The Ravens were on the clock with the 26th pick, and as the seconds ticked away, I crossed my fingers tighter and tighter and hoped they wouldn’t announce Jimmy Smith.

And then Chris Berman gasped, and Jon Gruden smiled weirdly, and Mel Kiper looked awkward, and they said the Ravens picked….no one.

They passed. (This literally happened seconds after some Seahawks fans on my Twitter feed wistfully mentioned they wished Seattle could pass and wait a few turns, which just added to the confusion.)

So apparently, you can not pick when it’s your turn. It usually doesn’t happen, but sometimes, when the clock’s a little off in the war room or, more likely, when teams are trying to work on a trade and they run out of time, they get skipped.

Apparently, Baltimore wanted to work out a trade with the Bears, it (obviously) didn’t happen, and the Ravens got bumped. So after they were out of time, they dropped the trade notion and grabbed Colorado’s Jimmy Smith immediately, in the 27th spot. Because that makes sense.

Let me be clear: I was completely anti-Jimmy Smith until precisely 17 seconds after the Ravens officially took him.

Now that I’m stuck with him, I’ve accepted it, and I’ve come to the conclusion  that it might not be such a bad thing, for a few reasons (not including his abs):

1. He has a cute Cam Newton smile. The ESPN cameras awkwardly showed Smith absolutely emotionless about five seconds before he got the call, but five seconds after we knew. It was a “Let’s get his reaction” that cut to the facial expression equivalent of *crickets.* And then his phone ring and the smile came out and melted my Grinch heart.

2. He wore a Scarface t-shirt to his draft-watching party. It’s not what I’d wear if I knew a national television audience was watching closely to see who took a chance on my troubled past, but it’s a quality film, so props for that.

3. Smith might have had his issues in the past, but it’s not like every single Raven is a clean-cut, record-free upstanding citizen. There have been a number of guys who’ve had their run-ins with the law and overcame them and were/are tremendous players for Baltimore. If Jimmy Smith becomes the next guy to do that, I’m fine with it.

4. The Ravens have traditionally done very well drafting guys that might not be top on everyone else’s draft board, because of on-field or off-field concerns. Prior to the draft, a lot of reports had Smith going to either Philadelphia or Seattle, if he lasted even that long, but both passed, and reports from Philly basically said the Eagles weren’t comfortable with his past and wanted nothing to do with him (I can relate). The Ravens, though, have taken some risks in the draft before and they’ve been worthwhile. I can see this being another case in which other teams were scared away but the Ravens stuck by their guy - and by some accounts, Smith was always their guy if they could get him - and it paid off big-time. Hope so anyway.

5. Smith has incredible athletic talent. (Duh, right?) So are the other most of the draftees, or they wouldn’t make the NFL, but he’s a standout at cornerback, and the Ravens need that. Character issues can be overcome, off-the-field lessons can be taught and learned in the proper environment, but when it comes to making plays, you can’t teach talent and instincts. Smith says he’s grown a lot since his legal troubles and he’s committed to being a better person and making it in the NFL. The Ravens are certainly going to be committed to fostering an environment that supports those goals, and if he’s on board with that, and he plays the way they think he can play, that’s the total package.

So, Jimmy Smith, welcome to Baltimore. Now don’t screw it up.

On Monday, September 17, you could be on the field at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore for the 4th annual “Biggest Little Tailgate Party,” sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Maryland Mentoring Partnership.

From 6-9 p.m., you can take the field for fun games and competitions, tour the Ravens’ locker room, and mingle with Poe, #93 Cory Redding, and of course, the Ravens’ cheerleaders. Baltimore restaurants will provide all your favorite tailgate food, and with a special appearance by Charm City Cakes’ Mary Alice Yeskey, I’m guessing dessert will be pretty darn delicious as well. 

Tickets to the event are $50 each (discounted children’s tickets and family packs are available) and proceeds go to support Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Maryland Mentoring Partnership. Get yours now by visiting www.tailgateparty.kintera.org or calling 410.856.1506. 

(*Disclaimer: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland is one of my company’s clients, thought I’ve never personally been involved with the organization. That said, it’s a unique, fun event for a great cause so I’d support it anyway.)

This week I made my first appearance on The Voice of the Fan’s live radio show, repping the Baltimore point-of-view for a segment on today’s playoff games. This is everything I was prepared to say if I’d had to argue my point more thoroughly. 

I’m always wary of being too confident of a ‘W’, but since I picked the Ravens to win narrowly last weekend and they did, I figured I could safely go on air and talk about why they’re going to win this week. (Ravens 31, Patriots 27, nbd.) 

It seems like everyone in the media is giving the Patriots the win, and while New England looked a heck of a lot better last week than Baltimore did, it’s not a given, because last week’s games aren’t very useful as benchmarks. 

New England’s offense was one of the best in the NFL this season, but it looked especially good against a Broncos team that just was not in the same class. Baltimore’s defense pulled off the win on Sunday, but the offense isn’t as bad as the tough Texans D made it look. 

Still, to prove me right and bring home the win this week, the Ravens must play better than they did against Houston, beginning with the offensive line. 

The O-line has to do a better job run blocking and protecting the quarterback. Joe Flacco wasn’t great last week, but he didn’t get any help, either. The Texans sacked him five times and while at least one or two of those can be chalked up to the QB’s utter lack of pocket awareness, the Texans’ defenders were repeatedly on him like a Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast. Baltimore has to score to keep up with the Pats, and that’s not going to happen if Flacco doesn’t get any protection. 

When he is pressured, Flacco has to hold onto the ball. He sometimes struggles with ball security when he’s in deer-in-headlights mode, but the Ravens can’t afford turnovers. Speaking of hanging on to the ball, the wide receivers need to make sure they’re catching it. The QB’s numbers from last week would look a little better without the five drops. 

 No matter how much time Flacco gets, even if the receivers catch everything that comes near them, he’s probably not going to win a shoot-out with Tom Brady. The Ravens need to establish the run so they can put together sustained drives, taking some of the pressure off the defense and, more importantly, keeping the ball out of Brady’s hands. 

When Brady’s on the field, the Ravens defense needs to go after him like they have never gone after a quarterback before. It’s going to be tough to cover New England’s gargantuan tight ends - no one’s done it with much success yet - so Baltimore needs to make sure the ball doesn’t even have a chance to get to them.

Terrell Suggs has 14 sacks on the year, but only one in the last four games, and there’s no quarterback he’d rather take down than Tom Brady. He and the rest of the Ravens will be chomping at the bit to get in the backfield, but the Patriots’ offensive line will be a challenge.

Brady, notoriously whiny when he gets knocked down, called his line “our biggest strength on offense.” If he has something very different to say about the O-line after this weekend, the Raven’s D will have done its job. Interceptions would help, too. The Ravens has three in their last playoff win in Foxboro, and three against Houston last week. Since three’s my lucky number, I’m thinking a three-INT day is the way to go. 

The bottom line, though, is that defense might win championships, but the Ravens can’t rely solely on their defense to save the game for them. They absolutely have to score some points, and three in three quarters will not cut it this time. The Ravens can’t settle for field goals, and they certainly can’t get stopped at the one-yard line twice and expect to survive the weekend. 

Last week, the offense was abysmal while the defense lived up to its stellar reputation. If the Ravens win this week, like I’m hoping they will, they’ll have to play their (almost) best on both sides of the ball.

I’m not going to talk much about it right now, because blogging while angry is like drunk-texting your exes - not a good idea. 

I don’t want y’all thinking I’m in my room pouting because we lost, though (more like indulging in a little online retail therapy but hey, whatever works, yeah?) so I’m going to just leave you with a few thoughts about the game as quickly and painlessly as I can before I move on with my life. 

1. To state the obvious, this sucks (for Ravens fans). We were soooooooo close and the way it ended - again! - might just be harder to take than if we’d played poorly and looked like we didn’t deserve to win. 
2. The team deserves better, or at least the key components - Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis, Ray Rice, Ed Reed, even John Harbaugh - deserve better. As tough as it is for the fans, man, it has to be a thousand times worse for them. 
3. Ray Lewis is coming back. There was pressure on the team this year to get back to the Super Bowl while Ray and Ed were still playing, because they’re nearing the end of the careers and they’ve certainly done just about everything they could to get us back there. Lewis has already said he’s not done, though, so maybe the Ravens can finally - FINALLY - get there next year. 
4. If you want to talk about somebody doing everything he can to get us to the Super Bowl, how about #5? Flacco gets a bad rap, and sometimes he deserves the criticism, but not today. Not this time. I get as frustrated with that dude as anybody, but I was completely impressed with him today. His pocket presence was maybe the best I’ve seen it; for once, I think I was more freaked out by the pressure on the quarterback than Joe was. And he made the big throws when it counted. Too bad his receivers couldn’t catch them. 
5. One of my keys to the game was the receivers being able to catch the ball. Five drops last week, at least three this week. Ed Dickson had a big drop (although he almost redeemed himself by somehow managing to hold on to the ball when he had six Patriots on him trying to strip it), but no drop was bigger than Lee Evans’ almost-game-winning touchdown catch in the final minute. Maybe there should’ve been pass interference, but c’mon. You’re seconds away from the Super Bowl and you made the game winning catch - that ball shouldn’t leave your hands until you’re exchanging it for an AFC Champions t-shirt. 
6. Billy Cundiff. Oh, Billy Cundiff. Normally, I’d feel bad for the dude, but since he’s the reason my team’s not going to the Super Bowl, I don’t have a lot of sympathy. On the other hand, the loss can’t be dropped squarely on his stupid wonky foot. If he makes the kick, it doesn’t win the game; it just prolongs it. That’s it. Yes, he absolutely, positively, should have made that kick. It’s 32 yards. That’s not asking a lot. Still, he wouldn’t have been in a position to lose or tie the game if the rest of the team had taken care of business before the final seconds. (See #4 and #5). And for the record, I’m not sure I would’ve retained Cundiff after he was injured earlier in the season. I hate saying that, but he hasn’t been the same and as we just saw, your kicking game has to be ROCK solid just in case the game does come down to a field goal.
7. The Ravens’ defense, minus Dannell Ellerbe, played well. I was hoping for three interceptions, and technically, we got four (although two didn’t count). I would’ve liked to see Brady take a few more hard hits, but he wasn’t able to carve up the Ravens’ D like everyone seemed to think he would, and even though I had nothing to do with that, I’m pretty proud of it all the same. 
8. Fear the Fu. Flacco and TE Dennis Pitta have been engaged in some sort of Fu-growing competition since Thanksgiving, and against NE, a number of the Ravens’ clutch plays were Flacco to Pitta. They can go ahead and shave them off now (or not…they’re sort of growing on me), but I have high hopes for the Fu-to-Fu, Flacco-to-Pitta connection on the field in the future. 
9. Brandon Spikes is dirty (that was established back in college, though, wasn’t it?). NOT a fan. Wes Welker’s ‘stache is dirty. And he’s as much of a whiny divo as Tom Brady. (Sports in Stilettos is 100% Team Bridget Moynihan.)
10. I am so incredibly proud to be a Baltimore Ravens fan. Lord knows it’s frustrating being a Baltimore sports fan, what with the O’s zillion consecutive losing seasons and the Ravens’ consecutive losses in the AFC Championship, but I’d rather suffer through games like today rocking my purple and black than go to the Super Bowl with anyone else.