The Ravens' offensive line is starting to resemble a M*A*S*H unit.
Every week, it seems to wheel in new bodies and dump old ones. The only problem is that it's the same bodies being recycled over and over again.
As the Ravens head into the final five games of the 2008 regular season, one of the major questions is whether the offensive line can continue to play at a high level.
The group, considering all the injuries, actually turned in a good overall effort against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and the Ravens won't have much problem pushing around the Bengals in Cincinnati this Sunday, either.
But it will get tougher against the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars. In a normal situation, the Ravens probably could play with any of those teams.
But there is nothing normal about the Ravens' injury situation. Left tackle Jared Gaither, who was supposed to miss the Philadelphia game with a shoulder injury, had to play three quarters after Adam Terry, who has already struggled with knee and ankle injuries this season, suffered a concussion.
Gaither played with one healthy arm for the second straight week. Willie Anderson is playing right tackle with a badly sprained ankle. The Ravens have already put starting right guard Marshal Yanda on injured reserve with a severe knee injury, and tackle David Hale has been taking some repetitions at guard.
The offensive line has become a who's who?
Worse yet, it is coming at the wrong time. It's getting cold, and this is the time of year when most teams are strengthening their running games. The good teams can run the ball and stop the run.
The Ravens have that philosophy in place, and they are good at closing out games in the fourth quarter by pounding the ball, just like those teams coached by Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick.
But you can't close out games if your best offensive linemen are missing or sitting on the bench because of injuries. You also can't win if your quarterback is getting pounded.
We saw that Sunday. The Eagles love to blitz, and the Ravens have been fairly successful at picking up pressure this season. But it's hard when you have new faces in the lineup every week and the timing is off.
Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco took a beating from the Eagles. He was sacked three times and knocked around many others. He was hit so hard that, at one point while he stood on the sideline, you could see the outline of his inside helmet pad on his forehead.
