Ravens Run

The way Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce are rolling up yards, the Ravens' running back duo may need a nickname of their own. Reviving memories of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (the Miami Dolphins' Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick) and "Thunder & Lightning" (the New York Giants' Ron Dayne and Tiki Barber), Rice and Pierce played significant roles in the Ravens' 24-9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC wild-card playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. Pierce led the offense in rushing with 103 yards on 13 carries, including the team's longest runs of 43 and 18 yards.

Jamal Lewis has averaged 102.2 yards rushing in two meetings with the Raiders, but he is still not fully recovered from a hip injury. He has produced 100 yards in just two of his past 17 games. The Raiders gave up 131 yards rushing in the season opener to San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson, who traditionally burns Oakland. But the Raiders only allowed running backs to crack 100 yards in three games last season. The speed of Oakland's defense could cause fits for the Ravens' plodding offensive line.

In their previous four seasons, the Ravens could count on three things when traveling to Cleveland to take on the Browns: unpleasant weather, opportunities to run the football and a victory over their AFC North rivals. The Ravens, who haven't lost to the Browns since John Harbaugh became head coach in 2008, have averaged 193 rushing yards per game in their last four trips to Cleveland Browns Stadium. Sure, that number is inflated a bit by their 290 rushing yards in a 24-10 win in Cleveland last December.

St. Louis Rams star running back Steven Jackson wasn't ruled out of Monday's game against the New York Giants until about two hours before kickoff, when his on-field workout didn't produce the necessary comfort level for the player or his team. A decision on whether Jackson (quadriceps injury) will play Sunday could again be made late, but don't expect the Ravens to be sitting around and fretting over whether they'll have to tackle Jackson or his backups, Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood.

The Ravens went old school on Sunday, as running back Ray Rice breathed new life into this team. On a cold, sometimes blustery December day, Rice and the Ravens' offensive line may have provided the missing ingredient for the Ravens in 2010. The Ravens finally played smash-mouth football. Led by offensive tackles Michael Oher, Marshal Yanda, guards Ben Grubbs, Chris Chester and center Matt Birk, the Ravens pounded the New Orleans Saints for 208 yards rushing on the way to a 30-24 victory.

Fans are buzzing in Oakland this morning because they got a strong-armed quarterback in LSU's JaMarcus Russell. Cleveland got two sexy picks in the first round in Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. And all the Ravens came away with in the first round was a guard out of Auburn named Ben Grubbs. If Quinn pans out in Cleveland, the Ravens might be in trouble in the future. But overall, despite having the No. 29 pick in the first round, the Ravens came away with a major addition to their team.

The struggles of the Ravens' running game are best summed up in baseball terms. Too many strikeouts, not enough home runs. The disappearance of big plays is the main reason why the Ravens have gone from an explosive rushing attack to a plodding one. Last season, the Ravens produced 18 runs of 20 yards or more. Through 12 games this year, their running backs have managed just four. In 2009, Ray Rice alone had four runs of 50 yards or more. This year, he hasn't broken one longer than 30 yards.

When Ray Rice punched out more than 2,000 total yards of offense last season, he was a prize catch on every fantasy draft board in the country. When he started out this season with four pedestrian games, the Ravens' third-year running back was getting grilled. On Sunday, he answered the critics. Big time. "It's funny," Rice said. "People take the fantasy football stuff serious. I try not to let anybody down. At the same time, I've faced some tough fronts this year. So today, fantasy owners that drafted me, I got you some points, now give me some slack.

Miami receiver Brandon Marshall said this game would be a defining moment for the Dolphins, and he was right. The Dolphins are still a year away from being serious contenders. On a day when the Ravens had some red-zone issues in the first half, the Ravens still beat Miami by 16 points. Miami came into the game with a 4-3 record having gone undefeated on the road, but after the first quarter, they never seriously challenged the Ravens. After the Ravens shook off some rust from the bye week, they easily dispatched of the Dolphins.

When the Ravens agreed to a three-year contract with fullback Vonta Leach on Sunday, it was an indication of the team's offensive plans. It was a statement. The Ravens want to return to old-school football, where they grind a team with their defense and pound it into submission with a strong running game. Few players like collisions the way Leach does. He's the Ravens' new crash test dummy. "Fullbacks are like dinosaurs," running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery said.