Ugly Ravens Wins

The Ravens won an ugly game Sunday.

How ugly? I went through all 204 games the Ravens played since 2000 to make this list, and was only able to come up with 14 nominations that combined winning, versus a bad (or injured) team, by a close margin, with notable help from the opponent.

Here is my list of the 5 ugliest Ravens? wins in that period:

1. Ravens 9, Chiefs 6 10/7/12: The Ravens Allowed 214 yards rushing to the Chiefs on 50 carries, but the Chiefs would turn the ball over 4 times and the Ravens would benefit from an offensive pass interference penalty that negated the TD which would have given the Chiefs? their first lead to protect all season.

2. Ravens 9, 49ers 7 10/7/07: The Ravens traveled west for a forgettable encounter with the Trent-Dilfer-led 49ers. They survived a late FG miss by Joe Nedney and had a 17-play drive that covered all of 43 yards, ending in a punt, but also 8:26 in defense of their 2-point lead. The 49ers would finish 5-11.

3. Ravens 13, Steelers 10 12/28/03: In an ill-advised attempt to get Jamal Lewis the NFL rushing record, the Ravens went to overtime in an otherwise meaningless game. The Steelers turned the ball over 5 times and scored their only TD on a fake punt. The Ravens would lose at home to Tennessee in the Wild Card game 6 days later.

4. Ravens 26, Cardinals 23 9/23/07: The Cardinals scored 17 4th-quarter points to wipe out a 23-6 Ravens? lead with Kurt Warner completing 15/20 258 yards, 2/0 TD/INT in relief of Leinart. Matt Stover would bail out the Ravens with a 46-yard, game-winning FG as time expired.

5. Ravens 13, Steelers 10 11/18/12: Leftwich played through broken ribs suffered when falling untouched on his own TD run. Wallace mailed in his effort and contributed a fumble among the Steelers? 3 turnovers.

The last entry is the only one against a team with a winning record, but that may change.

For individual defensive notes including an accounting of all 28 pass rush attempts by Paul Kruger, please visit:

http://russellstreetreport.com/author/ken_mckusick/