Ravens fans and even Ravens’ players to some extent are card carrying members of the Rodney “I Get no Respect” Dangerfield fan club. Turn on SportsCenter and you see few Ravens highlights.  Listen to the former Pro Bowl quarterbacks gone TV analysts (Young, Esiason, Simms, Marino) and the looks on their faces when they describe the Ravens is like that of a toddler just after Grandmom plants a wet one on them.

This is nothing new for Ravens fans or their team and it really isn’t hard to understand.  A couple of season ago I wrote a column called Sex Sells.  Nothing has changed since then.  Highlight shows and fantasy football and statistical banter are generally geared towards offense.  And as for now, the Ravens still win with defense.

To make matters worse after experiencing a beat down courtesy of Rex Ryan’s gang, you typically hear Ravens’ opponents gripe about not playing their game and the tone is more on line with them losing the game versus the Ravens winning it. To a certain extent, yesterday’s beat down was no different.

''This really wasn't our style,'' linebacker Akin Ayodele said. ``We win games in the fourth quarter. We don't turn the ball over. We come up with big plays. And that didn't happen.''

The Ravens didn’t win, the Dolphins just lost.

At least Dolphins’ CB Andre Goodman gets it…

“[The loss] felt damn near embarrassing, for one. We were in our backyard, and we felt like we got dominated. Right now it just feels too disappointing.''

The Ravens have a knack for getting opponents off their game and then playing theirs. And like most carnivores they strike quickly once they recognize their opponent has weakened they go for the kill while reducing opponents to lamb-like status.

What can you say about Ed Reed that hasn’t already been said? The second half of his season has been flat out stunning and the contrast in his play from the first half to the second nearly on par with Clark Kent and Superman.

Right around the season’s quarter pole, I made the suggestion that maybe Reed should sit. My rationale was simple – if he was so hurt that he couldn’t tackle and he was playing warning track depth in centerfield to avoid contact and simply prevent the big play, wouldn’t he be doing the team a favor by resting and healing?

After the Ravens lost to the Titans back in October, I was even more convinced than ever that Reed should sit. Tackling Titans’ tight end Alge Crumpler seemed to be about as appealing to Reed as a lunch date with Madonna would be for Mrs. A-Rod.

Since my momentary lapse of reasoning of gargantuan proportions, Reed has 10 interceptions and 3 returns for touchdowns and he has been a more physical presence than earlier in the season. Somewhere along the line, Reed learned to play with the injury more efficiently or it has healed markedly.  Or maybe he was just setting up opposing quarterbacks (and me) for the stretch run.

That said, this is one piece of humble pie that I find incredibly delicious!

Ed Reed is in a zone! He’s like the hitter who crushes 95 mph lasers on the black like they were beach balls featuring Rosie O’Donnell’s picture.  We’ve heard it before and it bears repeating, two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water.  The other third is covered by Ed Reed.

Now that I’m finished picking on Ed Reed, I’ll turn my critical attention towards two other members of the Ravens: Todd Heap and Cam Cameron.

Heap looks dazed and confused at times and I have to wonder just how tough he is. Recently I have noticed opponents talking trash to Heap on the field as they make their way back to their respective huddles and Heap’s demeanor is very sheepish.  Some players are unbelievably congenial and approachable off the field yet put them on the field and the proverbial Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde. Haloti Ngata comes to mind.

After his 31 yard catch yesterday I couldn’t help but be critical of how Heap failed to finish that play.  DB’s regularly cut Heap at the ankles and his body lean while carrying the football is that of a tall oak tree ready to fall with just one more chop of the ax.  Replays showed that Heap had one man to beat for that score.  The elite tight ends in the league complete the play and score.  Heap can no longer be considered elite. And even if you think that LB Akin Ayodele interfered with Heap at the goal line, an elite TE makes that catch too.

Now shifting my attention to Cam Cameron, I thought he had an excellent game plan out of the gate and the Ravens moved the football seemingly at will early on. Cameron effectively mixed in runs and passes and the plan seemed to spark the confidence of Joe Flacco.

On the road and in the playoffs, first down is critical.  After halftime when it became increasingly apparent that the Ravens would win I wondered if someone had replaced Cameron’s play chart with the pizza box menu that Brian Billick used as a play chart in Miami last year.  He ran repeatedly on first down while the Dolphins completely sold out to stop the run.

In the first half the Ravens had 14 first down plays totaling 136 yards. The 8 first half first down runs produced 36 yards (4.5 yd avg) while the 6 first down passes produced 100 yards (16.7 yd avg).  After the break, the Ravens had 8 first down plays producing a TOTAL of 15 yards.  Seven of the plays were runs to go with one incompletion.

I get all of the talk about managing the game. Well to me Cameron was mismanaging the game after the break.  In the playoffs you must play to win.  I’ve yet to see a team effectively defend the 7-10 yard outs, curls or comebacks to Derrick Mason or Mark Clayton particularly on first down.  If the Ravens want to advance, they’ll have to do better here.  Cameron and the offense left the Ravens defense on the field far too long in that second half and they were spent.  Why else do you think Edgar Jones was on the field at defensive end?

Over the course of the game’s final 37 minutes the Ravens had possession for 14:57 and 2:34 of that the Ravens and Flacco were in kneel down mode. A better team than the Dolphins could have challenged a tired Ravens’ defense.  Cam will have to do better against the Titans.

Now, let’s hope that Heap and Cameron make me look as foolish as Reed did.

Hey, if Steve McNair shows up on Saturday when the Ravens visit the Titans in Nashville, shouldn’t he be forced to stand on the purple sideline? 

After all, he’s still hogging Ravens’ salary cap space…