What's Wrong with the Ravens Defense?

The passion is still there. The youth and the speed that once meshed so beautifully with the physicality, however, are not.

If you want to look at what happened to the Baltimore Ravens defense locals came to cherish and the league came to fear, Father Time has all of the answers you need. I’m not saying it is no longer a solid defense, but it is far from the intimidating, synchronized machine that it was just a few seasons ago.

Truth be told, the Ravens have always been susceptible to long-yardage passing plays. When you hear “live by the blitz, die by the blitz,” you should know that the Ravens have given up their fair share of play-call corpses. But the lateral mobility of Ray Lewis and the exchangeable parts on run and pass defensive packages are not as dependable as they once were. And it’s beginning to show far more often than it used to.

Don’t get it twisted; you still won’t run the ball on Baltimore. But you can throw underneath routes, because the quickness of Ray Lewis has slowed to a point where his speed and reaction time no longer are in step with his anticipatory instincts. Terrell Suggs and Jarret Johnson, while tremendous players, aren’t necessarily the kind of cover men that match up consistently with backs and good tight ends throughout a game.

And when you have opportunities underneath, you throw off the adjustments the secondary can make. That creates wide space for receivers to work past the small Ravens cornerbacks and work on Ed Reed and Dawan Landry, who are both learning to play with the fear of serious injury.

Rex Ryan was a critical part of this defense, but no more critical than Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan, or Greg Mattison is. It’s starts with 52, it ends with 52. Play calling, motivation, all of it.

There’s nothing to panic about concerning the Ravens’ defense, but there is enough room for concern to creep in. This defense has been very tough, very fast, and very good for a long time. There’s only so much you can give before time takes it away.