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Corey Graham Is A Play-Maker

The Baltimore Ravens signed CB Corey Graham during the off-season in order to bolster their Special Teams coverage, but never expected him to play the role on defense that he has, much less have a huge effect on the win this past weekend.

Jeff Gross

Baltimore Ravens CB Corey Graham has been a fixture on the defense ever since the injuries piled up in their secondary, losing starting cornerback Lardarius Webb to season-ending injury and Jimmy Smith to abdominal surgery. With limited expectations, all Graham has done is become a play-maker and never could have proved it better than he did in Saturday's thrilling 38-35 sudden death victory over the heavily-favored Denver Broncos.

Graham gave the Ravens the lead with a 39-yard interception return the team's second score of the game. He picked the tipped ball out of the air and never broke stride on his way to the end zone. His second interception of the day gave the Ravens the ball in Broncos territory in the second overtime period, leading to Justin Tucker's 47-yard game-winning field goal.

Along the way he added eight tackles and now has 15 for the post season, proving his value to the team has greatly exceeded the investment the team made in him when they acquired him during the off season.

Starting the final eight games, Graham had 60 tackles during the regular season, showing he is not afraid to stick his six foot, 196 pound frame into the mix and has also been able to stick with some of the game's speediest receivers.

Next week, the Ravens will be headed to play the New England Patriots and there is a decent chance he will be marking Wes Welker, one the best. Based on his recent play, the Ravens are looking forward to this game with all the confidence in the world in just another of this defense's newest play-makers.