Flacco has been in the news this offseason already for being the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII and for receiving the richest contract in NFL history (now broken by the Aaron Rodgers).

Ravens QB Joe Flacco has added 7 pounds so far this offseason.

Now, in less significant news, it is reported that Flacco arrived to OTAs at 252 pounds.  At first look, it seems like Flacco is overweight as that number is the same as many pass rushers in the NFL.

However, last season Flacco played at 245 pounds.  This means that Flacco has only gained 7 pounds this offseason which isn't much.

ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, who reported this news on SportsCenter, said that Flacco seemed to have gained muscle on his upper body.  This means that Flacco probably has hit the weight room seriously for the first time.

Winning the Super Bowl probably motivated Flacco to work harder so he can become one of the NFL's best quarterbacks and to try and help the Ravens get back to the Super Bowl.

I doubt this has an effect on Flacco's performance this season.  He isn't a running quarterback so he doesn't need to be fast and adding weight usually slows you down.  Since, Paolantonio said it seemed to be upper body muscle gained, it will be interesting to see if Flacco can throw harder or farther than before.  It would be hard for him to do this as Flacco already has one of the NFL's strongest arms.  In fact, coming out of college, Flacco could throw the ball 74 yards in the air.

Ravens 2nd round pick LB Arthur Brown is out 4-6 weeks after having surgery for a sports hernia.

When the Baltimore Ravens started their organized team activities (OTAs) this week, there was one key player who was there but didn't participate.  That player is inside linebacker Arthur Brown.

Brown, a second round pick this year, participated in the Ravens' rookie minicamp which was a couple of weeks ago (May 3-5).  After that minicamp, Brown had surgery for a sports hernia, which is keeping him out of OTAs.

The recovery from a sports hernia injury is supposed to take four-to-six weeks.  This means that Brown will be out for the Ravens OTAs but should be back and ready to go for training camp which will start in late-July.

When asked about Brown's surgery, head coach John Harbaugh said, "He’s recovering from that [sports hernia].  It’s a four-to-six week deal, and he should be fine soon enough."

In the draft, Brown was considered to be one of the top inside linebacker prospects and many people, including me, thought the Ravens could take him with their first round pick.  However, Brown fell into the late second round and the Ravens pounced.  They traded up with the Seattle Seahawks to draft Brown, giving up picks in the 2nd, 5th, and 6th rounds.

With the retirement of Rolando McClain, Brown is expected to start at inside linebacker this season so it is important for him to be healthy so he can learn the Ravens' complex defense.

Tier 1:

Description: Top level starter, at elite or near elite level, absolute lock to both make the team and start. Won't face any competition for his job.

None:

Tier 2:

Description: Quality starter who may have some minor struggles in a given year, but overall is a good football player. Typically just outside the elite/near elite leavel. Should both easily make the team and start. Will be one of the key players on the team.

Joe Flacco:

-Flacco is the Super Bowl winner and no one can take that away from him, but he is still not deserving of being in the top tier. He still had just good numbers overall, and really didn't excel in any one area. Though the Ravens typically came out on top, there were a number of games where Flacco's play early on allowed the opponent to remain in the game. Further complicating matters is the loss of wide receiver Anquan Boldin who was a major cog in the Ravens offense and was the target that Flacco's numbers were the most impressive throwing too. While he hasn't fully reached his elite status yet, it could be coming this year. Remember Eli Manning struggled up until his successful Super Bowl run in 2007 (playoffs of 2008). From that point on he took his game to a higher level. Perhaps Falcco will spring board this year into top Tier status.

Tier 3:

Description: Passable starter, can play the position and be okay, but won't consistently play at a high level. Will be streaky throughout the season and over the course of many seasons. Depending on position would be better served as a good role player, or would be the best reserve player at a position. Should make the team, though not a lock and should face competition for a starting job.

None

Tier 4:

Description: Replacement level starter. This is a guy who could start in a pinch or as a long-term injury replacement but will max out as an average starter, and will probably be below average. He's a guy who could be okay as a short term filler, but over an extended period will struggle. Depending on position could be a solid player, or would be a good back-up. Has a decent chance to make the team, and could get a look at a starting job, but nothing is set in stone for him.

None

Tier 5:

Description: Solid back-up caliber player. Shouldn't really ever start, and would be below average in that capacity, but can be a short term injury replacement. Shouldn't even be much of a role player depending on the position, their best value is in their reliability as a replacement. Depending on the position, should be capable of backing up multiple positions or roles to increase their value. Has a chance to make the team, but really shouldn't be considered a starting option at all.

Tyrod Taylor:

Taylor was drafted by the Ravens in the 6th round in 2011. He has worked his way to the number two spot on the depth chart, though the Ravens haven't really brought in significant competition. Taylor has not been too bad in limited spot work, and has really good athleticism which can create problems for opposing defenses. He's still pretty raw and limited overall, and probably isn't a viable option beyond a short term stop gap. If Joe Flacco were to miss multiple games it would cause problems to have Taylor start that long of a period. For a shorter term like a half or even one full game, Taylor would probably be okay.

Caleb Hanie:

-Hanie had a little promise when he signed as an undrafted free agent out of Colorado State with the Bears back in 2008. It looked like that promise was going to be fulfilled when in the NFC Championship game he came in during the 2nd half and nearly led the Bears back against the Packers to send them to the Super Bowl. Hanie was moved up to the 2nd string quarterback the next year, but failed when Jay Cutler got injured that season. Though still fairly young Hanie would not be a real viable option for the Ravens other than as a 3rd quarterback.

Tier 6:

Description: Replacement level player. Not considered at all for a starting role, and isn't even considered a viable back-up. Really only has a shot to make the team if injuries thin out the competition. Overall has a poor chance to make a roster, and is a player who will likely be replaced during the season.

Dayne Crist:

-The former Notre Dame and Kansas quarterback was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Ravens this year. Though he was once highly touted he for the most part underperformed in college. He could a shot at a practice squad spot, but he is unlikely to challenge for much more than that.

The first part of the series ranked games 20-17 and last week I delivered 16-13. With just 12-games left to rank, most of the regular season contests are out of the way. Tonight, we start to dive into some of the memorable playoff games during Ravens history. Speaking of the playoffs, the Ravens have become one of the most successful franchises in NFL history during the post season. The Ravens moved to Baltimore in 1996 and failed to qualify for the playoffs during their first four seasons in the Charm City. Under Head Coaches Ted Marchibroda and Brian Billick, the Ravens posted a four-year record of just 24-39-1.

Since the 8-8 season in 1999 under first year head coach Brian Billick, the Ravens have become one of the winingest teams in the NFL. Billick and now John Harbaugh would guide the Ravens to a combined 126-82 mark since 2000—posting 10 winning seasons, tied for third with Green Bay and Pittsburgh during that span.

The Baltimore Ravens are one of four franchises (New England, NY Giants and Pittsburgh) to win multiple Super Bowls since the year 2000 and are the only NFL team to play in multiple Super Bowls and win each game (2000 & 2014).

Ted Marchibroda

The Ravens have earned nine postseason berths – including a current NFL-best five straight – in their 16-year history (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2003, 2001, 2000). Baltimore’s nine berths since 2000 rank third most in the AFC and tie for third in the NFL. They have also won three AFC North division titles, including the last two.

Since arriving from Cleveland, the Ravens have appeared in 21 playoff games, which is second only to New England’s 24. The Ravens are also second to the Patriots in playoffs wins with 14. The Pats have won 17 post-season games since the 2000 season. However, with only seven playoff losses, the Ravens own the best playoff winning percentage (.667) in NFL history (since 1970 AFL/NFL merger), compiling a 14-7 mark.

Even more impressive is how the Ravens have become one of the best playoff teams in the past 13 years. Baltimore has done most of their damage away from the Charm City. The Ravens are 9-5 on the road all time in postseason play, posting the second-best road win percentage (.643) since the 1970 merger. The Ravens are 6-4 on the road during the John Harbaugh Era.

Defense has always been the mantra in Baltimore during the regular season and it is the main reason why the Ravens organization can boast such impressive playoff numbers. The Ravens have allowed 15.5 points per game in postseason play, the best playoff mark since the 1970 merger. Limiting the Colts to nine points in the 2012 Wild Card win, it marked the ninth playoff game Baltimore has allowed 10-or-fewer points since 2000. Amazingly, no other team has more than four such games during this span.

In their 21 all-time playoff games, the Ravens have only allowed 192.5 passing yards and 96.3 rushing yards per contest. Baltimore’s 288.8 net yards allowed per game since 2000 (minimum five games) rank as the NFL’s third-best mark during this span.

In 21 playoff games, the Ravens’ “D” has forced 40 INTs, including 28 thefts in their last 15 postseason contests. Baltimore’s 40 INTs rank as the most in NFL postseason play since 2000, while the 679 INT return yards also stand first. In their playoff history, the Ravens have dominated the turnover battle, registering a +25 mark in 21 games.

Under John Harbaugh, the Ravens have forced NFL-best 38 turnovers in 13 playoff games. Still not impressed, how about this—– Baltimore has allowed only two 100-yard rushers in its playoff history, holding opposing RBs under the century mark in 19 of 21 contests.

So before we dive into some of these defensive gems from the past, here is a recap of 16-13.

No.16 November 23, 2003: Ravens Wright Ship in Come From Behind win Vs. Seahawks:

Led by QB Anthony Wright, the Ravens stage their second biggest comeback (first at the time) in team history. The Seattle Seahawks led the Ravens early in the fourth qtr. 41-24 but Wright directed the comeback, as the Ravens salvaged a 5-5 start to the season with a dramatic 44-41 overtime win.

No. 15 September 14, 2003: Jamal Lewis Breaks Single Game Rushing Record

Behind running back Jamal Lewis, who broke Corey Dillon’s single game (278 yards) NFL rushing record on this day, the Ravens trounced the Cleveland Browns 33-14. Lewis wasted little time rushing for the record. On the second play of the game, Lewis took a hand-off and ran for an 82-yard touchdown. He followed that up with a 63-yard rushing TD run early in the fourth quarter, and broke the record on a 3-yard run with 6:55 remaining in the game. Lewis finished the day with 295 rushing yards on 30 carries to break the record, which stood for just four years until its current holder, the Vikings Adrian Peterson, broke it as a rookie in 2007. Peterson rushed for one more yard than Lewis in a game against the San Diego Chargers during a November contest that season.

No.14. December 10, 2000: Happy Berth Day

With the holiday season in full swing, PSI Net Stadium was a “Festivus” place to be on Dec 10 2000, as the Ravens dismantled Ryan Leaf and the dismal 1-12 Chargers to earn their first ever playoff berth.

No.13 November 12, 2000: Ravens End Titans Win Streak at Adelphia

The Ravens with Trent Dilfer at quarterback jumped out to a 14-0 lead but behind Steve McNair, the Titans would come back to tie the game at 17 early in the fourth quarter. The Ravens looked to be driving down the field for what would become the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. Instead, Dilfer made a bad read on the play, and threw the ball right to Titans safety Perry Phenix, who ran the ball 87-yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

The play, which seemed devastating to Baltimore's chances to win the game, was not as bad as it could have been. Known as Automatic Al throughout his 17-year NFL career, Titans kicker Al Del Greco missed the extra point, and in the process rejuvenated a down Ravens sideline. The miss opened the door for the Ravens to win in regulation and unfazed by the pick six he had just thrown, Dilfer came back onto the field and promptly led the Ravens on a nine-play, 70-yard drive.

The final play was a Dilfer pass to Patrick Johnson just over the goal line for the game-tying touchdown. After the replay upheld the call on the field, and Matt Stover added the game winning extra point, the Ravens became legitimate AFC contenders.

Sit back and enjoy, as I deliver numbers 12 through 9 in the Ravens Greatest Games of All Time:

No. 12 December 20, 2008 Ravens Run over Cowboys in Texas Stadium Finale

Le'Ron McClain two steps to a late long TD

The Ravens performance in the final game at Texas Stadium may have been fueled by the rumor that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones handpicked them to close out the 37-year old venue. If in fact this was true, Jones obviously thought, as did many, that after a 5-11 record in 2007 and firing head coach Brian Billick, the Ravens may not be much of an opponent be in 2008.

Jones and 10 other teams were wrong in 08, in fact and even with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, the Ravens were damn good in '08, as Baltimore surprised the NFL with an 11-5 record.

The Ravens came into Texas Stadium not intimidated by the pomp and circumstance of the evening, but ready to play Ravens football.

Both teams entered the game with identical 9-5 records and very much alive in their respective conferences playoff race. The game began just as Owner Jerry Jones had envisioned. Joe Flacco turned the ball over on a fumble for only the second time during the season when NFL sacks leader DeMarcus Ware sacked and stripped the rookie quarterback of the ball.

It was the first of five sacks in the first half by the Cowboys, tying the most allowed by the Ravens during an entire game that season.

Cowboy’s rookie running back Tashard Choice converted the turnover into a 7-0 Dallas lead when he scored on a third-down draw. From there, the Ravens defense buckled down and following three Matt Stover field goals, led 9-7 at halftime.

The play of the game, and perhaps the 2008 season, occurred late in the third quarter. Ravens kicker Matt Stover again lined up for a 40-yard field-goal attempt, but instead of placing the ball down for Stover to kick through the uprights, Ravens punter, and Stover’s holder, punter Sam Koch had other ideas. Koch took the snap and ran 9-yards to convert a fourth-and-six to give the Ravens a first down on the Cowboys 13-yard line.

Two plays later, Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason hauled in a Flacco pass to extend the Baltimore lead to 16-7. After the teams traded early fourth quarter field goals, Dallas receiver Terrell Owens cut the Ravens lead to 19-17.

The Ravens decided it was time to perform a little Texas two-step to finish off the Cowboys and two-step the Ravens did indeed. With just 3:40 remaining in the game and the Ravens offense trying to kill the clock, Willis McGahee took a hand-off from Flacco and promptly ran 77-yards for the longest touchdown run of his career.

McGahee, who had not had a run longer than 17-yards that season prior to the touchdown, gave the Ravens a 26-17 lead. However, if the operator of the Texas Stadium scoreboard thought he had put the final points on the boards’ 38-year history, he was very badly mistaken.

The Cowboys managed to storm back down the field on QB Tony Romo’s arm. With 1:36 left in the game, Romo found his favorite target, Jason Witten, for a 21-yard TD pass. The score made the situation uncomfortable for the Baltimore offense, as they would need to get a first down to close out the Cowboys and Texas Stadium.

They would get a little more than the required 10 yards needed in order to take a knee and run out the clock. In fact, fullback LeRon McClain took a Flacco hand-off and promptly skirted 72 extra yards for an 82-yard touchdown run. McClain made history on the final TD at Texas Stadium.

The Ravens leading rusher during the season, whose longest run of the 08 season was 28 yards, scored the longest rushing TD by a visiting back in the stadium's 37-year existence. The win moved the Ravens to 10-5 and after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars the following week, clinched a playoff berth.

The Ravens became only the third visiting team since 1996 to beat an NFL team closing out its old stadium.

No.11 November 6, 2011: Flacco One More Time in the Steele City:

Entering the 2011 season NFL pundits and experts said Joe Flacco could not beat the Pittsburgh Steelers with Ben Roethlisberger playing QB. After all, Flacco had never beaten the Steelers with Big Ben under center.

Not only did Joe Cool clear this hurdle during the 11’ season but he did twice, as the Ravens swept the Steelers for just the second time in franchise history. In the first meeting to kick off the season in Baltimore, Flacco threw three touchdown passes, Haloti Ngata led an inspired defense that forced a team-record seven turnovers, and the Ravens rolled to their most lopsided victory in a hotly contested series that began in 1996 with a 35-7 win.

If this were a list of 30 games, this one may be somewhere between 21 and 25 but the second game between the teams in Pittsburgh proved to be Flacco’s coming out party and makes the list as the last regular season game before the playoff games round out the top 10.

Behind three Billy Cundiff field goals and a Ray Rice four yard touchdown run, the Ravens led the Steelers 16-6 heading into the fourth quarter. This game was being broadcast on NBC’s Sunday Night Football and was not going to end as the dud it appeared to be in the first half.

Ben Roethlisberger saw to that personally during the fourth quarter. Trailing by 10, Rashard Mendenhall scored from 1 yard out to pull Pittsburgh within 16-13. On the next Ravens possession, deja vu set in as James Harrison swatted the football ball out of Flacco's hand and William Gay from the Steelers recovered.

Only die hard Ravens fans could stomach to watch from that point because all of them knew what was coming next. They knew because just the year before in Baltimore Troy Polamalu did the same thing to Joe Flacco eventually allowing the Steelers offense to score the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter and once again snatch victory from the beak of a Ravens win.

On this night, Roethlisberger needed just six plays to find Mike Wallace in the end zone to give the Steelers a 20-16 advantage with just 5:08 to play. Things looked even worse for the Ravens when Flacco threw three incomplete passes and the Ravens were forced to punt back to Pittsburgh with only 4:30 to play.

The Ravens defense held but the Steelers offense managed to kill a little clock and after a Roethlisberger, third and five pass fell short to Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh punted to the Ravens eight-yard line.

If Joe Flacco was going to prove he was growing into the upper echelons of the NFL QB ranks, then he was going to have to take his offense 92-yards and do it in just 2:24. He was also going to have to rely on his receivers to help him. Of course, Anquan Boldin would not let No.5 down but rookie Torrey Smith would be the wild card. Smith was having an up and down year and an up and down game.

Smith’s night began night began with a penalty that wiped out a long Baltimore touchdown and got worse when he dropped two critical passes but it would end a lot better than it started. Flacco began the drive completing four of seven passes for 53-yards. By this point, the ball was just across midfield at the Steelers 49 yard line.

From there, Flacco was not great but he was poised in completing three more passes for 23-yards to get the Ravens to the Steelers 26 yard line with .28 seconds to play. A filed goal was no help trailing by four and running the ball was not an option against the Steelers stout defense.

If the Ravens were going to win, then Flacco’s arm was going to be the reason. However, Joe Cool threw two quick incompletions and now faced third and ten.

With the Steelers defense showing and then bringing the blitz, Torrey Smith lined up wide right, as Flacco read Steelers D-coordinator, Dick Lebeau’s call perfectly. Smith, the speedy wideout from Maryland, had single coverage and ran right past William Gay following the snap. Flacco did not miss the throw. He laid the ball perfectly into his arms and as Smith fell to the Heinz Field turf with the game-winning touchdown, Flacco and the Ravens offense celebrated triumphantly.

There was a flag in the end zone but the call was defensive pass interference on Gay. Following the wild celebration and a Billy Cundiff extra point, it was the Ravens who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on this night with a 23-20 win.

Flacco finished with 300 yards passing and Baltimore, who moved to 6-2 on the year, swept the season series from the rival Steelers (6-3) for the first time since 2006. "This Steelers-Ravens game is a game for men," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. "This is a game for big men. You've got to shine bright in this game if you want to win this game. And nobody shined brighter than Joe Flacco in this game."

No.10 January 13, 2002 & January 4, 2009: Fish Food for the Ravens (Two for One Deal)

STARTING THE TITLE DEFENSE:

Grbac and Billick win first Miami playoff game

While many of the Ravens regular season victories have been huge throughout their 16 years, every win in the playoffs is bigger than any regular season win. Many may argue that point using the theory of what came first, the chicken or the egg. I say if a team loses a big regular season game, they usually have the chance to bounce back. Lose in the playoffs, and your team is done for the year. Also, I'm giving you a two-fer on this one and I promise, all of the really important ones are yet to come.

The Ravens have met the Miami Dolphins twice in the post season, and while both games were blowouts so to speak, they still came in the playoffs. The first of those two playoff meetings came in January 2002 as Baltimore traveled to Pro Player stadium on Wild Card Weekend to begin defense of their Super Bowl title.

The Dolphins led 3-0 after the first quarter, but that was it for Miami as the Ravens scored 20 unanswered points to knock the Dolphins out of the post season. Although the Ravens defense returned many from their 2000 team that won the Super Bowl, they were not quite as good. However, they did hold the Dolphins offense to just 151 total yards for the contest.

Jamie Sharper, Peter Boulware, and Anthony Mitchell all sacked Miami QB Jay Fiedler. Ravens cornerback Duane Starks intercepted Fiedler, as Miami turned the ball over three times to the Ravens.

Despite the average play of Ravens QB Elvis Grbac, Baltimore still managed 347 yards of offense, with 214 of those yards via the ground. With Jamal Lewis out for the year with a torn ACL, he suffered in training camp, veteran Terry Allen and Jason Brookins combined for 198 of them. Grbac did connect on a 4-yard TD to Travis Taylor and Allen scored on the ground from the same distance.

The Ravens would go on to lose the following week in Pittsburgh, ending the defense of their Super Bowl title.

THE ROOKIES WIN THEIR FIRST:

The Ravens would need to return to Miami in order to win another playoff game but it would come almost seven years to the day of their last playoff victory.  The Ravens had not won a postseason contest since beating Miami in the above game. This time the Ravens came to town with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback. While John Harbaugh had his team prepared to play, Joe Flacco managed the offense well during his first ever playoff victory. He let the Ravens do what they did best back then, win with defense.

Flacco and Harbaugh get second playoff win in Miami as rookies

Flacco was only 9-for-23 for 135 yards and one rushing TD, but he committed no turnovers and let the Ravens' defenders control the game, and control the game they did.

With the score tied at three in the second quarter, Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington threw a terrible pass downfield into double coverage. Pennington's intended receiver, Ted Ginn Jr. fell down allowing all world safety Ed Reed to make an over the shoulder catch interception. After the interception, Reed, as he usually does, began the long drawn out process of returning it for a touchdown.

He headed toward the left sideline, eluded a tackler, reversed his field, and sprinted for the right corner of the end zone, scoring and completing the pick six only after Terrell Suggs leveled Pennington at the 5-yard line. That made the score 10-3 and the Ravens never trailed again in the game.

Things got much worse for Pennington and the Dolphins offense from that point. The Ravens' intercepted Pennington four times, including another by Reed, and forced five turnovers total during their 27-9 triumph.

The five turnovers and four interceptions tied a playoff team record, both coming in the 2000 AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XXXV.

No. 9 January 10, 2009: Ravens Stun the Nashville Faithful Yet Again

Stover with the winner

For the second time in their franchise history, the Tennessee Titans had the inside track to the Super Bowl with home field advantage as the No.1 seed, and the for the second time, the Baltimore Ravens derailed those chances by beating the Titans in Tennessee.

If the Titans organization, and their fans, were still sick over their 2000 playoff loss to Baltimore, then they must have been looking for the tallest building in Nashville to leap from following this loss.

Despite out gaining the Ravens, 391-to-211 in the game, Baltimore not Tennessee would advance to play for the AFC Championship. The two teams traded first quarter touchdowns, Chris Johnson scored for the Titans, and Derrick Mason on a 48-yard pass from his rookie QB, Joe Flacco, tied the score.

One of many Titans blunders

The Ravens hung around but the Titans allowed them to by committing bad penalties and failing to convert on numerous chances in Ravens territory. Tennessee, a plus 14 in turnover margin while winning the AFC South, wasted a half-dozen scoring opportunities with errors. One came when former Titans CB and now Ravens DB, Samari Rolle intercepted Collins at the Ravens 12. Another was Collins' fourth-down fumble in Baltimore territory, which the quarterback recovered. The third was LenDale White's fumble at the Baltimore 17 in the final minute of the first half.

Baltimore led the league with 34 takeaways during the season and won the turnover battle the previous week in a 27-9 wild-card victory at Miami. They did so with authority in this one as well. Perhaps the biggest Tennessee turnover came with about nine minutes to play when Alge Crumpler fumbled near the Baltimore goal line. Fabian Washington recovered, preventing the Titans from taking a late lead.

The biggest play of the game may have been one that should have never happened. After the Titans tied the score at 10, Joe Flacco converted a big third down pass play to tight end Todd Heap for a first down in Tennessee territory. It was this play that set help set up Matt Stover’s game winning 43-yard field goal with 53 seconds left in the game.

However, the play clock had expired by a couple of seconds, but referee Terry McAulay failed to blow the play dead. He tried to offer an explanation following the game, but nobody in Nashville wanted to hear it.

"When [the clock] hits zero, which is high here, [the back judge] goes to the ball," McAulay said after the game. "So there is going to be a natural delay from zero to getting to the ball." On the next third down, Flacco connected with Mark Clayton for an 8-yard pass, which was a yard short of the first down but set up Stover for the game winning kick.

The 13-10 win was unexpected by many Ravens fans but greatly welcomed. In a scene reminiscent of the 2000 playoff victory in Tennessee, a few thousand Ravens fans flocked to BWI Airport to welcome the team home from Nashville later that evening.

You will not have to wait long for part 4 in this  series. Log onto Fanspeak.com on Saturday to see which games came in at No.8,7,6 and 5. Be sure to join myself and Fanspeaks resident NFL expert, Stephen Shoup, next Friday night at 8:30 p.m. for the return of the FRIDAY FOOTBALL FRENZY.

In order to qualify and be on the list, the games had to meet the following criteria. First, the game had to be important to the outcome of the season in terms of winning a division title, playoff game or in two instances, the Super Bowl.

Vinny Testaverde gives the ball to a lucky fan after first ever Ravens TD

Second, if the game made the list and did not meet the first criteria, then it must still have some sort of relevance in team history. Examples of that would be if a player broke an NFL record (there’s a hint), or the Ravens did something as a team that stands to this very minute.

Lastly, I decided the order and while I’m sure you may or may not disagree on exactly where each of these games belong, one thing I think we can all agree on is the fact that happened at all.

Before I give you numbers 16-13, let us recap 20-17.

No. 20 September 1, 1996: The Return of the NFL to Baltimore: Football returns to Baltimore after 13 seasons. Vinny Testaverde scores first ever touchdown as Baltimore Ravens defeat Oakland Raider 19-14

No.19 November 29, 1998: The Colts Return to Baltimore: Former Indianapolis Colts QB and current Ravens QB, Jim Harbaugh lives up to his nickname of Captain Comeback as he led the Ravens back from a 24-10 deficit to beat rookie Colts QB, Peyton Manning 38-31. Following the game, Harbaugh delivered the game ball to Baltimore’s greatest all-time signal caller, Johnny Unitas as he watched the victory from the Ravens sidelines.

No. 18 September 10, 2000: Ravens Get First Ever Victory over Jaguars: Ravens QB Tony Banks throws five touchdown passes, including the final one to new Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe with 35 seconds to play to give the Ravens a 39-36 come from behind win. This win was significant on two fronts. The Ravens and Jags played in the same division at the time and this was the first ever win over Jacksonville. The victory also gave the Ravens their first 2-0 start in their brief five-year history. It also help set the tone for a year that culminated with the franchise’s first ever Super Bowl Championship

No. 17 October 3, 2010: Flacco Finally Wins a Big One in Pittsburg: Ravens QB Joe Flacco get his first big win in the Steele City in come from behind fashion as he hit TJ Houshmandzadeh with 33 seconds to play to give the Ravens a 17-14 come from behind win.

As you can also see, any win over Pittsburgh, regardless of season relevance or significant contribution to team history is apt to make the list as well. This installment has two games from the 2003 season and two games form the Super Bowl winning season of 2000. So without further ado, here are the next four games to make the list.

No.16 November 23, 2003: Ravens Wright Ship In Come From Behind win Vs. Seahawks:

Up until Oct 30, 2011, which is when Joe Flacco led the Ravens back from a 24-3 first half deficit to beat the Arizona Cardinals, the 2003 Week 16 contest at home, Vs. Seattle, was the largest deficit the Ravens had overcome in franchise history to win a game. It still represents the largest fourth quarter comeback in franchise history.

The Cardinals game did not make the list but this game—–simply could not be left off any list when talking great Ravens games. Not only because of the comeback could it be left off but considering where the team was at the time and who was playing quarterback, this game had to make the list.

The Ravens were quickly becoming a locker room divided during the 2003 season and the second greatest comeback win in franchise history (first at the time) could not have come at a better time for the Ravens and their fans.

Baltimore dropped to a disappointing 5-5 after losing their previous two games and the frustration was starting to become very apparent. The Ravens third ranked defense and special team was again carrying the Ravens offense and their last ranked passing attack.

Following an injury to the Ravens unimpressive QB, Kyle Boller during a week nine contest against the Rams, Baltimore turned to Dallas Cowboys reject backup QB, Anthony Wright.

The Ravens "D" finally made a stand against the Hawks "O" late in the game

As expected, Wright fared no better after taking over for Boller. The week before, during an overtime loss to the Dolphins, Wright threw for a measly 112 yards and two interceptions in leading the offense to just six points.

Therefore, it was understandable when a third of the 64 thousand in attendance at PSInet Stadium walked out after halftime of the Seattle game with the Ravens trailing 17-3. A Ravens comeback win seemed out of the question and just plain impossible.

Things really appeared bleak, as Wright and the Ravens offense could not reach the end zone in the first half, and the vaunted Ravens defense could not keep the Seahawks from the end zone during the two middle quarters.

Even when things went right, the Ravens still could not make up much ground. Though Wright had thrown three touchdown passes to Marcus Robinson in the third quarter, leading the Ravens to 21 points, the defense allowed the Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck to toss two of his own in the quarter, one an 80-yard strike to Darrell Jackson. After an early fourth quarter TD pass from Hasselbeck to Bobby Engram, Seattle was comfortably ahead 41-24.

The Ravens special teams started the comeback started when Ed Reed blocked a punt off the foot of Tom Rouen. Reed then scooped up the ball and scored a 16-yard touchdown. The score by Reed cut the Seattle lead to 10 points but time was not on the Ravens side. Just 6:41 remained in the game, and the Ravens defense would have to do something they failed to do most of the game, stop the Seattle offense cold. Points did not matter for the Seahawks, a couple of first downs and the game could be over.

Anthony Wright

On the Seattle possession following the blocked punt, the Ravens D managed to force a turnover as the Seahawks were again driving. Linebacker Ray Lewis stripped Seattle fullback Mack Strong, and Wright led the Ravens 71 yards on a drive and cut the Seattle lead to three after his fourth TD pass to Marcus Robinson.

The biggest defensive stand of the season occurred on the next Seahawks possession. Needing less than a yard on fourth-and-one to run out the clock and win the game, the Ravens stuffed Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck (play pictured above) on a sneak to take over on downs.

With the help of a 45-yard pass interference penalty, Wright got the Ravens into field goal territory and with no time left on the clock, Matt Stover hit a 40-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

The Ravens D came up with their third straight stop of the hot Seattle offense when they forced the Seahawks to punt on the first possession of overtime. Wright then took over again, as he scrambled for eight yards and then connected on two of three passes for 29 yards to set up the 40-yard game-winning field goal by Stover.

The win boosted the team's confidence in each other and behind the confidence of Anthony Wright and Jamal Lewis' 2000 yard rushing season, the Ravens won four of their next five games to win their first AFC North crown and capture their third playoff berth in four seasons.

No. 15 September 14, 2003: Jamal Lewis Breaks Single Game Rushing Record

Lewis on his way to 295

Ravens running back Jamal Lewis literally carried the offense on his back for the entire 2003 season. The Ravens relied very heavily on Lewis, as offensive genius and head coach Brian Billick's team boasted the NFL's worst passing attack with Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright under center.

Lewis, who missed the entire 2001 season with a torn ACL, the second of his career (Lewis tore an ACL while playing at Tennessee) made his money running against the Browns defense in his career.

In 12 career games, Lewis rushed for 1,524 yards (127 yards per game) and scored eight touchdowns against Cleveland. On this September day in Baltimore, Lewis would shatter the single game rushing record of 278-yards set by Corey Dillon of Cincinnati during a game against Denver in October of 2000 by rushing for 295 yards on 30 carries.

Lewis wasted little time rushing for the record. On the second play of the game, he took a handoff and ran for an 82-yard touchdown. Lewis followed that up with a 63-yard rushing TD run early in the fourth quarter, and broke the record on a 3-yard run with 6:55 remaining in the game. The Ravens, behind Lewis defeated Cleveland 33-14 as the defense held the Browns to just 175 yards while forcing three turnovers in the process.

One of those turnovers was Ed Reed's first career interception returned for a touchdown. 

The single game rushing record of 275-yards was held by Walter Payton for 23-years before Dillon broke the mark in 2000. Starting with Dillon, who held the mark for a little under three years, the record fell three times in a span of seven NFL seasons. Lewis held the record for a little over four years until its current holder, the Vikings Adrian Peterson, broke it as a rookie in 2007. Peterson rushed for one more yard than Lewis in a game against the San Diego Chargers during a November contest that season.

Lewis went on to win many post-season honors following the 2003 season, rushing for 2066 yards. He came within 40 yards of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single season all-time mark as he eclipsed the 2000-yard plateau during the final regular season home game in a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Instead of figuring out how to stop Lewis, the Browns just signed him as a free agent in 2007. He played three seasons in Cleveland rushing for an additional 2,806 yards and 13-touchdowns. Cleveland was 2-3 vs. the Ravens during Lewis' tenure as a Brownie, with both wins coming in the Ravens 5-11 season of  2007. Lewis rushed for 297-yards against his old team, which ironically is just two yards more that the 295 Lewis rushed for to break the NFL single game rushing record against his new one. He would also score two touchdowns in five games against Baltimore.

No.14. December 10, 2000: Happy Berth Day

Art Modell flanked by Sharpe and Lewis

The Ravens were so close to clinching the franchise’s first playoff berth, they could smell it. At 9-4 the Ravens controlled their own destiny. They were locked in a battle with the Tennessee Titans for the AFC Central title, as Baltimore entered their Week 14 contest hosting the San Diego Chargers having won four in a row and rested from having a late Week 13 bye.

With the holiday season in full swing, PSINet Stadium was a “Festivus” place to be on Dec 10 2000 as Ryan Leaf and the dismal 1-12 Chargers visited the Charm City.

Speaking of a “Festivus” occasion, prior to the start of the game, the Ravens honored the man that brought football back to Baltimore with an extremely moving pre-game ceremony. Art Modell, who was in his 40th year of owning and NFL franchise, said he had just one goal in mind before he retired, win a Super Bowl.

As owner of the Cleveland Browns, Modell was close on several occasions. He watched as his Browns lost three AFC Championship games by a total of 24 points. All of those games to John Elway and the Denver Broncos.

Shannon Sharpe and Ray Lewis escorted Modell to his ceremony,as each player locked elbows with Mr. Modell leading him to the field for his moment. The picture is still one of the most popular in team history. Lewis and Sharpe as well as the rest of the team would honor Modell further with more than a pre-game ceremony against the helpless Bolts.  They earned the franchise's first ever playoff berth with a convincing 24-3 win.

The Ravens D was dominant as usual in the victory, as they beat up on Leaf, and held the Chargers offense to just 128 total yards while forcing five turnovers.

Instructed by their head coach, Brian Billick, not to use the word playoffs at any point in the season until they actually earned the right by clinching a berth, many Ravens players could be seen on the sidelines screaming the word with just minutes left in the game.

The Ravens, who entered the game as winners of four straight would not lose a game the rest of the season, including Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa Florida.

No.13 November 12, 2000: Ravens End Titans Win Streak at Adelphia

Trent Dilfer jumps for joy after Patrick Johnson's late TD catch

Every NFL team has a nemesis in the league. A team that prevents them from getting over the final hurdle, and moving onto bigger and better things. We all know who that team has been for the Ravens since their arrival in 1996, so there is no need to give them any more press.

However, in Nashville, and for the fans of the Tennessee Titans that team is the very own Baltimore Ravens. Back when the Ravens and Titans were rivals in the AFC Central, the Ravens seemed to end the Titans hopes and dreams on a regular basis. Even still to this day, the Ravens continue to torture fans in the music city but not like, they did during the 2000 season.

The Titans and Ravens met in a divisional showdown during week 11 of the 2000 season. Many gave the upstart Ravens little chance of winning in Nashville. Why would Baltimore win at Adelphia Coliseum? No team had done so since the Stadium opened for play the year before. Tennessee set an NFL record with 12 straight wins to open a new stadium and was 8-1, holding a three game lead over the 6-4 Ravens heading into the contest.

The Ravens with Trent Dilfer at quarterback jumped out to a 14-0 lead but behind Steve McNair, the Titans would come back to tie the game at 17 early in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens looked to be driving down the field for what would become the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. Instead, Dilfer made a bad read on the play, and threw the ball right to Titans safety Perry Phenix, who ran the ball 87-yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

Dilfer said following the game, "I thought I got 35 [Phenix] to move just enough to get the slant in behind him. You do stupid things once in a while. That was a terrible time to do it."

The play, which seemed devastating to Baltimore's chances to win the game, was not as bad as it could have been. Known as Automatic Al throughout his 17-year NFL career, Titans kicker Al Del Greco missed the extra point, and in the process rejuvenated a down Ravens sideline. The miss opened the door for the Ravens to win in regulation and unfazed by the pick six he had just thrown, Dilfer came back onto the field and promptly led the Ravens on a nine-play, 70-yard drive.

"Maybe so—but not today"

The final play was a Dilfer pass to Patrick Johnson just over the goal line for the game-tying touchdown. After the replay upheld the call on the field, and Matt Stover added the game winning extra point, the Ravens became legitimate AFC contenders.

The Titans still got one last chance to win the game, but Automatic Al missed from 43-yards setting off a wild Ravens sideline celebration.

While speaking to his team following the contest, the Ravens ever-arrogant head coach Brian Billick, held up a copy of the current Sports Illustrated that had the Titans on the cover and proclaimed Tennessee to be the best team in the NFL. “This says the Titans are the best team in the NFL and maybe so, maybe they are” Billick said to the happy payers, “but not today”—– The locker room erupted in celebration but Billick was not finished and would end his famous locker room speech, which would be replayed on the Adelphia Coliseum scoreboard prior to the Ravens and Titans playoff game later that January by telling his players “When you go into a lion’s den, you don’t tiptoe in. You carry a spear. You go in screaming like a banshee and say, ‘Where’s the son of a bitch?”

I have a feeling you will be reading about that January game a little later on in this series but this game provided the final boost of confidence the Ravens seemed to need to become the eventual SB Champs.

On Wednesday, we will break the Top 10, as we make it to number nine in the countdown. As always, comments are welcome. I would love to know which Ravens game you think is the greatest of all time.

This trade was unexpected as the Ravens need a wide receiver and there has been talk over the last few days about the Ravens trading for one.

Anyways, the Ravens center position was perceived to be settled when the Ravens drafted Ryan Jensen out of Colorado State-Pueblo in the 6th round to be the backup center.

Last years starter, Matt Birk, retired this offseason which moved last year's 4th round pick, Gino Gradkowski out of Delaware, into the starting spot.  Gradkowski was thought to be ready to the starter, and while that may still be true, the Ravens clearly wanted some more competition.

Shipley started five games for the Colts last season but was one the outs after the draft.  The Colts already had Samson Satele as a veteran and they drafted Khaled Holmes from USC in the 4th round.

During his 476 snaps season, Shipley accumulated a +6.9 grade according to Pro Football Focus.  This comes in limited playing time so take it with a grain of salt but it is still an impressive stat.

Coming into the league out of Penn State, Shipley was drafted in the 7th round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.  he spent all of 2009 on the Steelers practice squad and spent 2010 on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad.  After being out of football for 2011, the Colts signed Shipley for 2012 where he earned five starts.

One connection that Shipley has to the Ravens is that the Ravens Run Game Coordinator Juan Castillo was the Eagles offensive line coach in 2010 when Shipley was with them.  Castillo probably put a good word in for Shipley due to having worked with him before.

The Ravens have traded for center A.Q. Shipley.

Gradkowski should still be the starting center for the Ravens when training camp starts.  Baring some bad play, Gradkowski will be starting when the Ravens open the season up in Denver.  Shipley become the backup center then.  This would leave Jensen as the odd man out but since he played all over the offensive line in college, he should still make the roster.

The Ravens probably saw that Jensen needed some more work after seeing how he did in rookie minicamps which occurred last weekend.  This trade, which should be for about a 7th round pick, will allow Jensen to sit back and develop and will give Gradkowski some competition at center.

Overall this is a good trade for the Ravens as (I assume) they didn't give up much with their conditional draft pick and Shipley has shown the ability to start in the NFL.

In response to this trade, the Ravens waived G Jeff Braun to create a roster space for Shipley.  Braun was signed as an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia after the draft.

The fact that we are even suggesting this is a relevant time at all is a big indication of how far the league has come from the days when the season ended until it started again in September. The NFL has officially become a 12-month, 365 day a year league and that is just fine with me.

With the introduction of the NFL Network in November of 2003, the league officially entered the full time entertainment business. With its birth, nightly shows like NFL Total Access have become as important to NFL fans as the six o’clock news was to our parents and grandparents.

With Emmy award winning NFL Films handling the production on many of the networks shows, and all of the highlight shows, the launch of the latest 24-hour sports network likely a guaranteed success.

Die-hard NFL fans are a peculiar bunch and the NFL Network wasted little time catering to them. Since the dawn of NFL time, fans have created Top 10 lists for almost everything that ever existed in the league. Long before the inception of the network, fans debated and argued about which players and teams were the best of all time and ranked where they thought they belonged in NFL history.

Is Johnny Unitas, John Elway, Dan Marino, or Joe Montana the best QB in league history? That’s ok if you could not decide, just put them on a list and watch fans debate where they rank on the list for hours.

Fans looking to occupy their time argued which games, plays, eras, coaches, drafts, and even argued which fan bases had the best tailgate traditions. Yes, all of these debates were contested long before Rich Eisen and the NFL Network took to the airwaves.

However, once the network joined the fun, debating the best of all time was taken to a completely new level. They used the fans passion for wanting to feel as if they know which player, team etc…is the best of all time and now use that passion as their bread and butter with their” Top 10 shows”.

On any given day during the season and especially during the offseason, fans can sit back, watch and argue with the TV, as the network airs such shows as The Top 10 QB’s, Top 10 RB’s—–you get the point.

In 2010, the network stumbled on a gold mine when it decided to produce a show ranking the 100 greatest players of all time. The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players was a ten-part television series presented by the NFL Network in 2010. The series was based on a list of the top 100 National Football League players of all time, as compiled by a "blue-ribbon" panel assembled by the network.

The members of the panel were current and former NFL coaches, players, executives, and members of the media. Each episode, broadcast each Thursday from September 3 to November 4, 2010, introduced a group of 10 players from the list, starting with the players ranked 100 through 91, and moving up the list each week.

Jerry Rice won the distinction and of course not unanimously, as the No.1 ranked greatest player of all time. He finished just ahead of players such as Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor and Joe Montana. Since there can really only be one all-time list every 10 years or so, the brain trust at the network decided to begin ranking the top 100 players from the past season and do so in a format very close to the one they used to select the game’s all-time best.

The players themselves actually vote on the best 100 current performers in the league and provide almost all of the commentary when a certain player is being profiled in his numerical spot for the season that has past.

Just like the network, many websites have since popped up using slide show formats to gain popularity by having bloggers create lists for almost every sports and every position. If you log onto the Bleacher Report, you will find slideshows ranking everything from players’ wives and girlfriends (WAGS) to legitimate lists ranking players and teams from each sport.

Thanks to Russell St. Report….RAVENS RUSHMORE

With this craze in mind and considering the time of season, I have decided to throw my hat into the fire and create a “Top list”.

As a tremendous Baltimore Ravens fan, and a former season ticket holder, I have never missed a game and consider my knowledge, analysis and breakdown of the team during their tenure in the Charm City adequate enough to be shared with thousands of readers during the past three seasons. At least many of you have liked it and I thank you for that.

With that said, what to rank became the issue. Ranking the greatest Ravens players of all time would not garner much interest. Is there any doubt that in some order, Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Matt Stover, Peter Boulware, Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs make the list? Sure, maybe I left off Chris McAlister or a player like him but you understand where I am coming from. The Ravens did not bring the history from Cleveland (Thankfully) so 16 seasons makes ranking players a little boring.

Besides, you remember them all and would agree that Ogden and Lewis are one and two and the order does not really matter.

What I decided to rank was the 20 greatest games in Baltimore Ravens history. I originally thought 10 great games was sufficient but upon further review and considering the run this team just made, it has to be 20.

I guarantee you will have forgotten about a few of these classics. There was a ton of research and time committed to doing this piece and all I can say is THANK GOD for the Pro-Football Reference website. I would also thank the Baltimore Sun but I cannot.

You cannot read an advertisement on Sunspot.net without paying them $4.99 per month. The good news is– the list has been completed but any good news statement also comes with a bit of bad news attached.  Compiling this is a lot of typing, so I will post two articles per week, listing four games per post for the next three weeks until we get to No.1.

The following games were not just selected because they were my favorites. The Ravens had to have won the contest. Can any fan honestly say a game in which their team lost is one of the best in their teams franchise history, regardless of how great the game? Do you think the Broncos are going to be ranking this past years AFC Divisional Playoff game or do you suppose the New England Patriots look at the 2009 AFC Championship game as one of the franchises greatest games. No, they do not, I promise.

Secondly, the game had to mean something, be a rivalry victory, or be a turning point in the season in which it occurred. The game could also be one in which it still has some significant relevance in team history.

Without further ado, here are four of the 20 greatest games in Baltimore Ravens history. Four more games will appear here on Fanspeak by Saturday afternoon. Thanks for your support and as always, comments are suggested and always welcomed.

No. 20 September 1, 1996: The Return of the NFL to Baltimore

The last time the city of Baltimore had played host to an NFL regular season game was December 13, 1983, when the Baltimore Colts defeated the Houston Oilers before a very, very sparse crowd of just 27 thousand fans at Memorial Stadium.

After 13 seasons without the NFL, the Oakland Raiders, and Baltimore's new franchise, the Ravens, brought back to life the game so many loved with only the blue collar passion the rabid football fans of Charm City could. The new era began exactly where the old one ended, at the old horseshoe shaped stadium located on 33rd street in East Baltimore. Known as the largest outdoor insane asylum during the days of Unitas, Memorial Stadium was again rocking with excitement and anticipation for the Ravens first ever game.

The excitement in the stands was matched by the play on the field as two former Heisman trophy winners combined to score the first three touchdowns of the game. The Ravens have had 16 signal callers line up behind center to start a game in team history. The first of those to lead the Ravens offense was one of those former Heisman Trophy winners, Vinny Testaverde.

Testaverde would stamp his name into Baltimore football history, as he scored the Ravens first ever touchdown. Testaverde scampered nine yards into the end zone to give Baltimore the lead in the first quarter.

Testaverde on his way to first Ravens TD in team history

The Raiders came back to take the lead with 14 unanswered second quarter points. Oakland QB Billy Joe Hobert found former Notre Dame star Tim Brown for two short TD passes to give the Raiders a 14-7 halftime lead. The Ravens defense held the rest of the way, which in 1996 was rare. Matt Stover kicked two third quarter field goals and Earnest Byner put the game away with a goal line plunge in the final quarter.

In a rare win during the 96’ season, the new Baltimore Ravens held on to beat Oakland 19-14. Under former Baltimore and Indianapolis Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda, the Ravens would win just four games in their inaugural season. Despite the poor record, the Ravens were a very exciting team to watch.

Baltimore held a second-half lead in 10 of its 11 final games, but won just two of them. All four wins during the season came at Memorial Stadium in front of sellout crowds. The 1996’ Ravens finished the year as the third ranked offense in the NFL.

Ravens fans would discover a few short years later, that defense wins championships, and the 96’ version was not a championship caliber unit. Led by rookie Ray Lewis (95 tackles) they ranked 28 out of 30 teams in points allowed, and ranked dead last in total yards allowed per game.

As stated, the offense carried the team and was led QB Vinny Testaverde, who was voted to the Pro Bowl after throwing for 4,177 yards and 33 TDs. WRs Michael Jackson and Derrick Alexander both eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark and combined for 23 TD receptions.

No.19 November 29, 1998: The Colts Return to Baltimore
To say the Week 13 contest between the Indianapolis Colts and Ravens meant something to the football fans of Baltimore would grossly under state the meaning of the game. With a victory, Baltimore's new franchise could help those old stubborn Baltimore Colts fans finally bury the memories of the Mayflower moving fans driving off to Indianapolis in the middle of the night in March of 1984. The Ravens had met the former Baltimore franchise just once before the 1998 meeting. In Week 7 of their inaugural season, behind then Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh, Indy handed the Ravens a 26-21 loss during Baltimore's first national TV appearance as the Ravens.

In a game that seemed to come straight from a Hollywood script, both teams entered the game in the new stadium at Camden Yards as franchises that were struggling with their win/loss records but were loaded with talent on different sides of the ball.

Despite their 2-9 record, the Colts featured a very potent offense. Rookie phenom, quarterback Peyton Manning, all-purpose running back, Marshall Faulk, and Pro-Bowl wide receiver, Marvin Harrison led Indianapolis into Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards that day.

The Ravens had a talented team, and despite finishing 6-10 during the 98 season, the Ravens sent six players, four from the defense, to represent the AFC in the Pro Bowl at the conclusion of the year. The game started badly for Ravens fans, Marshall Faulk scored on two long touchdowns to help stake the Colts to a 17-3 first quarter lead.

The task of coming back would now belong to the quarterback that beat the Ravens as the Colts QB just two years prior. Even though the Ravens trailed by 14-points, his nickname provided the fans of Baltimore with hope.

Captain Comeback handsgame ball to No.19 following Ravens first win over INDY COLTS! (NOte: FNFF Frequent guest Joe Unitas in picture)

Captain Comeback, Jim Harbaugh began the process of proving his nickname true, as he connected with reserve WR James Roe, who was playing for an injured Jermaine Lewis, for a Ravens touchdown. The score cut the Indy to lead to 24-17 just before the half.

The teams traded third quarter touchdowns but it was Peyton Manning's third TD pass of the game, which gave the Colts a 10-point lead headed into the fourth quarter. Harbaugh, who connected on 16 of 25 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon, continued the Ravens comeback quickly in the final period as he found Floyd Turner on a corner route for a 22-yard score just five seconds into the fourth quarter.

With the fans still rocking and the Colts ahead by just three, 31-28, the Ravens needed only 1:48 to take the lead, as Priest Holmes scored on a 36-yard run.

After allowing 339 yards of total offense in the first half and 31 points through three quarters, the Ravens shut the Colts down when it mattered in the final quarter to win the game. Safety Ralph Staten picked off a Manning pass intended for Marshall Faulk to seal the 38-31 victory at the Ravens' 20-yard line with 61 seconds to play in the game.

Following the win, Baltimore QB Jim Harbaugh collected the game ball and gave it to another Baltimore QB, the legendary Baltimore Colts QB, Johnny Unitas.

No.19 had for years expressed his displeasure with the team's move, and even once requested his name be removed from the Indianapolis Colts records portion of the media guide. With the win, many Ravens fans expressed feelings of closure with the Colts move to Indy.

The Ravens would beat the Colts again, three years later in Baltimore, 39- 27. However, since the 2001 season, the Ravens have lost six of seven regular season games to the Colts, and have gone 1-2 in the playoffs. The 2012 Ravens defeated the next rookie phenom QB in Colts lure this past January when they eliminated Andrew Luck and the rest of the Indy Colts in the Wild Card round of the playoffs on their way to a Super Bowl victory.

This is a game that could have been higher on the list, but considering the fact the Ravens removed the Baltimore Colts monkey off their backs, No.19 seemed as good a place as any on the list.

No. 14 September 10, 2000: Ravens Get First Ever Victory over Jaguars

Tony Banks tossed 5 TD's on the day

The Ravens were members of the AFC Central following the move from Cleveland in 1996. The Jacksonville Jaguars, not the Pittsburgh Steelers, were Baltimore's biggest nemesis and division rivals in the Ravens first few years of play.

Baltimore seemed to invent ways to lose Jacksonville, many coming in heart breaking fashion. The Ravens lost their first four games to Jacksonville by a combined nine points, and were 0-8 against the Jags headed into their week two home opener at PSInet Stadium in Baltimore.

Baltimore was riding high after shutting out the Steelers in Pittsburgh the week before to open the season, but head Coach Brian Billick believed their true measuring stick for the 2000 season would be their home opener against the Jaguars.

However, the confidence they carried into the game did not last long. The Ravens were tight and made several key mistakes, and Jacksonville QB Mark Brunell capitalized on every one of them. Brunell, with TD passes of 45 and 43 yards to Ravens killer Jimmy Smith, led the Jags to a 17-0 first quarter lead.

Smith was a fantasy football god whenever he lined up against the Baltimore secondary. He averaged over 100 yards per game against the Ravens in 12 career games, but this game would be his best. Smith hauled in 15 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns against the history making 2000 Ravens defense. Smith's performance was the fourth best receiving day in the history of pro football.

Not exactly known as a come from behind type of quarterback, Ravens signal caller Tony Banks needed to find a way to get Baltimore on the board and salvage a poor half of football. Banks did that with a TD pass to receiver Travis Taylor early in the second quarter and the Ravens trailed 23-7 at the half.

Banks continued his rare comeback performance at the start of the second half, when he again found Taylor for a score. Following another TD pass to fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo, Banks had the Ravens to within four points of the Jags.

Playing for the injured Fred Taylor and Stacey Mack, third string running back Chris Howard lost his second fumble of the game on his own 12-yard line after the ensuing kickoff. Two plays later, Banks gave his team the lead, as he tossed his fourth TD pass of the day to WR Jermaine Lewis.

The score gave the Ravens a 29-26 lead but the game was far from over. After the teams traded field goals, the Jags offense seemed to stall with under two minutes remaining. Facing third and six, from the Baltimore 40-yard line, Brunell dropped back to pass. The Ravens sent a heavy blitz from both corners, and under pressure, Brunell simply heaved the football in the direction of Jimmy Smith down the right sideline.

Covering on the play for the Ravens was safety Kim Herring, and CB Duane Starks. The Jags other Ravens killer, wide out, Keenan McCardell tipped the ball into the air and into the hands of, guess who.

If you said Jimmy Smith, you would be correct.

After grabbing the deflection, Smith turned and slipped through the hands of Starks and raced the 10 or so yards for the go-ahead score. I was fortunate to attend this game, and even from my seats, way up in section 548, you could hear a pin hit the sport grass turf after Smith's catch and run for what everyone thought was the game winning score. Ravens fans thought it was a foregone conclusion that the Jaguars had once again snatched victory from the jaws of the defeat.

However, The Ravens and their QB would do the victory snatching on this day. Using a little over a minute of play clock, Banks began the game winning drive by throwing short passes over the middle against a two-deep zone defense.

After competitions of 19 and 15 yards to Billy Davis, Banks found Ayanbadejo for a 12-yard competition to the Jags 29 yard line. Banks, who was having the best game of his career, methodically guided the Ravens offense 46 yards in six plays before spiking the ball to stop the clock with 48 seconds remaining.

On the next play, Banks hit newly signed free agent and future Hall Of Fame tight end, Shannon Sharpe, at the Ravens two-yard line. After taking a hit following the catch from safety Donovan Darius, Sharpe bounced into the end zone for the game winning score.

The 39-36 win gave the Ravens their first 2-0 start in their brief five-year history, and set the tone for a year that would culminate with a Super Bowl Championship.

No. 17 October 3, 2010: Flacco Finally Wins a Big One in Pittsburgh

Ravens QB Joe Flacco may have struggled to start his career against the black and gold rivals but this victory was, at the time, a huge win for the Ravens, and their then third year signal caller.

If you think, the fans thought this was just another regular season game, then check out this video of the fans' reaction to the game winning catch by TJ Houshmandzadeh from a local watering hole in Baltimore.

The Ravens trailed 7-0 after the first quarter but led 10-7 at the half, and following a scoreless third quarter of sloppy and ineffective play by both offensive teams, each found a rhythm in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers regained the lead when back-up QB Charlie Batch, who was playing for the suspended Ben Roethlisberger, led the Steelers down the field on a 13 play, 93-yard drive that culminated with a 7-yard Rashard Mendenhall rushing touchdown.

The Ravens would get the ball back and Flacco would drive them 10 plays and 65 yards to the Steelers two-yard line. However, the Ravens failed to score and turned the ball over to the Steelers on downs. With only 2:40 to play, the situation looked bleak for Baltimore.

However, without Big Ben, the Steelers stalled, as the Ravens defense held with the help of poor Pittsburgh clock management and a holding penalty. After another holding penalty by the Steelers punting team, the Ravens received the ball back at midfield with 55 seconds remaining, as Joe Flacco went to work in the hurry-up offense.

From the shotgun, Flacco found Boldin for nine yards and then again for three more. He then went to Houshmandzadeh on the right side of the field for 10 yards and a first down. Houshmandzadeh was able to get out of bounds, stopping the clock with 33 seconds to play.

On the next play, Ravens tight end Todd Heap picked up a blitzing Troy Polamalu, giving Flacco time to step up and loft a perfect pass to Houshmandzadeh. Flacco's ball found Houshmandzadeh in stride in the back of the Steeler's end zone for the 17-14 game winning touchdown.

Before we do though, please note that these numbers could change before the season starts as the numbers are limited due to the 90-man roster at this time.  So, if you are planning on buying a jersey of one of these rookies, I would hold off until the regular season starts.

First round pick Matt Elam, a safety from Florida, will wear number 31 for the Ravens after wearing number 22 in college.

First round pick Matt Elam, a safety from Florida, chose number 31.  Last year, Bernard Pollard wore this jersey and Elam is his replacement and they have similar, physical, hard-hitting play styles.

Like Elam, second round pick Arthur Brown will wear the jersey number of someone he is replacing.  The inside linebacker from Kansas State will take number 59 which was worn by Dannell Ellerbe last season.

Finally on to someone who won't wear the number of the player they are replacing.  Third round pick Brandon Williams will wear number 98.  While this jersey number was assigned last year, it belonged to Ryan McBean who broke his ankle in the preseason and was placed on injured reserve.  This was the number that Tony Siragusa wore and Williams is a defensive tackle like Siragusa.

Continuing with numbers that were on injured reserve last year, forth round outside linebacker from Ohio State John Simon was assigned number 47.  Linebacker Ricky Brown had this number last year but spent the whole season on injured reserve.

The first rookie to be assigned a number that wasn't used last year is Kyle Juszczyk.  A forth round from Harvard, Juszczyk, a fullback, will wear number 40.

Another number that wasn't worn last year was 71.  This number goes to offensive Ricky Wagner, the Ravens fifth round pick out of Wisconsin.

The trend of unused numbers from last season continues as defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore got assigned this number.  The sixth round pick from Notre Dame is still recovering from a torn ACL so he couldn't participate in the rookie minicamp this weekend.

Ryan Jensen keeps number 77 at the center position after being assigned it.  Matt Birk had this number last year and like Jensen, he was a sixth round pick from a small football school (Harvard not Colorado State-Pueblo like Jensen).

Many people thought the Ravens would draft a receiver in the early rounds of the draft but instead, they waited until the seventh round to take Aaron Mellette from Elon.  He will be assigned number 80 which wasn't worn last year.

Last is the seventh round pick, cornerback Marc Anthony out of California.  Anthony will wear number 36 which wasn't assigned to anyone last season.

1st Round: S Matt Elam, 31
2nd Round: ILB Arthur Brown, 59
3rd Round: NT Brandon Williams, 98
4th Round: OLB John Simon, 47
4th Round: FB Kyle Juszczyk, 40
5th Round: OT Ricky Wagner, 71
6th Round: DE Kapron Lewis-Moore, 67
6th Round: C Ryan Jensen, 77
7th Round: WR Aaron Mellette, 80
7th Round: CB Marc Anthony, 36

Spagnuolo has been the St. Louis Rams head coach and defensive coordinator for the Giants and Saints.  Last season he was with the Saints but was fired after only one season because his defense gave up a league worst 7,042 yards.

One of the main reasons that Spagnuolo decided to come to the Ravens over other teams was the fact that he has coaching experience with Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.  They spent eight years together on the Philadelphia Eagles staff before Spagnuolo left to become the Giants defensive coordinator.

The Ravens have hired Steve Spagnuolo as a senior defensive assistant.

Spagnuolo said himself “The obvious attraction was John and our relationship.  The one thing you learn in this business is you want to, whenever you can, be associated with character organizations.”

“I love being back working with John; it’s been a long time,” Spagnuolo also said. “In the eight years we were together, we had a lot of talks – a lot of good talks – about everything. That’s what I love and respect about him. I know how he sees things.”

As of right now, Spagnuolo's role with the Ravens as a senior defensive assistant is unknown even to him.

Harbaugh said "His wealth of NFL coaching experience speaks for itself and he’ll help us across the board."  This leads me to believe he will have a variety of responsibilities with the Ravens and will provide general help.

Throughout his career, Spagnuolo has run 4-3 defenses so it is an interesting hire because he has no experience with the 3-4 defense that the Ravens run.  However, the Ravens many hybrid looks so this probably won't be anything close to a problem.

Look for Spagnuolo to try and turn this one year job into a defensive coordinator position somewhere next season.  He had lots of success with the Giants defense and created the gameplan that stopped the record-setting offense of the undefeated Patriots team in Super Bowl XLII.

This is a good signing for the Ravens as it never hurts to add experienced coaches to your staff.  Spagnuolo has been around the league for a while and has had success before.  Plus, he is friends with head coach John Harbaugh so he should fit in with the Ravens.

The deal is over two years and has a maximum value of $7 million.  This value includes incentives that can be earned so the real value of the contract will be a bit cheaper.

Last year McKinnie seemed to be in head coach John Harbaugh's dog house for the regular season as he never really played despite being one of the best five linemen on the Ravens, and probably the best left tackle.

Due to an injury to starting guard Jah Reid, the Ravens had to shake up their offensive line for the playoffs, which resulted in McKinnie playing at left tackle.  With this rearrangement, the offensive line clicked and provided quarterback Joe Flacco with the best protection of the season.

This improvement of the offensive line was one of the main reasons that the Ravens were able to win the Super Bowl last season.  Flacco was given enough time to find open receivers and he caught fire and finished the season off as Super Bowl XLVII MVP.

The Ravens have re-signed left tackle Bryant McKinnie to a two year deal.

Coming out of last weeks NFL draft, one of the main criticisms of the Ravens draft was that they failed to address the left tackle position.  While they did draft Wisconsin OT Ricky Wagner, he isn't a candidate to start as he was a 5th round pick.  The Ravens must have known that they had McKinnie in their back pocket if they couldn't draft a suitable starter at left tackle.

This move is a surprise signing as over the last few days, McKinnie had taken visits to the Miami Dolphins and the San Diego Chargers.  The Chargers had even offered McKinnie a contract for him to mull over. While all of this was going on, there was no news about the Ravens talking to McKinnie so it was assumed that they would be letting him walk.

This turned out to not be the case and leaves the Ravens with only one real question mark on their roster as they head into rookie minicamps.  This question mark is the wide receiver position as the Ravens traded away a starter, Anquan Boldin, and have done nothing to replace him.  They are going to have to rely on someone stepping up in training camp to replace Boldin's production from last year.

With this signing, the Ravens offensive line is set for this year.  McKinnie will be at LT, Kelechi Osemele at LG, Gino Gradkowski at C, Marshal Yanda at RG, and Michael Oher at RT.

When the Ravens offense excelled in the playoffs, this was their offensive line (with one exception due to retirement).  McKinnie played very well at left tackle during this run.  Osemele was the starting right tackle in the regular season and played pretty good there.  Once moved to left guard though, his performance was much better.  Gradkowski, a 4th round pick last year, will take over for the retired Matt Birk.  Yanda has shown over the last few years that he is the best right guard in the league so there are no worries at this position.  Lastly, at right tackle, is Michael Oher. Oher has had an up and down career, switching between left and right tackle.  His best position has been right tackle though.  He is in his contract year this season so he will be motivated to perform.

Overall, the McKinnie signing is very good for the Ravens.  It upgrades three positions on the offensive line at once (LT, LG, and RT).  Plus, they didn't spend too much on re-signing McKinnie.  Assuming McKinnie's weight stays under control, as it has been a problem before, the Ravens will be happy with this signing.