The team needed help to get to nationals. That's when Chad Johnson stepped in.

Brigade quarterback Shane Carden and defensive back Varmah Sonie were named Arena Football League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for

Mike Wallace was already feeling pretty comfortable. He had started building relationships with teammates l

In an unrivaled third act with the 4-2 Arizona Cardinals, whom the Ravens face on Monday Night Football, Carson Palmer is looking much more like the quarterback who gave them fits through the late-2000s than the one who as recently as three years ago looked to be playing himself out of the NFL.

Helping Andy Dalton is the first order of business for Hue Jackson, the former Ravens quarterbacks coach.

Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis taking similar approach to Ozzie Newsome's moves while he was defensive coordinator in Baltimore

Now Torrey Smith is justifying that faith through his emergence as one of the best young receivers in the game heading into Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. For an offense that lost Boldin, tight end Dennis Pitta to a serious hip injury and has a dormant running game, Smith has become indispensable as the lone constant threat.

The Ravens will continue to monitor the free agent market, but their primary focus is on evaluating the wide receivers currently on the roster and giving them every opportunity to prove themselves.

Jacoby Jones has been back cutting and catching balls on the practice fields for the Ravens, a week after he Cha-Cha-ed and waltzed his way to a third-place finish in the latest season of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

I couldn't help but notice a couple of trends with the Ravens' four offseason additions. First, the Ravens signed four players who were cut by other teams this past offseason. Second, these players seemed to have picked the Ravens for a reason: They want to win a Lombardi Trophy. Sound familiar? That's how the New England Patriots have operated this past decade.

Carson Palmer is a couple of years older and is no longer throwing to Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh in their prime. But as the Ravens prepare for Sunday's game against Palmer and the Oakland Raiders, the bad memories have come rushing back for some Ravens.

When the New England Patriots offense first took the field against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, they did so without their leading receiver from their previous five seasons. But Wes Welker wasn't injured. He stood on the sideline as Julian Edelman took his place as the team¿s starting wide receiver opposite Brandon Lloyd.

Chad Ochocinco was cut by the New England Patriots on Thursday. Since there is always a small sector of the fan base who clamors for over-the-hill, me-first wide receivers (see Terrell Owens and Randy Moss), let's go ahead and shoot down any speculation: The Baltimore Ravens aren't going to make a play for the Twitter-happy wideout.

Meet the Recruit: Terps running back commitment Wes Brown

Veteran safety Ed Reed doesn't take questions, while center Matt Birk says he's undecided on retirement

If you can't make it to Foxborough, grab some friends and this drinking game to make Sunday's AFC Championship Game a little more interesting.

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas is preparing to shield his quarterback, Colt McCoy, from a Ravens defense that sacked San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith nine times in a 16-6 win on Thanksgiving night.

Ed Reed is rooting for Ochocinco

The new-look Bengals look to continue giving the Ravens fits Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Rookies Andy Dalton and A.J. Green and an overhauled defense have turned Cincinnati into a surprising contender.

Carson Palmer will be a hot commodity on the waiver wire this week after the Cincinnati Bengals traded him to the Oakland Raiders for a pair of high draft picks. I can't imagine someone in your fantasy league already has him on his or her roster -- unless you're in a league with Mike Brown, who finally made a deal Tuesday.

The first-place Ravens are one of six AFC teams with a 3-1 record as they enter their bye week, and their active roster will be deeper should Ben Grubbs, Lee Evans and Jimmy Smith be rested and ready to return. So where do the Ravens rank in the NFL¿s balance of power?

In early August, when I released my monthly power rankings at the start of the preseason, some of you said it was too early to gauge how the NFL's 32 stack up against each other. Too early for power rankings? Psssh. A little premature speculation has never hurt anyone. After all, it's just that -- speculation and nothing tangible.

With trades in consecutive offseasons, the Ravens have given Joe Flacco a formidable receiving tandem in Anquan Boldin and Lee Evans.

Scouts Inc. has completed its grading of every player in the NFL, and they released the list of the top 200 players in the NFL on Tuesday. I know we have actually football games to discuss now -- trust me, I really am happy about that -- but I figured some of you would be interested to see where the folks at ESPN have ranked the top Ravens players on their list.

Let's jump in the time machine and flash back in time to the early 2000s when Tom Cruise wasn't a known crazy person, "Freedom Fries" were an innovation in redneck culinary circles and men under the age of 40 wearing visors in public was considered to be socially acceptable. Thanks to Al Gore's Internet invention, fantasy football was starting to blow up -- and we were advised to select running backs with our first 13 or so picks.

It was a wild, wacky weekend in the world of American pro sports with NFL free agency hitting full swing on Friday and Major League Baseball¿s annual non-waiver trade deadline passing on Sunday afternoon. Things were relatively quiet in Baltimore, though.

The Orioles, who got a short outing from starter Chris Jakubauskas and another punchless performance by the offense, are a season-high seven games under .500 after a 5-1 loss to the Cardinals. ... Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail touched base with J.J. Hardy's agent this week to begin talks about a potential contract extension for the hot-hitting shortstop. ... The inability of the Baltimore rotation to go deep into games led to the release of reliever Clay Rapada on Wednesday. ... All signs point to the NFL and players inching closer to a labor agreement that would not only save the season but keep training camps and exhibition games intact. ... Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom won't race again this season.

The start of summer means more barbecues, weddings and trips to the beach, which is probably a good thing considering that the most barren stretch on the sports calendar runs from late June until the start of NFL training camps. And it¿s even worse this year because there is no timetable for two-a-days to begin.

Jeremy Guthrie allowed six runs Tuesday night and the Orioles couldn't dig out of that early hole in a 9-3 loss to the Pirates. ... Second baseman Brian Roberts was not cleared to begin baseball activities during his third appointment with a concussion specialist, a development that pushes back his return until after the All-Star break. ... Orioles pitching prospect Dan Klein has been diagnosed with a shoulder injury that won't require surgery but could end his season. ... Ravens safety Ed Reed still isn't "100 percent" healthy. ... The next time NFL owners meet over labor, there is hope it will be to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement with the players.

Bengals wideout Chad Ochocinco went through with his promise to try professional bull riding on Saturday, earning $10,000, which he will donate to charity, for lasting 1.5 seconds on the back of a bull. If you cheered when Ray Lewis jacked up Ochocinco a couple of years ago, you will probably enjoy this video

Once again, it's been an interesting offseason for Chad Ochocinco, who is making the most of the NFL lockout by doing his untelevised take on "Shaq Vs." He played soccer with Sporting Kansas City. He is doing the bull riding thing this weekend. And he claims he wants to get in the ring with Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski, who said that he would consider taking time out of his busy boxing schedule to slap around Ochocinco for charity.

Chad Ochocinco was unsuccessful in his attempt to crack the roster of MLS soccer squad Sporting Kansas City, who evaluated the Bengals wide receiver in a week-long tryout. He wasn't offered a contract, but today he was named an "honorary member" of the team by coach Peter Vermes.

Now that he has a little free time on his hands, Chad Ochocinco is attempting to make the jump from professional football to professional futbol. Next week, the outspoken Bengals wide receiver will get a four-day tryout with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer.

Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski and Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco both appeared on "The Afternoon Saloon" on ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago yesterday, and they engaged in a little friendly trash talk over the possibility of a charity boxing match between the AFC North rivals.

Top pitching prospect Zach Britton threw three shutout innings Monday night as the Orioles and Yankees played to a scoreless tie. ... The Orioles relaxed their facial hair policy. ... Maryland sophomore center Jordan Williams was selected to the ACC's first team. ... Willis McGahee's agent expects the Ravens to trade or release the veteran running back. ... Sergio Kindle's court case for driving under the influence has been postponed. ... Alex Ovechkin scored in a shootout to give the first-place Capitals a 2-1 victory over Lightning. ... His contract up, Towson men's basketball coach Pat Kennedy stepped down.