Ravens coach Brian Billick, general manager Ozzie Newsome and owner Art Modell knew their Super Bowl run ended with one ring when Kordell Stewart outran their flanks in last year's playoffs. Together, they knew the next phase would be difficult.

	Brian Billick will get some votes for Coach of the Year.

Rebuilding would be painful, and the Ravens chose the most painful route, taking all the cap hits this season. So, wide receiver Qadry Ismail, tight end Shannon Sharpe, quarterback Elvis Grbac, defensive linemen Rob Burnett, Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams, linebacker Jamie Sharper, cornerback Duane Starks and safeties Corey Harris and Rod Woodson were let go. To the fans, the Ravens asked for patience.

To the NFL, the Ravens taught teams that have salary cap problems a lesson. Good coaching and good personnel decisions can overcome a salary cap purge as long as you do it the Ravens way. They took their cap hit in one year, are still mathematically alive for a playoff spot (for all the scenarios, click here) and have great hopes of bouncing back into contention next year.

"For us to be in a position last Sunday against Cleveland to be sad to have a lost a game this late in the season was something," Newsome said. "We didn't figure to be in the playoff race that late."

Were it not for the amazing job done by Andy Reid in holding the Eagles together despite the loss of Donovan McNabb, Billick would be the leading candidate for Coach of the Year. At the very least, he deserves votes. It's not out of the question for Newsome to get votes for Executive of the Year. Their turnaround was incredible. If the Ravens beat the Steelers on Sunday, they would have dropped from 10-6 to 8-8, purged a $21 million cap surplus and freed themselves from all cap debt.

"We looked at the San Francisco situation of a couple of years ago," Billick said. "We made the fundamental decision to balance the books and get young in one year. San Francisco had a few more assets on offense. They had Jeff Garcia, Jerry Rice at the time and Terrell Owens."

The Ravens had their own assets, but more to their credit is that they won without most of them. Ray Lewis, Chris McAlister and Michael McCrary missed significant playing time this season. That took away leadership and talent. Despite that, the Ravens were competitive each week, and they were able to cut perhaps two years out of the lengthy rebuilding process.

Now, contract that with the situation in Jacksonville. Tom Coughlin built the Jaguars from expansion team to championship contender. But, to prolong the championship excitement, the Jaguars dug themselves into cap prison and have suffered three non-playoff seasons trying to seek parole.

They entered the offseason this year $25 million over the cap and handed three starters -- Tony Boselli, Gary Walker and Seth Payne -- to the Texans in the expansion draft to trim away three quarters of the problem. But unlike the Ravens, who took all their cap hits in one year, Coughlin still tried to patch holes with veteran starters.

Coughlin wouldn't concede a season. He hoped that Marco Coleman would turnaround the defensive line, that Chris Naeole and Daryl Terrell would patch the offensive line, that Patrick Johnson and Bobby Shaw would fill voids at wide receiver. They didn't. The Jaguars are 6-9, and attendance has dropped to a point of concern for ownership.

Owner Wayne Weaver faces the tough decision of letting Coughlin go even though he is the biggest Coughlin fan in the organization. Coughlin's fault was not letting go of the thoughts that the Jags could relive their past glories because they still had Mark Brunell and Jimmy Smith. The false hope has left fans unfulfilled at the end of the season.

The Jaguars limp to the finish line like a tired warrior. Smith has battled a late season slump. Brunell might miss the finale because of a hamstring. There is no buzz with that team.

As the Ravens proved, the painful way is the right way. Where the Jaguars should be applauded for getting the most out of their championship run that peaked in 1999, the Ravens should hold classroom sessions on the right way to operate in the salary-cap age. They didn't tease. Up front, they admitted they were purging half of their starters and were going young. The 19 rookie or first-year players at the start of the season was a modern day record.

	“	For us to be in a position last Sunday against Cleveland to be sad to have a lost a game this late in the season was something. We didn't figure to be in the playoff race that late. ”
		— Ozzie Newsome, Ravens GM and executive vice president

Ravens fans loved the young aggressiveness of new stars. Ed Reed has a chance to be one of the league's best young safeties. Anthony Weaver is a solid defensive end. Alan Ricard is a talented young fullback able to block, catch and occasionally run. Will Demps is a good young safety.

The future is bright.

"The exciting part about this offseason is that after the Pittsburgh loss in the playoffs, there was always going to be something involving us in the news that we were going to feel bad about," Billick said. "We spent the entire offseason taking body blows, losing this guy and that guy. Name me another team that can say to its players that 90 percent of them are coming back next season. Even we were amazed at how well the fans appreciated these young players."

The Ravens may not have been as bold had it not been for the success of the 49ers. The 49ers were so cap strapped entering the new decade that coach Steve Mariucci couldn't sign a player for the minimum salary from February until after the draft. Yet, they've bounced back quickly to have back-to-back playoff seasons.

The Ravens were even bolder, and their books are clear. They have only $45 million of the projected $73.5 million of cap room projected next year. That gives them the flexibility to franchise McAlister if they can't get him signed. They signed cornerback Tom Knight with the hopes of having him challenge for a starting job next year and moving Gary Baxter from cornerback to safety. The Ravens could use a couple of defensive linemen, a powerful right tackle and another impact receiver.

"Of the list of things we wanted to find out this season, we got most of them," Billick said. "We found out that Jamal Lewis could come back from knee surgery. We found out that Todd Heap could be a Pro Bowl tight end. We found out that Ed Hartwell could be a quality linebacker who can play next to Ray Lewis. Chris Redman was the one question we didn't get answered because of his back injury. Jeff Blake came in and played well enough."

Blake is a free agent and will probably want to come back, and the Ravens have the entire offseason to reflect on the one position that is Billick's specialty. He knows quarterbacks. The future is bright. Where it might take three years to bounce back from salary cap prison, the Ravens returned to competitiveness in one season.

It might be tough to ask them to make a Super Bowl run next season, but reaching the playoffs is certainly a reasonable goal and a Super Bowl run in 2005 isn't out of the question.

What looked to be painful turned out to be fun in Baltimore this season.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.