Bleacher Report - Articles by Patrick Smith

It's Mattison Time: The Baltimore Ravens Defense

Patrick Smith — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:38:51 -0400

Greg Mattison is about to fly one of the most complicated, combustible contraptions in football—the Ravens defense.

After just one year in the NFL, he's been handed the keys to the highest-profile, highest-octane defense in the league.

Of course, it's not like Mattison is a rookie. He's been a positions coach for 38 years, but 37 of those years were in college.

Baltimore Head Coach John Harbaugh named Mattison his defensive coordinator after the inevitable departure of Rex Ryan to the world of head coaching.

Just as minor league baseball fans should never get too attached to the best players on their favorite teams, Ravens fans should avoid falling in love with coordinators. As soon as they prove they're any good, another team snatches them up for a head coaching job (see Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and Ryan).

Mattison served as linebackers coach last year, Harbaugh's first as an NFL head coach. You could say they go way back.

Harbaugh's dad Jack coached Western Michigan, employing young John as an assistant and Mattison as his defensive coordinator for six years.

After WMU, Mattison evolved into one of the nation's hottest defensive properties. After a few years each at Navy, Texas A&M, and Michigan, Mattison became the defensive coordinator—and recruiting coordinator—at Notre Dame. But what vaulted Mattison into the big time were his three years as defensive coordinator and line coach at Florida—including the national championship team in 2006.

So he knows the science of football defense. He can run a D in his sleep.

However, can he keep a handle on Ray Lewis, whose personality is as out-sized as his talent? Can he work with Terrell Suggs, who plays with such a furious abandon, he's prone to lose control? Can he focus Ed Reed, who can be sullen?

The Ravens lost linebacker Bart Scott and defensive back Jim Leonhard to free agency in February of this year (both followed Ryan to the Jets), and the team canned longtime cornerback Chris McAlister.

Can Mattison retool the Ravens' D?

They signed corner Domonique Foxworth, a Baltimore native and an ex-Maryland Terrapin. They brought in Chris Carr for third-down passing defense. Also, nose tackle Kelly Gregg will return from microfracture knee surgery.

Baltimore's looking for a lot more this year out of linebacker Tavares Gooden, a second-year guy from the University of Miami who has shot to the top of the depth chart this offseason. Joining Gooden, Lewis, and Suggs at linebacker will be Jarrett Johnson, who was surprising last season. Haloti Ngata and Trevor Price make for two of the best defensive ends in football.

Mattison's Ravens will, again, punish running backs who challenge them.

No defense had fewer rush attempts against it, and no one allowed fewer rushing touchdowns (4!) than the Ravens' D. And the pass defense was almost as stout.

Baltimore's got defensive talent squirting out of its helmet ear holes. Keeping that talent focused and pointed in one direction will be the biggest challenge Mattison faces in his new job.

AFC North 2009: Steelers Defense Still Dominates

Patrick Smith — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:55:36 -0400

In 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths. Nobody remembers who placed.

The AFC North isn't quite that lopsided, but it's not far off.

The defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers will bring back 20 of 22 starters. Of course, that also means they didn't get a lot better over the winter. But, like Secretariat, how much better did they need to get?

Like everyone else in the league, the Steelers are one or two injuries away from calamity. Behind Ben Roethlisberger, for example, is Charlie Batch.

Pittsburgh's backfield is only as good as it needs to be. Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore combined for 1,379 yards—a terrific number for one running back, but not for two. Look for a recovered Rashard Mendenhall to help carry the load this year. Hines Ward went for a little better than 1,000 yards. Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller were fine targets.

But really, who are we kidding? The Steelers won in 2008 with defense. Look for more of the same in 2009.

The Baltimore Ravens surprised even themselves last season when they went 11-5 and all the way to the AFC Championship game. A rookie head coach, a rookie quarterback, and Baltimore's trademark violent defense won nine of the team's last 11 regular season games. But somehow, they're still fighting for elite status in the AFC.

Very often, the Ravens' most potent offensive threat is free safety Ed Reed. The Ravens will get nose tackle Kelly Gregg back in 2009. But microfracture knee surgery isn't easy for a lineman to come back from. Baltimore also lost surprise defensive contributor Jim Leonhard, who followed defensive coordinator Rex Ryan to the Jets.

Joe Flacco will throw to the extraordinarily tough Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton, who's due for a big year. For the first time in his NFL career, Todd Heap didn't much fit into his team's scheme. But then, for the first time since Heap's been in Baltimore, the offense seemed capable of more than two-yard passes to the tight end.

The Ravens will be good. Maybe better than last year, even. But until they can beat the Steelers—who handled them three times last year—they'll remain second-best in the North.

The most entertaining news to come out of the Bengals' headquarters in years is that their training camp will be featured on HBO's "Hard Knocks" series this year. In the latest installment of the reality series that is the Bengals, Chad Ochocinco (I can't believe I just typed that) missed the team's optional preseason workouts and Carson Palmer complained about him publicly. So, y'know, the Bengals are off to another terrific start.

Surrendering 51 sacks, last year's Bengals had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. Just ask Palmer, who had his nose broken, his ankle sprained, and his elbow torn up, courtesy of the O-line. Head coach Marvin Lewis shuffled the line in the offseason, shoring up at the tackle positions. He appears ready to move guard Andrew Whitworth to tackle and to use sixth-overall pick Andre Smith at the other tackle.

If Cincinnati can keep Palmer's head attached to his body, they might get a little better. But that'll still only be good for third place.

The Cleveland Browns manage to make people care whether Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn will start the season under center. Good for them, because very little else is interesting about the Browns. By the way, Coach Eric Mangini gives the early nod to Quinn.

If you're headed to Browns training camp this year, take a tip: you could make a fortune selling programs. After the Romeo Crennel/Phil Savage firing, the Browns have gone on a mini-signing spree, bringing in a slate of free agents hoping to impress in training camp. They've shed management nightmare and underachieving TE Kellen Winslow.

Except for guys like Braylon Edwards, Donte Stallworth, and Jamal Lewis, the Browns are starting from scratch.

The '96 Ravens: The Greatest 4-12 Season in History

Patrick Smith — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:23:05 -0400

They went 4-12. They played in an antique stadium. And when they showed up for the draft, their colors were black and white.

But my favorite team of all time remains the 1996 Baltimore Ravens.

The story isn't new. After a devoted, if sometimes rocky, marriage, the Colts dumped Baltimore in the middle of a snowy night in 1984 for a Midwestern city with a triple-A baseball team.

In the years that followed the divorce, Baltimore played by the rules and tried to get an expansion team. Then, instead of an old, football-soaked city with a ready-made fan base, the NFL awarded new franchises to two cities that smelled like condos and new money. Baltimore fans were furious and it looked like the NFL would never return.

There weren't even rumors that the city was even looking for a new team. And then suddenly, there they were. Art Modell and Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening on a podium somewhere downtown, shaking hands.

There were contests to name to the new team. "Bombers" had some traction, though it's probably just as well that it didn't win. Can you imagine rooting for the Bombers now? There were a few others, but the one that really caught the city's attention paid homage to a syphilitic, half-crazy poet who's buried in a churchyard downtown. Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 poem "The Raven" was the inspiration for the new name and Baltimore repainted the Browns purple and black.

But there was no purple yet when Ravens GM, and Cleveland great, Ozzie Newsome drafted Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis in the summer of 1996. The team had no colors and no name yet. So, while other draftees held up uniform jerseys and put on team hats when they got their pictures taken, Ogden and Lewis held up white jerseys with black letters on them. That was it.

The season started and football returned to Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. Or, rather, NFL football returned. For a few seasons, the stadium had served as home to the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League. Fans liked the Stallions, but they were never much more than than a novelty act.

The moment the NFL came back to Baltimore, the Stallions were never mentioned again.

On Sept. 1, 1996, coach Ted Marchibroda's Ravens beat Oakland at Memorial Stadium on touchdown runs by Vinny Testaverde and Ernest Byner and a couple field goals by Matt Stover. Some things never change.

It was the first game of the greatest 4-12 season in history.

Derrick Alexander and Michael Jackson each had 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Testaverde had one of his huge years at 4,177 passing yards. And that Lewis kid at linebacker looked like he might be pretty good.

I bought a single-game ticket for the New England game on Oct. 6, 1996. I walked to the game from my house and, the whole way there, couldn't believe I was walking to an NFL game. In Baltimore.

I sat in the very last row of the upper deck on a sunny and cool autumn afternoon and watched Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe each throw for more than 300 yards in a wild 46-38 New England win that featured a furious fourth-quarter Ravens comeback.

When Tedy Bruschi ran back a blocked punt in the fourth quarter for a touchdown, I realized that I didn't care if the Ravens won or lost; it was enough that they were here at all.