Two Backs Are Key to Ravens' Run

McClain, Deposed McGahee Make Up a Dangerous Duo

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- There will be surprising success stories at practically every turn tomorrow afternoon at Dolphin Stadium when the Baltimore Ravens face the Miami Dolphins in a first-round AFC playoff game. Each team has a first-year head coach. The Ravens have a rookie as their starter at quarterback. The Dolphins have the NFL's comeback player of the year as theirs.

But it's possible that the game could turn on the productivity of the Ravens' running backs, and that's where yet another intriguing plot twist comes into play. Few would have predicted when this season began that the runner on whom the Ravens would be leaning most heavily in a game of such importance would be second-year fullback Le'Ron McClain rather than three-time 1,000-yard rusher Willis McGahee.

The Ravens hope to get yards out of both players tomorrow. But it's McClain, who carried the ball only eight times as a rookie, who has become the bruising centerpiece of their offense while McGahee is left to deal with a reduced role as a complementary runner.

"I was just coming in to be better than what I was last year," McClain said as he sat at his locker in the Ravens' training facility at midweek, talking about his initial expectations for a season that has resulted in him being selected to the Pro Bowl. "That was the main thing. I feel like I did that. But to me, I feel like there's still stuff out there that I can do. One thing is to win Sunday to get the next game, the next week."

A few lockers away, McGahee was doing his best to explain to a small group of reporters that he wasn't trying to be disruptive to the team and he wants to do his part, but he nevertheless regards this as a lost season in terms of achieving individual goals.

"My season is over with," McGahee said. "My season was over Week 5. I haven't done anything at all. It isn't like I'm going to get 1,000 yards. I'm just playing my role. . . . If my number is called, man, I'm going to go ahead and play. But, you know, if it's not, I can't do anything about it."

McGahee was attempting to defuse a mini-controversy that resulted from his comments during a radio interview in which he said he had to play for himself and he seemed to put some blame for his string of injuries and diminished production this season on the Ravens' coaching staff for trying to change his training routine and running style. McGahee said his remarks had been misinterpreted and he isn't a selfish player.

"It doesn't mean I'm not a team player," McGahee said. "If I wasn't a team player, I would have shut it down in the middle of the season from the knee surgery and all that. It meant: 'I can't be what somebody else wants me to be. I can only be me.'

"So that's what I meant by that. . . . I wasn't indicating it's all about Willis McGahee because Willis McGahee's season has been over since Week 5. . . . It is over. It's not like the season I normally have, so it is over for me. So that's how I look at it."

Ravens Coach John Harbaugh dismissed McGahee's radio comments as no big deal. But clearly, McGahee is struggling to adjust to not being a focal point of the offense.

After sitting out his rookie season with the Buffalo Bills in 2003 while recovering from the knee injury he suffered in his final college game for the University of Miami, McGahee ran for more than 3,300 yards over the next three seasons with the Bills before being traded to the Ravens prior to last season. He was a Pro Bowler in his first season in Baltimore, getting 294 carries and running for 1,207 yards.

There was little reason to suspect that anything would change this season, even with a new coaching staff in place. But McGahee underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in training camp. He didn't play in the preseason and missed the opening regular season game. There has been a series of nagging injuries since then, and McGahee ended up getting only 170 carries in 13 games and running for 671 yards.

He doesn't complain about losing the starting job.

"I've been hurt all year," McGahee said. "So, you know, you expect that. I had surgery. I missed . . . three games. I didn't practice all training camp. So it wasn't like I knew my job was going to be there. And then Le'Ron and Ray [Rice, a rookie tailback from Rutgers] were doing such a great job in the running game, why change it?"

McClain, indeed, has made the most of his opportunity. He ran for 902 yards and 10 touchdowns on 232 carries during the regular season. The Ravens relied on him more and more as the season progressed. He averaged 22 carries over the final six games of the regular season. He got 25 carries in last Sunday's finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars, in which the Ravens secured their playoff spot with a lopsided victory at home, while McGahee got only four.

"It's been a surprise to me," McClain said this week. "All the hard work I've been doing has paid off. It's been a blessing. . . . A lot of people weren't expecting that. Hopefully their eyes are open now and they understand what my game is all about."

McClain was selected to the Pro Bowl as a fullback even though the work that has gotten him noticed has come performing tailback-like running chores. What does that mean for his NFL future? The former fourth-round draft pick from Alabama doesn't seem quite sure.

"Right now I'm just worried about this season right here," McClain said, "and the Miami Dolphins mainly, getting ready to try to get this victory Sunday. . . . We want to be the most physical, aggressive team in the league. I think we've been showing that."

Despite McGahee's contention that his season is "over," he had a late 77-yard touchdown run in Dallas that, combined with McClain's 82-yard touchdown run on the next offensive snap, gave the Ravens a key triumph in the season's second-to-last game.

The one-two running punch obviously can be effective, and the Ravens might need contributions from both tomorrow. As far as they have progressed with Harbaugh, McClain and upstart quarterback Joe Flacco after going 5-11 last season under Brian Billick, the Dolphins have progressed even further. Rookie coach Tony Sparano and rejuvenated quarterback Chad Pennington have gotten them into the playoffs one season after they went 1-15.

"We're on the same route they're on about the turnaround," Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said this week. "We didn't have the season we wanted to have last year. We're dealing with a new coach, a rookie quarterback and things like that. . . . Every year is a new year."

Yet the Ravens, their standout inside linebacker said, are not satisfied with merely reaching the postseason.

"It's one thing to sense getting in the playoffs," Lewis said. "It's another thing to sense that you can actually make a real move in the playoffs. If you're a Raven fan, if you've watched us long enough, we're gonna be tough. We're gonna be tough if we go play our type of football."