Raise your hands high and tell the truth. Who thinks Kyle Boller would have pulled out a win Sunday? And for the Troy Smith bandwagon riders: Do you think he could have led the Ravens to victory?

If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. No, not that bridge to nowhere, rather the bridge to a Ravens future that just might include very little discussion on who the quarterback will be in Baltimore.

His name is Joe Flacco. He wears No. 5, and while he doesn't walk on water, he is the toast of the town this week, and may be for a lot longer.

Gone are the ghosts of quarterback debates: Eric Zeier, Wally Richardson, Tony Banks, Trent Dilfer, Elvis Grbac, Scott Mitchell, Stony Case, Chris Redman, Anthony Wright, and, of course, Boller.
 
Now that Boller is not an option, coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron have no choice but to speed up the development of the first franchise quarterback in the Ravens' 13-year history.

Flacco, who entered the first preseason game in the fourth quarter and looked like a deer in the headlights against the Patriots' third-string defense, has improved each week. Getting an increasing number of snaps was aided by Smith's poorly timed tonsillitis attack.

Flacco is now clearly the man in charge. If reports that Smith is unhappy as a backup are true, tell him to take it up with Todd Bouman.

***

Other scenes from the Ravens opener:

• Fans saw more offensive innovation in four quarters of the Cameron era than in nine years of the Brian Billick playbook. Until Cameron's Crew went to no-huddle, I had believed it was another NFL conspiracy that the league wouldn't let a Baltimore offense use any type of tempo.
 
• Todd Heap, who has been banged up often since he came into the league, looks to be a shell of his former self. His fumbling of his first catch and his dropping of a touchdown catch make it look like something is wrong with the guy who was at one time as sure a thing as the Ravens had.

• The fact that Harbaugh was a special teams coach looks like it will clearly pay dividends for the Ravens. The coverage teams looked exceptional.

• With so few of their starters available in the preseason, it had been almost impossible to judge what the real defense would look like. Based on the career-low 35.3 quarterback rating for Carson Palmer, it seems the Ravens' vaunted defense is back.
 
• While it's a tad early to start ordering playoff tickets, with Houston looming on the road there is a possibility that by next Sunday the Ravens could be halfway to four victories -- about what many doomsayers had been projecting as an over-under victory total for the Ravens for the entire season.

Issue 3.37: September 11, 2008