The elephant in the room is the size of a Beltway traffic jam ... either Beltway, in fact.
There's no escaping the fact when Baltimore and Washington get together in either baseball or football, talk will inevitably turn to the subject of whether the teams are rivals.
But in NFL circles, with the Ravens and Redskins in opposite conferences, the fact they meet just once every four years -- preseason contests notwithstanding -- is a significant factor that overrides any sort of rivalry.
With the game serving as the Ravens' first interconference contest of the year, Baltimore and Washington will meet in a Week Five game at M&T Bank Stadium Oct. 9.
