Baltimore Ravens' Season of Fortune Is Followed by Offseason of Loss

Days after the Baltimore Ravens narrowly lost a close one to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship, I finally forced my mind and fingers to return to the keyboard.

Taking a few long minutes to reflect on everything that has happened over the past season, and the things that have been postponed as we made our run towards greatness, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about my beloved Ravens.

Devastating loss.

Other people, including many my close friends, are still celebrating, joyous that our team somehow made it as far as the AFC championship. Somehow pulled the Pittsburgh Steelers within striking distance (two points) before an errant throw by our talented-yet-struggling rookie QB dashed our wild fantasies of winning a second Lombardi trophy.

Even with all of this still fresh in my mind, thoughts and concerns immediately begin to coalesce, almost all having to do with the upcoming offseason. What coaches and players would be playing in the beautiful purple and black for the last time?

What free-agents and trades would the team target over the next few months? All of this, a veritable flurry of information, was running through my mind. 

Let's address the most serious matter at hand first, which of course would be our ex-defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan. If you know anything about the Ravens, you know that this man is the main reason that we even made it to the AFC championship.

Our defense is the heart and soul of the team; it always has been. Since the resurrection of professional football in the city of Baltimore, our defense has won games. Rex Ryan IS the Baltimore Defense. He is the primary reason that over the past four years, our defense has never ranked below sixth in the league.

If you hadn't already heard, Coach Ryan has signed on to become the new head coach of the NY Jets. Although rumor has it that we are probably going to keep the next defensive coordinator in-house, it's very unlikely, in my opinion, that the new coach is going to be as creative, sound, and brilliantly instinctive as Rex was.

His loss is a very serious cause for concern. 

As for the other potential losses, George Kokinis, our director of pro personnel, is likely to be taking a job as the new general manager of the *cringe* Cleveland Browns. Hey, I'm biased. Ray Lewis (Ray Ray), Bart Scott, and Terell Suggs (aka. T-Sizzle), are all going to be unrestricted free-agents by the end of the year. 

George Kokinis, we can do without. Maybe. We still have the Draft Guru, Ozzie Newsome, and even after we lost Phil Savage to the *cringe* Cleveland Browns, he was just fine.

Out of the three players previously mentioned, Ray Lewis, the playmaker, is probably the most valuable. Whether it's tackling a running back for a three-yard loss or blowing up a short pass play, Ray has consistently shown that he is still able to play at a high level in the NFL.

More then that, he is the emotional and spiritual leader of the locker room. Losing him to say, the Dallas Cowboys, would hurt our playoff-caliber team in so many ways that it's pointless to even list them. Suffice it to say, that's not even a question. 

Bart Scott is still young and a wonderful playmaker in his own right, he has come from a fine pedigree of linebackers and has been taught sound tackling fundamentals by the best defense in the NFL over the past decade.

He know's all of our schemes to the point that making plays has become instinctive, and most of all he provides the pressure on the opposing quarterback that we would be very different, for the worse, without. Hopefully a new deal will be reached for him, we absolutely have the salary-cap space to keep him.

T-Sizzle is just as good as, if not better than Bart Scott, and losing him would be a serious blow. However, depending on how much money we will need to spend upgrading our secondary, the odd-man out just might be him.

Another pressing matter that I personally believe would be a significant loss for the Ravens is our currently starting strong safety, Jim Leonhard. Standing only 5'8" 186 lbs, he was signed to a one-year deal this year after being released by the Buffalo Bills previously.

After Dawan Landry went down in game two with a spinal cord concussion, Leonhard quickly established himself as a necessity in our oft-injured squad of defensive backs.

It would be downright foolish if we did not correct this problem by quickly signing Jim to a multi-year contract extension. Not only would it most likely be fairly cheap, Leonhard would help fill the void in our defensive backfield when if as expected, Chris McAllister, our oft-injured and disgruntled corner-back is released.

Samari Rolle is getting older even though he can still play when not injured and Corey Ivy is nothing more then inconsistent, only to be used as a nickel corner-back.

There are more issues and matters to be dealt with, but these are small peanuts when compared to the ones I have just discussed. It will be extremely difficult for the team to improve next year on the amazing run that happened this season.

That is what worries me the most. With all of these questions, especially with another wide receiver or two a necessity for Joe Flacco to continue to improve his game. It's going to be a long offseason for the Baltimore Ravens.

Trust me.

-Michael Wong is an avid Ravens fan, a season ticket holder and he, along with his fantasy football friends: the AFC North Apocalypse, continue to fight in the struggle with the Pittsburgh Steelers for divisional supremacy. reach him at: [e-mail]