Like the classic Monty Python scene in The Holy Grail - “Bring out ya’ dead!” - this week’s injury report is a doosy.

CINCINNATI BENGALS at BALTIMORE RAVENS

CINCINNATI BENGALS

OUT (DEFINITELY WILL NOT PLAY)
Wednesday
T Willie Anderson (knee), LB Ahmad Brooks (groin)

Thursday
T Willie Anderson (knee), LB Ahmad Brooks (groin)

DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Wednesday
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (knee), S Herana-Daze Jones (knee), TE Reggie Kelly (knee), LB Caleb Miller (back), CB Deltha O’Neal (knee), LB Anthony Schlegel (back)

Thursday
WR Chad Johnson (neck), S Herana-Daze Jones (knee), TE Reggie Kelly (knee), LB Caleb Miller (back), CB Deltha O’Neal (knee), LB Anthony Schlegel (back), DT John Thornton (neck)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Wednesday
LB Rashad Jeanty (knee), WR Chad Johnson (neck), DT John Thornton (neck)

Thursday
LB Rashad Jeanty (knee)

FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Thursday
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (knee)

BALTIMORE RAVENS

OUT (DEFINITELY WILL NOT PLAY)
Wednesday
CB Samari Rolle (illness)

Thursday
CB Samari Rolle (illness)

DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Wednesday
LB Terrell Suggs (knee), TE Daniel Wilcox (foot)

Thursday
CB David Pittman (head), LB Terrell Suggs (knee), TE Daniel Wilcox (foot)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Wednesday
LB Prescott Burgess (thigh), WR Yamon Figurs (knee), TE Todd Heap (thigh), CB Chris McAlister (knee), CB David Pittman (head), S Ed Reed (head), S Gerome Sapp (thigh)

Thursday
LB Prescott Burgess (thigh), WR Yamon Figurs (knee), TE Todd Heap (thigh), CB Chris McAlister (knee), S Ed Reed (head), S Gerome Sapp (thigh)

FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Wednesday
RB Willis McGahee (head), CB Jamaine Winborne (ankle)

Thursday
RB Willis McGahee (head), CB Jamaine Winborne (ankle)

At this point last season, the Baltimore Ravens were 4-2 after 6 games. The major difference between 2006 and 2007? The 2006 Ravens were doing it with a relatively healthy team. The 2007 Ravens have been racked with injuries (more on that tomorrow) and are managing to put up better numbers in a lot of categories. It is worth noting that Jim Fassel was calling plays through the first 6 games last season, so the improvement may be misleading.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

• Last year, the Ravens had put up 271.6 yards per game of total offense. In 2007, the Ravens are sitting at 329.8 ypg — a 58.2 yard difference. Not bad at all!
• Another telling statistic is 1st downs. Through the first six games in 2006, the Ravens notched 94 first downs. In the same time frame in 2007, the team has increased that number by 25, to 119.
• Concerned about the offensive line? Not me. In 2006, the line yielded 12 sacks through the first 6 games. In 2007, the line has given up 4 less sacks.
• The QB - either Steve McNair or Kyle Boller - has only thrown 4 interceptions all season. At the same point last season, the QB had already thrown 8 picks.
• Speaking of completions, the completion percentage has risen from 56.0% to 64.7%.
• Speaking of completion percentages, those usually lead to a lot of 1st downs. The Ravens 3rd down conversion percentage has grown by 6%, from 36.6% to 42.2%.

The Ravens may be improving, but so is the competition. As of today, the Ravens are 22nd in points (18.3 per game), 19th in total yards (329.8), 14th in passing yards (222.7) and 16th in rushing yards (107.2). The schedule becomes increasingly difficult after the bye and a losing season is just a few more key injuries away.

The bottom line? The Ravens cannot win games against the big boys with a bottom-half offense, no matter how much better they are this year through the first 6 games. The stereotype of the Ravens being a defense-only team will be perpetuated until the offense can hang 30 or more points on an opponent in consecutive seasons.

Sunday’s game against the Bills should be interesting… Buffalo is giving up 421.4 yards per game. Surely we can pad our offensive stats against that defense, right?

Right?

In a recent Sports Illustrated feature on the best hits of 2006, Bart Scott’s hit on Ben Roethlisberger came in at #3. Here is what Scott had to say:

“He was weightless, like I hit him in outer space. I heard him make this ungh sound, like air rushing out. I jumped up and did my bird dance, then I looked back and saw Ben was still down, and Im like, YEAH!, I knocked him out of the game. Thats what made it better for me. I laid a man out, a man who outweighs me. And he will never forget it.”

Bart Scott rules.

A quick tip of the hat to vmax over at Extreme Ravens for digging up this gem:

In 2006, the Ravens had 4 pass plays of 60+ yards, all resulting in TD’s, 2nd most in the NFL and the most in franchise history.

And some people think that the Ravens offense is stagnant… heh.

Finally… the poll I’ve been waiting for: best hit of 2006.

Bart Scott’s hit on Big Ben was absolutely NUTS.

If you have a fast connection, I welcome you to peep this:

4) Roethlisberger hits the dirt.

The setup: This was a game where it must have been tough to be Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He absorbed nine sacks - tied for best-ever for the Ravens - and the Steelers couldn’t get on the scoreboard all day. The worst sack, though, came from Bart Scott, as the first half was winding down.

The payoff: At 3:31 in the second quarter, Roethlisberger had already taken two sacks, but as he took a second-down snap from the shotgun, nothing could have prepared him for the Ravens linebacker. The defense came in an all-out rush, and Scott was the one that broke free, crunching the signal-caller to the turf and knocking him out of the game for the remainder of the series - much to the delight of the pro-Baltimore crowd.

You can vote at BaltimoreRavens.com — and I’ll be severely disappointed if this hit doesn’t win.

Remember the top 5 touchdowns of 2006 post? Well, the results are in, and Mike Duffy of BaltimoreRavens.com has certified the winner:

That touchdown received more than 50% of the votes. Well done, Todd. Well done.

Next up: voting on the top 5 interceptions of 2006. That’s going to be an awesome poll.

BaltimoreRavens.com has their Top 5 touchdowns of 2006 online, and it’s up to the fans to vote in their favorite.

To be honest, this was my single favorite moment in 2006:

Ah, memories. But really, here are BR.com’s top five (listed chronologically):

• Chris McAlister’s 60-yard interception return at Tampa Bay (Week 1)
• Todd Heap dives into the end zone from the 3-yard line for the game-winning TD vs. San Diego (Week 4)
• Steve McNair’s untouched QB-draw at New Orleans (Week 8 )
• McNair hooks up with Derrick Mason in the back of the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning TD at Tennessee (Week 10)
• Mark Clayton’s 87-yard reception from McNair at Kansas City (Week 14)

If I had to rank ‘em, here’s how I would go:

1. Mark Clayton’s 87-yard reception in Kansas City. For starters, I was actually at the game. I had ironically just left D.C. and was flying out of BWI at 6-ish in the morning with a whole boatload of Ravens fans. It was kind of cool being on the Purple and Black plane.Anyway, being from St. Louis, I’ve run into my fair share of Chiefs fans, one of which is my good friend, John. John managed to get tickets to the game, so when I had the opportunity to fly out of BWI and into KC, I had to jump at it. I had been to Camarohead once before, for a Chiefs vs. Texans matchup (that KC lost, by the way), so I knew how hostile the environment would be. Nonetheless, I proudly wore my black Ed Reed jersey and took shit from everyone around.

   It’s brutally hard to win in KC in the winter months, and when I saw Clayton streaking out, having just burned the D-back on a sweet double-move, I stood up in awe. I saw McNair unload a PERFECT pass right into Clayton’s outstretched arms and just couldn’t believe it…

2. Todd Heap does his Superman impression, beating the Chargers in Week 4. I love watching football. Lord, do I love it. But I hate close games. I nearly had three heart attacks last season, and Week 4 was no different.  McNair engineered a 60 yard drive that was capped with Heap giving Steroids Merriman the cold shoulder (see? steroids don’t help you stop bad-ass TEs from winning games). When Heap dropped his shoulder into ‘ole Roidy, I thought that the drive was over… but when he leaped into the end zone with the football extended, I literally spit out my beer and nearly fainted. Todd Heap just PWN3D Shawne Merriman and the Bolts.
3. McNair to Mason Redux, Week 10. Yet another game I was able to attend. Y’see, if I can’t make it out to Baltimore for the games, I travel really, really well. This time, I dragged the soon-to-be wife out to the game to experience some Ravens football… and I really wish I would have left her at home the way the Ravens played! The Ravens played scared in the first half, with McNair looking like a pile of crap, throwing like a pile of crap, and the defense playing like a pile of crap, not able to stop the run. Then something cool happened - the Ravens charged back from what I felt was a nearly impossible deficit, capped with McNair to Mason… something all too familiar with the Titans fans. 20 unanswered points and a Trevor Price blocked punt later, we headed down to my favorite Nashville bar, the Beer Sellar.
4. Chris McAlister sets the defensive tone for the season with a Week 1 INT returned for a Touchdown. I’ll make this one short, as I’ve rambled quite a bit… so… I knew we’d beat the crap out of the Buccaneers, I just didn’t know we’d make Phil Simms look so bad. What an opener!
5. McNair opens up the Weak 8 defense in New Orleans and marches in (see what I did there?). I’ll be honest: I wasn’t able to watch this game, which is why this is so low on my list. Y’see, I was at the St. Louis Cardinals’ World Series Championship parade. I was, however, getting updates sent to my phone constantly. I still have the game on my TiVo, so I should probably watch it sometime before the 2007 season kicks off…

So, there you have it - my top 5 plays, in order, as picked by BR.com. (I still think that Bart Scott totally owning Ben Worthlessberger is my absolutely favorite moment of last year)