Winning ‘Ugly’ Has People Believing In Ravens

In big, bold letters, a headline donning FoxSports.com this morning reads “Flacco, Ravens OK With Winning Ugly.”

I don’t care for the term “ugly win.”



To me, Sunday’s 29-14 victory over the Houston Texans was a hard-fought battle between two playoff-caliber teams and it came down to the fourth quarter to decide the outcome.

“OK, you want to call this an ugly win for the Ravens because of their problems in the red zone?” asked The Baltimore Sun’s Kevin Cowherd. “Because Joe Flacco had a nice day passing (20-of-33 for 305 yards) but no touchdown passes? Because it took five field goals from Billy Cundiff to really put this team over the top?

“Go ahead, be my guest. But that’s what good teams do, too. They win any way they can. They win any way they have to. Ugly, pretty, doesn’t matter. You don’t get style points for a win in this league.”

It’s because the Ravens snatched a victory in the final minutes of an “ugly” game that has people believing in this team.

ESPN.com said the Ravens are one of the best AFC teams while ProFootballTalk.com wrote the Ravens look like the best AFC team.

Good teams ride the wave of an explosive start to victory – something the Ravens have done three times this season. But to make true believers out of spectators, the Ravens needed to lay the hammer down at the close of a game.

And they did.

That’s the difference between this year’s Ravens squad and the 2010 unit, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.

“[Sunday's win is] further evidence that the Ravens have found that second-half knockout blow. The Ravens just don’t beat teams this year.

“They finish them.”

The Ravens surrendered nine leads in the fourth quarter last season, allowing 119 points in the final quarter, the second-most in team history.

“The reason why the Ravens struggled to finish off teams in 2010 was their conservative style,” wrote Hensley. “The offense went into a shut-down mode, and the defense went into a prevent one. None of the Ravens would say it, but Baltimore didn’t take those shots last year.”

But they didn’t go conservative against the Texans yesterday, and it “wasn’t easy” to call aggressive plays, either, says Hensley.

Quarterback Joe Flacco took some hard hits throughout the game (ending with two sacks and seven quarterback hits), but he still stood strong and delivered down-field passes of 51 and 56 yards to receivers Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin, respectively.

Then, with the Texans’ defense containing the rushing attack, Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron didn’t abandon the run. Instead, strategizing with running back Ray Rice, Cameron tweaked their rushing scheme in the final quarter. The offense only mustered 45 yards on the ground in the first three quarters, but then churned out 68 in the fourth.

“Let’s make it clear: This Baltimore team isn’t like the one last year. The 2011 Ravens are aggressive. They’re fearless. And, as linebacker Ray Lewis puts it, they’re ticked off,” Hensley wrote.

Bengals, Steelers Nipping At Ravens’ Heels

The Ravens might be one of the AFC’s best through six weeks, but that could change at any minute.

Even though Baltimore sits at the top of the AFC North at 4-1, the Steelers (4-2) and Bengals (4-2) are nipping at its heels.

Yesterday, the Steelers beat the Jaguars– Baltimore’s opponent next Monday night – after jumping out to a 17-0 lead on their first three possessions. Pittsburgh went conservative after that, barley winning with a final score of 17-13. A win is a win, and the Steelers are in second place in the AFC North.

The Bengals beat the Colts for the first time in seven games, 27-17. Cincinnati has the league’s best defense, but PFT.com’s Mike Florio isn’t a believer just yet.

“Through six games, the Bengals have beaten the 2-3 Browns, the 4-2 Bills, the 1-5 Jaguars, and the 0-6 Colts,” wrote Florio. ”Cincinnati has lost to the 5-1 49ers and the 1-4 Broncos. It’s still too early to tell whether the Bengals are for real. After their bye, we’ll get an idea.

“The Bengals go to Seattle and Tennessee before facing in consecutive weeks the Steelers and Ravens. Then, the Bengals play the Browns, the Steelers again, and the Texans. Those seven games will let us all know whether the first six games were a fluke.”

The Browns are starting to fade after a 2-1 start. They lost to the Raiders yesterday, 24-7, and fall to a 2-3 record.

La Canfora: DeCosta ‘Unlikely’ To Leave Baltimore

With the passing of Raiders owner Al Davis, Oakland is in the market for a general manager.

The organization has inquired about several NFL front-office executives, including Ravens Director of Player Personnel Eric DeCosta, reported NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora last week.

But DeCosta has reportedly been considered for GM positions before and has decided to stay put as a GM-in-waiting for whenever Ozzie Newsome decides to retire.

“It’s highly unlikely that DeCosta will leave Baltimore, given his deep roots in the organization and what it might take to tempt him to depart,” wrote La Canfora.

Harbaugh Waits To Comment On Brother’s Fracas

Well the entire NFL is buzzing about the fracas between 49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh and Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz.

It seems everyone has their own take on what occurred.

Everyone except Jim’s brother, John Harbaugh.

When asked by reporters what his thoughts were on the situation, John hadn’t seen what happened yet, so he opted to wait to offer a comment. He did offer this one little tidbit, though.

“Let’s put it this way, I’ve been in fights with Jim before, too. I won some early, when we were in our childhood career. Then, it got slanted the other way for a while. We’ve got one coming up on Thanksgiving night, don’t we?”

Expect reporters to follow up in today’s Monday presser.

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