Suggs Named Defensive Player of the Year

OLB Terrell Suggs has just been awarded one of the most prestigious awards in the NFL. Suggs has been named the AP 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Suggs nabbed 21 of the 50 votes, the next closest player was Minnesota's Jared Allen with 14.

It was a career year for Suggs. He totaled a career-high 14 sacks and 7 forced fumbles, and also added  two interceptions. The sack totals are especially impressive considering the team didn't have another legitamite pass rusher, so opposing teams frequently keyed on Suggs.

Although Suggs would surely rather this season ended with a Super Bowl berth, the DPOY award is a long-awaited and well-deserved honor. He joins Ed Reed (2004) and Ray Lewis (2000, 2003) as other members of the Ravens defense who have previously earned the award.

Reed, Rice, Also Withdraw from Pro Bowl

Ravens FS Ed Reed and RB Ray Rice have joined the list of Ravens players not attending this year's Pro Bowl. They will me replaced on the roster by Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark and San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews, respectivly.

Reed and Rice join DL Haloti Ngata and LB Terrell Suggs as the Ravens players withdrawing from the game.

Guards Marshal Yanda and Ben Grubbs, fullback Vonta Leach, and linebacker Ray Lewis will play in the game.

Scoreboard Error Contributed to Cundiff's Miss

On the Ravens final drive of the AFC Championship, Joe Flacco hit Anquan Boldin on 1st and 10 from the Patriots 23-yard line. Boldin fumbled out of bounds near the first down marker. The Ravens players thought they had the first down, and apparently, so did the scoreboard operator at Gillette Stadium. The scoreboard indicated the Ravens had a first down, and subsequently displayed 2nd and 3rd down as first and second.

Terrell Suggs spoke about the confusion to ESPN's Skip Bayless. (shortly before calling Bayless a douchebag on national television.)

Billy Cundiff also chimed in on the confusion in an interview with Deadspin. Cundiff explained how he has a pre-kick routine that relies on the down. He spoke on how each down has it's own preparation. On first down, he gets together with his snapper and holder while they take a few practice snaps, and he lightly kicks the ball to the team kicking consultant. On second, he takes a few "air-kicks" with no ball while looking at the goal posts on the Ravens side of the field. Cundiff said it's a bit of a mind game for himself that make the posts seem wider when he kicks on the field. Lastly, on third down he stands closely to the sideline and imagines the kick in his head before getting the order to kick the field goal if the play is unsuccessful.

You see where this is going. With the incorrect down on the scoreboard it threw off Cundiff's preparation, and forced him to rush onto the field from behind many players, as opposed to being ready and waiting on the sideline. Cundiff isn't blaming the miss on the scoreboard error, and regardless, its a kick he should have made. But it was an error on a Patriots employee's part that definitely affected the game, not only in the kicking game, but possibly in the playcalling if the coaches were confused as well.

Of course, the Ravens could have called a timeout prior to the kick, and the coaches should have noticed the correct down markers on the field. That being said, the scoreboard should of listed the correct down and distance.

We'll leave it up to you to speculate if it was a simple mistake, or another Spygate-esque Patriots tactic to swing things their way.

Suggs Out of Pro Bowl, Grubbs In

Linebacker Terrell Suggs has pulled out of the upcoming Pro Bowl. He will miss the game with an undisclosed injury, (Or "injury").

There are typically a handful of high profile players that pass on the Pro Bowl each year, and really, can you blame Suggs for not wanting to frolic around in Honolulu 7 days after such a heartbreaking loss in the AFC Championship?

Speaking of that heartbreaking loss, being that the Patriots are advancing to the Super Bowl, their players that were elected to the Pro Bowl are all being replaced by alternates. And thus, Patriots guard Logan Mankins will be replaced by the Ravens very own Ben Grubbs.

I'm sure Grubbs would trade that Pro Bowl appearance for a Super Bowl appearance in a heartbeat, but it really is a long overdue honor for the elite offensive guard. He has been a dominant and consistent member of the Ravens offensive line since being drafted in the first round out of Auburn in 2007.


Update 1/24/12 6:39pm:
Aaron Wilson of Scout.com reported that DT Haloti Ngata has also withdrawn from the Pro Bowl. Ngata revealed to Wilson that he played most of the season with a thigh injury. He will be replaced on the AFC roster by Miami DT Paul Soliai.

Brady says Ravens are "best team we've faced all year"

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady appeared on Boston sports radio station WEEI today to discuss the upcoming AFC Championship Game against the Ravens. Brady praised the Ravens calling them "the best team we've faced all year."

"There's no one that's going to overlook a team like that. It would be impossible to do," Brady said. "They present a ton of challenges in all three phases of the game. You watch them yesterday, they're physical, they're tough, they can cover. They've got some of the best players in the history of the NFL at their position, in Suggs and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata."

Ravens fans certainly remember the 33-14 trouncing Baltimore put on the Patriots in the playoffs two years ago, but Brady said that loss will have no bearing on this game.

"This is nothing about '09 or '10. This is nothing about last week or last season or last month or 10 years ago. It's about this week." He went on to add "We've got to use our time wisely, to repair, get our rest, and be ready to go out and face our biggest challenge of the season."

It all sounds nice, but don't read to much into this. The Patriots routinely praise every opponent before an upcoming game. It's just the Patriot way. Some teams like to trash talk, but teams like the Bill Belichick led Patriots don't want to give their opponents any bulletin board material to motivate themselves with.

However, Brady may be correct when he calls the Ravens the best they've faced. The 13-3 Patriots only played two teams who ended up with a winning record all year. They lost both of those games. A 25-17 loss in Pittsburgh, and a 24-20 loss at home against the New York Giants. We'll delve further into this matchup later this week, but make no mistake. This game will be a significant test for both teams involved.

Six Ravens Named to All-Pro Team

The All-Pro team has been announced, and the Ravens have six players named to the prestigious team. Including three players on the first-team and three on the second-team.

The first-teamers are:

-DT Haloti Ngata (pictured)

-OLB Terrell Suggs

-FB Vonta Leach

And the second-teamers:

-FS Ed Reed

-RB Ray Rice

-OG Marshal Yanda

Suggs Named AFC Defensive Player of the Month

The Baltimore Ravens sent out an alert today notifying that OLB Terrell Suggs has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for
December/January. Suggs had 4 forced fumbles to go with 5 sacks throughout Dec/Jan.

Already considered one of the front-runners for Defensive Player of the Year, this award only helps that cause and at this point I'd be surprised to see it awarded to anyone else.