Troy Smith Era begins

Today the Troy Smith Era began, and honestly I missed his first play, temporarily distracted by a bartender who put an orange peel in my beer (no thanks). Then, buried at his own two-yard line on third down, Smith scrambled about 10 yards to move the chains.

Not a bad start.

Unfortunately that's about all that went well for Baltimore today. There was no protection from the offensive line, and no cojones from Billick. You're not playing for anything except pride (and perhaps your job). Why so conservative? The secondary was a mess, but that was to be expected with all those injuries.

Seattle is a notoriously tough road game, so I wasn't expecting a win, particularly not after such a disastrous performance a week earlier 3,400 miles away in Miami. But it would have been nice to keep it close. At least make it interesting. It was one of the most terrible games I've ever watched. Oh, and Willis McGahee broke two ribs. Awesome.

The Ravens are a week away from locking up a top-5 draft pick, and about four months away from the NFL Draft, which at this point is about the only thing Charm City has going for itself. Fortunately the 49ers won today, which means chances are good the Ravens will be drafting ahead of the Patriots, who have San Francisco's first-round pick next April. It would be tough to have lost that Pats game the way we did, and then have to sit behind them on the Draft clock.

Hang in there, Ravens fans. One more week.

Ray Ray, epilepsy and the Heisman Trophy winner

Now it looks as though Ray Lewis will not play against the Seahawks on Sunday. Dislocated finger. We already knew Todd Heap wouldn't play. That guy has been out of action since about 1987. And Samari Rolle, who suffered from epilepsy this season, has shut it down. Today he was placed on injured reserve. It has been a pretty tough season injury-wise for the Baltimore Ravens. So it goes.

The good news, I suppose, is that Troy Smith will get the start at quarterback. Fans have been clamoring for Heisman to get more playing time. Personally, I see no need to rush the guy. I probably would have said the same thing about Derek Anderson. He never really got his shot in Baltimore and now he's lighting up the league with Cleveland.

Heisman has looked pretty good in limited action the past two weeks. He was playing against Indy's eleventh-string D and Miami's first-string D, both of which are equally untalented, but it's encouraging that he looked so good scrambling in the pocket. He even scored a touchdown. Those are pretty rare in Baltimore.

2007 NFL Draft: Seattle Seahawks (2.55)

The Seahawks finally pick. After what feels like 109 hours, I believe they're the last team to make a selection. And it was a good one. Maryland CB Josh Wilson is popular with Ravens fans, many of whom follow Maryland football closely, and many of whom wanted Wilson to drop another five or six slots to the Ravens. I also think USC C Ryan Kalil would've been a great fit for Seattle, but plugging holes in the secondary is smart, too.