Almost Full Cycle back to '96

[vmax]

I can't shake this black cloud feeling regarding the 2009 Ravens defense.

I don't think they can fix this without getting better players.

Which means wait until next season.

 

It's still feels like yesterday...watching the '96 and '97 D's...give up game after game.

The coaches were great. Lewis, Smith, Del Rio, Ryan.

Nevertheless the D couldn't stop anybody.

4th quarters were nightmares to watch. No lead was safe.

 

The only answer was to get better personel.

 

It was mainly a weak secondary that was the cause and guess what?

Ground Hog Day 2009!

 

It's 6 games now and the jury is in. This 2009 Ravens secondary....can't cover. Can't make plays.

 

Ozzie's off season moves haven't panned out. He's got his band aids in Washington and Walker still on the field this year. Foxworth is not getting the job done. Letting Leonard go and keeping Landry has caused a drop off and more problems. Carr is a bust.

They haven't drafted or developed a good corner since McAlister in '99.

10 years!

 

Well...they are about to pay for it in the demise of a once great defense.

 

I can't shake that black cloud feeling because I know horrendous secondary play is one sure way to kill a good defense.

[thundercleetz]

We just have too much talent on defense to be this bad. It baffles me. I see a team like Denver under Mike Nolan doing amazing with half as much talent. It has to be coaching. Even our secondary who is playing horrible is talented. Foxworth and Washington can turn and run with any receiver. Adjustments definitely need to be made.

[smokeyjon]

Foxworth and Washington can turn and run with any receiver.

 

No they can't. They constantly get outrun and outsmarted. Half the time they look like they're not even sure where they are supposed to be on the field.

[vmax]

I really hope you're right cleetz.

 

These thoughts came on me after watching the Titan D today. They were great in 2008 (#2 in points surrendered) and have basically the same personel this year only they are bad.

Ugly bad today.

 

A closer look says the Ravens have a very solid front 7. They have a solid core up the middle in Ngata, Lewis and Reed.

The D line has outstanding talent...a lot more than the '96 roster.

 

In '97 the Ravens had McCrary, Goose, Burnett and James Jones...not bad. Boulware, Lewis and Sharper at LB....pretty good.

Uh Oh!

Langham, Jenkins, Moore and rookie Herring in the secondary.

They gave up 335 points.

 

So I see something very similar here.

 

That is unless Foxworth, Washington and Walker can get it together in a hurry.

[thundercleetz]

No they can't. They constantly get outrun and outsmarted. Half the time they look like they're not even sure where they are supposed to be on the field.

 

I meant physically. But you are right, it seems like something is missing mentally. However, Fabian played great last year, so we know he has the ability. Foxworth was solid last season for Atlanta as well. Lets hope they get better.

[vmax]

Tell you what...watching this Bills/Jets game it's too bad the Ravens don't play the Jets because the secondary would get healthy in a hurry...Bills have 6 INT's today.

[varaven45]

VMax,

 

I am with you and feel your pain.

 

Our D is not shot but darn close. A couple of good pieces, too many bad ones.

 

We missed a huge opportunity to draft a decent CB or safety the past 2 years. Now, we are sadly, helplessly watching the result.

 

I dont see the situation improving this year. We are going to watch our D get beat down the rest for the year.

 

To fix it, in my opinion, we need to draft and/or acquire 3-4 starters:

 

1. A dominant pass rusher on the DL.

2. A force in the middle - Ray's best days are behind him.

3. A shutdown corner (for the 1st time in 10 years).

4. An Ed Reed replacement (is that possible ?)

 

Until then, you're right - there are going to be a lot of 33-31 type games.

[dc.]

I don't see anything wrong with Ray's play. I don't see anything wrong with Reed's play. Talking about replacing them to "sure up this defense" is just silly. We'll need to replace them when they are done. Ray is no where near done.

 

We need a pass rusher. Yes. Absolutely.

 

We need some corners. Yes. Absolutely.

 

But Ray and Reed are no part of the problem we have right now. And even if Ray starts falling off another step, he'll still be better than most in the league. And giving him some support from stronger corners or a powerful pass rusher will only make him better.

 

One hole on a defense can make everyone look bad. One hole can make everyone adjust their play in ways that make the whole unit look bad. Those holes are in the pass rush and the secondary... Ray and others are overextending themselves trying to support/fix those holes, which they simply can't do.

[thundercleetz]

I agree with dc, Ray and Reed are not part of the problem at all. Lewis is still out there making plays, and is getting sideline-to-sideline no problem. Lewis just does not look as good because the ILB next to him is not doing his job of taking on blocks (why isn't Ellerbe playing? He is much better than Gooden!), thus linemen are able to wall Ray off.

[varaven45]

I agree with dc, Ray and Reed are not part of the problem at all. Lewis is still out there making plays, and is getting sideline-to-sideline no problem. Lewis just does not look as good because the ILB next to him is not doing his job of taking on blocks (why isn't Ellerbe playing? He is much better than Gooden!), thus linemen are able to wall Ray off.

 

 

DC and Cleetz,

 

You make good points. My point is that Ray and Ed are aging(Ed mostly with neck impingement). The legit weaknesses are our insufficient pass rush, Landry and our "soft" CBs-yes, they are soft.

 

Maybe its time to mix it up - bye week. Lets give Ellerbe a shot - maybe he or McClain can give us a better pass rush, Webb a spurt in the CB spot, try Nak or Zib for Landry.

 

We need to retool the D before the season completely goes down the drain !

[dc.]

I think I know what you were trying to say... and I agree. Well, I still disagree about Ed. But I think I know what you meant about Ray. That within 2-3 years we're going to need to replace him permanently, and that it's silly to ignore that now while we patchwork some other areas.

 

But in terms of this season... we have to work with what we have. And that's just going to be hard.

[colincac]

The shitty thing is that I don't think we can afford to go out and get more corners. We just gave Foxworth big money, we are stuck with him. Carr got a solid contract we are stuck with him as a dime back for a few years. Then we spent decent money drafting Webb in the 3rd round...We are going to have to let Fabian go this offseason and try to sign a stud, cause we can't afford to start developing people at this point....

 

I disagree with the need for a pass rusher. The difference this year has been that we can't afford to blitz since our corners get burned when we do...Our issues right now are at Corner and SS(where Landry has sucked, and it seems to me Nakamura has been seeing the field a lot and really not performing well.)