THE RAVENS HAVE to earn their way into the playoffs tonight against the Minnesota Vikings, and that's the way it should be.
The defending Super Bowl champions shouldn't have been able to limp into the postseason because the Seattle Seahawks or the New York Jets lost yesterday. They need to prove that they belong.
So far this season, the Ravens have only proved that they are just another average team in the National Football League. But tonight they can show they are one of the league's top 12 teams.
This is great. The game is on Monday Night Football. It's Brian Billick against his former team, for which he once served as offensive coordinator and helped Minnesota set league offensive records. The Vikings still have one of the league's best offenses, and the Ravens have one of the best defenses.
The pressure is on.
"I hope we have to win Monday night to get into the playoffs," Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe said last week. "I want Seattle and the Jets to win on Sunday. I don't want to get in because somebody else is unfortunate. I want a sense of urgency and the national spotlight on us, and I want to see how we respond. It would be just like in the playoffs. Do or die. Force us to make it happen. That's what we need."
Sharpe got his wish: Jets 24, Raiders 22. Seattle 21, Kansas City 18.
The Ravens have no one to blame for this predicament but themselves. They lost to the Cleveland Browns this season, not once, but twice. That's inexcusable. And they also lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, another unforgivable act.
The Ravens are a team that has struggled with pass coverage, an aging defensive line, a quarterback who should have been benched several times this season and an offensive line that should be gatekeepers at the Baltimore Zoo.
Two weeks ago, this may have been a gimme game against Minnesota. The Vikings seemed to shut it down in a 33-3 loss to Jacksonville on Dec. 23, but they rebounded and played hard in a 24-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers last week. But that's Green Bay. The Vikings would play the Packers hard in a parking lot.
But when Minnesota owner Red McCombs fired Dennis Green last week after 10 years as head coach, he put a whole new spin on this game: Which Vikings team will show up?
Usually when a head coach is fired, two things happen. Either the team plays extremely well, or it totally bombs. The X-factor seems to be interim head coach Mike Tice. If the players think he is a legitimate candidate to become the next head coach, they'll play hard.
