The Ravens list of players on injured reserve lengthened this weekend. Many fans might not even recognize the name of the recent IR addition yet the fact that he flies below the radar suggests that he’s doing his job extremely well.  Rookie Morgan Cox, the team’s long snapper was lost for the rest of the 2010 season as a result of a torn ACL suffered early in the Ravens @ Browns game this past Sunday. Coaches, teammates and the personnel staff were all impressed with Cox’ toughness as he endured the pain in his knee throughout the game in order to do his part to secure the Ravens’ post season berth.

Cox will be missed yet we all hope he won’t be missed that much and his replacement is equally as stealth on the football field. If you don’t know the replacement’s name, that’s a good thing!

The Ravens, barring a Super Bowl XLV appearance in Dallas, will send five players to Hawaii as team representatives in the 2011 Pro Bowl. Four are defensive starters (Messrs. Lewis, Ngata, Reed and Suggs) and the fifth is kicker Billy Cundiff.

Despite the plethora of offensive talent the Ravens field every Sunday, the closest any Baltimore offensive player got to a lei in Honolulu was as an alternate. Ben Grubbs and Le’Ron McClain were first alternates; Joe Flacco and Michael Oher, third alternates; and Anquan Boldin, Ray Rice and Dawan Landry were fourth alternates.

Do you think the fact that Cam Cameron’s offense is ranked 20^th in the league despite all the added weaponry and experience has something to do with this?

It absolutely does!

Keep in mind that without Messrs. Boldin, Houshmandzadeh, Stallworth, Dickson and Pitta the Ravens offensive rankings in ’09 and ’08 were 13th and 18th respectively. They’ve also dropped to 13th in points scored down from ninth (2009) and eleventh (2008).

NFL’s Rodney Dangerfield? Marshal Yanda is generally considered to be the most consistent offensive linemen the Ravens have and perhaps the most versatile. Many believe he is a Pro Bowl caliber guard but he did receive recognition for his play at right tackle at the season’s midpoint from Peter King who placed Yanda on his Mid-Season All Pro Team.

Yet the affinity for the former Iowa Hawkeye and Kirk Ferentz protégé apparently isn’t widespread. Yanda, a restricted free agent this past offseason didn’t get a sniff from other teams despite bearing only a second round price tag. Moreover in the Pro Bowl balloting, Yanda didn’t even receive 4th alternate consideration for Hawaii’s most acclaimed NFL exhibition game.

On the flip side of Dangerfield, it’s interesting to see Dawan Landry listed as a fourth alternate. Landry is a coverage liability plus this season has arguably been his worst as a tackler. Makes you wonder if the players when voting confused Dawan with brother Laron.

DID YOU KNOW?

·         The Ravens have improved to +4 on the season in turnover margin good for 10th best in the league. The best in the league you ask? Try the Patriots at +27. Comparatively speaking the Ravens during their Super Bowl season were a +23. Coincidentally since 2000, the Ravens own a 54-1 record when posting at least a +2 turnover margin, with the only loss coming this year to…you guessed it, the New England Patriots (23-20 OT) during week 6.

·         The Ravens are 15-14 all time against the Bengals, including a 9-5 mark in Charm City. The Ravens look to snap a three-game skid vs. Cincinnati, which has won six of the last eight contests.

·         Baltimore has won eight of its last 10 regular season finales, including four in a row. The Ravens have won eight consecutive season finales played at home, compiling an 8-1 record all time in such games (only loss came in 1996 vs. Houston).

·         From 2005-06, Ravens RB Ray Rice (530 carries for 2,984 yards and 25 TDs) and Bengals RB Brian Leonard (266 carries for 1,199 yards and 16 TDs) shared the backfield at Rutgers, where they worked under the tutelage of Ravens offensive assistant Craig Ver Steeg, who served as the RBs coach/offensive coordinator from 2003-07.

QUOTABLE

“If you examine the Ravens’ four losses, you see defeats to elite teams that Baltimore, at one point or another, appeared to have beaten. They held a 10-point lead in New England, they staged a dramatic comeback in Atlanta, and they were a strip sack away from sweeping the Steelers. I believe they have as good a chance as anyone [of getting] to Jerry’s Big House in January. This club is still ascending and hasn’t hit its ceiling. … Would you believe the Ravens have more playoff wins the last two years than New England and Indianapolis combined – victories achieved on the road?” Albert Breers, NFL Network

Ray Lewis on the speech he gave to his teammates before the Week 15 win over the Saints:

“I’ve been in this business 15 years, and I’ve seen some good teams, and I’ve seen some OK teams. But what we have right now, the question was very simple: ‘What would you give for the man beside you?’ That’s it. That’s it. I don’t care what the score is here and there. If we come out of here with the win, we became a better team. And that’s basically what it was all about.

“Now, of course, it was much deeper, but that’s kind of personal because I really went into some personal stuff with my teammates to really share that these moments will never be again, ever. Ever. I remember when I was in my first year, and I went all the way back to that, and now I’m in my 15th. And if they understand this – the young guys that we do have – then they’ll appreciate every second, every time we step on that field.”

A WELL DESERVED AWARD

Donte Stallworth is the Ravens’ recipient for this year’s Ed Block Courage Awards. Unfortunately those close to Stallworth are a bit disheartened by the negative feedback directed towards the Ravens’ receiver. Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter back on June 16, 2009 and shortly thereafter served a 30 day sentence. He also paid the Mario Reyes family (the victim) an undisclosed sum of money and sat out the NFL's 2009 season.

Admittedly when I first heard of the plea my first response was, “typical entitled athlete.”

I was wrong.

Since Stallworth joined the Ravens I have heard through sources that his attorneys wanted to take the case to trial because they were supremely confident that they would win. Stallworth didn’t want to “win”, he simply wanted to make sure that the Reyes family was taken care of financially because the accident took from the Reyes’ their primary and arguably only wage earner.

I have also spoken to folks with knowledge of the area where this accident took place (McArthur Causeway near Miami Beach) and I’m told that what Reyes did as a pedestrian to force the tragedy could have caught the most lucid driver by surprise and the outcome would not have changed.

To his credit, Stallworth simply wants to do the time – pay his debt to society. He wants to get beyond this unfortunate yet defining accident. There is much more to this story that I cannot share at this time but trust me when I say this, Donte Stallworth is a very good man who is extremely remorseful for an act that could have happened to many of us, myself included.

I have learned something from this man. Perhaps Sergio Kindle could as well.

Stallworth’s teammates know his story – they know the truth and that’s why he’s this year’s Ed Block Courage Award recipient for the Baltimore Ravens.

And you know what?

He deserves to be.

Congratulations Donte!