Buffalo Bills vs. Baltimore Ravens: Who's To Blame for Ravens' Defensive Woes?

The 2010 NFL season has already proven to be wacky and unpredictable.  Week 7 brought nightmares to some teams, including the Baltimore Ravens (5-2), who eked out an overtime win against the winless (0-6) Buffalo Bills, 37-34 in Baltimore.

Going into the game on Sunday, the Ravens were a hefty 14-point favorite over the lowly Bills.  The talk surrounding the game was all about RB Ray Rice, and how many yards he would rack up against the NFL’s worst run defense.

The bold predictions did not end with Rice.  After some harsh criticism from the Baltimore media regarding conservative play calling in New England, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron promised to finally “let Flacco fly” against a weak Bills secondary.

QB Joe Flacco did have another solid outing on Sunday, and played with more aggression that was lacking in previous weeks.  Flacco would finish the game with 250 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

Baltimore did their part on offense—overcoming a 14-point deficit mid-way through the second quarter to go into halftime down by only four points.

The Ravens offense continued their brilliant play early in the third quarter, when Flacco located a wide-open Anquan Boldin for a 34-yard touchdown off the flea-flicker.  With the addition of RB Willis McGahee’s two-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, Baltimore took a seemingly comfortable 34-24 lead entering the final 15 minutes of regulation.

Unlike the Ravens loss in Foxboro last week, where Flacco and the rest of the offense rested their laurels on a 10-point lead, the Baltimore defense became conservative, effectively allowing the Bills to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter.

For the second straight week, the Ravens fate depended on the outcome of a coin-toss.  Baltimore won the toss, and proceeded to pull off the close win in overtime, thanks in part to LB Ray Lewis stripping the Bills of the ball in their own territory.

All of this was much too close for comfort—too close for a Ravens team that prides themselves on their third-ranked defense.

Even with the return of safety Ed Reed off the PUP list, Baltimore’s defense could not stop the constant onslaught led by Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who tossed four touchdowns and threw for 374 yards.

However, was it the Ravens defense as a whole that played poorly, or could all the blame for the unusual outing be placed entirely on the shoulders of one man?

Just ask CB Fabian Washington, who surrendered three touchdowns to Buffalo’s WR Lee Evans.  Washington was eventually pulled from the game in the fourth quarter in favor of DB Josh Wilson.

For the most part, Washington has been an integral part of the Ravens defense this year.  Interestingly enough, however, Washington gave us some insight into his struggles during Sunday’s game, putting the blame directly on himself.

“It doesn’t happen very much at all, but today they got in my head,” Washington said after the game.

The disturbing matter here is the fact that head coach John Harbaugh waited until the fourth quarter to yank Washington—a player who admittedly didn’t have his head in the game. 

This was a breakdown in the fundamentals of coaching, and it will be interesting to see if Harbaugh learns from this mistake—one that cost the Ravens 21 points, and nearly a loss to the Bills.

Thankfully, the Ravens enter their Bye Week at 5-2, only a half game behind the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers, who escaped with a highly controversial win in Miami on Sunday.

With Ed Reed healthy, and the return of LB Brendon Ayanbadejo on special teams after the bye week, this is a Ravens team that will be even more of a force in weeks to come.

Todd McGregor is a Featured Columnist here on BleacherReport.com

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