Minnesota Vikings

PITTSBURGH -- Qadry Ismail's stomach hurt so good.Ismail could joke about his pain in the wake of the greatest day of his seven-year career.How good was Ismail in yesterday's 31-24 victory at Three Rivers Stadium?His six catches accounted for 75 percent of the Ravens' receptions for the day. His 258 yards receiving shattered the Ravens' single-game record and nearly matched Pittsburgh's entire passing offense (270). His third-quarter performance alone -- 210 yards, three touchdowns -- compared favorably with his entire rookie season with Minnesota in 1993.

Wide receiver Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings can score from anywhere on the field. Cover him with care!Randy was a rookie in 1998. But he was one of the NFL's most fearsome receivers. Randy led the NFL with 17 touchdown receptions in 1998. He caught 69 passes for 1,313 yards.The Vikings chose Randy with the 21st pick in the 1998 draft. What a catch for Minnesota!"Dang Water sSHORTAGE!"This fellow is trying his best to kayak in a mud puddle. Isn't that what sports are really about: trying your best?

EastWhen Donovan McNabb of the Eagles duels Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts today, Philadelphia coach Andy Reid hopes the receivers do a better job than they did last week against the Washington Redskins, when they dropped six of his throws. McNabb has a rocket arm and the receivers have to adjust, although it would help if McNabb took something off the ball at times. "The same thing happened when I was in Green Bay with Brett Favre," Reid said. "He throws a ball hard. But they have to catch it."

You're looking for the next great team in the NFL, or at least the next Super Bowl champion. Where to start, that is the question.In Miami, where the Dolphins imported running backs by the boatload, regardless of character references, in an effort to balance quarterback Dan Marino's offense?In Jacksonville, where the Jaguars lost two coordinators to head coaching jobs but may have found a defense?In New York, where rumblings suggest the venerable Bill Parcells will make his coaching last stand with Vinny Testaverde and the Jets?

Fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo never saw it coming. After spending two years bouncing between the active and developmental rosters with the Minnesota Vikings, after overcoming a back injury he suffered while playing in NFL Europe last year, he said he finally was smelling a whiff of job security.Then, the Vikings cut him.Eight days after leaving Minnesota, Ayanbadejo landed yesterday in Baltimore, where he has been reunited with former Vikings such as coach Brian Billick, fullback Chuck Evans, guard Everett Lindsay and tight end Greg DeLong.

The Ravens are expected to enter intense negotiations on Tuesday with the Minnesota Vikings about acquiring quarterback Brad Johnson, according to a league source familiar with the discussions.The source said Ravens vice president of player personnel Ozzie Newsome and Minnesota Vikings vice president Jeff Diamond may have had a brief discussion by phone yesterday, and the Vikings would like to complete a deal for Johnson by the end of next week.Newsome said yesterday that he expected to speak with Vikings officials early next week, but would not go into details about the negotiations.

When the Minnesota Vikings clinched a playoff berth for the fifth time in the past six years with a 39-28 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in their season finale, the game was blacked out on television in the Twin Cities.That's because the game only drew 54,107 fans, about 10,000 shy of the capacity at the Metrodome.It was another example that the Vikings have managed the unusual feat of losing the fans while winning on the field.Granted, the Vikings have just one playoff victory to show for their past five playoff appearances.

Fourth-and-seven at their 40, trailing 22-13 with 3: 51 to play.On third down, the Minnesota Vikings had chosen to run Robert Smith over right tackle for a yard or two. Randall Cunningham was so slow getting his team into a hurry-up offense -- the "drive" had started with about seven minutes left -- that ABC-TV's Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann were literally screaming for the Vikings to realize the urgency of the situation.And what did coach Dennis Green do on fourth down? He punted! It was one of the great give-up calls in NFL history.

When Ravens owner Art Modell predicted that Baltimore would see an elite team in 1998, he wasn't lying.An elite team will appear tomorrow at the House With No Name, wearing purple and white, no less.It's a team that began the season with a lame-duck coach. A team that starts a 35-year-old quarterback. A team that revolves around a 6-foot-4 wide receiver.But it's not the Ravens.The Minnesota Vikings (12-1) are the first team since the 1970 merger to score 45 or more points in consecutive games.

The franchise quarterback is under siege, the run defense is wretched, and now, after 39 games, the expansion magic of the Carolina Panthers has seemingly vanished.Almost overnight, last season's shocking success story -- Carolina advanced to the NFC championship game in its second year -- has turned into a bad soap opera.The defensive star, linebacker Kevin Greene, quit the team when it refused to renegotiate his contract, and ultimately signed with the Panthers' biggest rivals, the San Francisco 49ers.

The Ravens are unbeaten in three games and ranked No. 1 in several NFL power polls. They are scoring touchdowns and compiling yards in record numbers, and their defense continues to dominate every running game it faces. It's a great beginning to a possible championship season, and we all know the Ravens are a good team, but how good? Are they capable of taking that next step from a year ago, from the AFC championship game to the Super Bowl? Some answers will come in the next three weeks.

News item: : The New York Times reported Thursday that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz tested positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs during Major League Baseball's supposedly anonymous survey testing in 2003, according to lawyers familiar with the results. My take: : OK, enough's enough. I know there is no way that MLB and the players union can justify outing the remaining 100 or so players who tested positive during the 2003 survey, but I think everybody has figured out by now that would be much better than having a couple of names leak out every six months, keeping the sport mired indefinitely in the six-year-old fallout from this tawdry scandal.

After losing twice to the Pittsburgh Steelers by a combined seven points, the Ravens get a third shot at their AFC North rival. "Hopefully for us, the third time is the charm," Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason said. NFL history suggests otherwise. The old saying "it's hard to beat a team three times in a season" is a myth, not a fact. Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, there have been 18 instances in which a team has won both regular-season matchups with a team and then had to face that team again in the playoffs.

1 Turning point: For the underachieving Minnesota Vikings (1-3) and New Orleans Saints (2-2), tonight's Monday Night Football contest (8:30, ESPN) could turn their season around. 2 No sweep: The White Sox staved off elimination at the hands of the upstart Rays yesterday to force Game 4 today in Chicago (5:07, TBS). 3 Volleyball clash: One of the top volleyball teams in the area, Mount de Sales, No. 4 in The Baltimore Sun's poll, plays host to No. 5 Catonsville at 5 p.m. 4 Purple night: The Ravens are inviting female fans to "A Purple Evening" at M&T Bank Stadium from 6 to 9 p.m. More than 1,500 fans are expected to meet players.

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers Time: : 7 TV: : ESPN The buzz: : The schedule makers gave fans several juicy intradivision games in Week 1, but they could not have imagined the extra intrigue as a result of the Brett Favre story. The matchup between the Vikings and the Packers in Green Bay did not need Favre or tampering accusations to be a marquee game. Minnesota is a popular pick to win the NFC North crown from archrival Green Bay, and the teams are dealing with many of the same issues.

For someone blessed with quick feet, Frank Walker has an even faster mouth. The cornerback has used his speed to get his hands on his fair share of deflected passes. He has also used his gift of gab to poke jabs at his teammates on the other side during Ravens training camp at McDaniel College in Westminster. On Monday, Walker almost picked off quarterback Kyle Boller, but wide receiver Mark Clayton broke it up. Walker jawed at Clayton, "Turn into a DB!" After he broke up Joe Flacco's pass to rookie wide receiver Ernie Wheelwright, Walker took off his helmet and spun it on the turf.

Former Maryland football standout Madieu Williams became a multimillionaire yesterday. Williams - formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals and newly of the Minnesota Vikings - was one of the first players to cash in big on NFL free agency this offseason. Williams, 26, was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, moved to Maryland as a child and attended Towson before transferring to Maryland, where he made the team as a walk-on and earned a scholarship. As a pro, he has had a nice four-year career in Cincinnati since being drafted in the second round in 2004.

While the New England Patriots play for a place in history, the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers are playing for home-field advantage. Perfection notwithstanding, the battle between the Cowboys and Packers for NFC supremacy might yield the most riveting competition of the NFL's second half. They both reached 8-1 yesterday in decisive fashion. The Cowboys whipped the New York Giants, 31-20, to take a two-game lead in the NFC East. The Packers pounded the Minnesota Vikings, 34-0, to move two games ahead of the Detroit Lions, who lost, in the NFC North.

This is what we have come to expect from the biggest rivalry of the decade, from the two best teams in the NFL, from the two best quarterbacks in the league. Another masterpiece in a gallery of greatness. The Indianapolis Colts push and make the New England Patriots better. The Patriots push back and make the Colts stronger. Fierce rivals, they produce epic games and enduring drama. Not surprisingly, the pendulum swung back toward New England yesterday after the Colts had won the previous three meetings.

As fate would have it, Jim Fassel was not alone in his ouster as Ravens offensive coordinator yesterday. Just hours after the Arizona Cardinals collapsed in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears, coach Dennis Green fired offensive coordinator Keith Rowen. By virtue of their high-profile position, offensive coordinators have increasingly become subject to in-season scrutiny. When the Houston Texans lost their first two games a year ago, then-coach Dom Capers bounced offensive coordinator Chris Palmer.