The statistic is not made readily available by the NFL.

Ravens coach Brian Billick suspects, though, any team that blocks a punt and returns it for a touchdown during a game has an exceedingly high chance of winning. Billick, whose Ravens have blocked punts in consecutive games and won both essentially because of that, can use his team as Exhibit A.

"I don't think there is another turnover in the game that is as dramatic or affects a team more than a blocked punt," Billick said. "I don't know what the numbers are that tell you the team that blocks a punt and takes it in for a score, the percentage they win the game. My guess is, it's pretty overwhelming because there is no other turnover in the game that is as dramatic. It shakes you at the core."

Such a statement might normally be seen as hyperbole, but with the Ravens the last two games, it is correct. It is plausible the Ravens could have lost both games if not for the blocks.

Ed Reed blocked a punt and returned it 11 yards for the only touchdown in the Ravens' 13-12 win over the Tennessee Titans 2 1/2 weeks ago. The score, which came at the end of the Titans' opening possession, put Tennessee in a hole it was unable to get out of; the Titans trailed throughout.

Chad Williams' block, which was returned 22 yards for a touchdown by Ron Johnson in Sunday's 27-23 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, gave his team life early in the fourth quarter, trimming a nine-point deficit to two. The offense was having little success beforehand, but the play deflated the Bengals, who committed a turnvover on their ensuing possession, and inflated the Ravens, who scored on Jeff Blake's touchdown pass after that.

Punt blocks alone are rare (only 15 have occurred this season), and touchdowns afterward are even more infrequent. The Ravens had not blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown in any of their previous six seasons.

Now, players are talking big.

"You never know who is going to get the block," Reed said. And special teams coordinator Gary Zauner is thinking the same.

"Eventually, you will see somebody else block one," Zauner said. "That's what I've been preaching all year long, to be patient. Even though we weren't blocking, the pressure of the block would set up the return. We kept the same package all year. Ed has a knack for blocking punts. We talked about somebody else coming up and doing it since they were keying on Ed, and Chad blocked one."

Such talk was not heard in the preceding years, mostly because the Ravens rarely went after the punter. Zauner, in his first year with the Ravens after eight years of holding a similar position with the Minnesota Vikings, was instrumental in the change.

Zauner believes in pressuring punters, forcing them out of their comfort level even at the expense of setting up a return. It was a belief rarely put into practice during his years in Minnesota.

"Brian and I agreed that we would be more aggressive this year coming in, and I was fortunate enough to have Ed Reed and several guys on the team that were good at blocking punts," Zauner said. "And it shouldn't change if we are young, .500 or however you want to put it.

"As a coach, high school, college, I've always blocked a lot of punts. But for whatever reason, [former Minnesota coach] Denny Green didn't want to do it, so you do what the head coach lets you do. Brian said we needed to make plays, I said this is what we need to do, and we're making plays.

"I don't think I would have come here if my hands were going to be tied as far as being conservative. To me, that's not fun coaching. Brian has given me the ability to do what I want to do, and I've always been very creative."

The Ravens, with a team full of first-year starters and an offense in need of manufactured points, seem to be in a perfect season for such creativity.

"In fairness, [Minnesota] had some pretty good teams there, so those types of things weren't necessarily needed," Billick said. "The last couple of years, if Gary had been here, he might have been equally frustrated because I don't know if we would have done quite as much because we had the resources to dominate the game of field position elsewhere. But this year, clearly, that was the way it was going to have to be.

"The good news is, having developed that kind of mind-set and the fundamentals that go with it, as we improve and add assets to the offensive and defensive side of the ball, you throw in that special teams as well, it's a plus."

Next for Ravens

Matchup:Ravens (6-6) vs. New Orleans Saints (8-4)

Site:Ravens Stadium

When:Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

TV/Radio:Ch. 45/WJFK (1300 AM), WQSR (102.7 FM)

Line:Off the board

SunSpot:For more coverage, visit sunspot.net/ravens