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A few weeks ago after a Ravens victory, head coach Brian Billick awarded a game ball to general manager Ozzie Newsome. It was his best play call of the season. Newsome works quietly and efficiently behind the scenes in Baltimore. A Hall of Fame tight end, Newsome works the personnel decisions like a smart CEO. He lets his scouts and personnel directors put together the options for player acquisitions. Newsome patiently thinks about the concepts and makes decisions. It's the way George Young did it with the New York Giants. For Newsome and the Ravens, this is their third legitimate run at the Super Bowl since 2000, an amazing achievement in the salary-cap era. At 8-2 with games Sunday at home against the Steelers and Thursday against the Bengals in Cincinnati, the Ravens are on the doorstep of wrapping up the AFC North and getting a high seed in the playoffs. The Ravens beat the Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV, but because of cap constraints, they were forced to unload a good portion of that team. They made some mini-runs after that, but went 6-10 last season. Pressure built on Billick to win in 2006. He succeeded. But certainly the game ball also goes to Newsome, and it goes beyond just making the trade for Steve McNair.  The key in any organization is to be in position to take advantage of opportunities. "First, we've drafted well," Newsome said. "But one of the things you need to do is get those drafted players on the field, and sometimes that's hard. If you don't get those players on the field, you don't know if they can play." It's hard for any coach and any organization to let players go, but it's inevitable in the salary-cap era. The Ravens lost punter Dave Zastudil to Cleveland, defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu to Carolina, tight end Darnell Dinkins to Cleveland, quarterback Anthony Wright to Cincinnati, running back Chester Taylor to Minnesota, safety Will Demps to the Giants and safety Chad Williams to the 49ers. Most teams losing that much talent would be in for a long season. But the Ravens had draft choices backed up to handle those losses. Plus, the Ravens are among a handful of teams that understand losing free agents isn't always the worst thing in the world. The Ravens, Chargers, Colts, Steelers and Patriots understand free agent losses aren't complete losses. The NFL has a compensatory pool of draft choices for the teams that suffered the most free agent losses. Although the team doesn't get the value of the lost free agent, it gets something. A top free agent can net a choice at the bottom of the third round. Some players could earn a team fourth- or fifth-round compensation. That may not seem like much, but the compensatory pool is one of the reasons the AFC has stayed ahead of the NFC and remains the dominant conference. The AFC leads the NFC 29-20 in head-to-head games this season, and should wrap up the title this week or next week. "We think we are going to get four compensatory picks next year, and some good ones," Newsome said. "That's why we were able to trade a fourth-round choice for Steve McNair. We felt we would get that pick back as a compensatory. Plus, we've also found that you can move back in the second round and get an extra pick if you need to." The AFC is much like the American League in baseball or the Western Conference in the NBA. It's the better conference simply because it has good organizations and some of the top quarterbacks. Plus, the AFC has stability within those organizations. Because of that stability and elitism, the AFC is a little easier to figure out. Last year, it was pretty elementary to figure the Bengals and Jaguars were the teams ready to move into the playoffs. Marvin Lewis had been building around Carson Palmer, a top-level quarterback. Jack Del Rio built a great defense and had good quarterback play. This year, the Ravens and Chargers were the natural teams to rise. The Chargers returned a great 3-4 defense and QB Philip Rivers turned out to be as good as billed. The Ravens had the right moves by Newsome, the most important being the acquisition of McNair. For years, the Ravens hoped to develop Kyle Boller. Though they haven't given up on him as a future starter, they realized he wasn't going to take them to a championship now. The Ravens needed to win now. They had a veteran defense as a core, and they couldn't afford to wait for Boller while the defense aged. "We wanted to upgrade the quarterback position," Newsome said. "We looked at the available quarterbacks: Kerry Collins, Daunte Culpepper and others. But we thought McNair could be the best fit." The problem was waiting. The Titans knew they had to move him because he would have eaten up $23 million of their cap had he stayed in Nashville. The Ravens finally got the trade in motion in June, and he's been everything they had hoped for. "He had instant credibility from out defense," Newsome said. "Our defense had played him so many times in big games and respected him. We also felt we had the right fit for him with our talent. He was used to Eddie George in the backfield, Frank Wycheck at tight end and Derrick Mason at wide receiver. We had Jamal Lewis, Todd Heap and Mason, so he felt comfortable immediately." Just picking up a quarterback doesn't automatically make it work. The Lions are getting good numbers out of Jon Kitna, but they aren't winning. Aaron Brooks didn't get it done in Oakland. Culpepper wasn't ready in Miami because of his knee. McNair may not be putting up the best numbers in Baltimore, but he's winning. He's completing his usual 61.2 percent of his passes. His presence in the fourth quarter of games is where he's been one of the best acquisitions of the offseason. But he wasn't Newsome's only acquisition. • Mike Anderson has fit in nicely as a backup to Lewis and at fullback. He's an experienced runner who could get 1,000 yards if he gets the carries. Plus, he was a winner in his days in Denver. • Trevor Pryce has been a great addition to the defensive line. He is a powerful rusher who is hard to move on running plays. Pryce is still adjusting to defensive coordinator Rex Ryan's creative schemes. Ryan's defense switches from 3-4 to 4-3 on a moment's notice. • Justin Bannan has also been a good role player along the defensive line. He came from Buffalo. Plus, first-round choice Haloti Ngata has been a big addition to the defensive line at tackle. He draws enough blockers to free up the linebackers. • The surprise additions have been cornerback Corey Ivy and linebacker Gary Stills. Ivy has helped as a backup cornerback but has played an important role on special teams. Stills came from the Chiefs and should be a lock as the AFC Pro Bowl special teams player. He has 29 special teams tackles in 10 games and could challenge the NFL record of 49, set by Hank Bauer of the Chargers. Newsome's good relationship with his players also helps. Linebacker Bart Scott was being recruited in free agency by the Browns, and was visiting the Browns' facility in March. During his visit, Scott received a call on his cell phone from Newsome. When Newsome couldn't re-sign defensive end Anthony Weaver and Kemoeatu, he called Scott and started to work out a three-year, $13.5 million deal for the linebacker, who has had a Pro Bowl season. "We had a Plan B," Newsome said. That Plan B included Pryce as a defensive line threat to match Terrell Suggs. Newsome didn't flinch. He reacted and won. Now, there is no more talk of coaching changes in Baltimore. The Ravens are in good shape cap-wise and should have a two- or three-year window to win a Super Bowl. Credit Newsome for putting them back in the position for another run. John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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