Lamarr Woodley

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine.     Running it back: Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco isn't focused on a rivalry with Ben Roethlisberger ; he just wants to beat the Steelers on Sunday. ... Terrell Suggs expects his path to Roethlisberger to be littered with roadblocks . ... With David Reed suspended for Week 1, the Ravens are trying to figure out who their third receiver will be Sunday . ... A quiet but potent minority has urged Maryland to carefully consider naming its basketball court after Gary Williams . ... The Terps are getting rid of the awful football uniforms they wore Monday -- and they are doing it for a good cause , too. ... The Orioles walked it off again against the Yankees on Thursday.

The dress rehearsals are over. Sunday's season opener is the real deal. The Ravens and Steelers danced three times a year ago, and when they partner up again at M&T Bank Stadium, an early lead in the AFC North and plenty of bumps and bruises will be at stake. What a way to start the season for football fans. And to think, two months ago it looked as if this game might not happen. The NFL lockout is long forgotten. The Ravens and Steelers have met many times over the past three years -- well, eight if you're actually counting -- so we know the storylines by now. Here are the ones I'll be following Sunday afternoon at M&T. 1. Will the reinforced offensive line hold up?

The Ravens' 35-7 win over the Steelers in Week 1 was the most entertaining performance I have witnessed from the guys in purple during my four seasons following the team. They didn't just dominate the Steelers in a game we spent seven months waiting for; they embarrassed them with a nationally-televised atomic wedgie. The only game that comes close to touching it was Baltimore's playoff beatdown of the Patriots in Foxborough. But after the national media buried the Steelers, who were labeled as old and decrepit, Pittsburgh responded by winning six out of seven games, including Sunday's 25-17 win over New England.

Despite media reports suggesting that three of the Pittsburgh Steelers' four starting linebackers could be sidelined for Sunday night's contest, the Ravens don't intend to stray from their initial game plan. “I'm still going to attack the whole game plan as if they are playing because it's a possibility,” left tackle Bryant McKinnie said. “So it doesn't change anything. We still have to go out there and protect at a high level.” Indeed, Pittsburgh has listed outside linebackers James Harrison (fractured orbital bone)

Here's a look at what other media outlets are saying about the Ravens' 13-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13: • James Walker of ESPN.com discusses the Steelers' initial thoughts before safety Troy Polamalu's game-changing play in the fourth quarter . The Steelers said they were anticipating a running play by the Ravens, who already led and could have run more time off the clock. But when Flacco dropped back to pass, Polamalu shot in unblocked on the quarterback's blind side and forced the ball out. Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley recovered and took it to the Baltimore 9, and Pittsburgh took the lead three plays later on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Issac Redman.

Le'Ron McClain's quest for respect extended beyond the Ravens' locker room and meeting rooms. After the Ravens' 13-9 loss to AFC North champion Pittsburgh on Sunday, several Steelers players - most notably linebacker LaMarr Woodley - told the Ravens' fullback that he had earned their Pro Bowl votes. Fantasy became reality yesterday when McClain joined Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Brendon Ayanbadejo as Ravens named to the 2009 Pro Bowl in Hawaii in February. "That was great," McClain said during a news conference organized after the AFC and NFC rosters were announced.

Next stop, Oakland. The Ravens can't wait to get there. Missing a golden opportunity to secure a wild-card berth in the AFC playoffs, the Ravens self-destructed in the second half Sunday and dropped a wrenching 23-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Asked how the Ravens would respond to the difficult loss, a terse John Harbaugh set the emotional tone he wants his players to follow this week before traveling to the West Coast to play the Oakland Raiders. "I know how they'll respond," the coach said.

News item: Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco fired back at his critics Wednesday, after an offseason that included being blasted by Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley and Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones. My take: It's good to see Flacco continue to come out of his shell and grow as a leader. He'll get a chance to shut Woodley up in the regular season opener. It'll be a little harder to shut up Jones, since he apparently had no problem with popping off after the Bungles' pathetic 4-12 season.

We're now well past the point in Week 2 when everyone over at The Castle turns the page to the Tennessee Titans and says all the politically correct things about keeping Sunday's amazing, uplifting, demon-exorcising victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in its proper 16-game perspective. "This will be the last time we look back," coach John Harbaugh said during the opening remarks of his Monday afternoon news conference. Fair enough. That's Harbaugh's job. That's Ray Lewis' job. That's the job of everybody who gets a paycheck with a Ravens logo on it. It's not your job, however, and it's not mine.