How good can the D be?
So I was flipping channels last night and stumbled upon a replay of the Ravens/Steelers matchup at M&T from last December.
You might remember it as "The Santinio Holmes Game".
Personally, I still don't know how officials could have reversed the Holmes play when he was ruled to be down just outside the goal line with under a minute left. I didn't see it then, and I don't see it six months after the fact.
But that's neither here nor there.
The reason I'm bringing all this up is because one major thought hit me when watching this game, and that thought is this:
The Baltimore defense is going to be pretty darn good this year.
"Ya think, Dan?"
OK, that might sound like one of the more obvious statements you've heard in a while, but allow me to explain.
Last season, the Ravens had the second-ranked D in the NFL, but they put together that impressive season while dealing with some major injuries.
Defensive tackle Kelly Gregg missed the entire year after having major knee surgery. Strong safety Dawan Landry sat out the final 14 regular season games with a spinal cord concussion. Cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle fought both physical ailments and shaky play.
But this season, if we look past the loss of inside linebacker Bart Scott and gritty safety Jim Leonhard, the Ravens will be in good shape on the defensive side of the ball.
Gregg is back and says he feels great. Landry is fully recovered from the scary incident that forced him from the field on a stretcher. GM Ozzie Newsome added CBs Domonique Foxworth, Chris Carr and Lardarius Webb to give the Baltimore secondary incredible depth.
Picture a D-line that features Gregg alongside the ageless Trevor Pryce and the increasingly dominant Haloti Ngata. Add in Justin Bannan coming off the bench and that group will drive offenses nuts.
Take a peek at the Baltimore linebacking corps. Tavares Gooden is still young and raw, but put his pure athleticism next to his idol Ray Lewis, Jarret Johnson (who is as solid as they come), and the pass-rushing beast that is Terrell Suggs, and you've got quite the fearsome foursome.
What was a depleted secondary now puts Fabian Washington, Foxworth, Rolle, Carr and Webb in front of Landry and some guy named Ed Reed.
Yeah, that ain't too shabby.
Age is still a bit of an issue in spots, but when the Ravens face Santonio Holmes and the rest of the gang from the Steel City this year, the defense will be stacked.
Now all they've got to do is keep Holmes out of the endzone. Although I still think they did that in December.
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Categories (click for archive)Dan Kolko | Ravens News |
Well, injurys come from being old, and that is this defense! They have taken steps to get younger but until they can beat the #1 defense (and defending champs) they probably don't scare them.
I like the sound of that lineup. That defensive line has to be one of the top two or three in the league and the secondary is much better this year, though I really would've like to have kept Leonhard
Good point Dan. The only thing im worried about with our CB's is I hope they can tame their speed because they over persued a lot last season. On another note, I agree with Marcus Allen on NFL Live the other day, him and Qadry Ismail were talking about the AFC North and how the Steelers will have to beat themselves rather than their oppenents, they have one of the easiest schedules in the league but it is so hard to get to the top and stay there knowing you already won the prize, whats next? That kind of mentality is very common throughout younger teams, ask the Giants.
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RC52,
Very true. I've always wondered how tough it is for champions in any sport to put their title behind them and fight as hard as they need to in order to reach the summit again the next year. I would think it's only natural to have that drive and desire slip a bit, but who knows.
-Dan
The only reason I wanted to keep Leonhard was because of his punt return ability. Other than that, while he filled in admirably for Landry, let's keep in mind he was yet another product of the system who did everything we asked him to do.
I have felt for several years that Kelly Gregg is the most underrated player in the entire NFL, and now that we have him back next to Ngata (another underrated stud), and with a guy like Bannan COMING OFF THE BENCH, we should be just fine up front. Add a speedy corner in Foxworth who should be able to keep up with most of the receivers he matches up with, we should be fine in the secondary as well. Moreover, Gooden should be a more than capable replacement for Bart. In many ways we got younger and more athletic this offseason on defense, and we brought in guys who I feel just love to play football. We don't have the prima donna in McAlister anymore, who by the way doesn't look like he has gotten even a sniff from any other team this offseason. Overall, our defense should not lose much of a step this season.
You may well be right, but I still have question marks. Trevor's and Ray's age bothers me a little, they are both keys to the Ravens' defense. Maybe Trevor should be brought in on pass plays, with Bannon playing more downs overall?
The cornerbacks are still question marks for me as well--not that they might not be perfectly fine, but we seemed to get beat long last year too much. I'll look forward to seeing Foxworth play.
If Kelly and Landry are back to their level of play of 2 years ago (or even close to that), then that will be a huge boost. Haloti really came into his own last year, the line could be awesome. He is another one we need to sign to a long term contract--stop messing around with important young talent! Bart played his position very, very well. Just because we replaced AD without missing much doesn't mean it will be easy to replace Bart--or, perhaps soon, Haloti--as well. At some point, losing talent reaches a tipping point and you just can't make up for it by plugging in new players.
At the end of the day, though, a sound ball control offense that eats up minutes will be as important to a great defense as any of the above considerations.
The thing that worries me the most is Rex leaving.
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JJ,
Good point, although I'll say that the Ravens don't seem to be worried about the transition from Rex to Greg Mattison. Not much will change under the old-school coaching style of Mattison, and the players love playing for him. Only time will really tell if anything will be lost, though.
-Dan
Dan,
A poster above said that until we can beat the Steelers, they probably won't be afraid of us. I agree that "afraid" probably isn't the word to use, but I can tell you that they probably feel the same way we do in that we know we have to be on our Ps and Qs when dealing with each other, and we know that if we face any problems during the year, it will be the two times we face each other.
As for the D, I do agree. We are doing an excellent job with keeping our defense looking as good as it does. What's even more impressive as you said is how we've kept our backups playing as well as they have. I think we will have about as good of a season, if not better, than the one we had last year. I don't see us being swept by the Steelers again, either.
And I'm with you on that Santonio Holmes goal-line catch. I'm ALL OVER that bandwagon. What irritates me about Steelers fans is that most of them ASSUME that the Steelers would have scored on the next play had it not been ruled a TD. If that were us, I don't even think I would say that. I may hate the Steelers, but I truly respect that defense. We're usually neck and neck every year.
The defense will be markedly better this year, due to the depth of the secondary. A lot of people were worried about Jim "effing" Leonard (that's what I yelled at the TV when he made a play, lol) leaving, but they fail to realize that he made as much of an impact on the defense as Cory Ivy did...they would flash on the screen once or twice a game, typically on blitzes, and the announcers would start to talk about how much he means to the team. However, when a back were to get through the linebackers, ole' Jimmy boy typically went for a ride until somebody came to save the day. I really like Zib and Nakamura's toughness and the young guys they brought in this year. I am particulary excited about Webb...mark my words, he will be starting by either the end of the year or next year. The guy is a better, more athletic version of Duane Starks. He cancels out the need for a return guy and he has a chip the size of the Bromo-Seltzer tower on his shoulder. A lot of pre-draft writings, had him listed as a first day talent, but noted the issues he had while at Southern Miss. I think he feels like he has a lot to prove and he will be the latest gem that the Wiz has found. On Rex Ryan's departure, he was not the first coordinator to leave and he will not be the last. Lewis, Del Rio and Nolan were all top notch defensive coaches and they left as well. The only constant has been Ray-Ray and I think as long as he is around and since he has imparted the "Raven Way" upon guys like Ed Reed, Sizzle and Ngata, there won't be any slippage. Let's be honest here guys...the reason his D was so successful, was because he had the horses to run it properly. We saw what happened when pressure didn't get to the QB...our secondary was roasted. Let's see what he does in NY with a "regular" D and let's see what Mattison can do, before we start panicking. Remember...Harbaugh worked with Jim Johnson as well; I think he understands the importance of pressure and will ensure it's part of the game plan.
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Double A,
Good stuff all around. As you said, the times the Ravens got burned last season (and it happened on more than a few occasions in that Pittsburgh game) were when the front-seven didn't get enough pressure on the QB and he could sit back and pick apart the secondary. Guys like Frank Walker, Ivy and Evan Oglesby were thrust into playing time because of injuries and a lack of depth and while they did a decent job of holding coverage initially, they weren't talented enough to keep up with top-flight receivers for more than a few seconds. Now, the D-line will have greater depth and will be rested enough to stay after the QB late in games, and the secondary is faster, stronger and has more pure talent. To me, the upgrades in those two spots are huge.
-Dan
I'm not too worried at all. Do I think this defense may drop alitte? Yes. But I expect the Ravens to still be a very good fearsome defense under Ray Lewis once again. We realized that no matter who is running the defense, the D will still be good while Lewis is still wearing purple and black. One question though...
Dan
While at minicamps, were you able to see any little changes on the defense? Like different Cover formations or blitz schemes? Or is it pretty much the same?
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Josh,
At camps, we saw that things under Mattison are going to be very similar to what we saw under Rex. We'll still see the base 3-4 defense, but like Rex, Mattison will switch things up a bit and give offenses a lot of different looks. The transition should be fairly seemless.
-Dan
The Ravens D will be fine, Its funny everybody was saying the samething this time last year. How about we stop trying to find things wrong with this team, And look at all the good things right with this team.
I think this team will be better this year then they was last year
And ill never worry about are D, they are too good and there is too much leadership out there