Baltimore Ravens: 10 Changes the Ravens Need To Make before Next Season
The Baltimore Ravens 2010 season ended in heartbreak.
They had a 21-7 lead on the Pittsburgh Steelers at halftime of the AFC divisional round game. They looked to be in complete control; the defense was getting sacks and turnovers. Pittsburgh couldn't do anything. In the third quarter of the game, everything fell apart with three turnovers and zero first downs. They lost 31-24 thanks to some bad defense at the end of the game.
The news is not all bad in Baltimore. Right now, it's going to sting because they had their biggest rival on the ropes and couldn't finish them off. But they will be very good next year and have another chance at getting to their first Super Bowl since 2000.
They will have to make some changes between now and then if they hope to take the next step. You could see their biggest weaknesses on display late in that game against Pittsburgh.
Here is a list of 10 things Baltimore will need to address going into the 2011 season.
10. Add Another Pass Rusher
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For all the good the Ravens defense did in 2010, rushing the passer was not an area they excelled in. They ranked 27th in the league in sacks this season, and when they needed to get to Roethlisberger, they couldn’t do it.
There are a number of high-profile pass rushers in the draft. Unfortunately for Baltimore, the best players will be gone before they pick. They will need to find a pass rusher from somewhere going into 2011.
9. Another Safety
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Everyone loves Ed Reed. He does things from the safety position very few players in the history of the game have ever done. He is a ball hawk and makes plays as well as anyone.
He is getting older and talks about retirement more often than someone who is 32 years old should.
Dawan Landry and Haruki Nakamura made some plays for the Ravens this season, but they were not the most reliable safeties in the world.
Adding another quality safety should be a high priority for the Ravens.
8. Inject Some Youth, Particularly at Receiver
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The Ravens do as good a job as any team drafting and developing players. The problem is they are getting old, especially at the wide receiver position.
The top three receivers for the Ravens are Derrick Mason (36), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (33) and Anquan Boldin (30). They need to inject some youth at the receiver position this offseason.
7. Find a Speed Receiver Somewhere
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Speaking of Boldin, Houshmandzadeh and Mason, the Ravens need to find some speed at the wide receiver position. As good as those three receivers are, they aren’t going to run by anyone.
It’s good to have big, physical receivers, but you have to have at least one receiver on the roster who can run down the field and past the defenders.
Inject some speed on the outside, and they will open up that offense even more going into next year.
6. Create More Plays Built around Terrell Suggs
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Terrell Suggs is a man-beast. He was by far the best defensive player on the field in that game against the Steelers. He was all over the place, sacking Roethlisberger, making tackles and disrupting everything.
If you want to get back to being that ferocious, intimidating defense, make sure Terrell Suggs is the guy you are featuring. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just get it done. Wherever the ball is on the field, he is likely to find it.
5. Joe Flacco Needs To Become the Leader of the Team
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Ray Lewis has all the passion and fire you love to see out of a linebacker. That said he is going to be 36 years old by the time the 2011 season starts. He is not the future of this team; Joe Flacco is.
For as long as this franchise has been in Baltimore, they have been built on defense. No longer does that have to be the case. Flacco has developed into a very good quarterback. His numbers have gotten better each year. He is ready to take over the reigns and be the leader of this team.
It needs to happen next year.
4. Develop a More Efficient Defensive Scheme
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Maybe a part of the problem with the defense is 2010 was their scheme. They seemed to come out very flat at times. They were not very effective for long periods of time.
Part of that could be the players, or it could be the schemes they were running out there weren’t working. We know they have a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball. It’s just a matter of making the most out of that talent.
3. Find the Ray Rice from 2009
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Ray Rice had a decent year in 2010. He ran for over 1,200 yards and had five touchdowns. But if you watched him this season, he never had that explosive burst he did in 2009. Maybe it was injuries or maybe the league figured him out, but something changed.
Rice’s yards per carry dropped by over a full yard from 5.3 in 2009 to 4.0 in 2010. The Ravens need to run the ball to be effective. Rice needs to be the player he was in 2009 for this offense to live up to its full potential in 2011.
2. Find That Killer Instinct Again
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One of the things that defined the Ravens in 2010 was their inability to close out a game. They blew a number of leads late in the game, and that was ultimately their undoing against Pittsburgh in the playoffs.
The Ravens used to be feared going into the fourth quarter. If they had a lead, it was over; the defense was going to stop you. They lost that this year. They will need to find a way to get that back before next season starts.
1. A Reliable Cornerback
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The Ravens cornerbacks are still relatively young and have room to grow. If the organization thinks that their current crop of corners can take a step up in 2011, that’s their choice. Watching that game against the Steelers, they have work to do.
In particular, on a third-and-18, the Ravens sent three rushers, leaving eight guys in coverage. Roethlisberger threw a deep pass down the sideline, and Antonio Brown managed to get behind the coverage to make the catch for 58 yards.
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