The Ravens: A better record through chemistry

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, November 14, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Baltimore Ravens
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When you think about it, there's no such thing as a bad NFL team.

Everybody has college All-Americans, guys who can bench-press 500 pounds and run 40-yard dashes with eye-popping speed. All the quarterbacks have exceptional arms, all the skill position players are fast, all the linemen are big and strong.

So what's the difference? Why does one of these talented teams finish 13-3 or 14-2 in a given year, another team 3-13?

Sometimes, the answer is attitude. It's why the Baltimore Ravens tried so hard to get Steve McNair during the offseason, and it's a major reason why Baltimore now leads the supposedly balanced AFC North by three games.

With QB McNair and LB Ray Lewis, head coach Brian Billick has strong -- if very different -- peer voices on both sides of the ball.

McNair does his leading serenely, seemingly unmoved by life's setbacks -- which, in his world, include fumbles, interceptions and unsuccessful third-down plays. He seems the embodiment of that famous Rudyard Kipling poem: "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you ..."

"His demeanor never ceases to amaze me," says Billick of McNair. "I've never seen anyone with such amazing calmness."

But if McNair is a spring of cool water, Lewis is a volcano. In a Sports Illustrated story on Lewis this month, former Bears linebacker turned 49ers assistant coach Mike Singletary recalled his first sight of Lewis, jumping up and down and screaming across the line of scrimmage from his middle linebacker position, shouting: "You ain't getting nothing! You ain't!"

And that was in practice.

Pittsburgh had that attitude last season, that swagger. Even after a series of losses at midseason, Bill Cowher's team never seemed to seriously consider losing.

Often, what is chalked up as luck is really a by-product of that determination, as if a team can actually will something good to happen for them.

Last Sunday's 27-26 victory over Tennessee in Nashville (where former Titan McNair was once probably the most popular person in town not holding a guitar or microphone) was a good example. The Ravens fell behind 26-7. McNair had thrown two interceptions and stepped into the end zone for a safety on another play. Running back Jamal Lewis was getting stuffed. Ray Lewis was out with a bad back and backup Mike Smith went down in the first half.

So in came Dennis Haley, a linebacker promoted from the practice squad earlier in the week, who proceeded to make nine tackles and wreak Lewis-like havoc in his zone. Attitude rubs off.

As for McNair, he wound up throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns. One of those TD passes went to fullback Ovie Mughelli, who had never scored before as a pro but bolted 30 yards up the left sideline like LaDainian Tomlinson. Amazing.

At this point, Baltimore is 7-2 and most definitely in command. That could all change, however, in the next three weeks -- games against Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

"We had the team last year," said Derrick Mason, another former Titan who snagged the game-winning touchdown pass from McNair on Sunday, "but I just don't think we had the chemistry. This year, we're playing more as a family."

With Steve McNair and Ray Lewis as big brothers.


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