Ravens

When the best game that almost every Ravens' player had ever been a part of was finally over, Joe Flacco threw his hands in the air, Justin Tucker emphatically pumped his fist and Ray Lewis dropped to his knees, reduced to tears. Tucker's 47-yard field goal 1 minute and 42 seconds into the second overtime ended a thrilling and exhausting divisional round playoff game and sent the Ravens into the AFC championship game for the second straight year. The 38-35 victory over the Denver Broncos earns the Ravens a date with the winner of Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans.

I know this is a tad premature considering we're still over a week away from training camp for the 2012-13 season. But I can't help myself and I know how much everybody likes planning in advance. So here is an early look at the Ravens' 2013-14 schedule, which the league released today in the NFL Fact and Record Book. This probably goes without saying but you'll have to wait about 10 months before the dates and times are released for the games. 2013-14 HOME GAMES Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers New England Patriots New York Jets Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings AFC South team (The Ravens will play the team in this division that finishes in the same place in the standings in 2012-13 as they do in the AFC North.

The Ravens made a tough business decision Monday, dealing veteran wide receiver and playoff hero Anquan Boldin to the San Francisco 49ers for a sixth-round pick in April's draft after Boldin wouldn't accept a pay cut. Judging by all of the angry, confused and/or heartbroken Ravens fans that blew up my Twitter immediately after my colleague Aaron Wilson broke the story, the majority of the vocal minority feels that the Ravens did Boldin a dirty, got...

Reggie Waddell represents the voice of experience. Nate Bolling represents the voice of all rookies. The Ravens close the preseason on the road tomorrow against the New York Giants, and 19 players have one last shot to extend their NFL careers. With only six spots remaining on the 53-man roster, less than one-third of these players on the bubble will survive. Waddell, a cornerback, is keeping composed after going through the emotional wringer last year. But for Bolling and his 14 fellow rookie teammates hanging on by a thread, life leading up to Sunday's final cutdown won't be as easy.

Dean Pees likes to joke that he has recently developed a routine before addressing the Ravens' injury-wracked cornerback group on the first full day of practice each week. "Every week, it's like I take attendance in our room to see who shows up," he cracked. Laughs aside, the defensive coordinator and secondary coach Teryl Austin have used glue, string and perhaps a little magic to cobble together a productive cornerback corps despite losing Lardarius Webb for the season in October and getting limited production from Jimmy Smith.

The Ravens trounced the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, and there are indications they are peaking, but it is hard to tell. You like what you saw out of them. They had balance on an offense that produced 146 yards rushing and 227 passing. The Ravens' defense physically dominated the Colts up front with four sacks, while holding Indianapolis to 167 yards of total offense. But here's the rub: The Colts are terrible. They are pathetic and one of the worst teams in NFL history, including some of those from Cincinnati.

He was Exhibit A in Jimmy Johnson's indictment of Don Shula's final days in Miami."We had a guy miss 39 practices last year -- that's the equivalent of 13 weeks!" Johnson said. "That ain't happening this year."Yes, Johnson actually had the Dolphins' training staff calculate the number of practices Eric Green missed before deciding to release him.And now, the Ravens are getting a two-time Pro Bowl tight end intent on making a comeback, not just professionally, but also financially.On Tuesday, Green proclaimed himself the "hungriest man in America" upon signing his free-agent contract.

The Ravens addressed the wide receiver position in April's draft with the selection of Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss, adding those two to a group that includes Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and second-year receiver David Reed. They also learned last year that you can, in fact, have too many aging, outspoken wideouts. But there is a Pro Bowl receiver who falls into that category who reportedly yearns to join the Ravens. Steve Smith, who has caught 620 passes for 8,884 yards and 52 touchdowns in 10 seasons with the Panthers, wants out of Charlotte, according to Tom Sorensen of The Charlotte Observer . And Sorensen reported that a source told him that Baltimore is one of Smith's two destinations of choice (San Diego is the other)

Each week, we bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player, coach or team executive to help you learn a little more about the team. Today's guest is O.J. Brigance . O.J. Brigance sits at a table in Sullivan's Steakhouse, speaking with his eyes. Brigance suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, which has robbed the former Raven of both speech and body movement. Brigance converses via a high-tech device called a DynaVox, which allows him to "talk" by focusing on a computer screen, and blinking, to form words and sentences.

Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs is used to chasing down opposing quarterbacks. Now Suggs is joining PETA in going after fur farms that kill foxes, minks and rabbits -- even dogs and cats -- to make coats out of their pelts. Suggs will appear in an ad for PETA. He won't be butt naked like Willis McGahee was in his PETA ad back when he played for the Ravens, but hey ladies, he's shirtless. You can check out the Suggs PETA ad here . "Once I saw what they do to the animals, you know, to get the fur, it just seemed cruel and evil," Suggs said.