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Undoubtedly, the post-game chatter will be about Joe Flacco being the first rookie quarterback to win two playoff games even though, you know, he completed just 11 of 22 passes for 161 yards and the defense, as usual, had almost everything to do with the final outcome. Whatever your perspective, the fact remains: Baltimore is headed to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 2000. And they'll do it as the most banged-up squad in the league. On Wednesday, the Dallas Morning News' Rich Gosselin wrote that the Ravens finished 11-5 during the regular season "despite losing 64 games by starters because of injury, the fourth-highest total in the league. Baltimore lost 14 more games by starters than any other playoff team."
And next week, whether the Ravens travel to Pittsburgh or San Diego, they could be without a few more starters. Right tackle Willie Anderson, running back Le'Ron McClain, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and cornerback Samari Rolle were all injured during the Titans game. McClain did manage to hobble his way through the second half, but was mostly ineffective.
As Gosselin pointed out on Wednesday, Baltimore missed three starters -- Dawan Landry, Kelly Gregg and Chris McAlister -- for most of the season, but still managed to come within a game of the division title. And as Dierdorf reminded us a dozen times this afternoon, NOBODY WANTS TO FACE THE RAVENS RIGHT NOW. Duly noted, sir.
Here's the thing, though: thanks to some pretty savvy personnel decisions, the Ravens had very little trouble replacing Landry, Gregg and McAlister; Jim Leonhard, Justin Bannan and Fabian Washington have all been solid. But now, with four more players potentially injury concerns for next week, you have to wonder how Baltimore will compensate.
All that said, here's something worth remembering: as long as defensive coordinator Rex Ryan is dialing up plays, and, more importantly, Ed Reed can walk, the Ravens have a very good chance to win. Everything else is just gravy, as they say.
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