Boller Hopes to End Two Streaks

Kyle Boller has the chance to end two long losing streaks this afternoon when he steps on the field as the Baltimore Ravens' starting quarterback against the winless Miami Dolphins.

The first, and most pressing, is the Ravens' current seven-game slide, the longest in franchise history. But just as acute is Boller's own streak: He has lost his past nine starts on the road. The last time he led the Ravens to a road win as a starter was Nov. 14, 2004, when they edged the New York Jets in overtime, 20-17.

In his nine road starts since, Boller has thrown seven touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. He's been sacked 21 times. In three of the games, he failed to complete at least 50 percent of his passes.

"You'd have to go back and look at who we were playing, what our situation was -- I don't know that he doesn't play well on the road," said Coach Brian Billick, when asked if he has noticed a difference in Boller's play on the road. Six of those games came against teams that eventually made the playoffs, which doesn't include this season's losses at 7-6 Buffalo and 8-5 San Diego. "We've done some good things on the road, so I don't know that you could quantify it to that."

"I don't mind playing on the road," said Boller, whose career road record is 5-14. "Obviously, I love playing at home, but I don't over-think playing on the road, or my stats or [think that] anything's different. I guess maybe that's just the way the stats have gone. Hopefully that will change, starting this week."

Boller is coming off of a two-week stretch that included one of his best games as a pro followed by one of his worst. He looked poised and confident in Baltimore's 27-24 loss to undefeated New England, completing 65 percent of his passes and throwing for two touchdowns and one interception.

But last week against Indianapolis, Boller looked out of sorts. At the end of the first half, he had 17 passing yards and two interceptions. The Ravens (4-9) trailed by 30 points, 37-7. Boller finished with four turnovers (three interceptions and one fumble). Colts linebacker Gary Brackett picked off two passes, including one deep in the end zone. Afterward, Brackett said of his easy interceptions, "They say, 'Don't miss the layups.' "

"I think the game got into a situation where everybody, to a certain degree, felt like, 'I have to make a play, I have to make something happen,' " Billick said. "And when you do that as a quarterback, you better be careful, because you're going to put the ball in places you don't want to. We're a week away from Kyle playing very, very well on Monday night [against New England], to where, like the entire team, [he] could have done some things better. So we're not going to overreact to it."

Turnovers have plagued Boller throughout his career; he has nearly as many interceptions (43) as touchdown passes (44), and he's also lost 19 fumbles.

"You can't play shy and timid," Boller said. "But at the same time, you want to play smart enough to where you don't turn the ball over. The percentages go way down of winning games [if you have turnovers], and that's important. You've got to kind of split that in half, as far as you can't play timid, but still go out there and take chances but be smart about it. So there's kind of a fine line between the two."

Ravens Notes: Several Ravens were battling flu this week; wide receiver Mark Clayton missed practice Wednesday because of it, and linebacker Terrell Suggs was out Thursday and Friday. . . .

The Dolphins will recognize the 35th anniversary of their undefeated 1972 season during a halftime ceremony. Several players and coaches from that team -- including Don Shula, Nick Buoniconti, Larry Csonka and Bob Griese -- are expected to attend.

Miami defensive end Jason Taylor was asked earlier this week if their presence would give any extra incentive to the current team. His response: "This is actually the first I've heard of it, so I'm sure it will be business as usual."