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If you've been losing sleep while waiting for the Ravens to fill two vacancies on their practice squad, your wait is finally over.
Two offensive linemen have been signed to fill out the eight-man developmental unit: center Cecil Newton (Tennessee State) and tackle Kenny Wiggins (Fresno State).
Newton apparently has football in his blood; the 25-year-old is the older brother of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. I'm guessing those backyard games were slightly more competitive than the ones I took part in when I was a kid.
You often hear a head coach credit his coordinators and position coaches following a win. That's not anything new.
But it wasn't just John Harbaugh who was giving props to his coaching staff after the Ravens' 16-6 victory over the 49ers Thursday night.
Defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano and the defensive position coaches got a ton of credit from their players after the 49ers game, a game in which the Ravens tied a franchise record with nine sacks, held San Francisco to just 17 percent third down conversions and allowed only 170 total yards.
"One, the scheme by Chuck Pagano," said Terrell Suggs when asked why the pass rush was so effective on Thursday. "Our coaches, defensive line coach Clarence Brook and my position coach, Ted Monachino, they've been doing a lot of things getting all of us loose."
"Chuck dialed up some great defenses," defensive end Cory Redding added. "We've been on these guys - even though it's been a short week - we dialed in on them real good about what they do. It's a lot of window dressing - they move this, that and the other - but once they get in the final formation, we (knew) where the ball's going to go."
Pagano wasn't the only coordinator who deserves credit for the play of his group; while the offense didn't record huge numbers on Thursday, Cam Cameron called a winning game and stuck with the rushing attack even when it failed to produce big yardage early.
The Ravens had 35 rushing attempts and 23 passing attempts against the 49ers, a ratio which should be applauded when you consider that given San Francisco's dominant run defense (they entered the game No. 1 in the league against the run), Cameron could have leaned much more heavily on the pass.
As a result, the Ravens were able to win the time-of-possession battle and eventually wear down that tough 49ers defense.
"I knew what kind of day it was going to be," running back Ray Rice said. "If you look at the numbers, they're not going to be eye-popping, but, time of possession? Huge. They are a great defense, the best defense we've seen all year. We knew that going into this game. We've got similar personalities and similar style of play. But, time of possession was the key. I'm not going to sit up here and worry about the numbers because the way we won is more important than the numbers we put up."
"I thought all of our coaches, coaching our guys and emphasizing fundamental football," Harbaugh said. "I thought the tip sheets were excellent for a short week. They did a great job with our guys. I thought Cam called a winning gameplan. You talk about discipline and sticking to the plan and staying patient when he had to against his team. I think Cam Cameron deserves a lot of credit, and Chuck Pagano deserves a lot of credit for doing the same. He stayed patient. He called the pressure when he needed to call the pressure. He called coverage at the right time to not give them the opportunity for a big play."
