Sam Koch

Sam Koch is close to setting an NFL record, but if the Ravens punter had his wish, he'd rather avoid the mark on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Koch needs just five more punts inside Cincinnati's 20-yard line to tie the league single-season record of 42 shared by the Arizona Cardinals' Ben Graham (2009) and the San Francisco 49ers' Andy Lee (2007). But if Koch is punting, that means the offense isn't scoring, and that's a scenario that Koch said he'd rather see not develop.

Sunday afternoon, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked if he planned to bring in another punter to press incumbent Sam Koch, who has been Baltimore's primary punter since the Ravens drafted him back in 2006. Harbaugh defended Koch, saying it would be “ pretty tough to find competition ” for Koch and also kicker Justin Tucker. After all, the Ravens had one of the NFL's best special teams units after a subpar 2011 season. "There aren't too many guys that want to come here and kick or punt,” Harbaugh said.

Sunday afternoon, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked if he planned to bring in another punter to press incumbent Sam Koch, who has been Baltimore's primary punter since the Ravens drafted him back in 2006. Harbaugh defended Koch, saying it would be “ pretty tough to find competition ” for Koch and also kicker Justin Tucker. After all, the Ravens had one of the NFL's best special teams units after a subpar 2011 season. "There aren't too many guys that want to come here and kick or punt,” Harbaugh said.

The Ravens decision to re-sign Bryant McKinnie reverses an offseason trend that has seen the roster get younger at several key positions. Before agreeing to a two-year deal with the 33-year-old left tackle, the Ravens were without eight of their nine oldest players from the team that beat the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 3 to capture Super Bowl XLVII. That team had 10 players 31 and over. Even with the return of McKinnie, the Ravens now have only three players 31 and over - McKinnie, cornerback Chris Johnson (33)

The Ravens punctuated Sunday's 55-20 demolition of the Oakland Raiders with a fake field goal that holder Sam Koch turned into a touchdown with 5:40 left in the third quarter. But it wasn't the first time that the team had faked a kick. Koch converted a fourth-and-6 with a 9-yard run in a 33-24 win against the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 20, 2008 and turned an extra-point attempt into a two-point conversion in last year's season-opening 35-7 rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh is the Ravens' opponent this Sunday, but there was some criticism early last week that the Ravens didn't show much restraint running a fake field goal against the Raiders despite enjoying a 24-point advantage.

Until Sunday, Sam Koch had never thrown a pass in any football game he ever played — not in the NFL, not college, not high school. So when the Ravens punter threw — and completed — that first pass out of punt formation, it was one for the books. Koch's 13-yard pass play with gunner Cary Williams did not tilt the balance of the Ravens' 26-10 romp over the Miami Dolphins, but it set new standards for punters. First of all, the Ravens didn't call for a fake.

Every week, blogger Matt Vensel breaks down a critical play, sometimes with the help of Ravens players, from that week's game. Today he looks at Sam Koch's touchdown run on a fake field goal against the Raiders. The intentions of the Ravens have been questioned after they scored on a fake field goal while up 24 points in the third quarter of Sunday's blowout victory over the Oakland Raiders. To their credit, the Raiders didn't whine about the fake, though defensive tackle Tommy Kelly did ask reporters, “Would you run a fake field goal?

His memory is a bit hazy, but Sam Koch remembers watching his first Super Bowl in his family's home in Nebraska and being entranced by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana. So while sitting down for either Super Bowl XXIII in January 1989 or XXIV the following year, Koch discovered what he wanted to do when he was older. "I always wanted to play football and my goal was to make it to the NFL," he said. "I didn't know whether it would be as a punter or what. At that point, I really didn't have an idea.

Cornerback Josh Wilson 's game-ending interception and touchdown return was the coup de grace in the Ravens' overtime victory Monday night, but the player who consistently put the Houston Texans in peril was punter Sam Koch . It was Koch's soaring 58-yard punt — along with a 3-yard loss by Houston returner Jacoby Jones — that pinned the Texans on their 9-yard line in overtime and set the stage for Wilson's dramatic interception two...

When the Ravens and San Francisco 49ers meet in Super XLVII on Feb. 3, Sam Koch will get a chance to match his punting skills with one of the top punters in the NFL. Andy Lee is a three-time Pro Bowler who ranks first in 49ers history in punts (790), yards (36,295), gross average (45.9 yards) and net average (39.2). In the regular season, he led the NFL with a 43.2 net average and ranked third with 36 punts inside the 20-yard line. Koch, no wallflower himself with a career-high and franchise-record 47.1-yard gross average and a career-best 40.8-yard net average, has admired Lee's accomplishments from a distance.

Quarterback Joe Flacco is getting the credit that he deserves for leading the Ravens throughout the playoffs and then to a victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. It will be interesting if Ravens coach John Harbaugh gets his. Aside from a curious fake field goal try on 4 th -and-9 in the second quarter, Harbaugh had a near perfect week. From the moment he arrived in New Orleans, he did and said all the right things and set the tone for his team. He was relaxed, patient and accommodating, establishing a far different presence than his brother.

When the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001 and Ray Lewis, as MVP, got a new SUV, he didn't want just a plain, ordinary one. He wanted icing on that cake. So Lewis took his prize to the Belair Road body shop that has become the go-to place for Baltimore notables to trick their rides. No Limit turned that burgundy GMC Denali white, embroidered the names of Lewis' children onto the head rests and made it so when the famously devout defenseman popped the hatch, a light would come on, showing off the Lord's Prayer inscribed inside.

He was a mighty presence when the Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV, a warrior who busted a wedge to make the first tackle that day and went on to make four more. If current coach John Harbaugh is to be believed, even then he was the toughest man in football. Today O.J. Brigance has limbs that hang limp, his muscles withered. He can move only his lips and eyes and must use a computer to speak. The team's director of player engagement is in his fifth year of battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a lethal and incurable illness.

When the Ravens and San Francisco 49ers meet in Super XLVII on Feb. 3, Sam Koch will get a chance to match his punting skills with one of the top punters in the NFL. Andy Lee is a three-time Pro Bowler who ranks first in 49ers history in punts (790), yards (36,295), gross average (45.9 yards) and net average (39.2). In the regular season, he led the NFL with a 43.2 net average and ranked third with 36 punts inside the 20-yard line. Koch, no wallflower himself with a career-high and franchise-record 47.1-yard gross average and a career-best 40.8-yard net average, has admired Lee's accomplishments from a distance.

His memory is a bit hazy, but Sam Koch remembers watching his first Super Bowl in his family's home in Nebraska and being entranced by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana. So while sitting down for either Super Bowl XXIII in January 1989 or XXIV the following year, Koch discovered what he wanted to do when he was older. "I always wanted to play football and my goal was to make it to the NFL," he said. "I didn't know whether it would be as a punter or what. At that point, I really didn't have an idea.

The thrill of Saturday's 38-35 double-overtime win against the Denver Broncos in the AFC divisional round swept up Ravens players and coaches alike. But when the euphoria had dissipated, members of the special teams unit were left with another emotion: anger. That's not a surprise considering that Trindon Holliday had become the first player in NFL history to return a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in a playoff game. The players who man the coverage units are aware of how fortunate they were to escape Denver with a victory.

Eighteen NFL stadiums still feature natural grass, and one of those stadiums is Heinz Field, the site of Sunday night's showdown between the Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. With a projected low of 35 degrees Sunday night, punter Sam Koch is hopeful that the above-freezing temperatures will keep the grass inside Heinz Field soft enough to kill punts inside the 20. “When you watched [Monday] night with Kansas City, some of their punts when they hit the ground, they landed soft,” Koch said.

Standing a few inches from the back of the Ravens' end zone Thursday night, punter Sam Koch looked the football into his waiting hands before calmly booting a towering punt across midfield. The 59-yard punt wasn't a particularly memorable play in the Ravens' 31-17 preseason loss to the St. Louis Rams. But his leg strength, mechanics and poise in the face of an incoming rush were just what the Ravens have come to expect from the former Pro Bowl alternate. "Every year, he makes improvement," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.

- Ultimately, it was a special teams play that lifted the Ravens into the AFC championship game. For much of Saturday's 38-35 double-overtime win over the Denver Broncos, however, it appeared that special teams would be the Ravens' downfall. The Broncos' 5-foot-5 Trindon Holliday became the first player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the same postseason game. He also set NFL records for the longest kickoff return (104) and punt return (90) in postseason history.

Each week, Baltimore Sun reporters Aaron Wilson and Matt Vensel look back at the Ravens' previous game and that of their next opponent Broncos 34, Ravens 17 Strategy: It was an underwhelming debut for new offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell. His attempt to revive the no-huddle offense, utilizing it on 36 of 62 snaps, was foiled by quarterback Joe Flacco's costly turnovers and a running game overwhelmed by an athletic Broncos front seven. The Ravens used the shotgun formation 40 times, perhaps at the expense of power I-formation football.