Wednesday Links
December 16th, 2009 | by Kevin Hanson |The Ravens and Jaguars are currently tied (record-wise) for the 6th AFC wildcard spot with Jacksonville, who plays Indianapolis (who has clinched home-field throughout the playoffs) tomorrow night. Earlier in the week, Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell said that, “We’re going to approach the 14th game exactly like we did one through 13.”
Meanwhile, the Ravens will run the ball against the Bears on Sunday and then run some more after their 308 rushing yards against Detroit. Ray Lewis said, “When you get into December, you run the football and you’re going to have success. It’s a fact. When you have those three types of backs in our backfield, use them.”
Ray Rice is a nominee for the FedEx Ground Player of the Week along with San Francisco’s Frank Gore and Green Bay’s Ryan Grant.
Retired 11-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Ogden said of the Ravens’ current tackles (and a future switch from left to right, and vice versa): “I can see them switching because Oher is quicker and they might want to optimize Jared’s size and strength. But for right now, this team is at its best when both are playing well at their current positions.”
Yesterday, the Ravens tried out receivers Maurice Price and Jason Chery, per Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun, but they didn’t sign either receiver. As Hensley points out, that may mean that Mark Clayton might miss another game.
Three Ravens — LB Ray Lewis, FS Ed Reed and FB Le’Ron McClain — lead their respective positions in AFC Pro Bowl balloting.
The Ravens moved up in this week’s ESPN NFL Power Rankings to 12th from 16th. The Browns moved up to 29 (from 32) while the Bengals dropped to 7 (from 5) and the Steelers dropped to 19 (from 15).
In his weekly AFC North Stock Watch column, ESPN’s James Walker listed Ray Rice and the Ravens’ offense as two of his three in the rising category along with Cleveland’s Joshua Cribbs.
Tags: Ed Reed, Jared Gaither, Jason Chery, Jim Caldwell, Jonathan Ogden, Le'Ron McClain, Mark Clayton, Maurice Price, Michael Oher, Playoffs, Ray Lewis
