Five orbs of well-gleaned knowledge regarding the most important folks on and off the fields and courts across the land. Let's get started…

1. For the second straight week, the Baltimore Ravens defense allowed 100+ rushing yards by a running back.

Week 5 vs. Cincinnati
Cedric Benson: 27 carries, 120 yards, 1 TDs

Week 6 @ Minnesota
Adrian Peterson: 22 carries, 143 yards

The last time a Ravens defense gave up back-to-back games with 100+ yards by a running back was four seasons ago.

Week 12 (2005) vs. Cincinnati
Rudi Johnson: 27 carries, 114 yards, 2 TDs

Week 13 (2005) vs. Houston
Domanick Williams: 29 carries, 155 yards

Since the Ravens move from Cleveland following the 1995 season, every Baltimore defensive coordinator (Mike Nolan, Marvin Lewis and Rex Ryan) has gone on to become an NFL head coach. Will Greg Mattison break the mold?

2. Mike Tomlin: Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, two-time Super Bowl winner and compassionate humanitarian?

Tomlin announced that kicker Jeff Reed will start this week against the MinnesotaVikings, even after his confrontation with Pittsburgh police last Sunday. Reed is formally being charged with simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness, which took place after last week's win at home against the Cleveland Browns.

Two officers stopped at McFadden's, a bar located near Heinz Field on an unrelated incident, only to find another Steeler, Matt Spaeth, publicly urinating. While attempting to defuse the situation, Reed was ordered back to his car by police. Reed refused, turning toward one of the officers with a "raised fist." Lt. David Piasecke, of Pittsburgh's Zone 1 police station, said that Reed had to be forcibly handcuffed and smelled strongly of alcohol.

Earlier this year Reed plead guilty to disorderly conduct and criminal mischief charges from a February incident in a Sheetz convenience store bathroom.

Needless to say, Reed has a history of disorderly conduct that doesn't appear to bother Tomlin. Reed contributed two field goals to the Steelers win before his latest altercation. Tomlin wants to play the odds against Minnesota as well.

3. During the 2009 regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies bats were lukewarm when compared to the other 29 MLB teams.

2009 Regular Season
Hits: 15th
Batting Average: 23rd
On-Base %: 14th

However, the Phillies have, seemingly, "flipped the switch" this post-season:

2009 Post-Season
Hits: 1st
Batting Average: 2nd
On-Base %: 2nd

There was a lot of discussion during the regular season about Charlie Manuel's batting order, particularly the leadoff spot. However, now that the post-season is well underway and the Phillies look primed to defend their title, the only change Manuel decided to make stick was switching his No. 5 and No. 6 hitters.

Currently, Manuel employs a lineup he used for 20 regular season games in 2009. However, for 29 other games this year, Manuel used Raul Ibanez at No. 5 and Jayson Werth at No. 6.

Regular Season
Jayson Werth
.255 BA, .359 OBP, .525 SLG (batting 5th)
.274 BA, .365 OBP, .476 SLG (batting 6th)

Raul Ibanez
.260 BA, .324 OBP, .521 SLG (batting 5th)
.270 BA, .358 OBP, .514 SLG (batting 6th)

Both players batting averages and on-base percentages dropped when hitting 5th in the order, but saw increases in slugging during the regular season. Perhaps it was due to a young man named Ryan Howard usually waiting on base in front of them.

The switch seemed to have especially affected Werth, who slugged .525 in the 5th spot after Howard, but only .476 at sixth after Ibanez. Manuel made the decision to stick with Werth in the No. 5 slot for the playoffs and oh, what a decision. Werth's slugging percentage has skyrocketed to .607 in the process.

4. Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy joined Larry Brown (Charlotte Bobcats) and Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies) as the third coach fined this preseason for criticizing the NBA's replacement officials.

It's likely to come as good news to every NBA head coach that the league and its locked-out referees are close to reaching a deal.

The New York Times is reporting that NBA negotiators and the executive board of the referees union agreed to the framework of a contract, which if voted on positively by the union members, would have the regular refs in uniform for opening night games.

The loudest complaint of the replacement officials during exhibition games seems to be the whistles.

"There wasn't an up and back and up in the whole game that I can remember," said Brown after a Bobcats preseason game. Unfortunately for Mr. Brown and the NBA, it has been a constant challenge to associate a lack of game flow with imperfect whistles or imperfect coaching.

5. This week's Top 5 NFL Head Coaches poll.

Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints): Used a balance ground and air attack to completely dismantle the G-Men and get a huge win at home. Suddenly, Drew Brees is right back to the top of the MVP list, but his Saints are on the upset watch for next week at Miami.

Josh McDaniels (Denver Broncos): 6-0. Need more be said?

Mike Smith (Atlanta Falcons): Both Matt Ryan and Jay Cutler had their miscues, but hand it to Smith in fielding a young defense that played confident football in the red-zone. The Chicago Bears red-zone offense certainly obliged.

Todd Haley (Kansas City Chiefs): It may have come against the lowly Washington Redskins, who have now given two winless teams reason to celebrate, but his first win as a head coach gets him into the top 5 this week.

Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): Setting a new NFL record for largest half-time lead is great, but Belichick should be even happier with the way his defense got to the Tennessee Titans.

Honorable Mention: Gary Kubiak (Houston Texans ): Houston went to Cincinnati and beat a tough Bengals team by laying 472 yards of offense on them. So much for Marvin Lewis being able to keep the 'Nati Defense motivated.