End Zone Is Twilight Zone for Ravens

It’s time to analyze this.

How could the Baltimore Ravens possibly go five games without scoring a touchdown?

That’s 58 possessions when they couldn’t reach the end zone, other than to walk through it on the way to the locker room.

The Ravens have settled for field goals 14 times.

They have punted 28 times--14 after going three and out.

Three possessions ended when time ran out at halftime or the end of the game.

Twice, they’ve given up the ball on downs.

Once in five games, the marvelous Matt Stover--a.k.a. the offense--has missed a field goal.

That leaves the ultimate culprit: 10 turnovers--four of them from the red zone or in the end zone.

Call it the dead zone.

Or as offensive lineman Edwin Mulitalo told the Baltimore Sun: “You saw the movie ‘Angels in the Outfield.’ I think we’ve got devils in the end zone.”

Baltimore’s touchdown percentage from inside the 20 is next to last in the NFL at 25.9%--seven for 27. Only Atlanta’s is worse. For comparison’s sake, No. 1 San Francisco is just shy of 70%.

The most egregious examples of red-zone flameout:

* On first down from the one-yard line at the end of the first half against Washington, Tony Banks threw an interception in the end zone.

* Against Tennessee, on second and 10 from the Titans’ 11 in the third quarter, Banks threw another pass that was picked off in the end zone, losing his starting job after a three-interception game.

* Against Pittsburgh last week, new starter Trent Dilfer ended a 10-play, 64-yard opening drive by fumbling on third and two from the Steeler nine.

* Late in the third quarter from the Pittsburgh 42, Dilfer looked for Qadry Ismail in the end zone, then overthrew him for an interception. Not officially a red-zone offense, but it might as well have been.

“Ridiculous,” Dilfer said of the Ravens’ streak this week.

“Ridiculous,” said tight end Shannon Sharpe, eventually proclaiming himself at a rare loss for words.

“Ridiculous,” safety Rod Woodson said.

Logic says it all ends Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, the team it started against Sept. 24. The touchdown drought began with the final 6 minutes 39 seconds of a 37-0 victory. (It it doesn’t help that rookie receiver Travis Taylor, who scored one of Baltimore’s four touchdowns in that game, is out because of a broken collarbone, however.)

The Bengals? They’re still upset about the Ravens running up the score.

Imagine.

Baltimore Coach Brian Billick, whose credentials as the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Viking offense that set the NFL scoring record in 1998 have taken a beating--he certainly has proven he can’t pick quarterbacks--found that galling.

“Let me get this straight. I’m a coach who hasn’t scored a touchdown in four [actually five] games and now I’m having to face. . . . If that’s their sole motivation for this game, that’s fine by me,” Billick said.

Even if the Ravens end their touchdown drought this week, they still could break the post-merger record of 21 quarters without a touchdown held by the 1991 Indianapolis Colts. The Ravens are at 20.

One player has some insight into that. Defensive tackle Tony Siragusa played for that 1-15 Indianapolis team.

“I think back to when I was with the Colts, we weren’t a team that had any confidence,” Siragusa told reporters this week. “Probably the difference between this team and that team is we know we’re good on this team. We’re going places. We know we can win.”

It’s time to start. They’re 2-3 during their streak--but incredibly, not out of playoff contention.

HE’S THE M IN MVP

The faddish talk a week ago of Minnesota quarterback Daunte Culpepper as a most-valuable-player candidate was foolish. Pro Bowl, maybe. MVP, no.

Consider the case for Marshall Faulk:

* He leads the NFL in scoring with 88 points. The only non-kickers who have led the league the last 17 years are Emmitt Smith in 1995 and Jerry Rice in 1987.

* He leads the NFL in touchdowns with 14, on a pace to break Smith’s record of 25.

* He leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,326. At this rate, he’ll break the NFL record of 2,429 he set last season by more than 200 yards.

* He is fifth in rushing with 771 yards--with an impressive 5.4 average.

* He is ninth in receptions with 48.

* Perhaps most remarkably, considering how much he handles the ball, Faulk has yet to fumble.

Warren Sapp, the NFL defensive player of the year last season for Tampa Bay, said this week that Faulk is “the most dangerous player in this league.”

OK, give him the MDP too.

At the moment, there’s no argument.

Add to it all that Faulk is carrying the St. Louis Rams despite a sore shoulder and a knee that will require arthroscopic surgery after the season.

“Just think if he had two good legs,” Coach Mike Martz said.

RETURN TO THE VET

Troy Aikman’s aching back means Randall Cunningham returns to Philadelphia as the Dallas Cowboys’ starter Sunday.

Cunningham helped revolutionize the quarterback position during his 11 seasons with the Eagles, but he took the brunt of the notorious Philly fans’ derision in his final two seasons before leaving after the 1995 season.

The guess is, he’ll get a fond initial welcome, and then the same treatment from the fans that Aikman got from the Eagle defense in the season opener. Aikman was sacked repeatedly and knocked out of the game with a concussion.

“I hope it’s good. No one likes to be booed,” Cunningham told reporters after being named the starter.

He remembered a moment of grace by the fans at the end of his time there when he went into a 1995 playoff game in relief of Rodney Peete in what the fans knew could be his final home appearance.

“They gave me a standing ovation,” Cunningham recalled. “That was really special.”

Concern about Aikman’s back is increasing, and he said his reaction to another series of cortisone shots could determine his status for the rest of the season because doctors advise against too many shots in a short span.

STEELER REVERSE

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made it to 5-3 after starting 0-3.

Their five-game winning streak may end against Tennessee on Sunday, but they’ve gotten Titan Coach Jeff Fisher’s attention.

“Bill Cowher has done a great job,” Fisher said. “There were people around the league that counted them out after we beat them in Week 3 to put them at a 0-3 start.

“The noticeable difference between Week 3 and now is, they’re not making mistakes. The Steelers are the second-least penalized team in the National Football League or thereabouts. The other amazing statistic is their quarterbacks have thrown one interception all year, and they’re protecting the football, obviously not turning it over.”

And of course there’s the defense, which hasn’t given up a touchdown in the last four games.

Most impressive, the Steelers are on pace to give up the fewest points since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978 with 84 at the halfway mark.

“Their defense hasn’t given up a touchdown since World War II, it seems like,” Fisher said. “And they’re the best defensively in the league, as far as first downs allowed. So they’re playing sound, disciplined, aggressive ball, just like in years past, and it’s been a great comeback.”