Why Strong Secondary Is Ravens Biggest Need
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The Ravens have not had a truly dominant defensive unit since 2011. There have been two problems the Ravens have had since then. These problems go hand in hand. The Ravens haven’t been as aggressive defensively in the past several seasons. The Ravens second problem, the Ravens struggles in the secondary are the reason why.
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One could look at the Ravens pass rushing successes of the 2014 season and question my take, that the Ravens haven’t been aggressive enough. Here’s the thing, the Ravens relied heavily on Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil. If they didn’t win on the outside, the Ravens didn’t have much other recourse in the pass rush department. They weren’t being aggressive, by having to pass rushers rush the passer.
Last season my frustration with the Ravens passive defense reached it’s boiling point. I understood the concept. Sending elaborate blitz schemes puts pressure on the secondary. Why would you do that to a troubled secondary in the first place. The problem is that without a pass rush, NFL quarterbacks are going to carve up the secondary one way or another.
I’m a fan of organized chaos. Ravens fans of course remember the defenses led by Rex Ryan. Quarterbacks lived in constant fear against the Ravens. They couldn’t get a good pre-snap read and they often had to avoid pass rushers instead of robotically going through their passing progression. Rex Ryan, Mike Nolan and Chuck Pagano loved rushing the passer every way imaginable.
If you told these former Ravens defensive coordinators that the secondary was weak, they’d think to create an advantage with creative pass rush. Dean Pees on the other hand goes into a preventative mode. His goal isn’t to make the big play on defense. His goal is to prevent the big play from the offense and hold them to field goals rather than touchdowns.
Dean Pees will turn on the heat when he feels like he has no other choice. Against the Bengals in week 3 for example a great blitz by C.J. Mosley forced an Andy Dalton fumble, and the Ravens scored a defensive touchdown. The Ravens took the lead. On the next play from scrimmage, the Bengals threw the ball quickly to A.J. Green in the slot. Green took it all the way for a touchdown. The Ravens were playing a soft cover 3 with a four man rush. The Bengals knew it was coming and attacked the vulnerable seam.
The Ravens need to be more aggressive and less predictably passive in their coverage. The Ravens need to do this, but they won’t until the Pees can trust the secondary. This is something we have seen as a pattern since Pees took over as defensive coordinator in 2012.
The Ravens improved the secondary dramatically when they signed Eric Weddle. Weddle will be a free roaming strong safety. He will have great range and that combined with his leadership will tighten up the coverage in the secondary. The Ravens still have need at the cornerback position. With two good cornerbacks and Weddle’s leadership, the Ravens secondary could be a strength. If the Ravens defense is strong in the back-end, Pees will feel more comfortable being creative in the front seven.
Next: Are Ravens Set At Wide Receiver?
Some football minds try to solve their pass defense problems with more pass rush. Others try to solve it with a great secondary. Pees is the kind of guy that needs a strong secondary, in order to bring the heat consistently. If the Ravens fix the secondary up completely, they will solve more than just one problem.