“Since I’ve been here, we’ve tried to get it that way, and this is the first year we’ve succeeded,” Ravens veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason said. “The defense doesn’t worry about us, and we don’t worry about the defense. No longer do we have the mentality of ‘just manage the game and the defense will win it.’ No. ‘Defense, you just stop guys, and we’ll win it for you.’”

With Flacco at the controls, the Ravens have piled up the points with commanding wins over the Houston Texans (41-13), Philadelphia Eagles (36-7), Cincinnati Bengals (34-3), Oakland Raiders (29-10) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (27-7). Flacco has thrown 13 touchdown passes in the past 11 games with just five interceptions.

"Where they've grown the most is at the quarterback position," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "He has total command of the entire playbook. He can keep the play alive, kind of Tony Romo-like. I just see a completely different kid back there right now from the first time we played."

Added Lewis: "Joe is one of those gifted ones. Joe is going to be a special kid. He has every athletic attribute to play the quarterback position the way he plays it, and you can see that in his demeanor when he's on the football field, the way he directs his troops on offense and really gets guys going. Just the way he plays the ga me, Joe is really one who's special."

Flacco's quantum leap of improvement is the biggest change involving the Ravens other than the offensive line's maturation.

With a low-key personality that includes a dry sense of humor and uncommon composure, Flacco is on a roll. And his confidence is showing despite seeming relatively detached as the Ravens got ready for today's matchup.

"Once we get down to Miami and we win the game, then I'll be pretty excited," said Flacco, who has been tutored adeptly by offensive coordinator and former Dolphins coach Cam Cameron and quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson. "Right now, we're working towards what we have to do to go down there and beat Miami. I am who I am right now. Once we go down there and get the job done, then I'll be pretty excited to move on to next week."

To advance to next weekend's divisional round against the top-seeded Tennessee Titans, who narrowly escaped with a 13-10 win over Baltimore early in the season, the Ravens will need to maintain their formula of timely passes, a bruising running game ranked fourth in the NFL and capitalizing on turnovers.

The Ravens rank second in the league in converting turnovers into touchdowns.

"We expected to be here, [coach John Harbaugh] did a good job of preparing us and really putting his foot on the gas and taking this team to the next level," linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "He's done his job and we're in the playoffs, and now we've got to see how far we can go."

Meanwhile, the Dolphins' level of competition is in doubt having won games against the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets.

Nonetheless, the Dolphins haven't forgotten the beating the Ravens administered in the first meeting.

"They do their best to intimidate you," cornerback Andre Goodman told Miami reporters. "They did a good job of it the first game, but this is a different team."

It's definitely vastly different from last year's sad-sack outfit.

The Dolphins have been revitalized by quarterback Chad Pennington, who was discarded by the New York Jets in August and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year this week having thrown just seven interceptions and completing 67.4 percent of his throws.

Miami's 10-game improvement is tied for the best in NFL history.

"We went from the outhouse to the penthouse," said linebacker Joey Porter, who leads the AFC with 17 1/2 sacks.

The Ravens' rise is nearly as dramatic, though, after last year's 5-11 debacle. With Harbaugh instilling more discipline as a rookie coach into a team that had grown lax with a sense of entitlement under former coach Brian Billick, today could be an indicator of just how far the Ravens have grown and whether they're primed for an extended postseason run.

There's a bit of symmetry afoot here, too. The Ravens' last playoff win was seven years ago against the Dolphins, a 20-3 win on Jan. 13, 2002. And the Super Bowl is in Tampa, Fla., where they won Super Bowl XXXV over the20New York Giants in 2000.

Hopeful, new-age oriented fans are starting to talk about karma and cosmic convergences.

"It's one thing to sense getting in the playoffs," Lewis said. "It's another thing to sense that you can actually make a real move in the playoffs. If you're a Ravens fan, if you've watched us long enough, we're gonna be tough. We're gonna be tough if we go play our type of football. When you do feel that type of energy, that energy gives you a different confidence."