Dolphins

MIAMI - The real playoffs start Saturday for the Ravens, when they travel to Tennessee to play the Titans in the AFC divisional round. The Ravens' 27-9 victory over the Miami Dolphins in a wild-card playoff game was just a warm-up. The real contenders start playing next weekend with the Titans-Ravens rematch and the San Diego Chargers traveling to Pittsburgh. They all have real defenses and real quarterbacks who can make plays. They all have run-oriented offenses and play smash-mouth football.

Here's what's different from when the Ravens smashed Miami by two touchdowns in October: Jason Ferguson is healthy at nose tackle, anchoring the middle of the defensive line that was pushed around. Here's what's different: Quarterback Chad Pennington is the bandleader of an offense that knows what it needs to do now. Here's what's different: The Dolphins aren't a team digging out from the rubble of its 1-15 season in 2007. It's a team that has won nine of its past 10 games. It's a team that conquered the AFC East.

The Ravens wouldn't be the leading candidate to sign soon-to-be released Daunte Culpepper, but they have not eliminated the possibility of adding the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback, a league source said. Because the Ravens are committed to Steve McNair as their starter, it's unsure whether Culpepper would want to come here since he might have an opportunity to compete for a starting job elsewhere, the source added. Culpepper, who is expected to be cut by the Miami Dolphins, has been linked to the Ravens because McNair is 34 and backup Kyle Boller is only signed through this season.

As miserable as things are in Baltimore this NFL season, they are four times worse in Miami ... four times as in the 0-13 Dolphins have four fewer wins. The percentage comparison may not be exactly mathematically sound, but you get my drift. So let's look in on the Dolphins -- a team that the 4-9 Ravens desperately need to beat to get out of this season with at least a shred of respectability. Miami has a rookie quarterback who was pressed into service as the starter after the team fell to 0-9. The fans clamored for it, and they got what they wanted.

What others around the sports world are saying about the Ravens' 22-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday: Edwin Pope Miami Herald columnist "Beating the Ravens wasn't that much. Baltimore has lost 10 games now and barely is a victim worth gloating over. But the Dolphins winning anything these days is worth at least a touch of celebration." Michael Silver YahooSports.com On Brian Billick's decision to kick a game-tying field goal on fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line with 12 seconds left in regulation: "Huh?

The Navy SEAL wannabes didn't notice him at first - the quiet, dark-haired man scaling the diving tower at their training tank in San Diego. He wasn't part of the SEALs' elite group, so how good an athlete could Austin Koth be? Koth sprang off the board, pirouetted in the air and pierced the water as he'd done years before on the swim team at Calvert Hall. Jaws dropped. "Sure, that happened once or twice," David Crawfoot Jr. said of Koth's acrobatics at the Naval Amphibious Base in California.

CARDINALS -- Placed C Yadier Molina on 15-day DL. Purchased contract of C Brian Esposito from Triple-A Memphis. RANGERS -- Recalled P John Koronka from Triple-A Oklahoma. Optioned P Mike Wood to Oklahoma. TWINS -- Recalled P Kevin Slowey from Triple-A Rochester. Optioned P Julio DePaula to Rochester. Transferred P Jesse Crain from 15- to 60-day DL. Colleges EASTERN WASHINGTON -- Fired men's basketball coach Mike Burns. FLORIDA -- Announced that women's basketball G Susan Yenser is transferring from Clemson.

SAN DIEGO-- --Players and coaches have to think and talk one game at a time, so yesterday in their cramped quarters at Qualcomm Stadium, the Ravens could only look far enough ahead to next Monday night, when the New England Patriots come to town. That's horrifying enough. What comes two weeks after that, though, is even more horrifying. After five losses in a row and with their season sunk, the one breather they had in the murderer's row of a second-half schedule no longer looks like an obvious breather.

Willis McGahee gets a chance to change his history against the Miami Dolphins, the Ravens' opponent Sunday. In six career meetings with the Dolphins, the running back has eclipsed the 100-yard mark just once and posted one rushing touchdown. As a member of the Buffalo Bills, McGahee averaged 3.4 yards per carry against his former AFC East rival, which lagged behind his average against the New York Jets (5.1) and New England Patriots (3.8). "I've had some good games," said McGahee, who has compiled at least 85 rushing yards in four of the six games against his hometown team.

Moves Baseball DIAMONDBACKS -- Activated OF Carlos Quentin from 15-day DL. Optioned IF Brian Barden to Triple-A Tucson. REDS -- Agreed with OF-IF Ryan Freel on two-year contract extension. ROCKIES -- Placed P Byung-Hyun Kim on 15-day DL. Purchased contract of P Zach McClellan from Triple-A Colorado Springs. Football BROWNS -- Signed former Ravens FB Alan Ricard and TE Ryan Krause. CHIEFS -- Guard Will Shields announced his retirement. DOLPHINS -- Signed RB Ray Perkins and C Johnathan Ingram.

A month since he joined the Ravens, John Beck is starting to make himself at home. The backup quarterback is feeling more comfortable in his purple jersey after recently buying the No. 12 from wide receiver Ernie Wheelwright. He is beginning to get his bearings back in Cam Cameron's system after one season of being removed from it. Still, Beck's next biggest move - going from the Ravens' newest quarterback to becoming a legitimate contender for the No. 2 job - is not on his mind just yet. "Right now, I have day-to-day expectations," Beck said Tuesday during the Ravens' third week of minicamps.

The Ravens won't have a competition at starting quarterback again this season, but there will be one for the backup job. John Beck has agreed in principle on a one-year contract and will compete with Troy Smith to be the Ravens' No. 2 quarterback, according to an NFL source. Beck will be reunited with Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who was coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2007, when they drafted the Brigham Young standout in the second round. After Cameron was fired, Beck never clicked with the Bill Parcells regime and was released by the Dolphins on Wednesday, just five days after they drafted West Virginia's Pat White in the second round.

Darrius Heyward-Bey has elite speed, a prototypical NFL body and a fervent desire to excel. But will that be enough to warrant selection in the top half of Saturday's draft for a wide receiver who disappeared in some Maryland's games, who could make the difficult catch and drop the easy one? Heyward-Bey is the epitome of risk-reward in this year's draft. The team that selects him could be getting, over the next few years, the league's next big playmaker, a wide-out capable of turning a game on a simple slant pattern.

New Dolphins owner: Parcells still in charge nfl New Miami Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross won't mess with success: He says Bill Parcells will remain in charge of the football operation. Ross, a New York real estate billionaire, completed his purchase of 95 percent of the franchise for $1 billion, with Wayne Huizenga retaining a 5 percent interest. Ross then addressed speculation he and Parcells might not be hitting it off. The sale triggered a clause in Parcells' contract allowing him to leave and still receive the $9 million to $12 million remaining on the four-year contract he signed a year ago. "Parcells is in charge," Ross said in a conference call.

MIAMI - The real playoffs start Saturday for the Ravens, when they travel to Tennessee to play the Titans in the AFC divisional round. The Ravens' 27-9 victory over the Miami Dolphins in a wild-card playoff game was just a warm-up. The real contenders start playing next weekend with the Titans-Ravens rematch and the San Diego Chargers traveling to Pittsburgh. They all have real defenses and real quarterbacks who can make plays. They all have run-oriented offenses and play smash-mouth football.

MIAMI - Of the three rookie head coaches who led teams to the NFL playoffs, the Ravens' John Harbaugh is the only one to advance to the second weekend. Harbaugh also is the only one who did not receive a single vote in the Associated Press Coach of the Year balloting. "OK. That's how I feel about it," Harbaugh said straight-faced after yesterday's 27-9 AFC wild-card victory over the Miami Dolphins. "We've got the best coaching staff in the league - how about that?" The Atlanta Falcons' Mike Smith, whose team was eliminated by the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, beat runner-up Tony Sparano of the Dolphins by one vote from among the 50 AP football writers and broadcasters polled.

MIAMI - The Miami Dolphins tied for the fewest turnovers in a 16-game regular-season in NFL history. As they prepared for yesterday's AFC wild-card playoff game at Dolphin Stadium, this is how the Ravens didn't respond to that: Ooooh, lordy, lordy, how are we going to get the ball away from them? More like: Hmmm, how many times will we? "It's not about what they do," defensive coordinator Rex Ryan repeated often in the visiting - and decisively victorious - locker room at Dolphin Stadium yesterday.

The trash-talking started early yesterday when Roger Collette made his presence known at the Pine Ridge Golf Course in Baltimore County, driving laps around the parking lot in his truck, its Miami Dolphins flag flapping. He met his buddy John Winters, a Ravens fan, for a 7 a.m. round before they headed for the main event: watching the Ravens-Dolphins playoff game. "After the game, one of us will be getting text messages and the other guy will be turning off his phone," Winters, an elevator mechanic from Red Lion, Pa., said as he laughed at kickoff.

1 Ravens 3 Dolphins 3 The Ravens moved with ease on their opening drive into Dolphins territory using a no-huddle offense. After two runs that gained 12 yards, quarterback Joe Flacco hit his favorite target, Derrick Mason, for 18 yards. Le'Ron McClain rushed for 5 yards to move the ball to the Dolphins' 38-yard line, but he fumbled on his next carry, and the Dolphins' Joey Porter recovered and was tackled at Miami's 49. The Dolphins' ensuing drive went deep into Ravens territory before Miami kicked a field goal instead of going for it on fourth down from the 1. The Ravens responded with a field goal of their own. Dolphins: FG Carpenter 19, 8:17 Ravens: FG Stover 23, 2:47 2 Ravens 13 Dolphins 3 The game became a defensive struggle until the Dolphins tried moving the ball late in the second quarter.

MIAMI - The vocabulary is different in the locker room. Everywhere else - the press box, the message boards, the sports bars - they talk about Joe Flacco and quickly note that the quarterback is only a rookie. But in the locker room, you barely hear that word. "He's not a rookie anymore," running back Willis McGahee said. "He's a vet, and that rookie season is over with." In the Ravens' 27-9 playoff win over the Miami Dolphins yesterday, Flacco's statistics weren't demanding exclamation points, but they didn't really have to. His coaches and teammates were looking for something else: the calm, cool and unflappable demeanor that could lead a team through the pressure-packed gantlet that is the NFL playoffs.