Pretty impressive accomplishment:  Head Coach and QB, first 2 years in the league, make the playoffs both years.  In fact, it’s never happened before with that combo. And another great accomplishment, the Maryland Lottery’s Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-off, a huge success in its first year of action. And guess what, the post-season is here for both, with plenty of winning still to do. The Ravens head back to New England, where they were nearly the one team to win this year, losing a tough ballgame 27-21, when they couldn’t convert late. The Patriots were 8-0 at home this season, but made the mistake of not resting up for the playoffs, and it cost them with a key injury to one of their best players. The Ravens, if they can run the football, have a real chance to win and advance. The defense is playing better, and won’t be easy to score on. Now, of course, is your chance to win! The Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-off is still going strong. Make sure to keep playing. There's still a million dollar top prize out there and you can use those Extra Yards for a chance to win skybox tickets for 2010 home games, season tickets for 2010 and season tickets for life.

We're in the most crucial part of the season. The Ravens are closing in on the playoff race as the 6th seed wildcard for the AFC, and there were a few specials fans that were able to see exactly how we prepare to win the most important games on the schedule. A few lucky fans saved up their cash fantasy yards, entered for the Ravens Cash Fantasy VIP Practice Experience, and won a trip to be a VIP guest of "The Castle".

As the guests drove up, the nickname of the facility revealed its birth. The facility is enormous, robust and beautiful with a castle like exterior. The VIP guests were escorted past the guards into the Wall of Fame to see pictures of Ravens greats, past and present. The VIP's are then shown the most precious possession of the Facility, the Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl 35. Each VIP guest was allowed to revel in and photograph the event.

After an extensive tour of the fields, the weight room, the training room and everywhere the players inhabit for 6 months of the year, they are allowed to watch practice. The VIP's were right in the action of the individual, position, 7-on-7 drills, and finally "Live" action with this week's game plan in mind!

After a hard-hitting, exciting practice, the VIP's were asked to eat lunch in the facility's cafeteria, and this is no Semi-cooked pizza square and hashbrown lunch of your old elementary school cafeteria days. These players eat like Kings at their Castle, in order to stay in supreme shape for the season of strain on their body's like nothing other than NFL Football can apply.

The VIP's were then able to have a personal Q&A with head coach John Harbaugh and pro bowl running back Ray Rice. They were able to shake their hands, ask a quick question or two into the minds of the leader of this battling crew, and one of the warriors. It was by no doubt in everyone's mind, the experience of a lifetime.

So now the Ravens will look to advance to the playoffs and fight like the underdogs they always are, to continue to win throughout the post season! They will build in the off-season, be extremely active in the Free-Agent Market, the draft and will get better for next year. Luckily for the supreme fans that missed the Ravens VIP Experience, there is still one more drawing of equal importance, if not better, with SEASON TICKETS FOR LIFE!!

The Ravens still have a chance to win and so do you!

First, the Ravens. As disappointing as the loss was in Pittsburgh, they still control their own destiny. All they have to  do is win in Oakland, and they're in the playoffs.  And if the Jets lose to the Bengals-and Cincinnati is playing for the  third seed-then the Ravens would be the 5 seed overall.  All that doesn't excuse the mental mistakes they made in Pittsburgh, but there were some positives coming out of that game. The offense rushed for 175 yards, and that was huge. The defense held the Steelers to just 23 points, and with a depleted secondary, that was an accomplishment. Now, they have to finish the season strong.

Speaking of which, if you play the Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-Off game, you can finish strong too! Make sure to play those Extra Yards for a chance to win some great Ravens Fantasy Prizes, including season tickets for kife, 2010 season tickets and skybox tickets, autographed footballs and photos and more.

Have fun and Happy Holidays!

I first have to admit that I am indeed addicted to Facebook!! I love that you can keep in touch with distant friends, or even see what your local friends are up to on a daily basis. I love getting updates from professional players on how they felt their games went, their performance, and sometimes their routines on game day or on their off days! For this same reason, I am a big fan of Twitter as well! I think these social networking sites are the best way to keep a pulse of what's going on with the people in your world! 

You can even follow my thoughts on Twitter.com/SportsChick, including past tweets when I was on the sidelines as well as my current tweets.  In addition  to following players, celebrities and myself on Twitter...you can get updates from your interests, hobbies and likes on Facebook. 

I am a fan of the Adam Jones Facebook Page, Regi's American Bistro in Federal Hill, and the Maryland Lottery Facebook Page. Through Facebook and Twitter (www.Twitter.com/mdlottery) the Lottery keeps me updated on all scratch-offs, the Mega Millions jackpot, and even gives you the chance to be the Maryland Lottery's FANatic of the week! Every week the Lottery picks a FANatic who is an extreme Ravens fan and a Ravens Cash fantasy Fan...who is then entered in to win a VIP Ravens Fantasy Prize pack!  

All your favorite Lottery games are detailed and updated on the Facebook page - from Livin' Lucky to my obvious favorite, Ravens Cash Fantasy. If you check out the page today, you can see that the $1,000,000 prize is STILL OUT THERE for the Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-off, as well as Seats for Life! 

So get plugged in, check us out on your favorite networking site—either Facebook or Twitter—and Let Yourself Play with the Maryland Lottery!!

I want to talk about winning in December whether you play on the field or the Maryland Lottery Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-Off game. We're in the final stretch of the Ravens season and yes, I think the playoffs are still a decent possibility.  The Ravens sit here at 7-6, and they have to run the table, something they can do.  

Games against 2 bad teams, and a must win in Pittsburgh, a slumping team.  So if the Ravens get to 10-6, I think they can still get in.  Jacksonville is 7-6, but they have tough games left against Indy and New England, plus a gimme vs.the Browns.  The Jags could easily go 9-7 or worse.  The Broncos are 8-5. They have a tough game in Philly. If they lose that, and win their games against Oakland and KC, they're 10-6.  The Ravens beat the Broncos, so they win the tiebreaker. Voila, if the Ravens win 3 straight, and get past one of these teams, they're in the playoffs. Of course, they need to watch out for the Jets or Miami, the 7-6 teams running the table. We'll worry about that later.

Regarding the Maryland Lottery Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-Off, this is your playoff time too! There are still plenty of great prizes available: season tickets for 2010, season tickets for life, and even one million dollars. Remember to use those extra yards on the bottom of the ticket and give it a go.  Just like an NFL season, it can be a little bit of a roller coaster ride, but the excitement of winning is a great feeling.

While the Ravens were able to avenge the three loses to the Pittsburgh Steelers last year, some fans would have liked nothing more than to have beaten the undefeated Indianapolis Colts in Baltimore the prior week. There's heartbreak from the Colts present in every Ravens fan to one degree or another. And it’s always a great feeling to beat the best.

The Ravens fans who were at M&T Bank Stadium for the Indy game cheered their hearts out, and the team almost eked one out to stop the Colts’ undefeated season.

Just ask Jim Magee of Westminster many friends and family that won the Raven Cash Fantasy Suite Experience! They not only saw a top notch game, they watched it in style as the winners of a skybox at M&T Bank Stadium to watch the Ravens take on the Colts on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Jim had been collecting yards from the Ravens scratch-off tickets just like the rest of us. He had played the scratch offs here and there, never expecting to win the Suite experience! He saved up his yards and before the raffle, entered his yards into the drawing for the Colts Suite experience. Jim got a call at work from his wife and she had told him to call the Maryland Lottery ASAP!! He called the Maryland Lottery and they told him he won the Suite Experience for him, his entire family and a bunch of his friends! He couldn¹t believe it and had never thought he would win, but was obviously ecstatic! Jim is a huge Ravens fan and loves playing the Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch Off! He really only played to win the instant cash prizes, but was really excited to learn about the extra yards section of the ticket. He added enough yards up to submit one entry and won!!

The game was a heartbreaker but it was the experience of a lifetime for Jim, his family and friends! They were treated like celebrities in their suite with tons of great food, drinks and fun!

Although the game didn¹t turn out in the Ravens favor, Jim and his family had an amazing experience with the Ravens Cash Fantasy Suite Experience. Keep scratching and keep collecting your yards! There are still some amazing experiences to win!!

It's almost that time of the week again…Sunday is on the horizon and for Ravens fans, THIS Sunday could mean it all for the AFC North Championship! The Bengals came in and snuck a victory from us at M&T and now it's payback time!! Cincinnati players are tweeting and blogging their confidence in a Bengal victory. But the Ravens are coming off a huge win over the previously undefeated Broncos. That  momentum and avenging their home loss to the Bengals, should get our boys a win!
 
We can talk about the strategy and what we think the keys to the game should be: shut down the passing game; stop the backs from gaining another 100 yards; pressure on the QB...but wouldn't it be great to REALLY know the keys to the game? Wouldn't it be incredible to line up with the coaches and watch them prepare plays to free up Ravens receivers, bust holes for our multi-purpose backfield and send our tight ends across the middle? Well thanks to the Maryland Lottery Ravens Cash Fantasy you just may be able to do that!!
 
Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-Off is allowing a lucky winner to go on a Ravens VIP Experience at Practice! If you've been using the "Extra Yards" from the Ravens Cash Fantasy Scratch-Offs, then you have been accumulating yards. Here is the time to put them in the Ravens VIP Practice drawing! You will be able to take a trip up to the Ravens training facility in Owings Mills. Driving up to the complex, it looks like a castle. You will be escorted into the building and pass through the walls of pictures of all the Ravens greats of present and past ¾ including the Lombardi Trophy from the Ravens first World Championship from the 2000 season. They will bring you through the indoor facility field where the Ravens re-create the screaming fans of their next opponent. You will then step onto the outdoor fields where the real fun begins!
 
You will be right in the action when the players warm up, and do individual drills. You can be on the sidelines to see spectacular footwork and route running. You will see NFL QBs thread the needle. You can watch the jaw-dropping acceleration of our offensive stars from just a few feet away. You can see the tenacity of our linebackers from start to finish ¾ on every play and whistle of every minute of practice!
 
After the players are warmed up and ready to start...watch them work through individual drills...7-on-7...and then LIVE...where the real hitting begins and the players start the trash talking while running full-speed plays!
 
You can watch it all and be a TRUE Ravens fan and understand the ins and outs of what the coaches and players go through. So collect your yards and put them in the drawing for the Ravens VIP Experience at Practice for the experience of a lifetime that you can tell your friends and family about for decades!!!

So here we are, coming off the bye, headed for the home stretch. For the Ravens coaches and players, the key to the bye week: assess your strengths and weaknesses, refocus your energies and map out a strategy for the home stretch. The same can be said for the players of the Ravens Cash Fantasy scratch-off. You've started to accumulate your extra yards, but now you've got to evaluate what your game plan is going forward.

As you continue to buy the scratch-offs and amass yards, do you play for skybox tickets, season tickets for life, a trip with the team to Pittsburgh? Or maybe a game-worn jersey or signed football? 

You see, with all these great prizes, there's a strategy to this — determining which prize or prizes you want to allocate your resources (extra yards) toward. It's kind of like the draft...do you trade away some picks to move up in the first round, or do you trade back and get some extra picks? The bigger the reward, the more extra yards you give up, the better the potential payoff.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

One of the great prizes being given away in the Ravens Cash Fantasy scratch off is a trip on the team plane to the Ravens-Steelers game in Pittsburgh. You want to talk about a once-in-a-lifetime experience — this is it! The chance to go with the players, stay in the team hotel and then attend the game.

I’m not sure how many of you have been to a Ravens-Steelers game in Pittsburgh, but it is intense. This has turned into a great rivalry, one of the better ones in the NFL, especially when you consider the Ravens have only been around since 1996 and didn’t become a playoff team until 2000. They may not have the longevity of a rivalry like the Cowboys and Redskins, but how often have those games meant something over the last decade? Just about every time the Ravens and Steelers meet late in the year, there’s something on the line.

To me, there are a few criteria that have to be met to be a good rivalry:

• First, the two teams have to be competitive year after year. If you look at it year in and year out, basically over the last decade, the regular season series is split between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Ravens-Steelers in the AFC North are almost like the Yankees-Red Sox in the AL East. You can pretty much count on one of those two baseball teams to win the division.
  

• Number two, the fans have to travel well, and both Pittsburgh and Baltimore fans are willing to make the drive to the opposing stadium.
  

• Number three, there has to be a general dislike of the other team. Pittsburgh didn’t like Billick, we didn’t like Cowher. They don’t like Ray Lewis, we can’t stand Hines Ward…and on and on.
  

So there’s no doubt a true dislike exists, probably more from our end. Remember, Baltimore hasn’t liked Pittsburgh since the ‘70s, when we lost the World Series in 1971 and 1979, and the Colts lost in the playoffs to the Steelers.

If you win your Ravens Cash Fantasy and travel with the team to Pittsburgh, it’s going to be an unforgettable experience.

When I had the pleasure of hanging out with some Baltimore Ravens fans at Training Camp and the Maryland State Fair some weeks ago, I proposed the following question: Which would you rather have the Ravens win — the Super Bowl or the two regular season games against the Pittsburgh Steelers? I thought for sure it would be the Super Bowl, but I was reminded why I love sports fans in Baltimore…because almost half chose to beat the Steelers!! The passion that the Ravens fans have for their team and their city is amazing! The passion that they have against the Steelers and their fans is downright crazy, but I love it!!
 
But when did this rivalry truly start? Some would say it was in the 1950s when the Steelers released Johnny Unitas who then joined the Colts and went on to be one of the best who played the game! Some would say it was in the ‘70s when the Steelers dealt the Colts first-round defeats in the playoffs in ’75 and ’76…but I think most agree that the nastiest of all rivalries started when our beloved Art Modell brought football back home to Baltimore. Immediately there was bitterness from the Pittsburgh fans toward Art’s team for breaking up one of the most anticipated rivalries of the recent decades between the Steelers and the Browns. And many rivalries start this way, with the fans despising the other team’s fans…look at Red Sox, Yankees…Lakers, Celtics…but this rivalry was fueled by the players!
 
In 1998, when the Ravens signed ex-Steeler Rod Woodson, a war of words began. The director of operations for the Steelers told the press that “we’re not the Salvation Army,” referring to letting Woodson go. Woodson gelled with his new team and players were proving to be a hard-hitting, defensive-oriented football team with time of possession and the run as the main offensive goals — and maybe even doing it as well as the heralded Steelers program of the ‘70s!
 
With some cheap hits, some trash talking and some true fan hatred…we have ourselves the start of a rivalry!! In 2000 Shannon Sharpe told the press after the shutout win over Pittsburgh that their program had some real problems. Bill Cowher came back to Baltimore later that season and beat the Ravens and asked the press to tell Sharpe that “our problems here are fine!”
 
We all know where the rivalry went from there…
 
It is obvious the teams are very similar in their style of football, in their strength as programs and teams, and in their supreme confidence when stepping on the field. The Nastiest of Rivalries is fueled not by the fans, but by the fire that the players keep for each other and this year the Ravens have a score to settle. No bad calls…no 5-seconds-left-on-the-clock plays…the Ravens are ready for the Steelers this year and they want to dominate every possession every play and every game.

Every game, as I come from the pre-game show into the stadium, I see fans rushing through the walkways and sprinting from the concession line to their seats to hear Bruce Cunningham introduce the Ravens starting def…scratch that offense!? 

This past Sunday, the Ravens introduced the Ravens starting offense and the stadium absolutely exploded when they announced “Joe Flacco.” The crowd also showed monstrous support of Derrick Mason as he came sprinting from the tunnel and did a high jump of excitement and anticipation!

The Ravens are absolutely going through an identity crisis and Ravens fans couldn’t be happier! It’s not a crisis that we have to worry about like Ravens teams of the past. It’s not a crisis about who will QB for us, how will we score TDs other than through INTs, or even who will coach us out of the bottom of the AFC North. We are always used to relying on our top-ranked defense and now we can also rely on our top-ranked offense!! (It even feels funny to write and say!) Is the identity of this team still Ray Lewis and the defense, or are Flacco, Mason and McGahee building a case for the offense to hear some crowd adoration!?
 
Entering this past Sunday’s game, the Ravens ranked in the top five total offense, rushing, scoring and third-down efficiency! We are ranked number one in the Power Rankings and there is a true sense of balance with the offense and the defense this year. Many of our show’s callers are asking the tough questions though! Is this new found success of the Ravens offense for real or are the opponents a bigger factor?

The Browns and the Chiefs are ranked 29 and 30 in Power Rankings, respectively, and the Chargers win was huge but their defense gave up 20 points to Oakland in the first game. So, were they running on all cylinders for the Ravens game?

Many believe Joe Flacco has arrived and his accurate passing, his ability to thread the needle, sell the fakes, see the blitzes and get the ball safely to the receivers are making him one of the best QBs in the league — and in just his sophomore season! He has had help from a transformed running game and the Ravens continue to be a pounding running team, but have gone through the air much more this season with Heap and Kelly Washington picking up a lot of third-down conversions!
 
The running game is as exciting and forceful as ever with Willis McGahee showing he still has the potential to be the top-ranked running back of old! He has a league-leading six TDs this season (compared to his compared throughout the whole season last year!). He is shredded, in shape and ready to do whatever this team needs to succeed! Most teams in this league have a two-back force and the Ravens are following suit. Ray Rice has been great, leading the team in attempts and yards with 38 rushes for 192 yards and one TD. McGahee right behind him with 32 rushes for 190 yards and six TDs! Hopefully with the depth at running back, the Ravens will be able to outlast and deceive a grueling season of pounding on these guys!
 
Upcoming Games
The next three weeks will really show how this team is made!

The Ravens will take on the offensive firepower of Brady, Moss, Welker and the Pats in Foxboro, then a strong Bengals team that is heating up after a win at home against the Steelers, and finally go out and play the Magic-man himself, Brett Favre, his superhuman running back Adrian Petersen and the Minnesota Vikings!
 
Will the Ravens continue to prove they are an elite team in this league? Or will the questions about this team’s secondary be exposed at Gillette Stadium next week? We all know you can’t run against the Ravens (just ask Darren Sproles about the hit he took from Ray Lewis two Sundays ago), but can our cornerbacks defend the lanky, talented Moss? Can we cover the infamous Ocho Cinco and the Bengals receivers if the Steelers couldn’t? Will Ed Reed and Landry be the deciding factors that edge us out over these teams? And if we can contain the best running back in the league, can we also stop the gun-slinging Favre at the same time!?
 
I can’t wait for the next few weeks of Ravens football!

There sure is a lot of purple floating around for mid-September. This is not the first time the Ravens started 2-0. Shoot, they just did it last year. But this is different because they’re doing it with an explosive offense. How often have you seen the Ravens defense give up more than 400 yards in passing offense…and win the game? The notion that the Ravens have an electric offense has elevated fan enthusiasm above the typical early season hype.

It’s not only the fans — the pundits also believe the Ravens can win shootouts. Did you catch ESPN showing over and over again the great design of Cam Cameron’s play that resulted in Kelly Washington’s TD? Cam always told me the offense would be better in the second year when they could install new plays. The fans here sense that this offense is the future: with Flacco only going to get better, an offensive line that could be a force, a three-pronged running attack, and some guy that looks like the old Todd Heap wearing #86.

Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know it’s early, and I know they beat a bad Chiefs team and a Chargers team with some key injuries, but don’t tell me that. The pictures don’t lie. Now to the guy who came up to me in the store the other day and said they’re going 16-0, I’m not ready to say that.

What I am ready to say is: The offense is better, the defense will be fine and the fans in Baltimore know it!