For the Ravens to upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular-season finale at Heinz Field tomorrow, Baltimore's offensive line must continue to protect Jeff Blake. He has been dropped just twice in the past two games, but in that same span Pittsburgh's 3-4 scheme has notched 12 quarterback sacks.
"Jeff had adequate protection the last time we played them," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "Even with the game out of reach, when [the Steelers] can normally turn it loose, we protected pretty well."
Pittsburgh recorded just one sack in its 31-18 win at Ravens Stadium Oct. 27. That game marked the official end of the Edwin Mulitalo experiment, which had tested the veteran at right tackle. Against the Steelers, he returned to left guard for good, and Ethan Brooks got the first of his nine straight starts at right tackle.
"The consistency of being together, that figures a lot into an offensive line that plays well against the pass rush," Mulitalo said. "When you're involved in an aspect of the game that involves always switching assignments, chemistry has a lot to do with it.
Billick said that Brooks, a free agent acquisition, has given the Ravens more freedom than expected.
"I'll give Ethan this," Billick said. "At no point during the season did we really have to say, 'Let's keep the back in, [or] put the tight end over there.' We've done that before. Ethan has played well that way, in that we haven't had to bring that kind of focus to it."
Recognizing and completing assignments will be crucial tomorrow.
"Pittsburgh runs three different defenses," Mulitalo said. "They bring the backers in and bring the safety down to confuse [offensive line] calls. Different teams, maybe they don't see it and pick that up. You see who's getting in the backfield - [Kendrell] Bell, [Jason] Gildon, [Joey] Porter - because they're coming in free. If we can stop that, we'll be all right."
Maddox upgraded
Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox (ankle) was upgraded from questionable (50-50) to probable on the injury report, but the Ravens don't consider the preparation they put into facing the more mobile Kordell Stewart a waste of time.
"We still have to be ready for both quarterbacks because they're different in nature," Billick said. "We kind of assumed that Maddox would be there, but we've got to be ready for what Kordell brings to the package, as well."
Tight end Terry Jones Jr. (thigh) was added to the Ravens' injury report. He was listed as questionable.
A little too late
NFL headquarters has apparently agreed with the Ravens, who disputed a controversial non-call on what appeared to be a grab of Jamal Lewis' face mask in the fourth quarter against the Browns. If the call had been made, the Ravens would have been able to run out the clock and been 8-7 instead of 7-8.
"The league has communicated with us," Billick said. "I'm prohibited from saying what the outcome is, obviously, but they saw it for what it was, and they've made the correction."
Was an apology forwarded?
"Hope it doesn't cost you too much," Billick said.
Punting highlights
Two rookies will figure prominently in the Ravens' punting game.
Dave Zastudil, a fourth-round draft choice out of Ohio University, has a run-of-the-mill net average of 33.7 yards, but leads the NFL in punts that conclude inside the 20-yard line, with 30. The Steelers' Antwaan Randle El is averaging 6.9 yards per return.