Kicker

  After Steve Hauschka’s 44-yard attempt to complete a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback against the unbeaten Vikings in Minnesota’s domed stadium sailed wide left with two seconds remaining, the Ravens head coach and a number of leading figures in the heart-breaking 33-31 loss took a positive stand. To a man, they insisted that quarterback Joe Flacco’s extreme poise under pressure would serve as a “character builder’ and unify the team for the tough schedule it faces in its remaining 10 games.

  “We can build on this,’ said coach John Harbaugh.

  “We went down swinging. We can definitely build on this,’’ said mighty mite Ray Rice, who accounted for 194 yards running and receiving on only 20 touches and scored two touchdowns on spectacular runs in the second half to keep the Ravens’ hopes alive.

  “The way we came back behind Flacco when we were 17 points down with 10 minutes left speaks volumes,’’ said All-Pro linebacker and unquestioned team leader Ray Lewis, who helped slow down Minnesota’s dynamic Adrian Peterson (143 yards rushing) in the turn-around fourth quarter.

  “We’ve been begging for an offense like this for so long,’’ added Lewis, mindful of how the opportunistic defense was the team’s best offense in the days when Trent Dilfer and Kyle Boller called the signals. “And now it’s the defense that’s struggling. But we’ve got to keep grinding.  We’ve had a chance to win the last three weeks.’’

  Which raises the critical question, when do you stop building character and start winning games?’ Or is the truth too much to admit?  The team has undergone a complete change. As things now stand, a much-improved offense can not compensate for all the obvious shortcomings of a struggling defense which failed to cause a fumble or intercept a pass on Sunday.

  The Ravens take solace that their three straight losses to New England, Cincinnati and New England were by a total of 11 points.  They rationalize that each game was winnable, save for a questionable penalty (the Pats’ untouchable Tom Brady), too much macho (Lewis’s helmet-loosening collision with Bengals’ receiver Chad Ochocinco) or two late penalties by the shaky secondary during the Vikings’ game-winning drive.

  It all adds up to the Ravens being 3-3 instead of 6-0 going into a bye week.

But Harbaugh knows better. He noted that the Ravens were completely outplayed by the Vikings in the first half.  They ran only three plays in Minnesota territory and settled for a field goal with time running out to trail, 14-3, at the break

  Before the game, he had insisted the Ravens had to re-establish a running game to keep the fast-charging Vikings, led by defensive end Jared Allen, off balance. He started Willie McGahee in place of Rice, but the strategy backfired when McGahee finished the first half with minus yardage on his seven carries.

  As soon as the versatile Rice replaced McGahee, Flacco and the offense began clicking. But on a day when Flacco (28-43 for 385 yards, 2 TDs) actually out-dueled legendary Brett Favre (21-29 for 279 yards, 3 TDs), it wasn’t enough to compensate for the absence of a sustained pass rush and the inability of cornerbacks Domonique Foxworth and Frank Walker to cover any of the talented Viking receivers ‘1-on-1’

  It reached comical proportions in the second quarter when two Raven pass defenders somehow tackled each othe in the end zone while Bernard Berrian broke completely free to score the Vikings second touchdown in the first eight minutes.

  At this point, it seemed Favre was toying with the Ravens, taunting them with bootleg passes or handing off to Peterson who consistently bounced off would-be tacklers or carried two or three of them on his back for first down yardage. To rub it in, Favre even relished taking an occasional jolt, bouncing up with a grin on his face after being flattened by giant defensive tackle Haloti Ngota. He was sacked three times in the second half, but never rattled.

  Every time he needed a big play, he singled out Sidney Rice, who was just as effective as the Ravens’ Rice in catching 6 passes for 176 yards, repeatedly turning short tosses into long gains.

  “We just weren’t making plays in the middle of the field,’’ said Harbaugh. “Plus, if you give Favre time to throw, guys can’t be expected to cover ‘1-on-1.’

  Favre praised Rice with improvising on the 58-yard catch that set up Ryan Longwell’s 31-yard field goal with 1.58 left that proved to be the game-winner. “Give Rice all the credit,’’ said the 40-year-old master.  “He was supposed to run a 12-15 yard comeback route, but went downfield on his own.’’

  In the explosive second half, both teams were guilty of shoddy tackling, particularly the Vikings who let Ray Rice escape their grasp time and again.  As former Ravens’ defensive back Bruce Laird, turned analyst, noted, “Tackling shouldn’t be that difficult. You just wrap your arms around a guy and bring him down.’

  But lest we forget, the Ravens are “character building.’ They’ve got a whole week to work on it while awaiting a visit from another unbeaten team in the surprising Denver Broncos.

  “We’ve got to be much better against Denver,’ Harbaugh acknowledged.

  But for two precious seconds the Ravens dreamed the impossible dream as Hauschka lined up for his winning field goal attempt and the suddenly quiet Viking faithful held their collective breath.

  Haushka, who was favored by Harbaugh over old and reliable Matt Stover for purportedly having a stronger leg, has now made only 1 of 3 kicks over 40 yards. Baltimore Sun critic Mike Preston is already second-guessing Harbaugh who lost any chance of reclaiming an idle Stover when he was recently signed by Indianapolis.

  No wonder that the Sun’s Ken Murray suggested that Haushka should spend this week in the witness protection program.