Injuries to key players really took their toll on the AFC North in week 6 and the Baltimore Ravens may have very well took the brunt of it.
In their 31-29 win Sunday over the Dallas Cowboys it is believed that the Ravens have lost starting cornerback Lardarius Webb for the season to torn ACL and veteran linebacker Ray Lewis could be done for an extended amount of time, and maybe even the season, after suffering a triceps injury.
The injuries did not end there for the Ravens defense as defensive tackle Haloti Ngata sprained his right knee and aggravated a minor right shoulder injury on Sunday and cornerback Jimmy Smith strained his groin. Backup defensive tackle Ma\’ake Kemoeatu had a minor undisclosed injury while inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe sprained his right ankle.
The Ravens have already been without starting outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, who tore his Achilles\’ during the offseason and the latest injuries will not help a defense that has surrendered nearly 450 yards rushing in their last two games.
The Cleveland Browns also suffered a key injury Sunday in their win over the Cincinnati Bengals as rookie running back Trent Richardson suffered a rib injury that will require an MRI on Monday. Richardson did say after the game that he expected to be ready to play next week against the Indianapolis Colts.
Bengals running back Brian Leonard (rib) also left the game with a rib injury and he is expected to have tests on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.
The Steelers of course had a long list of injured players following their Thursday night loss to the Tennessee Titans as center Maurkice Pouncey (knee), tackle Marcus Gilbert (ankle), running back Rashard Mendenhall (Achilles\’), running back Isaac Redman (ankle), linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring), and linebacker Brandon Johnson (hamstring) all went down in the game. The good news is that none of the injuries are expected to be of the season ending variety.
The Steelers were also without the services of both safety Troy Polamalu (calf) and linebacker LaMarr Woodley (hamstring) Thursday night.
The Ravens go on the road next Sunday to play the Houston Texans, while the Steelers will travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals Sunday night in a key divisional game.
