Ray, those boys follow the director from a truck, too, and to hear Joe Buck call the first half of the Eagles game, I feel blessed we get Nantz and Simms. Mr. Buck needs to stay with baseball after seemingly treating the NFC game like "just another football game." Now, the radio crew for that game sounded playoff caliber and excited during their broadcast. Don't worry, now that we play the Titans and make the AFC 'Ship, the Ravens will go back to being second-class citizens during the games again.

Nantz kept tossing in little jabs about what he obviously thought were Ravens penalties. He mentioned Ray Lewis hitting someone in the side of the helmet and Scott hitting Pennington after he threw it. Too bad both were clean, hard-hitting plays. At least Simms corrected him about the one tackle not being a face mask. It was getting annoying, like Kornheiser's constant digs on the Ravens whenever he does our games.

CBS showed Dolphin fans cheering when things were going well, and depressed when things weren't. After the game, Coach Harbaugh said he could hear ans see Ravens fans all game. So how come CBS never showed any Ravens fans?

Nantz drives me nuts. I wonder if he ever glances at his monitor. He never picked up on the fact that Ed Reed hobbled off after his second interception. I think Simms mentioned it a play or two later.

Nantz also stated that John Harbaugh's brother Jim threw the Ravens' first TD pass "right here" at the Dolphins new stadium, in a pre-season game against the Bears. Wrong - it was at the Ravens new stadium, in 1998.

I was surprised to get a half decently called game from Simms. He always seems to go against the Ravens whenever I've seen him. No objectivity at all. He seems to try and find ways to degrade what the Ravens have done, Yesterday he attempted to compliment the Ravens on at least two plays. Saying he's given them props all year. What a phony.

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Ray replies: Not to disagree, but I would disagree. Simms has praised the Ravens on many occasions this year.

BALTIMORE HASN'T GOTTEN ANY RESPECT SINCE THE COLTS WERE THERE. THEY THINK OUR PLAYERS ARE HOODLUMS AND MURDEROUS; ALL THE OTHER TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE CAN WALK ON WATER. ROOKIE COACH DOESN'T EVEN GET A VOTE FOR COACH OF YEAR, FLACCO ISN'T EVEN MENTIONED WITH THE SAME BREATH AS RYAN . I DON'T KNOW WHO VOTES ON THESE PLAYERS, HALF OF THEM PROBABLY NEVER PLAYED A GAME OF ANY SORT IN THERE LIVES. HOW ABOUT ED REED? IS ANYONE EVEN WATCHING THE RAVENS, I'M TIRED OF THE LEAGUE OVERLOOKING THE RAVENS. GIVE US A BREAK.

Actually Goerge, you got that comment by Nantz wrong. He said that Jim Harbaugh threwn the first TD pass in that stadium for the Bears against the Dolphins in a preseason game.

Come on Ray, lay off Willis' mild comments, and who cares about the third-string running back being hurt? Focus on the positives.

Do NFL commentators get fined for being critical of the officiating like coaches and players do? Because I saw the Dolphins get away with four obvious pass interferences and maybe one got mentioned by Simms and I think it was on Mason in the end zone. Then when the game was getting out of reach, they called two on the Ravens. The camera man went to a shot of Harbaugh yelling at the officials gesturing and all the commentators said was that Harbaugh appears pretty upset with Fabian Washington, when he was obviously upset with the one- sided interference calls. There is even a sound bite from the field before the commercial break after Clayton got a head slap running his route of someone on the Ravens sideline saying, "You goin' to let them get away with that all game?" I assume whoever said it was talking to the offcials about the non-calls.

I have several comments. I think the officiating in the Ravens game was terrible. I saw a bunch of "holds" in the backfield by the Dolphins. No calls. The Ravens' kickoffs were great. We had two or three touchbacks that were not mentioned on TV. TV did not show how many of the "fins" loyal fans left after the third quarter.

Also, did the offensive lineups for Baltimore not call McClain a rookie? Later in the telecast the announcers did refer to him as a second-year pro, but I believe the graphic said rookie.

During the pre-game show, Cowher picked Miami to beat the Ravens, then he picked Cincinatti to make the playoffs next year - meaning he thinks the Ravens will finish third in the North next year - and out of the playoffs, behind the Bungles and his beloved Squeelers. What a tool. And I was actually kind of liking him on that show, too.

If you find yourself thinking that one announcer or another is actively attempting to discredit your team, chances are you're the one who can't see things objectively. The issue is, you can't happen to think of anything negative that should ever be said about your favorite team, so you take any common criticism to be an intentional slight against your squad.

(This to some of your commentors, not you, Ray.)

*sigh* The horrible TV announcers like Nantz and Simms are why I'm often tempted to mute the darn thing and turn on the radio, if it weren't for the slight delay. Gerry Sandusky does a great job on the color commentary. When I'm in the car listening, it's almost like I can see the game unfolding. Not good when I'm the one driving!!

I think part of the reason why the announcers miss commenting on many of the details discussed above is there are so many darn commercials and promo reads for upcoming CBS shows, they barely have time. I think Nantz had to tease the 60 Minutes spot with Leach between plays about 15 times in the game. I would have loved some commentary on Ngata's crushing block on Ginn on the Reed TD (I rewound in on my DVR about 100 times), as well as the possible pass interference calls on Mason/Heap on the goal line before the Ravens had to settle for a field goal. NFL telecasts are hard to watch now. I like most of the announcing teams (including Nantz/Simms), but they are hamstrung by all of the ads and pre-packaged features.

The one call from Nantz that I thought was great was on Ed Reed's pick 6. When I watched it live, I didn't hear a thing since my whole house was screaming, but watch/listen to it here: http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80de0c89

Really, it's an absolutely breathtaking play to watch again and again!

The notion that there is a bias against the Ravens by "outsiders" is off base.
I''ve lived in most parts of this country, and the fact is most of America barely knows Baltimore exists and only remembers the Ravens when they go on a run like this.

Nationally, the Ravens are an obscure team. Leave the tristate area and, very rapidly, there are only four things that other Americans know about the Ravens : Ray Lewis, Brian Billick, the Super Bowl win and the great defense.

Watch NFL-sponsored commercials and you see lots of big time QBs from the "big" teams but very few Ravens. Given Flacco's low-key personality, that isn't going to change anytime soon.

So don't be surprised that these national media guys know only the cliches about the Ravens. Getting to the Super Bowl may help, but only for a little while. Quick, name three Panthers other than Jake Del Homme and Steve Smith.

Besides the one, two or three name players they have, how many of you know anything about teams like the Panthers, the Seahawks or the Cardinals? If Chad and Carson were not on the Bungles, would anyone know anything (besides the fact that they stink) about them?

The Ravens get tough officiating decisions probably because they are known for a certain style of play and they probably have a rep with officials. It will be interesting to see how penalized Ryan's next team will be when he becomes a head coach.