Joe Flacco

In one of the best scenes in one of the best sports movies of all time, Hickory High coach Norman Dale has the farm boys measure the dimensions of the big basketball court that will host the state finals. "I think you'll find," Gene Hackman's character says in Hoosiers, "these are the exact same measurements as our gym back in Hickory. " Audubon, N.J., isn't Hickory, Ind., and Joe Flacco isn't Jimmy Chitwood. But there's something similar happening in these remarkable AFC playoffs.

When Brian Flacco hit a ground ball to third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday, he might have made the last out of his career. He didn't let that happen. "Somebody else might have been nonchalant, and the game would have been over," Audubon coach Rich Horan said. "That's not Brian. He busted it down the line and beat it out. " It was just an infield single for Flacco, who has collected more than 100 hits as a three-year starter for the Green Wave.

Just about everybody in South Jersey wants the Eagles to win Sunday. Just about everybody in South Jersey wants Baltimore to win, too, because the Ravens' starting quarterback is Joe Flacco, from Audubon High School. So what happens if both teams win and the Eagles and Ravens meet in the Super Bowl? "We're in the middle of Eagles country," said Steve Flacco, Joe's father. "But there are a lot of Ravens fans around here now. " Don Borden, Audubon's superintendent of schools, said there are nearly as many purple Flacco jerseys on children in the town's schools these days as green Eagles jerseys.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is no different from the average fan when it comes to assessing the moves of the Eagles. The Birds by most accounts have been the offseason winner in the NFL. They have either traded for or signed five players who have appeared in at least one Pro Bowl each, led by cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. Flacco will get a first-half look when the former Audubon High star and the Ravens visit the Eagles in Thursday's opening preseason game for both teams at Lincoln Financial Field.

FOXBORO, Mass. - Joe Flacco answered his critics. He even answered Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Flacco, the highly scrutinized Audubon native and former University of Delaware star, outplayed Brady in the Patriots' house and had the Ravens in position to win, or at least send Sunday's game to overtime. But Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans couldn't hold onto what could have been a game-winning touchdown with 27 seconds left, and moments later Billy Cundiff pulled a potential game-tying 32-yard field goal wide left, effectively ending the game.

Kerry Collins has not watched the 2001 Super Bowl in a long time. Really, there's no reason for the quarterback to relive the most miserable 60 minutes on a football field at the worst possible time. The Baltimore Ravens ripped him apart in winning that Super Bowl, 34-7, sacking him four times and coming up with four interceptions. Now eight years later, Collins finds himself two wins away from another chance at a Super Bowl title with the Tennessee Titans, and guess who's in his way once again?

It's getting dark so early these days. Here are some Week 9 players who shined much-needed light on our fantasy teams - along with a few who added to the gloom. Fantasy boom Tom Brady: Mr. Giselle loves when the Dolphins are in town (332 yards, one touchdown). Cedric Benson: No one rushes for more than 100 yards against the Ravens - except a guy who was cast off by the Bears (117 yards, one TD). DeAngelo Williams: He had 115 yards and two touchdowns in the first half . Steve Slaton/Ryan Moats didn't rush for that many yards combined yesterday.

I WOULD LOVE to see Donovan McNabb remove himself from punch-line land, give us one of those performances that remind us of who he really has been over the past decade, the best quarterback this franchise has seen. Do I think that'll happen, with Brian Westbrook unlikely to be anywhere close to full strength? No. I can get behind the idea of Jim Johnson's defense milking a couple turnovers out of the Ravens' promising rookie quarterback, Joe Flacco, the way it did against Atlanta's Matt Ryan last month.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - It was an interesting offseason for Joe Flacco, who continued to wiggle out of one mini-controversy after another. Flacco is entering his fourth season as the starting quarterback with the Baltimore Ravens. The 2003 graduate of Audubon High in Camden County who began his college career at Pitt before ending it at Delaware, was a truly interesting offseason sound-bite. He voiced his displeasure over not having his contract extended, one that still has two years and a little more than $9 million remaining.

All it took was an easy bus ride through campus at the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 for Rick Amos Sr. and Steve Flacco to finally get acquainted. Between playing high school football and growing up in South Jersey, the then-wide-eyed 18-year-olds already had something in common. Forget that neither really knew who the other was - despite even having posed for a picture together. "It's funny how we ended up together," Flacco said. "It's been pretty neat. " "There is a lot of irony in our story," Amos said.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - After a Ravens win in the AFC divisional playoff game on Jan. 15, members of the media and even some Baltimore teammates questioned Joe Flacco's play. On Sunday, the Ravens lost to the Patriots in the AFC title game, but Flacco's teammates said he showed the country why they believe the Audubon native and University of Delaware alum is a franchise quarterback. "He played a heck of a game in a championship football game," said linebacker Ray Lewis, whose words carry immense weight in Baltimore.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Joe Flacco outplayed the great Tom Brady. Threw two touchdown passes to Brady's none. Threw one interception to Brady's two. Threw for 48 more yards than the Hall of Fame lock with the supermodel wife. Even ran for 25 more yards than Tom Terrific. But fairly or unfairly, quarterbacks are judged more by their ring collection than their passing yards or touchdown throws, or even their playoff appearances. Thanks to a 32-yard field goal attempt by the Ravens' Billy Cundiff that sailed wide left with 11 seconds left yesterday, Brady is headed to his fifth Super Bowl, while Flacco is going back to Baltimore, where he will continue to be viewed as a good-but-not-great quarterback until he has his hands around a Lombardi Trophy.

FOXBORO, Mass. - Joe Flacco answered his critics. He even answered Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Flacco, the highly scrutinized Audubon native and former University of Delaware star, outplayed Brady in the Patriots' house and had the Ravens in position to win, or at least send Sunday's game to overtime. But Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans couldn't hold onto what could have been a game-winning touchdown with 27 seconds left, and moments later Billy Cundiff pulled a potential game-tying 32-yard field goal wide left, effectively ending the game.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Ray Rice has played in eight postseason games, none more memorable than the one in which he ran for 159 yards to help the Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots. About the only thing that could possibly top that would be playing in the Super Bowl, a quest Rice just might realize if he can run wild again in Sunday's AFC championship game against those same Patriots. Now in his fourth season, Rice has emerged as Baltimore's main offensive threat.

What: AFC Championship Game Who: Baltimore (2) at New England (1) When: Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS3 (Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Steve Tasker). Radio: WIP, 610-AM (Dave Sims, James Lofton, Tony Boselli). Point spread: Patriots -7 1/2. Over/under: 50 1/2. Last meeting: Patriots, 23-20 (ot) on Oct. 17, 2010. Deion Branch filled in for recently traded Randy Moss and had two key catches on the game-winning drive. Playoff history: Ravens won the only meeting, a 33-14 victory in a wild-card game following the 2009 season.

If anyone can relate to Joe Flacco, it's Trent Dilfer. Dilfer knows what it's like to quarterback the defense-first Baltimore Ravens, one of the few NFL teams whose linebackers and safeties outshine the most scrutinized position in all of sports. So Dilfer was speaking from experience when he said Wednesday that Flacco, a former Audubon High star who has chafed at a perceived lack of respect, should understand that wins and praise don't always go together for Ravens signal-callers.

BALTIMORE - Joe Flacco was sort of kidding, but also sort of being honest last week when he told reporters, "I'm sure if we win [the Super Bowl], I'll have nothing to do with why we won, according to you guys. " In case you haven't noticed, the fourth-year Ravens quarterback is going through the Rodney Dangerfield phase of his career. He seems to think he's not getting enough respect. Not from his team, which has been dragging its feet on a contract extension. Not from the media, which has seen fit to dwell on his middle-of-the-NFL pack 80.9 passer rating this season and career-low .576 completion percentage.

Joe Flacco wants to do what Trent Dilfer did. He doesn't, however, want to become synonymous with the quarterback most often cited as the worst to win a Super Bowl ring. But that's the dilemma Flacco has encountered in Baltimore. Despite reaching the playoffs in all four of his seasons with the Ravens - an NFL first for a quarterback - he gets little credit because of his team's wickedly good defense. "I'm sure if we win," Flacco said of the Super Bowl, "I'll have nothing to do with why we won, according to you guys.

BALTIMORE - An uncharacteristic performance by the Baltimore defense was offset by an uncommonly effective outing by Joe Flacco and the Ravens' oft-criticized offense. Flacco threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Torrey Smith had six catches for 165 yards, and Baltimore moved into first place in the AFC North with a nerve-racking 31-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Playing without middle linebacker Ray Lewis for the first time in 58 games, the Ravens (7-3)