BALTIMORE -
You hear it all the time. “Good defense wins football games.”
The Baltimore Ravens are known for good defense.
Despite what team leader and standout linebacker Ray Lewis describes as a “roller coaster season,” the team’s defense found a way to pull through games and come out with enough wins to get to the playoffs.
It’s wasn’t easy.
More than a dozen defensive starters or players with significant playing time missed a total of 53 games during the regular season.
Four defensive starters, including notables Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs missed a combined 14 games over the course of the season.
Suggs was not on the field when the Ravens slipped by the Patriots 31-30 in week three of the regular season. Had the four-time Pro Bowl selection been on the field, things may have been different.
Sunday’s AFC Championship, will bring a much different matchup. For one, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will look across the line of scrimmage and see Suggs on the field along with Lewis and the team’s 2013 Pro Bowl selections – Bernard Pollard (SS), Ed Reed (FS) and Haloti Ngata (DT).
Another factor is that the team’s defensive unit seems rejuvenated .
Here’s a glance at the complete injury report for the game. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
| Allen, Anthony | RB | head | LP | FP | FP | probable |
| Boldin, Anquan | WR | shoulder | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Brown, Chykie | CB | shoulder | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Cody, Terrence | NT | ankle | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Ellerbe, Dannell | ILB | ankle/back | FP | FP | LP | questionable |
| Gradkowski, Gino | G/C | head | LP | FP | FP | probable |
| Jackson, Asa | CB/RS | thigh | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Jones, Arthur | DE | thigh/knee | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Leach, Vonta | FB | knee/ankle | FP | LP | LP | questionable |
| Lewis, Ray | ILB | triceps | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| McClellan, Albert | LB | shoulder | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| McPhee, Pernell | DE | thigh | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Ngata, Haloti | DT | knee | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Pierce, Bernard | RB | knee | LP | DNP | LP | questionable |
| Pollard, Bernard | S | chest | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Reed, Ed | S | shoulder | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Reed, David | WR/RS | thigh | LP | LP | LP | questionable |
| Smith, Jimmy | CB | abdominal | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Smith, Torrey | WR | back | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Suggs, Terrell | OLB | achilles/bicep | FP | FP | FP | probable |
| Yanda, Marshal | G/T | shoulder | FP | FP | FP | probable |
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