Whenever the Ravens have been analyzed as a potential Super Bowl contender by the national media, the secondary has come under fire for potentially holding the team back from success.
From afar, the skepticism by media personalities such as Peter King and Marshall Faulk, among others, makes sense. After all, what they see from the outside is a secondary that gave up big plays a year ago and has lost starters Ed Reed and Dominique Foxworth from a year ago. They also have two cornerbacks coming back from ACL injuries.
However, a closer examination would reveal that this secondary did not perform nearly as poorly as observers would have you believe, and they have improved in quality and talent across the board.
Let's start with the misconception that the back end was consistently a problem spot in '09. The reality is that the secondary did give up big pass plays during the first half of the season, specifically through the Minnesota game. A closer look would show that after the bye week, Greg Mattison made some changes with the coverages and the defensive backs got better with their technique.
The proof of this improvement came from better play by Foxworth and Chris Carr. Both players gave up fewer plays downfield. Taking it a step further, in the last 12 games of the season, including the playoffs, the defense did not give up 300 yards to an opposing quarterback. In that stretch they faced Peyton Manning (twice), Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, and Tom Brady.
Now, after the injuries to Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb, the Ravens were down to Chris Carr as a starter and Frank Walker as the primary nickleback. Yet, they still survived thanks to marked improvement from the deep coverage of the safeties. With Reed out of the lineup for four games, the defense as a whole gave up fewer home runs in the passing game. The safeties stayed true to their landmarks.
Even with the loss of Reed and Foxworth, the group is clearly deeper than the year before. Carr -- who was arguably the most improved player from the beginning of the year to the end -- may remain a starter alongside Washington, but only until Webb is up to speed. The addition of Josh Wilson gives the team another proven starter as well, so Carr may eventually fall to his intended spot as a dimeback -- the spot that Frank Walker and Corey Ivy occupied a year ago.
In fact, even Cary Williams would be a much better fit than Walker and Ivy in that role, and he is fifth on the depth chart. At safety, the return of Haruki Nakamura could be the sleeper addition of the season. Nakamura brings flashes of the game-changing ability that Reed boasts. He looks healthy and closes on the ball in a hurry.
Along with Tom Zbikowski and Dawan Landry, this group should be better in deep support than people realize. All three players have good closing speed and more importantly, they have played with tremendous discipline throughout the preseason. In the event that the young guys take a step backward, the team does have veteran Ken Hamlin as insurance.
The secondary will be better than people expect.
The bigger question mark remains the Baltimore pass rush.
From afar, the skepticism by media personalities such as Peter King and Marshall Faulk, among others, makes sense. After all, what they see from the outside is a secondary that gave up big plays a year ago and has lost starters Ed Reed and Dominique Foxworth from a year ago. They also have two cornerbacks coming back from ACL injuries.
However, a closer examination would reveal that this secondary did not perform nearly as poorly as observers would have you believe, and they have improved in quality and talent across the board.
Let's start with the misconception that the back end was consistently a problem spot in '09. The reality is that the secondary did give up big pass plays during the first half of the season, specifically through the Minnesota game. A closer look would show that after the bye week, Greg Mattison made some changes with the coverages and the defensive backs got better with their technique.
The proof of this improvement came from better play by Foxworth and Chris Carr. Both players gave up fewer plays downfield. Taking it a step further, in the last 12 games of the season, including the playoffs, the defense did not give up 300 yards to an opposing quarterback. In that stretch they faced Peyton Manning (twice), Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, and Tom Brady.
Now, after the injuries to Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb, the Ravens were down to Chris Carr as a starter and Frank Walker as the primary nickleback. Yet, they still survived thanks to marked improvement from the deep coverage of the safeties. With Reed out of the lineup for four games, the defense as a whole gave up fewer home runs in the passing game. The safeties stayed true to their landmarks.
Even with the loss of Reed and Foxworth, the group is clearly deeper than the year before. Carr -- who was arguably the most improved player from the beginning of the year to the end -- may remain a starter alongside Washington, but only until Webb is up to speed. The addition of Josh Wilson gives the team another proven starter as well, so Carr may eventually fall to his intended spot as a dimeback -- the spot that Frank Walker and Corey Ivy occupied a year ago.
In fact, even Cary Williams would be a much better fit than Walker and Ivy in that role, and he is fifth on the depth chart. At safety, the return of Haruki Nakamura could be the sleeper addition of the season. Nakamura brings flashes of the game-changing ability that Reed boasts. He looks healthy and closes on the ball in a hurry.
Along with Tom Zbikowski and Dawan Landry, this group should be better in deep support than people realize. All three players have good closing speed and more importantly, they have played with tremendous discipline throughout the preseason. In the event that the young guys take a step backward, the team does have veteran Ken Hamlin as insurance.
The secondary will be better than people expect.
The bigger question mark remains the Baltimore pass rush.
