Dear Baltimore....

To the Football Fans in Charm City-

I wonder if the names Cam Cameron and Joe Flacco will ever adorn the roster of Super Bowl winning coaches and QB's? After last night I would not hold my breath. It's easy to react with some concern Dear Baltimore about how your defense let the Texans storm back with touchdown drives of 91 and 99 yards in the 4th quarter, plus make a 2 point conversion to tie the game and force an extra period. Let's also remember it was a pick 6 in OT that gave the win to the Ravens, not superb play from the offense in the 5th quarter. Both sides of the ball can cement a win and with under 5 mins to go, championship offenses squeeze the air out of the ball, grind out 1st downs, force competing defenses to burn time-outs and in effect use offense as defense and grab the "W". The Ravens could not do that last night and paid the price- almost. The old adage says "Defense wins Championships" and the Ravens Super Bowl win of 2000 was largely a function of that mantra. Perhaps though it was also better coaching, tailoring game plans to the skill sets of players and putting a QB (Trent Dilfer) in a position to not lose games as much as win them. However dear fans of the Ravens ,you were told that this QB was different, and for the most part he has been, but last week in the dying seconds against the Steelers and last night when he and Coach Cameron could have salted it away- they failed to deliver. Baltimore.,I am somewhat in your camp this playoff season, I can Ace of Cakes with the best of them.... but not if you continue to play to lose.