Ken Murray

Kevin Cowherd: Ravens 21, Browns 3: Ravens offense starts clicking and the defense keeps humming. Jamison Hensley: Ravens 31, Browns 10: Cleveland is improved from a year ago, but the Ravens' offense wants to put on a show for the home crowd. Edward Lee: Ravens 24, Browns 10 Seneca Wallace is no Peyton Manning, but he's the type of elusive quarterback who can present problems. Still, it would take a major self-implosion on the Ravens' part to lose to the Browns.

Kevin Cowherd: Ravens 31, Bengals 21: Ray Rice and Anquan Boldin make teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh's return to Cincy a happy one. Jamison Hensley: Bengals 27, Ravens 20: Ravens just played a physical and emotional game at New York on Monday. The quick turnaround defeats the Ravens more than the Bengals. Edward Lee: Bengals 16, Ravens 14: The Bengals don't have a Darrelle Revis, but Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph are pretty tough. And Carson Palmer seems to play well against the Ravens.

Slaps on wrist fail Ken Murray Baltimore Sun The AP should have taken the defensive rookie of the year award away from Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing. The organization should not have had a recount, but if I were voting, I would have left him off the ballot entirely. In the short run, Cushing loses salary, some bonus money and image. But in the long run it won't matter much. Two other defensive rookies of the year, Shawne Merriman and Julius Peppers, also failed steroids tests in the NFL, and both pass rushers are being paid very lucratively.

Steelers days numbered Ken Murray Baltimore Sun It would make a wonderful feel-good story if Ben Roethlisberger were to divorce himself from his unsavory past and find deliverance in his football future. I hope that happens. But I stopped believing in the tooth fairy a long time ago. It's obvious Roethlisberger needs help. If you read his statement about the NFL's suspension, you had to be disappointed. He was sorry for his teammates, the Steelers' fan base and himself.

Count on the Raiders Omar Kelly Sun Sentinel Raiders owner Al Davis has thrown many drafts off course in his five decades of running the Oakland Raiders' draft room, and this year won't be any different. Good old Al (and I do mean old) will mock everyone's mock draft by doing something out of the box, coming from left field with a selection such as Darrius Heyward-Bey, whom the Raiders took with the No. 7 pick, making this marginal Maryland receiver the first wideout taken in 2009.

Mini-suspension likely Sam Farmer Los Angeles Times On the where-there's-smoke-there's-fire scale, Big Ben is smokier than a teachers' lounge. He hasn't been convicted of anything, true, but that's not the standard by which the NFL suspends its employees. Under the league's personal conduct policy, discipline may be imposed in lots of different circumstances, including with conduct that "undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs or NFL players."

The Ravens and the Maryland Stadium Authority are in the final stages of putting together a second international soccer matchup at M&T Bank Stadium on July 25, according to Terry Hasseltine , director of the Maryland office of sports marketing. No other details - including which teams will participate - have been finalized, Hasseltine said. There is an outside chance the date could change, "but all discussions are leaning toward the 25th," he said. Hasseltine also said that because this is a World Cup year, European teams are reluctant to commit to an overseas trip before their regular season begins.

Ted Monachino , who coached Terrell Suggs in college, has been hired to coach the Ravens' outside linebackers. Monachino, 43, spent the past four seasons coaching defensive linemen with the Jaguars. From 2000 to 2005 he coached Arizona State's defensive linemen, including Suggs, who set the NCAA single-season record for sacks (24) and tackles for loss (31 1/2) in 2002. Suggs, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2003 draft, won the Bronco Nagurski Award as the nation's best defensive player and the Lombardi Award as the best lineman under Monachino.