Mike Celizic

There’s no such thing as job security in coaching, but you can get pretty close to it by winning a Super Bowl. Exhibit A in support of that contention is Brian Billick.

Billick and the Ravens lost 20-19 to the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Monday night. Before the season began, this looked as if it would be one of the gems on the schedule, a game between two defensive-minded teams that were expected to be Super Bowl contenders.

The expectations were half right. The Steelers, although not nearly as dominating as last year, are 5-2, and only the perfect 7-0 Colts have fewer losses in the AFC. But the Ravens have not lived up to their billing. At 2-5, this game wasn't about establishing their playoff credentials, it was about survival.

They still play outstanding defense, but the offense is all but nonexistent.

The Ravens have scored just 88 points in seven games. That’s the fewest in the NFL, fewer than Cleveland, fewer than Houston, fewer than anybody. They’re 19th in sacks allowed, 21st in giveaways, 25th in total yardage and, with an offense built around a strong running game, aren’t averaging even 100 yards on the ground.

Beyond those dismal statistics, the Ravens have embarrassed themselves and their fans with stories of internal dissension and a shameful Week 5 performance against Detroit during which two players were tossed for bumping officials and the team drew 21 penalties.

The blame falls squarely on Billick, the man who won the 2001 Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer at quarterback and one of the greatest defenses the game had ever seen. A lot of people made fun of Dilfer, but it turns out he was perhaps the best of the procession of quarterbacks Billick has employed since.

Slide show   NFL week 8’s best Top images from Sunday's action, including a fan faux pas, and a Patriot in pain.

Billick got rid of Dilfer the year after he won the Super Bowl. The next year, it was Elvis Grbac, then Jeff Blake, then Kyle Boller and now Anthony Wright. Somehow, Billick has gotten the Ravens back into the playoffs twice since his Super Bowl year, in 2001 and 2003.

Those playoff trips with his perennially challenged offenses were considered proof of his self-admitted genius. And the thinking has always been that if Billick could get even a semi-competent offense, he could ride his almighty defense right back to the Super Bowl.

Billick came to Baltimore seven seasons ago as an offensive guru, a reputation earned as an assistant in Minnesota. And he’s never been the sort to soft peddle his accomplishments.

He’s certainly one of the brighter bulbs on the NFL tree, a rare coach who can hold an intelligent conversation on almost any topic and a man who is not without a sense of humor. But he also has an ego matched by few, and a product of that has been the conviction that he can take just about anyone, put him in at quarterback, and win.

He calls the shots, and if he’s willing to take the credit for turning Dilfer into a Super  Bowl champion, he’s also got to take the blame for selling Boller and Wright as quarterbacks who could take the Ravens back to the Promised Land.