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Ravens defense missing 'Sizzle,' playoff run starting to fizzle

SportsBem Written by SportsBem, Tuesday December 08 2009
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Reactions to the Ravens' loss Monday night in Green Bay

The Ravens' playoff chances took a huge hit Monday night when the Green Bay Packers dominated Baltimore on both sides of the ball.

 

A couple of common issues once again plagued the Ravens during a close loss. First and foremost, the secondary is no longer one of the elite units in the NFL. Without Ed Reed in the lineup, they are probably one of the worst. Even with Reed, the Ravens secondary has been mediocre and unable to stop the elite passing attacks in the league.

 

Not all of that can be blamed on the Ravens' secondary. The Ravens had no pass rush against Aaron Rodgers, allowing the Green Bay QB to pick apart the Ravens' secondary. It became apparent during the game that the Ravens are really missing outside linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs. Suggs is one of the top pass rushers in the NFL when he is healthy. Teams have to account for Suggs and that opens up opportunities for others on the defensive line.

 

Paul Kruger and Jarrett Johnson have filled in admirably when stopping the run, but they are not putting enough pressure on QBs. That is a huge problem for the Ravens right now.

 

Another big issue for the team is the confidence of Joe Flacco. Flacco has been plagued lately by bad decisions at the end of games. I think the interception against Indy and the pick in the endzone early in the fourth quarter against the Packers made Flacco gun-shy at the end of Monday's game.

 

The Ravens still had a shot, getting the ball down by 10 with a 1:30 left. However, for some reason Flacco refused to throw the ball down the field. I am not sure why that is. I mean, take a shot, right? There were only 10 pass interference penalties in the game, maybe you get lucky.

 

A large part of his struggles tonight are probably due to an outstanding effort by the Packers' defense. But still something clearly isn't right with Flacco. He doesn't seem to be making all the throws he made earlier in the year and that concerns me as a Ravens fan.

It will be interesting to see how Flacco and the Ravens bounce back against the Lions Sunday.

 


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