we continue to beat the negatives, beat the things that can hinder us from getting a win and overcome the mistakes we make on Sunday, we’ll get those victories. But we’ve got to beat the things that can hurt us, and that’s us. As long as we make our plays and not make any careless mistakes, then we’ll be great.”</p>
<p>Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</p>
</div>
<p> Running low on time today, i&#8217;ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news. </p>
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		<title>Ravens on quest for home-field advantage</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-on-quest-for-home-field-advantage/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ravens-on-quest-for-home-field-advantage/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:16:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ OWINGS MILLS - With the emotions of a victorious Harbaugh bowl and a rare sweep of the Pittsburgh Steelers already behind them, the Baltimore Ravens are bracing for a familiar, recurring challenge for the remainder of the season. How will they handle success after three previous losses to losing teams immediately following big wins? ]]></description>
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<p>OWINGS MILLS &#8211; With the emotions of a victorious Harbaugh bowl and a rare sweep of the Pittsburgh Steelers already behind them, the Baltimore Ravens are bracing for a familiar, recurring challenge for the remainder of the season.</p>
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<p>How will they handle success after three previous losses to losing teams immediately following big wins?</p>
<p>To earn the elusive home-field advantage granted to the top seed in the AFC, the Ravens will have to take care of business against teams they&#8217;re expected to beat.</p>
<p>Only one of the Ravens&#8217; upcoming five opponents sports a winning record, and Baltimore travels to play those emerging Cincinnati Bengals in the season finale after defeating them last week at home.</p>
<p>For the next month, the Ravens (8-3) will square off with teams with losing records starting with the Cleveland Browns next Sunday followed by the winless Indianapolis Colts, the slumping San Diego Chargers and the Browns again.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an opportunity going forward, it positions us really well,&#8221; Harbaugh said. &#8220;Now, we have to conquer a game in Cleveland, one that&#8217;s been plaguing us all year. You&#8217;ve all written about it extensively. It&#8217;s a big challenge we have, but we have an opportunity now to get healthy. And that&#8217;s what we have to take advantage of in the next couple of days.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Ravens are competing with the Steelers to remain atop the AFC North division, and the title would grant them at least one home playoff game.</p>
<p>If the Ravens can finish with a superior record to the New England Patriots and the Steelers, it would ensure playing all of their playoff games at M&amp;T Bank Stadium.</p>
<p>That could provide an easier path to the Super Bowl considering the Ravens have won 16 of their last 17 home games, including a 6-0 mark this season and nine consecutive wins dating back to last year.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obviously playing here, we&#8217;re pretty tough to beat because we&#8217;ve got a great atmosphere the fans created,&#8221; quarterback Joe Flacco said. &#8220;We haven&#8217;t had one since I&#8217;ve been here. It would really be beneficial to get one.&#8221;</p>
<p>The home-field advantage conversation grew new life after the Ravens&#8217; 16-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s probably too early because you have five games left,&#8221; Harbaugh said. &#8220;But it&#8217;s December football, and that&#8217;s when you start thinking about things like that. The only thing we need to be focused on is getting healthy, first of all, and the Cleveland Browns.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s something we&#8217;ve struggled with on the road, and we have to go conquer that. That&#8217;s going to be a really tough task. I know all of our guys are going to focus on that and take care of first things first.&#8221;</p>
<p>In order to do so, they&#8217;ll need to handle a Cleveland team they swept last year.</p>
<p>With embarrassing losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks and a setback against the Tennessee Titans, the Ravens have proven that they&#8217;re vulnerable against teams they were favored to beat.</p>
<p>That has raised questions about whether the Ravens overlooked teams that were regarded as inferior to them.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve always had focus,&#8221; Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said. &#8220;Sometimes the game or the game plan gets away from us and we&#8217;ve given away a few games. As long we always keep the game plan in our grasp and do what we do best, play Ravens football, feed every defense a lot of Rice, I think we&#8217;ve got a good chance of making a good run at this thing. When we get away from ourselves, that&#8217;s when you never know what&#8217;s going to happen.&#8221;</p>
<p>Suggs was referencing how the Ravens abandoned the running game and star running back Ray Rice in losses to Seattle, Jacksonville and Tennessee when they fell behind.</p>
<p>However, the Ravens were stubborn with the run against the 49ers&#8217; top-ranked run defense even though Rice finished with just 59 yards on 21 carries. That kept the defense honest and created manageable third-down situations.</p>
<p>The Ravens haven&#8217;t played a home playoff game since the 2006 season when they lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC divisional round following a first-round bye.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s key,&#8221; Suggs said. &#8220;You know when you get home-field advantage you have a good chance of making it to the big dance. I think we have the best fans in the world. We win all of our home games and that&#8217;s because it&#8217;s loud and because our fans give us the energy, and we want to play well for them.</p>
<p>&#8220;We haven&#8217;t had a home playoff game since coach has been here. We just want to take it one game at a time, but that&#8217;s definitely an overall goal: win the division, get it at home-field.&#8221;</p>
<p>Under Harbaugh, the Ravens have gone 8-4 in December games dating back to the 2008 season.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a long season, and you all know November and December football is tricky,&#8221; Suggs said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t afford to give any away. You have to win the games you&#8217;re supposed to win, and try to steal the ones that you aren&#8217;t.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to enjoy this win and after the long weekend we&#8217;re going to come back and get ready for Cleveland. November and December football is very important, and we&#8217;re just going to focus on the next point.&#8221;</p>
</div>
<p>There is the quick update of the day.</p>
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		<title>Ray Lewis&#8217; Status Uncertain for Thanksgiving:&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/ray-lewis-status-uncertain-for-thanksgiving/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ With Thanksgiving approaching, there are three huge games on the NFL schedule for Week 12. One of the biggest games involves the 9-1 San Francisco 49ers visiting the 7-3 Baltimore Ravens. While the Harbaugh brothers are likely to garner most of the attention, this game is huge because of the players involved. ]]></description>
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<p>With Thanksgiving approaching, there are three huge games on the NFL schedule for Week 12. One of the biggest games involves the 9-1 San Francisco 49ers visiting the 7-3 Baltimore Ravens. While the Harbaugh brothers are likely to garner most of the attention, this game is huge because of the players involved. While the 49ers have essentially wrapped up their division title, the Ravens still have work to do. With that in mind, the status of <span>Ray Lewis(notes)</span> is going to be a huge question.</p>
<p>Lewis missed the November 20 game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a foot injury. It was the first time in 57 games that Lewis did not play. The foot injury is not serious enough to require surgery or an extended absence, but it could impact his availability for this game. Since the Ravens have a short week, his availability might be a game time decision. Lewis has said that he is making every effort to play in the game. The short week might play a role in that. At this point, the expectation is that Lewis will be good to go. But since he hasn&#8217;t been back on the field yet, anything can happen.</p>
<p>It was clear that the Ravens defense struggled without Lewis. The team forced some turnovers but also allowed the Bengals to gain nearly 500 yards in the game. That is almost unheard of for a Baltimore defense. The linebackers were not as strong without Lewis. The Bengals were able to get a lot of big pass plays in the game. <span>Andy Dalton(notes)</span> finished the day with 373 yards. The Ravens can&#8217;t afford to have that happen again.</p>
<p>Lewis is the leader of this team. His presence alone changes the face of the Baltimore defense. At 7-3, the Ravens control their own destiny in the AFC North. But they don&#8217;t have a lot of breathing room. The AFC race is crowded with 10 teams with records between 5-5 and 7-3. The 49ers will come into this game looking to prove they are one of the best teams in the league. Baltimore needs this win to keep pace with the rest of the AFC. If Lewis can play, the defense should be in better shape. But if he can&#8217;t, they will need to find a way to limit the damage better than they did against the Bengals.</p>
<p><i>Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.</i></p>
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		<title>Ravens Beat Bengals</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:19:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ BALTIMORE (AP) -- An uncharacteristic performance by the Baltimore Ravens defense was offset by an uncommonly effective outing by Joe Flacco and the team's oft-criticized offense. Flacco threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Torrey Smith had six catches for 165 yards, and Baltimore moved into first place in the AFC North with a nerve-racking 31-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. ]]></description>
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<p>BALTIMORE (AP) &#8212; An uncharacteristic performance by the Baltimore Ravens defense was offset by an uncommonly effective outing by Joe Flacco and the team&#8217;s oft-criticized offense. </p>
<p>Flacco threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Torrey Smith had six catches for 165 yards, and Baltimore moved into first place in the AFC North with a nerve-racking 31-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. </p>
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<p>Playing without middle linebacker Ray Lewis for the first time in 58 games, the Ravens (7-3) nearly blew a 17-point lead in the final 14 minutes, yielded 483 yards and let rookie quarterback Andy Dalton throw for 373. </p>
<p>But Baltimore got 104 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Ray Rice , and the defense made big plays when it counted most. After Rice was stuffed on a third-and-1 with just over two minutes left, he remained confident. </p>
<p>&#8220;I just looked at the clock and I said, `Our defense will get it done,&#8221;&#8216; he recalled. &#8220;That&#8217;s the faith I have in our guys.&#8221;</p>
<p>Even without Lewis, who watched from the sideline after being placed on the inactive list with a toe injury. The Ravens&#8217; spiritual leader and leading tackler saw his unit pick off three passes and turn in a game-saving goal-line stand in the final minute. </p>
<p>Down 31-24, Cincinnati reached the Baltimore 7 before Terrell Suggs collared Dalton, who was called for intentional grounding. On fourth-and-goal, Dalton was sacked by Pernell McPhee . </p>
<p>The Bengals (6-4) needed seven points because on the previous series, an apparent 9-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Jermaine Gresham was overturned by a replay that determined the receiver didn&#8217;t hold onto the ball at the end of a juggling catch. The Bengals settled for a field goal with 5:32 remaining. </p>
<p>&#8220;When the receiver went to the ground, he had the ball in his right hand,&#8221; referee Ron Winter said. &#8220;The ball touched the ground and his hand came off the ball.&#8221; </p>
<p>Baltimore is locked in a first-place tie with Pittsburgh in the AFC North, but the Ravens own the tiebreaker by virtue of their two wins over the Steelers. </p>
<p>&#8220;No. 1 in the division, that&#8217;s huge,&#8221; Suggs said. &#8220;Now we&#8217;re the master of our destiny.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Ravens won in part because of Smith, whose 165 yards were third-most by a receiver in Ravens history. He might have had more if Adam Jones didn&#8217;t grab hold of Smith&#8217;s long dreadlocks at the end of a 28-yard completion in the second quarter. </p>
<p>Jones was initially flagged for a horse-collar tackle, but officials corrected themselves and did not mark off any yardage because it&#8217;s legal to tackle a runner by pulling his hair. </p>
<p>Even though it wasn&#8217;t a banner day for the Baltimore defense, its three interceptions set up two touchdowns.</p>
<p>&#8220;Whenever we can get turnovers, it definitely makes everybody&#8217;s job easier,&#8221; cornerback Cary Williams said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just being able to capitalize on opportunities, and we did that today.&#8221; </p>
<p>Dalton went 24 for 45 with a touchdown. Cincinnati was without standout rookie wide receiver A.J. Green, who hurt his right knee a week earlier in a loss to Pittsburgh. </p>
<p>But the Bengals gave Baltimore all it could handle.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve won six games to this point and we&#8217;ll win some more,&#8221; coach Marvin Lewis said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve just got to circle the wagons, lick our wounds and go.&#8221; </p>
<p>One week earlier, the Bengals came up short in rallying from a 14-0 deficit against Pittsburgh. It was more of the same against the Ravens. </p>
<p>&#8220;It comes down to the fourth quarter. That&#8217;s how every game&#8217;s been for us,&#8221; Dalton said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to start faster. We can&#8217;t wait around until the end of the game to pick it up, come out and get back in it. It&#8217;s definitely going to be a focus for us.&#8221; </p>
<p>Baltimore took a 24-14 lead on a 2-yard run by Rice late in the third quarter. The score came after Ravens rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith picked off a pass and returned it 16 yards before fumbling. The loose ball was recovered at the Cincinnati 2 by teammate Brendon Ayanbadejo in a pile that included Winter. </p>
<p>The Bengals&#8217; following possession ended with an interception by Lardarius Webb . On the next play, Torrey Smith split the Bengals&#8217; two-deep zone and caught a 38-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to make it 31-14. </p>
<p>The Bengals responded with a five-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 49-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Andre Caldwell , who slipped behind Jimmy Smith down the right sideline. </p>
<p>But the Ravens held on, rebounding after a 22-17 loss at Seattle last week. Baltimore has won 12 straight following a defeat.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s good to bounce back,&#8221; Suggs said, &#8220;but let&#8217;s not take any more steps back.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Bengals punted six times in the first half, two short of their season high for an entire game. Cincinnati&#8217;s offense managed only 143 yards before halftime, 47 of those on one play. </p>
<p>On the Bengals&#8217; second possession, wide receiver Jerome Simpson made a juggling catch for a 47-yard gain to set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Cedric Benson . </p>
<p>The Ravens didn&#8217;t get past midfield until early in the second quarter, following a 15-yard punt by Kevin Huber . Starting at its 45, Baltimore picked up a first down before Flacco tossed a short pass to Anquan Boldin , who ran the final 20 yards for a 35-yard touchdown. <br/></p>
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<p>Copyright 2011 Associated Press.  All rights reserved.  This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p>
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<p>What do you guys think about this.</p>
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		<title>Ravens Stop Bengals Comeback, Win 31-24</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:18:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ BALTIMORE, MD (AP) - An uncharacteristic performance by the Baltimore Ravens defense was offset by an uncommonly effective outing by Joe Flacco and the team's oft-criticized offense.       Flacco threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Torrey Smith had six catches for 165 yards, and Baltimore moved into first place in the AFC North with a nerve-racking 31-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.       Playing without middle linebacker Ray Lewis for the first time in 58 games, the Ravens (7-3) nearly blew a 17-point lead in the final 14 minutes, yielded 483 yards and let rookie quarterback Andy Dalton throw for 373. ]]></description>
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<p><strong>BALTIMORE, MD (AP)</strong> &#8211; An uncharacteristic performance by the<br/>Baltimore Ravens defense was offset by an uncommonly effective<br/>outing by Joe Flacco and the team&#8217;s oft-criticized offense.<br/>      Flacco threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Torrey<br/>Smith had six catches for 165 yards, and Baltimore moved into first<br/>place in the AFC North with a nerve-racking 31-24 victory over the<br/>Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.<br/>      Playing without middle linebacker Ray Lewis for the first time<br/>in 58 games, the Ravens (7-3) nearly blew a 17-point lead in the<br/>final 14 minutes, yielded 483 yards and let rookie quarterback Andy<br/>Dalton throw for 373.<br/>      But Baltimore got 104 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Ray<br/>Rice, and the defense made big plays when it counted most. After<br/>Rice was stuffed on a third-and-1 with just over two minutes left,<br/>he remained confident.<br/>      &#8220;I just looked at the clock and I said, `Our defense will get<br/>it done,&#8221;&#8216; he recalled. &#8220;That&#8217;s the faith I have in our guys.&#8221;<br/>      Even without Lewis, who watched from the sideline after being<br/>placed on the inactive list with a toe injury. The Ravens&#8217;<br/>spiritual leader and leading tackler saw his unit pick off three<br/>passes and turn in a game-saving goal-line stand in the final<br/>minute.<br/>      Down 31-24, Cincinnati reached the Baltimore 7 before Terrell<br/>Suggs collared Dalton, who was called for intentional grounding. On<br/>fourth-and-goal, Dalton was sacked by Pernell McPhee.<br/>      The Bengals (6-4) needed seven points because on the previous<br/>series, an apparent 9-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Jermaine<br/>Gresham was overturned by a replay that determined the receiver<br/>didn&#8217;t hold onto the ball at the end of a juggling catch. The<br/>Bengals settled for a field goal with 5:32 remaining.<br/>      &#8220;When the receiver went to the ground, he had the ball in his<br/>right hand,&#8221; referee Ron Winter said. &#8220;The ball touched the<br/>ground and his hand came off the ball.&#8221;<br/>      Baltimore is locked in a first-place tie with Pittsburgh in the<br/>AFC North, but the Ravens own the tiebreaker by virtue of their two<br/>wins over the Steelers.<br/>      &#8220;No. 1 in the division, that&#8217;s huge,&#8221; Suggs said. &#8220;Now we&#8217;re<br/>the master of our destiny.&#8221;<br/>      The Ravens won in part because of Smith, whose 165 yards were<br/>third-most by a receiver in Ravens history. He might have had more<br/>if Adam Jones didn&#8217;t grab hold of Smith&#8217;s long dreadlocks at the<br/>end of a 28-yard completion in the second quarter.<br/>      Jones was initially flagged for a horse-collar tackle, but<br/>officials corrected themselves and did not mark off any yardage<br/>because it&#8217;s legal to tackle a runner by pulling his hair.<br/>      Even though it wasn&#8217;t a banner day for the Baltimore defense,<br/>its three interceptions set up two touchdowns.<br/>      &#8220;Whenever we can get turnovers, it definitely makes everybody&#8217;s<br/>job easier,&#8221; cornerback Cary Williams said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just being able<br/>to capitalize on opportunities, and we did that today.&#8221;<br/>      Dalton went 24 for 45 with a touchdown. Cincinnati was without<br/>standout rookie wide receiver A.J. Green, who hurt his right knee a<br/>week earlier in a loss to Pittsburgh.<br/>      But the Bengals gave Baltimore all it could handle.<br/>      &#8220;We&#8217;ve won six games to this point and we&#8217;ll win some more,&#8221;<br/>coach Marvin Lewis said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve just got to circle the wagons,<br/>lick our wounds and go.&#8221;<br/>      One week earlier, the Bengals came up short in rallying from a<br/>14-0 deficit against Pittsburgh. It was more of the same against<br/>the Ravens.<br/>      &#8220;It comes down to the fourth quarter. That&#8217;s how every game&#8217;s<br/>been for us,&#8221; Dalton said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to start faster. We can&#8217;t<br/>wait around until the end of the game to pick it up, come out and<br/>get back in it. It&#8217;s definitely going to be a focus for us.&#8221;<br/>      Baltimore took a 24-14 lead on a 2-yard run by Rice late in the<br/>third quarter. The score came after Ravens rookie cornerback Jimmy<br/>Smith picked off a pass and returned it 16 yards before fumbling.<br/>The loose ball was recovered at the Cincinnati 2 by teammate<br/>Brendon Ayanbadejo in a pile that included Winter.<br/>      The Bengals&#8217; following possession ended with an interception by<br/>Lardarius Webb. On the next play, Torrey Smith split the Bengals&#8217;<br/>two-deep zone and caught a 38-yard touchdown pass in the back of<br/>the end zone to make it 31-14.<br/>      The Bengals responded with a five-play, 80-yard drive capped by<br/>a 49-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Andre Caldwell, who slipped<br/>behind Jimmy Smith down the right sideline.<br/>      But the Ravens held on, rebounding after a 22-17 loss at Seattle<br/>last week. Baltimore has won 12 straight following a defeat.<br/>      &#8220;It&#8217;s good to bounce back,&#8221; Suggs said, &#8220;but let&#8217;s not take<br/>any more steps back.&#8221;<br/>      The Bengals punted six times in the first half, two short of<br/>their season high for an entire game. Cincinnati&#8217;s offense managed<br/>only 143 yards before halftime, 47 of those on one play.<br/>      On the Bengals&#8217; second possession, wide receiver Jerome Simpson<br/>made a juggling catch for a 47-yard gain to set up a 7-yard<br/>touchdown run by Cedric Benson.<br/>      The Ravens didn&#8217;t get past midfield until early in the second<br/>quarter, following a 15-yard punt by Kevin Huber. Starting at its<br/>45, Baltimore picked up a first down before Flacco tossed a short<br/>pass to Anquan Boldin, who ran the final 20 yards for a 35-yard<br/>touchdown.<br/>      NOTES: Former Ravens kicker Matt Stover was inducted into the<br/>team&#8217;s Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony. &#8230; Ravens LB<br/>Jarret Johnson made his 74th consecutive start, breaking the<br/>franchise record previously held by Michael McCrary and Jamie<br/>Sharper. &#8230; Baltimore has won seven straight at home and 15 of 16.</p>
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		<title>Ravens vow to let &#8216;dogs&#8217; loose</title>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 19 Nov 2011 10:01:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>combs</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton will be running for his life Sunday, if the Baltimore Ravens are to be believed. (GETTY IMAGES) Report an error The Baltimore Ravens are back at home, leaving the mess they made in Seattle last week where they lost 22-17 to the Seahawks. Undefeated at Baltimore’s M&#038;T Bank Stadium where they are 4-0, the Ravens will be looking to return to their winning ways and into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh when they play host to the 6-3 Cincinnati Bengals. ]]></description>
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<figure><img src="http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1319155681910_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&#038;size=650x" alt="ANDY DALTON" title="" class="photo" /><br />
<figcaption>Bengals&#8217; quarterback Andy Dalton will be running for his life Sunday, if the Baltimore Ravens are to be believed. (GETTY IMAGES) </figcaption>
</figure>
<section>
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<p>Report an error</p>
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<p>The Baltimore Ravens are back at home, leaving the mess they made in Seattle last week where they lost 22-17 to the Seahawks.</p>
<p>Undefeated at Baltimore’s M&#038;T Bank Stadium where they are 4-0, the Ravens will be looking to return to their winning ways and into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh when they play host to the 6-3 Cincinnati Bengals.</p>
<p>One area in which the Ravens will be looking to improve this week is in getting to the opposition quarterback. In that key defensive category the Ravens have slowed down of late.</p>
<p>Through their opening seven games, the Ravens had collected 25 sacks but in their last two games they have managed just two.</p>
<p>And it won’t get any easier for the Ravens in attempting to put Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton on the ground. Through their first nine games the Bengals O-line has allowed Dalton to be sacked just 13 times.</p>
<p>Taking the rap for Baltimore’s low sack output the past two games is their defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, who said he has to let his dogs loose.</p>
<p>“I’ve got to send them more,” Pagano said during his weekly briefing. “I’ve got to call more. That’s not on them. That falls on my shoulders. I’ve got to be more aggressive and get after them.</p>
<p>“(Opponents are) keeping more guys in to protect, they’re running the ball a little bit more. So we’ve got to do a great job on first and second down and get them into throwing situations, and no matter what the situation is, if they want to keep six or if they want to keep seven in, we’ve got to design and I’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in position to get after the quarterback.”</p>
<p>Dalton, beware.</p>
<p><u><strong>CAN’T HOLD GORE BACK</strong></u></p>
<p>Frank Gore may be beat up but the San Francisco 49ers’ featured running back says he is ready to rumble.</p>
<p>“Yeah I’ll play. I’ll play good,” Gore said the other day of being able to start Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.</p>
<p>In last week’s important 27-20 victory over the New York Giants, Gore was a non-factor due to a knee injury that sidelined him for the second half of the game.</p>
<p>“I hyper-extended my leg, and it kind of shut down my leg, and I couldn’t really push off like I wanted to,” Gore said. “I wanted to be smart, and (running backs coach Tom) Rathman wanted me to be smart, knowing we’ve got a long season ahead and we can be successful, and I want to be there.”</p>
<p>Prior to banging up his knee, Gore had accomplished little in the game as he had six carries for ZERO yards.</p>
<p>It was obvious that the Giants game plan was to stop Gore and in that regard, they succeeded.</p>
<p>“It was 10 men in the box. They were coming to stop the run,” Gore said of the Giants’ defensive strategy.</p>
<p>On the season, Gore, who is also bothered by a left ankle injury, has gained 782 yards rushing, has a 4.7-yard average and rushed for five touchdowns.</p>
<p>To make sure that Gore doesn’t get worn down, the 49ers will probably share the running load with rookie Kendall Hunter, who gained 40 yards on six carries last week.</p>
<p>Whatever the coaches want to do, I’ll be fine with it,” Gore said. “But I want to be out there. I want to be out there bad.”</p>
<p><u><strong>THIS EAGLE WON’T FLY</strong></u></p>
<p>The Philadelphia Eagles season has fallen apart and it looks like a certainty that when they line up to face the New York Giants on Sunday they will be without the services of Michael Vick.</p>
<p>The banged up Eagles quarterback hasn’t practised this week due to two broken ribs, an injury he sustained in last week’s loss to Arizona.</p>
<p>The Eagles are expected to wait until game time before making it official but it doesn’t look good for Vick.</p>
<p>This week, backup Vince Young has taken all of the practice reps with the first-team offence and he’ll need that work as he has appeared in just one game this season, attempted one pass and it was intercepted.</p>
<p>The Eagles, who are 3-6 and all but officially eliminated from post-season play, still are holding out hope that Vick can somehow make the start.</p>
<p>That list includes offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.</p>
<p>“Yeah, he’s a tough man, and I’m always optimistic with him,” Mornhinweg told reporters. “He’s doing everything possible to get ready for the next game — both in the training room as well as in the classroom.</p>
<p>“He’s a tough guy and wants to play. He’s tough both mentally and physically. We’ll see.”</p>
<p>Even if he does play, Vick has not come close to the level of play he exhibited last season.</p>
<p>Against Arizona, Vick was 16-for-34 with two interceptions and no touchdowns. In his past five games he has thrown five touchdown passes but also eight interceptions. On the season he has thrown 11 interceptions and has lost three fumbles.</p>
<p><u><strong>AT LEAST HE’S HONEST</strong></u></p>
<p>New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck isn’t having the type of season he is accustomed to but you have to admire his honesty.</p>
<p>Last year Tuck counted 11 1/2 sacks on the season but this season after nine games he has registered just two.</p>
<p>“I do suck,” Tuck told the New York Daily News of his play this season. “I’m a very honest person. I’m not a very good player now. I do look at myself on film, and I don’t like what I see.”</p>
<p>This season, Tuck has been hobbled by neck and groin injuries and has played in just five games. However, he isn’t using that as an excuse.</p>
<p>“I feel like I’m putting forth the effort,” he said. “But there’s just some things not allowing me to play my style of football.”</p>
<p>Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said he isn’t worried, that it will take time for him to regain his full health.</p>
<p>“He wants to return to form,” Fewell said. “It’s just taking him a little bit more time than both he and we expected.”</p>
<p>On Sunday, Tuck hopes to break out against the Eagles.</p>
</p></div>
</p>
<p>Thanks for reading! . </p>
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		<title>Seattle Seahawks Vs. Baltimore Ravens Game Day&#8230;</title>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:31:00 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[ The Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks will meet up on Sunday, Nov. 13 for a game that most analysts feel is almost too easy for the Ravens. The logic would dictate that the Ravens are easily favored to win this game, and even though the Seahawks are playing at home they will get called severe underdogs. ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div readability="74.765535646207">
<p>The Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks will meet up on Sunday, Nov. 13 for a game that most analysts feel is almost too easy for the Ravens. The logic would dictate that the Ravens are easily favored to win this game, and even though the Seahawks are playing at home they will get called severe underdogs.</p>
<p>If the Seahawks passing attack can do better and <span>Marshawn Lynch(notes)</span> can prove his game against the Cowboys on Nov. 6 wasn&#8217;t a fluke, this game could turn into an upset. Both of those points are big question marks, especially because the Seahawks have failed to stay consistent on offense at any point this year. If Lynch and <span>Tarvaris Jackson(notes)</span> can have a good game on the same day though, the Ravens could head home very frustrated.</p>
<p>The big advantage for Baltimore, just like in recent years, is a defense that ranks among the best in the NFL. The Ravens rank second in the NFL in how many points the team gives up (16.3 per game). The team also gives up just 280 yards per game, which is also second best in the league. That is a miniscule number, and it shows how difficult it is for any offense to find a rhythm. That probably means it is twice has hard for Seattle, and that everyone is going to have to play better in Week 10 to get this done.</p>
<p>The Ravens are now in the driver&#8217;s seat in the AFC North, but must keep winning games to stay in first place. Trying to hold off the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers for the rest of the year isn&#8217;t going to get any easier, and that makes it important to win games against teams that are just 2-6. The Steelers took care of Seattle earlier this year (24-0), so the bar has already been set for what Baltimore has to do.</p>
<p>The kickoff for the Nov. 13 game is at 1:05 p.m. PT, and the Seattle crowd has to become a factor early to help keep this game close. Succeeding at staying within striking distance may turn into the game plan, and then the Seahawks have to hope for good games from Jackson, Lynch and even <span>Sidney Rice(notes)</span> to put this one in the win column.</p>
<p><b>More From</b> <b><u>YCN</u></b> <b>:</b></p>
<p>Best_Seahawks_Of_2011</p>
<p>Marshawn_Lynch_Game_Fluke?</p>
<p>Cowboys_Take_Down_Seahawks</p>
<p>Richard_Sherman_Talks_Up_Game</p>
<p>2011_Team_Not_Worst_for_Seahawks</p>
<p><b>References:</b></p>
<p>Seahawks_2011_Stats</p>
<p>Seattle_Seahawks_Roster</p>
<p>Seattle_Seahawks_Schedule/Results</p>
<p><i>*Ryan Christopher</i> DeVault <i>is a lifelong fan of the Seattle</i> Seahawks <i>that continues to hold out hope that the team is heading in the right direction with a new coach, a weak NFC West, and some great young players on defense.</i></p>
<p><i>Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.</i></p>
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<p>Thanks for visiting our blog =).</p>
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		<title>Toss Up: Who will win the AFC North?</title>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:42:30 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[ The AFC North has been wild this year. The season started with the Baltimore Ravens absolutely drubbing the Pittsburgh Steelers, establishing a possible early dominance in the division. But as the season progressed, the Steelers have bounced back, the Ravens have made a case for why they could be an AFC favorite and the young Cincinnati Bengals have surprised everyone by going 6-2, creating a virtual three-way tie for first place (the Steelers are 6-3, but have not yet had a bye week). ]]></description>
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<p>
	The AFC North has been wild this year. The season started with the Baltimore Ravens absolutely drubbing the Pittsburgh Steelers, establishing a possible early dominance in the division. But as the season progressed, the Steelers have bounced back, the Ravens have made a case for why they could be an AFC favorite and the young Cincinnati Bengals have surprised everyone by going 6-2, creating a virtual three-way tie for first place (the Steelers are 6-3, but have not yet had a bye week). This AFC North division race is going to continue to be a tight one, but at the end, look for the Pittsburgh Steelers to emerge on top.</p>
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	 </p>
<p>
	Most recently, the Steelers lost their second game of the season to the Baltimore Ravens in a game that came down to the final minute. Led by quarterback Joe <span data-scayt_word="Flacco" data-scayt>Flacco</span>, the Ravens were able to come back from a 20-16 deficit on a touchdown pass to rookie receiver Torrey Smith. A game in which the Steelers controlled for the most part was out of their hands, and they took the loss. Although Pittsburgh lost to Baltimore both times this season, Pittsburgh has shown something on both sides of the ball that the Ravens have not–consistency. Once the Steelers picked up their play following the season-opening loss to Baltimore, they&#8217;ve been dominant as always defensively and executed the offense as expected. The Ravens, on the other hand, have shown their defensive dominance, but have struggled at times offensively. Joe <span data-scayt_word="Flacco" data-scayt>Flacco</span> has played well recently, but going back just three games, he had a less-than-spectacular performance against the mediocre Jacksonville Jaguars. Additionally, a huge part of the Ravens&#8217; offense is their running game, which was non-existent in that game against the Jags. It makes analysts wonder whether the offensive coaching is responsible because running back Ray Rice is a Pro-Bowl-caliber back. With these flaws offensively, the Ravens are a tougher team to pick. In addition, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben <span data-scayt_word="Roethlisberger" data-scayt>Roethlisberger</span> has been having a good year, and running back <span data-scayt_word="Rashard" data-scayt>Rashard</span> <span data-scayt_word="Mendenhall" data-scayt>Mendenhall</span> has made big contributions as well to the offense.</p>
<p>
	 </p>
<p>
	Consistency always helps make a safe pick. But there is another reason why the Steelers are a better pick to win the division over both Baltimore and Cincinnati: experience. The players on the Steelers have, for the most part, all been to the playoffs before. Just a season ago, the Steelers were in the Super Bowl. Many of the returning players know exactly what it takes to get back there. Although the Ravens have experienced players in terms of the playoffs, very few, if any ,have made it to the Super Bowl other than Ray Lewis. The defense of the Ravens, like that of the Steelers, is championship quality and could propel them to the Super Bowl, but the Steelers are a much safer choice.</p>
<p>
	 </p>
<p>
	We&#8217;re halfway through the season, and the remaining schedules of each team also contribute to this decision. The Steelers have a much lighter schedule than the Ravens for the rest of the season, which is just another reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers will win the AFC North division. </p>
</div>
<p>That&#8217;s all the news for today. </p>
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		<title>Steelers to Miss Woodley in Key Games: Injury&#8230;</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[ The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL lately. On November 6 they will be looking for payback after their worst loss in recent memory when they host the Baltimore Ravens in prime time. But Pittsburgh might have a difficult time doing that with one of their best players on the sideline]]></description>
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<p>The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL lately. On November 6 they will be looking for payback after their worst loss in recent memory when they host the Baltimore Ravens in prime time. But Pittsburgh might have a difficult time doing that with one of their best players on the sideline. Pittsburgh linebacker <span>LaMarr Woodley(notes)</span> will miss the Baltimore game with a hamstring injury. His loss would be a major blow for the Steelers in a huge division battle.</p>
<p>Woodley suffered a hamstring injury against the New England Patriots during their won on October 30. The injury was serious enough for the team to mention that it wasn&#8217;t good. Woodley is expected to miss not only the Baltimore game but also the game against the Cincinnati Bengals the following week. The best case is for Woodley to return after the team has a bye on November 20. That means he will be missing two huge division games that could define the season for Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>Woodley has had multiple sacks in four straight weeks, including against New England. He has nine sacks on the season and also has an interception. He is one of the key defenders in Pittsburgh&#8217;s aggressive 3-4 scheme. The Steelers are already missing a pair of other key linebackers in <span>James Harrison(notes)</span> and <span>James Farrior(notes).</span> With Woodley joining them on the mend, Pittsburgh will have a hard time generating the defensive pressure they need in order to be the Ravens.</p>
<p>Baltimore is a team that thrives on the run but they can also throw. After a couple of bad weeks, <span>Joe Flacco(notes)</span> came alive in the second half against the Arizona Cardinals. The Ravens have already shown that they can move the ball once against the Steelers. With the various linebacker injuries, the Ravens should be able to do it again. Pittsburgh might have depth, but losing a guy that has gotten sacks the way Woodley has is going to be difficult. Pittsburgh doesn&#8217;t have another player that can step in and do the things that he did. The Steelers are 6-2 right now but the Ravens and Bengals are both right behind them. There might not be a worse time for them to lose Woodley for a couple of games.</p>
<p><i>Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.</i></p>
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		<title>NFL Power Rankings, Week Four: Baltimore Ravens,&#8230;</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:32:43 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[ By Matt Conner - Editor The latest Power Rankings finds the Ravens challenging the Packers for NFL's best overall team. ]]></description>
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<p>By Matt Conner</p>
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<p><span>Oct 4, 2011 &#8211; </span>What a fantastic weekend in the NFL once again with several games that surprised, but none more so than the incredible Dallas Cowboys vs. Detroit Lions match-up. The comeback by Detroit has the Motor City overjoyed while Jerry Jones and his team are trying to figure out what&#8217;s wrong (besides Tony Romo, of course). In other games, the Baltimore Ravens continue to show they might just be the best team in the NFL, while the Rams might just be the worst. No one knows what is wrong in St. Louis.</p>
<p>That said, it&#8217;s time for another Power Rankings after Week Four in the NFL. Check it out below:</p>
<p><b>1. Green Bay Packers (4-0) -</b> The Packers were such a great story last year as the No. 6 playoff, but now there&#8217;s no denying their dominance over all. <br /><b><br />2. Baltimore Ravens (3-1) &#8211; </b>They&#8217;ve only allowed 57 points all season, second to Titans, and the offense can go high octane. <br /><b><br />3. New England Patriots (3-1) &#8211; </b>Brady and Belichick responded as we predicted and should win 12 games this year. </p>
<p><b>4. New Orleans Saints (3-1) -</b> Defense needs a dominant performance at some point to believe they can go all the way. Upcoming Buccaneers game in Week 6 should provide chance. </p>
<p><b>5. Detroit Lions (4-0) &#8211; </b>Cowboys beat themselves on this one and Lions should be 3-1. Still Stafford-to-Johnson looks historically good.  </p>
<p><b>6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) &#8211; </b>Good Monday night win for a quarterback who will undoubtedly be featured in primetime for years to come. </p>
<p><b>7. Buffalo Bills (3-1) -</b> The Bengals clearly found a weakness, because the Bills defense kept this one close. The offense was inept at every turn. </p>
<p><b>8. Houston Texans (3-1) &#8211; </b>Loss of Andre Johnson hurts prolific offense, but defense played great against Steelers.</p>
<p><b>9. San Diego Chargers (3-1) &#8211; </b>Chargers have only scored 6 more points than they&#8217;ve allowed, worst of any division leader. </p>
<p><b>10. Tennessee Titans (3-1) -</b> Least points allowed in NFL shows Mike Munchak&#8217;s stamp on team. If they beat Pittsburgh on Sunday, everyone will be talking about Titans as sleepers. You heard it here first. </p>
<p><b>11. New York Jets (2-2) -</b> Rex Ryan is full of hot air, but that&#8217;s no surprise. What is surprising is that his team might be as well.  </p>
<p><b>12. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2) &#8211; T</b>ied with Browns and Bengals in AFC West with Big Ben injured. Upcoming games against Jags and Cardinals are just what they need.  <br /><b><br />13. Atlanta Falcons (2-2) &#8211; </b>Win against Eagles doesn&#8217;t look so hot. Neither does Sunday&#8217;s two point win over Seahawks. </p>
<p><b>14. Oakland Raiders (2-2) &#8211; </b>Schizophrenic team needs defense to become consistent. Dangerous enough to win AFC West and then some. Could also finish 8-8 again.</p>
<p><b>15. New York Giants (3-1) -</b> Despite significant injuries on defensive side of the ball, the G-Men have adjusted impressively.   <br /><b><br />16. San Francisco 49ers (3-1) -</b> They play Buccaneers and Lions next two weeks. That should even out the schedule, but it&#8217;s clear Jim Harbaugh is working some magic in the Bay Area. </p>
<p><b>17. Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) &#8211; </b>Season is going down the drain, but NFC East isn&#8217;t looking good either. Things will come together soon starting this week for Eagles.</p>
<p><b>18. Chicago Bears (2-2) &#8211; </b>Played Panthers a bit too close. Showdown with Lions this week will turn Bears season one way or the other. </p>
<p><b>19. Dallas Cowboys (2-2) -</b> There&#8217;s absolutely no reason for the Cowboys to have lost Sunday. Horrible coaching and quarterback play will kill a team&#8217;s chances down the stretch.</p>
<p><b>20. Washington Redskins (3-1) &#8211; </b>Do not be fooled by ridiculously easy schedule (including upcoming games with Panthers, Eagles). This is not even a .500 team.<br /><b><br />21. Cleveland Browns (2-2) &#8211; I</b>f they don&#8217;t take advantage of easy front half of schedule, they&#8217;ll end up 5-11 on season.</p>
<p><b>22. Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) &#8211; </b>Andy Dalton might or might not be the next Carson Palmer, but the defense absolutely ate the Bills for lunch on Sunday. <br /><b><br />23. Kansas City Chiefs (1-3) &#8211; </b>Great work by Matt Cassel in face of doubters and Vikings defense. Chiefs play winless Colts next week, so heading toward .500 could come soon. </p>
<p><b>24. Carolina Panthers (1-3) -</b> Defensive woes are going to keep this powerful offense at bay all season. </p>
<p><b>25. Denver Broncos (1-3) -</b> Von Miller with two more sacks in losing effort. That will be the same headline all season.  </p>
<p><b>26. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3) &#8211; </b>Gabbert showed strong signs of life on Sunday but there&#8217;s a long way to go. This team could contend in the AFC South but not with a rookie QB.<br /><b><br />27. Arizona Cardinals (1-3) -</b> Cardinals came close against Giants and should enjoy feasting on the Vikings&#8217; carcass this weekend.</p>
<p><b>28. Minnesota Vikings (0-4) &#8211; </b>Loss to Chiefs cements fact that Vikings are indeed as bad as their record. Hard to believe with Jared Allen, Adrian Peterson and company.</p>
<p><b>29. Indianapolis Colts (0-4) -</b> Curtis Painter on the road tells you all you need to know. If not for superhuman efforts by Pierre Garcon, they would have looked horrible. </p>
<p><b>30. Miami Dolphins (0-4) &#8211; </b>Sparano out in a few weeks. It won&#8217;t matter who they bring in. </p>
<p><b>31. Seattle Seahawks (1-3) -</b> Tarvaris Jackson couldn&#8217;t get job done. Surprise anyone? <br /><b><br />32. St. Louis Rams (0-4) -</b> The team lost Danny Amendola. Not Johnny Unitas. Steve Spagnuolo has allowed the wheels to fall off of this one.</p>
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		<title>REFILE-NFL-Jets&#8217; Ryan relishing chance to beat&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ravensnews.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/refile-nfl-jets-ryan-relishing-chance-to-beat/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:53:00 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baltimore-ravens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cincinnati Bengals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Darrelle Revis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ed Reed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Flacco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Harbaugh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Sanchez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New England Patriots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Jets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rex Ryan]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[ The New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens clash in Week Four of the National Football League (NFL) season and while the teams have much in common there is a sense of rivalry fired by Jets head coach, and former Raven, Rex Ryan. Both teams are 2-1 this season, have been regulars in the American Football Conference (AFC) playoffs in recent years but neither has made the Super Bowl since the Ravens triumph following the 2000 season. Each have outstanding players on defense - Ed Reed and Ray Lewis for Baltimore, Darrelle Revis for the Jets - but have some lingering question marks over their quarterbacks]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div readability="105">
<p>The New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens<br />
clash in Week Four of the National Football League (NFL) season<br />
and while the teams have much in common there is a sense of<br />
rivalry fired by Jets head coach, and former Raven, Rex Ryan.</p>
<p> Both teams are 2-1 this season, have been regulars in the<br />
American Football Conference (AFC) playoffs in recent years but<br />
neither has made the Super Bowl since the Ravens triumph<br />
following the 2000 season.</p>
<p> Each have outstanding players on defense &#8211; Ed Reed and Ray<br />
Lewis for Baltimore, Darrelle Revis for the Jets &#8211; but have<br />
some lingering question marks over their quarterbacks.</p>
<p> Ravens quarterback, 26-year-old Joe Flacco, and New York&#8217;s<br />
Mark Sanchez, two years his junior, have both proven to be<br />
worthy of their high ranking in the draft but neither have<br />
sealed their status by taking their team to the biggest game.</p>
<p> But it is on the sidelines where the tension between the<br />
two teams can be felt.</p>
<p> Ryan spent 10 years with the Ravens, ending as defensive<br />
co-ordinator, and it still rankles that current Ravens coach<br />
John Harbaugh pipped him to the top job at the club.</p>
<p> Although Ryan&#8217;s Jets lost to the Ravens last year he<br />
believes he has proven his worth in New York and also feels the<br />
need to spell that out.</p>
<p> &#8220;We have not beat them since I&#8217;ve been here, that&#8217;s for<br />
sure, but the fact of the matter is, we all said we were going<br />
to meet in the AFC championship game. Now, we haven&#8217;t won the<br />
AFC championship game, but we&#8217;ve got there two years in a row.<br />
The Ravens haven&#8217;t. So you can throw that one right back at<br />
them as well,&#8221; Ryan said earlier this week.</p>
<p> &#8220;I&#8217;ve gone to the playoffs every year, and I&#8217;ve gone to the<br />
championship game every year since I&#8217;ve been here as well. But<br />
who cares? This is what it is. They know I did a great job<br />
there for 10 years.&#8221;</p>
<p> It should be a gripping encounter in Baltimore on Sunday<br />
that will conclude a day which is expected to offer some tests<br />
for the NFL&#8217;s three undefeated teams.</p>
<p> The Buffalo Bills are the most surprising team at 3-0 and<br />
they will fancy their chances of extending their winning start<br />
to the season when they visit the Cincinnati Bengals (1-2).</p>
<p> The Detroit Lions (3-0) take on a Dallas Cowboys team that<br />
were boosted by their victory over the Washington Redskins on<br />
Monday while the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers will<br />
expect a fourth victory at Denver.</p>
<p> The New England Patriots, who suffered a shock defeat to<br />
Buffalo last week, face another tricky test on the road against<br />
an Oakland Raiders (2-1) team that is showing signs of being a<br />
playoff threat this season.</p>
<p> The Raiders have gone eight seasons without a winning<br />
record and will test the Patriots defense against the run in<br />
the first game between the two teams in three years.</p>
<p> Michael Vick&#8217;s rather bruising season for the Philadelphia<br />
Eagles (1-2) should continue at home to the San Francisco 49ers<br />
if he recovers from a hand injury in time.</p>
<p> The Eagles are smarting from their defeat to the New York<br />
Giants and desperate to avoid a third straight loss while the<br />
49ers (2-1) are looking for another road win after last week&#8217;s<br />
13-8 win at Cincinnati.</p>
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