The special teams problems cannot continue

The Ravens have the 23rd ranked passing defense in the league. A lot of that has been attributed to the inability of their defensive line to apply pressure to the opposing quarterback.You're not in Cleveland anymore.The Ravens are not the Browns even though they used to be What You know what I mean. An offensive lull during the game this week cannot be afforded against a very good Ravens offense.The Bengals had 18 third down opportunities against the Browns and converted only five. That number must improve.The special teams problems cannot continue. That is the politically correct way of saying that if Brad St. Louis has another bad snap, he will be bagging groceries at Wal-Mart on Monday.. Dollar/yen up on improved investor risk appetite Currencies Euro gains on Tuesday's surprise rise in German Ifo Focus on whether Fed to unveil steps to fight credit crunch Australian Q4 inflation falls by most in a decade By Rika Otsuka TOKYO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The dollar edged up against the yenon Wednesday as an improved appetite for risk prompted investorsto dump the safe-haven Japanese currency, while the dollar dippedversus the euro as players awaited the outcome of a FederalReserve meeting.

The Fed concludes a two-day policy meeting later in the dayand could unveil new steps to ease the credit crunch. With the benchmark interest rate already near zero, themarket is looking for any new policy measures, such as purchasinglong-dated Treasuries. "Players in the currency market are unsure if the Fed'sdecision will have a direct impact on exchange rates, as aninterest rate move is not expected," said a forex trader at aJapanese trust bank. "But we will certainly take our cue fromreactions in the stock and bond markets." Japanese and Chinese investors have been big buyers of U.S.government bonds and any shift in their investment stance onTreasuries could affect the dollar.

"If the Fed makes comments on purchasing Treasuries, it wouldsoothe concerns that overseas investors may start picking upfewer U.S. bonds," said Hideki Hayashi, chief economist at ShinkoSecurities. The dollar was at 89.15 yen JPY, up 0.2 percent from lateU.S trade. The Japanese government launched a $16.7 billion scheme onTuesday to buy shares in companies whose future has beenthreatened by the financial crisis. ID:nT89837 The move helped to improve risk appetite among Japaneseinvestors, boosting Tokyo's Nikkei share average .N225 bynearly 5 percent on Tuesday and sparking buying of the dollar,the euro and sterling against the yen. The euro climbed 0.9 percent to 118.20 yen EURJPYR, havingrebounded from a seven-year low of 112.08 yen hit last week Sterling was up 1.0 percent at 126.83 yen GBPJPYR Thepound sank to a record low of 118.80 yen last week.

The European single currency rose 0.6 percent to $1.3244EUR a day after it rallied on a surprise rise in German's Ifoeconomic research institute's corporate sentiment data. Investors were reluctant to buy the dollar in general as datafrom industry group the Conference Board showed on Tuesday thatU.S. home prices fell by a record 18.2 percent in the year toNovember. The Australian dollar trimmed earlier gains after governmentdata showed on Wednesday Australia's consumer prices fell by themost in a decade in the fourth quarter, justifying talk ofanother aggressive interest rate cut next week. ID:nSYD263733 The Australian dollar was up 0.5 percent at $0.6646 AUDD4,but off the day's high of $0.6670. 3 and investors expect a cut of at least 75 basis points inthe 4.25 percent cash rate (Editing by Michael Watson) Currencies.