PITTSBURGH -- If the Ravens are smart, they will re-sign quarterback Jeff Blake in the offseason. It shouldn't be a blockbuster deal, for one or two seasons and loaded with incentives. There should be no guarantees, just open up the competition between Blake and Chris Redman for No. 1.
Bringing back Blake, an unrestricted free agent, is about as popular as another snowstorm in Baltimore this morning. He's No. 1 on everyone's Most Wanted List because he threw two interceptions that halted potential scoring drives yesterday.
The final one came with 14 seconds left in the game as Blake underthrew receiver Randy Hymes into double coverage in the back of the end zone, and the pass was intercepted by cornerback Dewayne Washington, as the Pittsburgh Steelers held on for a 34-31 victory.
Was it a dumb play? Absolutely. Blake is guilty of the unpardonable quarterback sin: stupidity under pressure.
He just should have thrown it out of the end zone, setting the stage for Matt Stover to try to convert on a 28-yard field goal that would have sent the game into overtime. But remember, the Ravens aren't about wins and losses this year.
They are about finding players.
And over the past three weeks, Blake has performed well enough to win. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns against one of the best defenses, and in one of the toughest stadiums to play in the league.
He deserves another shot to earn the starting job again.
Now, don't get me wrong.
We're not talking Brett Favre here. Blake is frustrating to watch at times. Fred Astaire, he ain't. There is a lot of Tony Banks and Vinny Testaverde blood pumping through those veins.
But the NFL isn't about blue-blood quarterbacks anymore. Tom Brady won the Super Bowl for New England last season. Kerry Collins has the New York Giants in the playoffs again. Jay Fielder almost put Miami in the postseason.
It's about structure, and Billick has to put Blake in the box, so to speak, just like he did with Redman and Trent Dilfer. It worked the previous two weeks before the more wide-open approach against Pittsburgh yesterday.
Blake wants to be here next season.
"I like everything about coming back here next year," Blake said, "but we all know this is the NFL, and you never know what is going to happen. I've been through this four times already. You go out and play well or play decent, then you're on someone else's team next year. I'm going to take it one day at a time.
"Look at our last five games and you see the growth in our offense. To put up 31 points at their house and late in December, well, that tells you about the talent we have. We've got to keep striving."
There has been speculation that the Ravens will hit the free-agent market. But if St. Louis' Kurt Warner becomes a free agent, he is going to cost a fortune. Arizona's Jake Plummer is going to command some big bucks, too. Pittsburgh's Kordell Stewart might be cheaper, but is he really any better than Blake?
No.
What this team needs to do is bring back both Redman (if his back is completely healthy, but keep an eye on that situation) and Blake. They are both leaders in their own ways and both have the respect of their teammates. Redman will be a restricted free agent, which means the Ravens will retain him for a reasonable price, and they should get Blake with a decent offer as well.
Load him down with incentives. He knows that this team has a great future, and if he wants to be a part of it, fine. If not, Arizona has an opening. If Redman beats him out, then you have your quarterback of the future and a solid backup. If not, the Ravens are still good enough to win with Blake in the second year of the rebuilding process.
The carousel at quarterback has to stop. Eight in four years is enough.
Blake carries excessive baggage. Some people say once a Cincinnati Bungle, always a Bungle. He gave his critics more ammunition yesterday. He threw into double coverage twice, the first time on an alley-oop pass (the best passing play in the Ravens' offense) to tight end Todd Heap in the right corner of the end zone with 10:08 left in the first quarter.
And then he did it again, to Hymes, who had Washington in front of him and safety Lee Flowers behind him. If Blake was really fortunate, the roughing the passer call that put him down for a couple of seconds on the play before might have caused double vision so he would have seen four players around Hymes instead of two.
"Sometimes you take a shot, sometimes it doesn't work out," said Ravens coach Brian Billick. "But if you're too cautious, too careful about everything you do, then you don't belong in this business. No, I don't want him to throw an interception and he'd probably like to have it back. But you take your shots, take your chances, and you win when you win, and you lose when you lose."
Huh?
Billick was just starting to get on one of his rambling, babbling, cynical, emotional rolls. In other words, he was about to flip out.
"When you're at where we're at, hell, you take a shot," Billick said. "You guys get on the radio tomorrow, don't rip Jeff, don't rip [offensive coordinator] Matt Cavanaugh. That was my call. You rip me for taking a shot on a 7-8 football team instead of just ... saying, 'Whoa, baby, I don't want to do this, let's kick a field goal and hope things work out.' "
OK then, it was stupid. Why not throw it up to Heap instead of Hymes, who played quarterback at Grambling a year ago? Didn't Troy Aikman throw to Michael Irvin and didn't Steve Young throw to Jerry Rice in those situations?
Anyway, you can't lay the blame solely on anyone. Right offensive tackle Ethan Brooks had problems again yesterday, and constantly whining cornerback Chris McAlister got slapped into next week by Hines Ward on Ward's 23-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.
And if the Ravens' Chester Taylor hadn't fumbled the kickoff that eventually led to Pittsburgh's winning touchdown with 2:38 left in the game, there wouldn't be any conversations about Blake.
Before yesterday, Blake had completed 34 of 58 passes for 371 yards and only one interception in the Ravens' previous two games, which were also their best back-to-back offensive games of the year.
Is he the answer? Who knows?
But a quarterback battle between two players familiar with the offense is better than starting all over again with another nomad.