Ravens vs. Patriots: Baltimore's Window Is Closing with Aging Defensive Stars

For years, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed have been the face of the Baltimore Ravens franchise.

Those days may be coming to an end, and the best chance the Ravens have of not only winning a Super Bowl but getting one for Reed will likely be this season.

Lewis took longer than expected to recover from a midseason toe injury, and it's quite possible the 36-year-old will retire after this season. He's admitted that would be hard to do—how could it not be?—but even if he does come back, at some point the inevitable will happen:

He's going to slow down. He's going to become less effective. He's going to lose a step. The fact that he's still playing at the level he has when healthy is pretty unbelievable.

And then there is Reed. I don't think one of the best safeties the NFL has ever seen will retire after this season, but there's no question that his game saw a decline this year.

Each know they are aging, as Reed has readily admitted. From John Feinstein of The Washington Post:

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"I’m getting older. I understand that. I know Father Time is out there and someday someone else is going to be playing safety here in Baltimore.”

Lewis knows the clock is ticking for him, too, but he chooses not to get caught up in worrying about when the end will come. “I never have those moments,” he said when asked if he thinks about it. He laughed. “I got kids. They challenge me in everything — sprints, in the weight room.

“Hey, when it’s over, it’s over. I think people appreciate when great warriors fight to the end. They don’t think about the guys who play two or three years. I’m proud to have played 16 years. I credit a lot of people: My mom, God, but I also credit my work ethic. I can’t stop working."

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At this point, the stars of the Ravens are players like Ray Rice, Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs. But losing the leadership of Reed and Lewis could have implications generally unconsidered.

Ask Philadelphia Eagles fans about the loss of Brian Dawkins two years ago, and they won't necessarily lament losing his talents at the time of his departure. Perceptive fans knew his game was declining.

But they will talk about the leadership that he took with him, something that seemed desperately missing this year as the Eagles underachieved and finished with an 8-8 record.

The need for leadership in the locker room is often overblown by fans. NFL players are professionals—they shouldn't need one of their teammates telling them to kick things into gear.

But some players are different. Some leaders are special. Presences like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed demand respect and inspire teammates, either by example on the field or vocally off it.

The Ravens have a solid core of young players, but if Lewis retires and Reed's game continues to decline, Baltimore's window for winning the Super Bowl will continue to shrink. It isn't easy to replace Hall of Fame players, after all.

The time is now, Baltimore. It's only going to get more difficult from here on out.

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