Who was the Ravens' biggest Pro Bowl snub?

Ngata got a raw deal

I can usually see ambiguity in any question, but it's pretty clear that Haloti Ngata was the Raven who most deserved a Pro Bowl selection. He had to settle for being an alternate. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs are tremendous playmakers, but without Ngata's remarkable combination of size and power in the middle, would any of them have been as clear to do their flashier work? By the way, did everyone see that video Sunday of Ngata playing rugby in high school? I hope those children who got in his way have gotten over the nightmares.

But anyway, what's so cool about Ngata is that he's not simply a space plugger, a la Tony Siragusa. He reads screens beautifully and routinely dances out to the wing to break them up. When a runner gets by him, he doesn't quit; he kicks into a different gear and chases the play down. His interception against the Houston Texans, when he deflected the ball and hopped over to catch it, was one of my favorite plays of the season. How many 6-foot-4, 345-pound guys ever have two picks in a season?

But interior tackles don't tend to accumulate the sack numbers that turn defensive linemen into stars. And in terms of reputation, a huge factor in Pro Bowl voting, Ngata has to stand behind previous selections Albert Haynesworth and Kris Jenkins (Maryland). He might be just as good as those guys. Announcers and scouts have been saying so all season. But don't worry. If Ngata remains the force he is now, he'll have his days in Hawaii. And anyone who watched him every week already knows the Ravens have a Pro Bowl defensive tackle.

Brown earned it

For another year, a handful of Ravens defensive players were rewarded for the team's extraordinary overall performance by being named to the NFL's Pro Bowl. The honor bestowed on Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs was deserved (along with fullback Le'Ron McClain and special teamer Brendon Ayanbadejo).

Haloti Ngata? Agreed, he has had a great season, and his time as a Pro Bowl player is coming.

But if a player's Pro Bowl credentials were ever overlooked - especially in terms of overall contribution to his team - it was those of Ravens center Jason Brown.

It is extremely difficult for offensive linemen to attract the notice needed to get the votes to go to Hawaii. O-linemen are often judged as a reflection of another player's stats, as was the case when Dan Marino's sack totals were in the single digits or Eric Dickerson was putting up huge rushing numbers. The Ravens have no flashy 1,000-yard rusher, although Baltimore ranks No. 6 in the NFL in rushing with nearly 2,000 yards. In sacks allowed, the Ravens are in the middle of the pack, tied for No. 13 with 25 allowed.

But think about that. No marquee runner and yet the team averages more than 140 yards a game. And with a rookie quarterback handling the ball, the Ravens have kept sacks to fewer than two a game. And remember, this team struggled with injuries on the offensive line.

Through it all, Brown has held the unit together at one of the game's most demanding positions - centers call blocking assignments - coordinating with some linemates who were new to the team and others playing unfamiliar positions. Jason Brown's value to the team, and consequently his Pro Bowl-level performance, might go unnoticed from play to play. But I'll tell you this much, if he had not been there, his absence would have been noticed plenty.