Lamarr Woodley

As I mentioned Thursday, a few national analysts have recently voiced their opinions on Joe Flacco. CBS broadcaster Phil Simms believes Flacco can lead the Ravens to the Super Bowl . ESPN’s Matt Williamson said that Flacco is on track . And NFL Network’s Joe Theismann thinks Flacco will break out this season . But consider Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley unimpressed. Appearing on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access” on Thursday, Woodley said the Ravens quarterback will never win a Super Bowl “in this lifetime.” “No, not at all because they have to go through one team -- that's the Pittsburgh Steelers in that AFC championship,” Woodley said.

Every morning, Monday through Friday, blogger Matt Vensel will hook you up with reading material -- mostly on the Ravens but with some other Baltimore sports stuff, too -- to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday. That way he'll have an excuse to do the same to start his workday, too. RUNNING IT BACK Ravens free safety Ed Reed won his appeal Tuesday and will be allowed to play Sunday against the San Diego Chargers, though he was still slapped with a $50,000 fine.

1 Santonio Holmes hurts the Ravens again. The wide receiver has scored a touchdown in six straight games against the Ravens, reaching the end zone a total of seven times. 2 The Ravens' pass protection struggles in Blitz-burgh. Tackles Michael Oher, Oniel Cousins and possibly Jared Gaither have to protect quarterback Joe Flacco from James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. 3 The Steelers go deep on the Ravens' secondary. In seven wins this season, Roethlisberger has completed 34 passes of 20 yards or more.

I think Ted Cottrell , who ruled on Ed Reed's appeal yesterday, got it right when he overturned the original one-game suspension and instead handed out a $50,000 fine to the Ravens' safety. I watched all three hits that the NFL cited in punishing Reed and the only one that I thought was really blatant was the one on the New England Patriots' Deion Branch earlier this season. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been penalized on the other two - the hit on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders Sunday night and the one on New Orleans Saints quarter Drew Brees in 2010 - but I just didn't think they were egregious enough to warrant contributing to a suspension.

Each day this week leading up to Thursday's NFL draft, we will highlight one prospect whom the Ravens could draft with the 29th overall pick. Today's player is Alabama linebacker/defensive end Courtney Upshaw, who had 16.5 sacks for the Crimson Tide the past two seasons, including 9.5 as they won the 2011 NCAA title. Background: Upshaw was one of the top defensive end prospects of the country coming out of high school, and he lived up to the expectations in his home state.

Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley ruffled the feathers of Ravens fans last week when he told NFL Network that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco would never win a Super Bowl “in his lifetime.” But Woodley’s veteran teammate Hines Ward refused to provide more bulletin board fodder when talking about Woodley’s claim. Appearing on NFL Network on Wednesday , Ward said the Ravens have a “great team” and they “can win with Flacco.” Ward wasn’t “going to put any bulletin board material out there,” but he said he understood where Woodley was coming from because you have to go into this heated rivalry expecting to beat the Ravens.

No. Name Pos. 2 Dennis Dixon QB 3 Jeff Reed PK 7 Ben Roethlisberger QB 9 Daniel Sepulveda P 10 Santonio Holmes WR 11 Stefan Logan KR 16 Charlie Batch QB 17 Mike Wallace WR 19 Tyler Grisham WR ...

The Steelers have been negotiating with the agent for safety Troy Polamalu over the past several days, an 11th-hour attempt to sign the NFL defensive player of the year before the season begins Sunday. Polamalu is entering the final season of his contract, and their previous discussions this summer with agent Marvin Demoff went nowhere and stalled. After the Steelers signed linebacker Lawrence Timmons to a six-year, $50 million contract two weeks ago, they decided they could do no more extensions until after the season.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been blitzed with criticism in the past year, starting with NFL linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Dhani Jones during the lockout and eventually, after a 12-4 season and another win in the playoffs, he was criticized by his teammate, safety Ed Reed, sparking a minor media firestorm this week. Things have gotten so ridiculous that even a neighbor has called out Flacco for hopping aboard a skateboard. While making an appearance on “NFL Total Access,” Flacco revealed that during the team's playoff bye week, he decided to see if he could stand upright on a skateboard without falling.

The Ravens and Steelers won't be tiptoeing into the water at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon. They are taking the plunge into the season with one of the most critical games on the 2011 slate for each squad. That's not to say the season opener is a make-or-break game for either team, though there is more pressure on the Ravens to win and put the pressure back on the Steelers to defend their home turf later in the season. So what do the Ravens need to do to beat Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers on Sunday?

Is this the year their aging defense finally kicks the bucket? How will they survive without the face of the defense in the huddle every Sunday? Can they get their once-feared pass rush back? Sound familiar? Since they reported for training camp in late July, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had to defend themselves against similar questions to the ones that have dogged the Ravens (7-2) over the past 3 1/2 months. But unlike their AFC North rivals from Baltimore, whom they will host at Heinz Field on Sunday night, the Steelers (6-3)

Every week, I hope to bring you a quick Q&A with someone who covers the Ravens' opponent that week. In case you haven't heard, the Ravens play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday. I chatted with longtime Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Ed Bouchette this week while I covered the Steelers in Pittsburgh. MV: What are your expectations for quarterback Byron Leftwich, who will fill in for Ben Roethlisberger? EB: He's played well in the preseason. And when he was getting ready to start in 2010 when Ben was suspended, he was having a real good preseason, I thought, then he got hurt and didn't play.

Linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo wasn't the only athlete stunned by a letter from a Maryland politician urging the Ravens to silence the outspoken Ayanbadejo due to his support for same-sex marriage. In an open response to the letter written by Maryland Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr., a Democrat from Baltimore County, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe wrote that he was "ashamed and disgusted" by Burns' views and characterized the delegate as "mind-bogglingly stupid. " In an expletive-laden letter posted on sports blog Deadspin , Kluwe - who has been similarly vocal to Ayanbadejo as a proponent for gay marriage - took particular issue with Burns' assertion that political views have "no place in a sport.

Each day this week leading up to Thursday's NFL draft, we will highlight one prospect whom the Ravens could draft with the 29th overall pick. Today's player is Alabama linebacker/defensive end Courtney Upshaw, who had 16.5 sacks for the Crimson Tide the past two seasons, including 9.5 as they won the 2011 NCAA title. Background: Upshaw was one of the top defensive end prospects of the country coming out of high school, and he lived up to the expectations in his home state.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been blitzed with criticism in the past year, starting with NFL linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Dhani Jones during the lockout and eventually, after a 12-4 season and another win in the playoffs, he was criticized by his teammate, safety Ed Reed, sparking a minor media firestorm this week. Things have gotten so ridiculous that even a neighbor has called out Flacco for hopping aboard a skateboard. While making an appearance on “NFL Total Access,” Flacco revealed that during the team's playoff bye week, he decided to see if he could stand upright on a skateboard without falling.

The saying “silence is golden” usually doesn't apply to Terrell Suggs, whose colorful personality makes him one of the most sought-after media requests in the locker room. But after compiling six sacks in his first seven games, the Ravens outside linebacker had gone three contests without a sack. That all changed on Thanksgiving night when he tied a career best by sacking quarterback Alex Smith three times in the Ravens' 16-6 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Suggs moved into a three-way tie for seventh in the NFL with New Enbgland Patriots defensive end Andre Carter and Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley with nine sacks this season.

The saying “silence is golden” usually doesn't apply to Terrell Suggs, whose colorful personality makes him one of the most sought-after media requests in the locker room. But after compiling six sacks in his first seven games, the Ravens outside linebacker had gone three contests without a sack. That all changed on Thanksgiving night when he tied a career best by sacking quarterback Alex Smith three times in the Ravens' 16-6 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Suggs moved into a three-way tie for seventh in the NFL with New Enbgland Patriots defensive end Andre Carter and Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley with nine sacks this season.

Because doing a full, 32-team list of power rankings is too much work for a Monday afternoon, I will rank the top 11 teams in the NFL after each exciting football Sunday (that's where the "first and 10" comes in). Here's the balance of power heading into Monday night's Week 11 finale between the Patriots and Chiefs: 1. Packers: Green Bay is so good, they are toying with opponents. DT B.J. Raji had a one-yard TD on Sunday. 2. 49ers: If Ray Lewis is out Thanksgiving night, too, Frank Gore and the 49ers might run all over the Ravens.

— The difference between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens is no longer in the quarterback. When the game was on the line Sunday night, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco outlasted Pittsburgh quarterback and rival Ben Roethlisberger. In the past, when Roethlisberger had led the Steelers on a potential game winning drive late in the fourth period, the Ravens had no answer. But Sunday night, Flacco brought the Ravens back with a 13 play, 92 yard drive in the last 2 minutes and 16 seconds.