The defense, which was heralded as being back to its good old impenetrable ways of the early and mid-2000's after its 7 turnover performance and methodical shutting down of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers came out flat against a Tennessee Titans team that (lets be honest) has no where near the same ambitions as the Ravens and was considered altogether a class below in the AFC hierarchy. The Titans, from numerous hours of film study, found the cracks in the defense that could even been seen last week against the Steelers when wide receiver Mike Wallace achieved his lone goal of taking the top off the defense on deep passes, racking up 108 yards against the otherwise solid Baltimore defense. The Titans then proceeded to put pressure on this crack by throwing to star wide receiver Kenny Britt for 9 receptions, 135 yards and touchdown.
Tennessee targeted Britt 13 times, showing their overall intent on offense of whose hands they wanted the ball, meanwhile the Ravens were left focusing on the wrong guy, holding Titans star running back Chris Johnson to 53 yards on 24 carries. That's a 2.2 yards per carry average people. When considering Chris Johnson is an All Pro running back who is one season removed from a 2,000 yard season and runs a 4.24 second 40 yard dash then yea, it's pretty safe to assume the Raven's defensive goal on the day was to contain Johnson. Sadly, the corners who were left with the unenviable task of covering Britt and Titan's 2nd string receiver Nate Washington (7 receptions, 99 yards on 11 targets) one-on-one the whole afternoon couldn't achieve their near impossible mission with NFL veteran Matt Hasselbeck pulling the strings. The result was too many men in the box, Hasselbeck shredding the few players left in the secondary for 358 yards and a touchdown, and a disappointing Raven's loss.
Is the defense entirely to blame for the loss? of course not when your offense puts up a total of 229 yards and turns the ball over 3 times. Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron got away from what worked so well against the Steelers in week one when the Ravens ran the ball 31 times for 170 yards helping to set up the play action pass. This time around, the Ravens offense ran the ball only 17 times for 45 yards and subsequently the passing game faltered under the pressure of having to compensate for the lack of run support. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco went 15 for 32 with 197 yards a touchdown and two costly interceptions, while being pummeled by the Titans blitz all day. It's obvious that this offensive line thrives when the focus is on the run rather then the pass, and the same can be said for Flacco who has always been at his most effective on the play action pass.
As a number of NFL offenses have begun to shy away from the run in an effort to keep the ball in their playmaking quarterback's hands (Packers, Patriots, Saints, etc) the Ravens need to realize that going with the trend would be a disastrous mistake. This team is not built to throw the ball 40+ times a game, while giving the running back the odd hand off here or there. It is built to pound opponents with their workhorse running backs who, given their chances, will eventually take their opportunities while setting up Flacco for play action passes. Swimming against the current is never easy, but if the Ravens want to get to the Indianapolis next february they will have to make it their motto.
Finally, Liam Regan knows absolutely nothing about sports.
