Rush

Ray Rice knifed through the heart of the New England Patriots defense, into the end zone and into our collective memories, his 83-yard touchdown run in the 2009 playoffs quickly becoming one of the most unforgettable plays in Ravens history and in his young career. On that frigid afternoon in Foxborough, Rice rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns, carrying the Ravens offense and their hobbled quarterback, Joe Flacco, to a stunning wild-card win. It was the only time in eight career playoff games that Rice topped 70 rushing yards, and his two fumbles in Sunday's win over the Indianapolis Colts gave him five for his postseason career.

It'll be tough, but he will Ron Fritz Baltimore Sun Instantly, I was going to say no, that Adrian Peterson isn't going to catch Eric Dickerson because the Vikings face one of the best run-stopping defenses in the NFL in Week 16 — the Texans. They only give up around 93 yards a game. But on Sunday they were gashed for 105 yards by some rookie named Vick Ballard of the Colts. In the final game, the Vikings face the Packers, who haven't been horrible against the run. The Texans and Packers will load up to stop Peterson, as has every team he has faced this season.

When Keith Short began delivering packages for UPS in Glen Burnie 23 years ago, he used bulky pads of paper to track parcels and pens that froze in the cold. Today, Short scans packages on and off his truck with a handheld computer that tells him what to deliver where and when, and can even direct him turn-by-turn. "The whole route is in here," said Short of his handheld "DIAD" computer — an abbreviation for for Delivery Information Acquisition Device. The handhelds — now in the fifth generation — have made UPS drivers' jobs more efficient, especially during the peak holiday season when UPS picks up and drops off millions of packages each day. The ideas for improving the technology percolate in the offices of UPS' Information Services Group in Timonium.

Ray Rice had just topped 100 rushing yards in a game for the first time since early October, but the frustration showed on his face. As the Ravens packed their bags before making the short drive back to Baltimore, he couldn't help but feel as if they had left yards and points - and a victory - out on the field. "It's the way you finish games," Rice said. "As a leader on this team, I like to finish teams out. " The Ravens rushed for a season-high 186 yards on 35 carries Sunday, including 121 from Rice, his highest total of 2012, and a career-high 53 yards from rookie backup Bernard Pierce.

All Ravens outside linebacker Paul Kruger thinks about nowadays is relentlessly chasing the quarterback. It is an aggressive pursuit fueled by power, speed and well-practiced pass-rushing moves. The path to the quarterback is rarely twisted nowadays for Kruger, a direct route no longer encumbered by the frustrating obstacles of his scarred past. Overpowering offensive tackles, Kruger has generated four sacks over the past three games heading into Sunday's AFC North showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the aftermath of another solid performance by an improving Ravens defense on Sunday, reports surfaced that all-everything linebacker Ray Lewis might return a couple of weeks earlier than expected from the triceps injury that originally appeared to end his 2012 season. It apparently is a real possibility that he could return in time to stare down Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in mid-December, but it's fair to ask - without showing an ounce of disrespect to Lewis or his Hall of Fame career - whether it is really necessary for him to rush back when the defense has made great strides over the past several weeks and the team has built a nice cushion in the AFC North.

Milford Mill had its six-game winning streak snapped by visiting Huntingtown, of Calvert County, 34-6, in a Class 3A state semifinal Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Hurricanes advance to play No. 2 River Hill on Thursday at 7 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium. Huntingtown (12-1) used an explosive rushing attack to pull away from the No. 7 Millers in the third quarter after leading, 6-0, at halftime on two field goals from Noah Reeves. The Hurricanes rushed for 418 yards on 60 carries as a team, including 221 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries — all in the second half — from senior running back Carl Riffe.

Considering what Keenan Reynolds had accomplished since taking over at quarterback for Navy more than a month ago, it was only a matter of time before an opposing defense was mostly designed to stop the talented freshman. Despite his least productive performance to date, Reynolds took advantage of the extra attention Saturday against Texas State, pitching to a slew of slotbacks and handing off to sophomore fullback Noah Copeland en route to a 21-10 victory on senior day at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

For Towson, the path is now clear. One more win, and the Tigers all but assure themselves a spot in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. A loss, and it's most likely wait till next year. No. 17 Towson helped shed some clarity on what had been a murky playoff scenario Saturday by taking care of business against winless Rhode Island, surviving an uneven first half to pull away for a 41-10 win before an announced 7,263 at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Quarterback Grant Enders tied a career high with four touchdown passes and backup running back Dominique Booker, playing in his final regular-season home game, gained a career-best 181 yards on just seven carries, including an 83-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the second half.

As you know, in the aftermath of every Ravens game, I do a weekly feature called “Five Things We Learned About the Ravens,” which was first the baby of my friend and former colleague Kevin Van Valkenburg, a writer and a person I think very highly of. After every game, Kevin would -- and now I do -- stay up until the wee hours of the morning trying to draw new, definite conclusions about a team we see more than our significant others. I'm not looking for sympathy here. I actually enjoy writing it very much -- except after games with an 8:30 p.m. kickoff.