COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

Either Ravens future Hall of Fame Linebacker Ray Lewis means it, or he is really good at pretending to be a sports agent by jacking up his own price tag. Lewis, who has been the emotional leader of the Balitmore Ravens since their inception in 1996, is a free agent and has said in a story published by the New York Post , that he will not give the Ravens a home team discount. In other words, he will go for the best deal available. Lewis feels that the Jets are an "attractive" option, since he has a long relationship with Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan. Ryan and Lewis spent eight years together, with Ryan as a defensive assitant and later coordinator. The two of the were apart of the Ravens 2000 World Championship team. " That relationship by itself is a match, because of the relationship me and Rex have always had. That opportunity by itself looks attractive, seems attractive, " Lewis said in an interview on the NFL Network. If Lewis does become a Jet, he will bring treme...

STEELERS 23 RAVENS 14 It was not pretty but the Steelers are on their way to the Super Bowl for the seventh time in franchise history where they will look to become the most successful franchise in NFL history with a sixth Super Bowl title. How did Pittsburgh get back to the Bowl? They beat up the rival Baltimore Ravens in snowy and cold Pittsburgh Sunday night.Offensivley the Steelers had trouble at times navigating through the tough Ravens defense, but they found ways to eat up enough clock with short passes and a decent running game. But the story of the day had to be the Steelers defense. (What else is new!) The Steelers defense dominated the Ravens entire offense, putting tons of pressue on rookie Joe Flacco, who was completely flat tonight. Statistically, Flacco was 13 of 30 for 141 yards and three interceptions, which comes out to a quarterback rating of 18.2. Still, the Ravens found a way to hang around. Entering the fourth quarter down 16-7, the Ravens took advantage of good f...

BALTIMORE RAVENS (13-5) @ PITTSBURGH STEELERS (13-4) It is good thing that this game will be higlighted in prime time on Sunday night, because it is the type of game that you keep the kids away from watching. No the game is not rated TV-MA, but considering the number of bone-crushing hits that are to occur in this one, it might as well have a rating. The Ravens and Steelers hate each other with a passion. It is a rivarly that goes all the way back to when the Ravens used to be the Cleveland Browns, before moving to Baltimore in 1996, as the Browns and Steelers always met to clash for a division title in the old AFC Central. Since the Ravens came into existence, the theme has stayed the same, especially this year. In week 15, the Steelers stood at 10-3 and the Ravens were just a game behind at 9-4. The winner would not only win the AFC North, but would have the inside track on the number two seed in the AFC playoffs. The Ravens had the upper hand for three quarters as they built up a 9...

The Jets whacky and weird coaching search could be coming to an end ... in three more weeks. The Jets are apparently willing to wait for the Ravens season to end before making an offer to defensive coordinator Rex Ryan to be the club's latest head coach. Ryan interviewed with the Jets on Sunday, and, according to the Star Ledger, the two sides hit it off well. The Jets are also strongly interested in Steve Spagnuolo, the Giants defensive coordinator. If the Jets want Spagnuolo to be their coach, they don't have to wait since the Giants season is over after a 23-11 loss to the Eagles on Sunday. Ryan would be interesting; his defenses have been in the top five each of the last three seasons ever since he has been defensive coordinator. The Ravens had the second best defense in the NFL in 2008 behind only the Steelers. Meanwhile, Spagnuolo could be getting offers from elsewhere. The Lions and Rams are also interested in the Giants D-coordinator.

RAVENS 13 TITANS 10 History worth repeating? Eight years ago the Ravens had to beat the 13-3 Tennessee Titans in the divisional round to get on the roll that would take them to their first ever Super Bowl title. Well, in 2009, it appears that it is happening again. The Ravens took advantage of key Titian turnovers and missed opportunties to beat the Titans in chilly Tennessee 13-10 Saturday evening. The Ravens once again displayed a physical and unforgiving brand of defense. They were all over quarterback Kerry Collins, forcing the quaterback in key mistakes and hitting him even without recording a sack. With the score tied at seven in the second quarter, the Titans were marching right down the field on an impressive eight minute drive that started at the Tennessee one yard line. Collins had completed five straight passes on the drive including a 24 yarder to Justin Gage to spot the ball in Baltimore territory. With the Titans now at the Raven 32, and in position to get some points on...

Some consider divisional weekend in the NFL playoffs the best week of football since it pits the so- called top seeds against some red hot wild card winners from the week before. This is the week people start to look for upsets. Which top seed will go down? Which wild card team will run the table? These questions and more will be asked in this weekend, as the NFL paints the pitcure for the final four. RAVENS (12-5) @ TITANS (13-3): Eight years ago the Ravens were in a very familiar position. After winning their wild card game against the Denver Broncos that year, the Ravens traveled to Tennessee to take on the defending AFC champion Titans. Everyone expected Tennessee to run all over the Ravens; instead, the lasting image from that divisional playoff game is Ray Lewis running back a Steve McNair interception for a touchdown as Baltimore romped Tennessee en route to their first ever Super Bowl title. This year, Baltimore is hoping for similar magic. The Ravens defense is as n asty as t...

According to NFL Networks' Adam Scheffter, the Jets will go after Brian Billick. After Gang Green failed to woo Bill Cowher and were put on hold by Mike Shanahan this past week, Billick will be the latest big name coach the Jets will try to go after. Scheffter did not report when the two parties will meet. Billick won Super Bowl XXXV in his first season with the Ravens in 2000. Since that time, Billick kept the Ravens competitive year in and year out. The only problem was the fact that he was unable to develop quarterback Kyle Boller into a winner. The Ravens have since given up on Boller in favor of rookie Joe Flacco. The Jets did conduct interviews with in-house candidates Brian Schottenheimer and Bill Callahan. Either one would be a very unpopular choice. Schottenheimer is hated by Jet fans for his lackluster playcalling, and Callahan is equally disliked after taking Jon Gruden's leftovers in Oakland to a Super Bowl loss in 2002, followed by two lousy seasons with the Raide...

RAVENS 27 DOLPHINS 9 Now America knows why the Jets kicked Chad Pennington to the curb in favor of Brett Favre this past summer; Pennington was just awful against the Baltimore Ravens throwing four costly interceptions and getting sacked three times in a 27-9 meltdown on Sunday. Penninton was totally ineffective against the Ravens . He dinked and dunked all day long, a familiar image of ineptitude during his mediocre eight years with the New York Jets. Whenever Pennington dared to throw the ball farther than five yards, he was picked off by hungry Raven defenders. Ed Reed had the most fun against Pennington's softballs. He had two interceptions, including an over-the-head catch, where he was able to spin around and run right past the entire Dolphins offense, skip over a defeated Pennington and score the touchdown to give the Ravens a 10-3 lead. The Ravens offense was no better. In fact it harkened back to the decade of pathetic play from the Ravens offense ever since they came into...

Now for Sunday's action: RAVENS (11-5) @ DOLPHINS (11-5): A really intriguing matchup between the Ravens and Dolphins. After going 1-15 last season, the Dolphins have turned things around thanks in major part to the craftmanship of Director of Operations Bill Parcellls, who has reenergized the Dolphins with the leadership of coach Tony Sparano and the guts of quarterback Chad Pennington. One thing the Dolphins have done especiially well this year is finding way to not turn the ball over. All together the D olphins have only turned the ball over 13 times. It will be interesting to see Miami does against a Ravens defense that has forced 26 interceptions and 13 fumbles this season, clearly the best in the NFL. The last time Miami and Baltimore matched up, the Ravens ate up the Dolphins wild cat offense, preventing Ronnie Brown from going anywhere, and gobbled up Chad Pennington and his softball passes, as Baltimore won 27-13 in October. How the Dolphins offense moves the ball against ...

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...