THE RAVENS AND THE MAGIC NUMBER 21

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GRAPEVINE - THE RAVENS AND THE MAGIC NUMBER 21

Ravens & NFL News & Rumors heading into Week 1 (Photo by Sabina Moran)

Posted On: 9/9/06

Written By:

Tony Lombardi

Black Jack anyone? 21 is obviously a very important number for the Baltimore Ravens. Since 1999, the Ravens own a 39-10 record when scoring at least 21 points in a game, including a 17-5 (.772) mark in their last 22 contests with at least that many points.

Some other interesting statistics�Trevor Pryce�s career game best in sacks is 3, something he�s done twice in his career the first time at the expense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1999�The Ravens have started their season on the road six of the last 8 seasons�In 2 career games against the Bucs, Derrick Mason has 7 catches for 98 yards and 2 scores. In 2003 he caught 6 balls for 90 yards and 2 scores as Steve McNair�s primary receiver, the longest of which was 34 yards�McNair in 3 games against Tampa has completed 61.5% of his passes but only for a pedestrian 353 yards with 1 score and a pick. He did have a 71 yard TD run against Tampa back in 1998�On opening days (9) McNair boasts an 87.1 QB rating with a 60% completion percentage and 12 TD�s. He�s also rushed for 1 TD�

Now that has a nice ring to it�Ravens TE Daniel Wilcox and newly acquired special teams ace and nickel back Corey Ivy earned Super Bowl rings as members of the Tampa Bay Bucs back in 2002 under Jon Gruden. In Super Bowl XXXVII Ivy posted a team leading 3 special teams tackles. Wilcox was on the Bucs practice squad in 2002 after being released by the Jets.

O�Doul�s anyone? During the week, Brian Billick expressed concern about the heat index down in Tampa and what the players should do to prepare for it. "We�ve got to carb up and get a lot of electrolytes and no alcohol. That last one, I need help. Anybody see any of my players having a beer between now and Saturday, I want to hear about it. God, my e-mail is going to be full.� You have to wonder if the filter between the brain and the mouth was temporarily malfunctioning for Coach on this hiccup.

If you are going to throw it, throw it! Let�s just call it what it was�Nick Saban choked. And then he serves up this sarcasm to place the burden of his indecisiveness on the officials. ''If I didn't get the flag where I got their attention, there's nobody to blame for that except me. I feel really good about how fast I can be, what my acceleration is, how quick I am and what kind of burst I have to get down the sideline. I just didn't realize that I needed to do that in that circumstance to get their attention.''

Give it up Nick. You blew it! If Daunte Culpepper held on to the football as long as you tinkered around with that flag, he�d be sacked every time. On a game altering play, throw the flag like you mean it. Don�t toss it like a little girl softball pitcher. And if you can�t, then stand up like a man and just admit you blew it.

Back to the Burgh�That�s where Brian St. Pierre returned to this past week. Under the NFL�s new collective bargaining agreement, St. Pierre still has some practice squad eligibility. The new CBA allows players to spend three years on a practice squad instead of the previous maximum of two. The weekly pay for a developmental squad player also has increased to $4,700 a week. Some have wondered if the Steelers might have a competitive edge on the Ravens now that St. Pierre has intimate knowledge of the Ravens playbook. That might make a difference if the teams played early in the season as they have in the past but since they don�t, St. Pierre probably isn�t going to offer up anything more valuable to the Steelers defensive coaching staff than what will then be available on game tape.

In other former Ravens news�Rod Green was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers while another former Raven Terry Jones was released by the Niners. Alan Ricard was also recently let go by the Buffalo Bills and Duane Starks is looking for work. He was cut loose by that other Bay Area team, the Oakland Raiders.

No olive branch in New England�The stalemate between the Patriots and WR Deion Branch continues. The sides have basically been at a standstill since after Branch offered to honor the final year of his five-year rookie contract for $1.045 million in exchange for not having the franchise tag placed on him next season. The Patriots said �No thank you.�

That schedule is a ball buster�Many have expressed concerns over the Ravens tough schedule but the truth be told, the difficulty of a schedule can change during the course of a season as teams improve dramatically and others fall from grace. That aside the Ravens schedule is actually the third most difficult in their division while facing opponents that on average posted a .523 winning percentage in 2005. The Browns will take on opponents with a winning percentage of .512 while the Steelers and Bengals will tackle opponents posting .531 and .543 percentages respectively.

In the trenches�During the offseason, many thought that the Ravens needed to bolster their defensive line. After losing Maake Kemoeatu to free agency and the Carolina Panthers, the team reinforced the defensive front by acquiring free agents Trevor Pryce and Justin Bannan. The team also spent the draft�s twelfth pick on Haloti Ngata. Sometimes overlooked in this attempt to fortify the line is the productivity of Kelly Gregg. Here�s how Gregg stacks up against other defensive tackles that have made the Pro Bowl since 2002:

*Player*	*Tackles*	*Forced Fumbles*	*Fumble Recoveries*
Gregg	385	1	2
Stroud (Jax)	326	7	2
Seymour (NE)	272	3	3
Rogers (Det)	248	4	4
Young (SF)	231	6	0
Williams (Minn)	223	5	5
Sapp (Oak)	207	4	3
Coleman (Atl)	189	9	2
Glover (StL)	168	5	0
Hampton (Pitt)	145	2	1
Williams (SD)	141	2	1
Jenkins (Car)	133	1	1
Harris (Chi)	117	3	2
Adams (Cin)	104	0	1

It�s getting hot in here�FOXSports.com reports Detroit Lions defensive line coach Joe Cullen has been arrested twice in the past two weeks, according to the Detroit Free Press. Cullen was arrested on Aug. 24 for alleged indecent and obscene conduct. His second arrest occurred Sept. 1 for an alleged drunk driving incident. The police ticket read "driving on a public street without any clothes on. (NUDE)," in the nude-driving incident. His blood-alcohol level was reportedly a 0.12 in the drunk-driving incident. Cullen has since been suspended by the team for the season opener and reportedly Cullen has informed the club that he is seeking counseling to resolve his problems.

Lightning in a bottle again? The Steelers certainly found lightning in a bottle once with their find of undrafted free agent Willie Parker. The Steelers are now hoping that history repeats itself with newly acquired RB Patrick Cobbs. Cobbs, another UDFA, was recently acquired in a trade with New England. Apparently the Steelers are concerned about depth in their backfield. Besides trading for a UDFA (somewhat unusual) the Steelers also picked up recently released former Packer Najeh Davenport.

Speaking of the Pack, Bob Costas in a recent interview with Brett Favre asked the future Hall of Famer if he would consider playing for another team, something that had previously been considered to be out of the realm of reason.

"I can't say it wouldn't happen," Favre said. "If it comes to a point where they do start over and I feel like I can play and they say, 'Brett, if you want to go somewhere else, go ahead, but we've got to start over. It's time for us to rebuild. It just doesn't make sense, so do what you want.' If I got the itch at some point, I can't say 'no.' "

Broncos� receiver Javon Walker seems to have an ax to grind with his former employer. Recently when asked what he thought of the Packers� team this season after watching the Bengals and Carson Palmer shred Green Bay, Walker said, "Obviously, we have a chance to be a Super Bowl team. Obviously, they have a chance to win four games."

Walker later added, "It just made me happy to know I'm here and not dealing with that anymore. This is a winning organization, and I'm better off here."

This Titan might be Charged up�Recently the Titans acquired QB Kerry Collins and most observers say that with the difficulties Vince Young is experiencing grasping the Titans offense and with the apparent lack of confidence in Billy Volek, Collins could soon be named the team�s starter. The Chargers were also interested in Collins but apparently lost out because Collins, a North Carolina resident, lives much closer to Nashville and he sees an opportunity to play more as a Titan.

The move has left Volek none to happy and the word is he�s demanding a trade. Guess who�s interested? The San Diego �Super� Chargers!