Right Off Russell

Back in August when we were all making our predictions there seemed to a consensus that the Ravens were a playoff team. Of course, many people (myself included) didn’t think the team would take the path it did in advancing to the postseason.  Anyone else feel, at certain points this season, that watching this team was almost like going to work on a Monday morning?  I know I did. But the regular season is over and now every team is 0-0.

So what do the Ravens need to do on defense vs. the Patriots to go 1-0?

Defensive Line: Haloti Ngata, Kelly Gregg and Co. just need to keep plugging along. The Patriots have a bunch of different running backs that they will use at some point.  None of them are game breakers but they all possess different skills that can be effective for the New England offense.  What would be a huge bonus is if guys like Trevor Pryce and Terrell Suggs can generate pressure on their own.  Unfortunately they haven’t been able to create consistent pressure this season and the Patriots offensive line will probably be able to handle them.  As a whole, the Ravens defensive line should be able to hold their own and make some plays. It’s not a huge area of concern for me in this game.

Linebackers: I wrote a piece about Dannell Ellerbe back in the preseason.  He showed great promise and potential during camp before injuring his knee.  At that point he was considered a guy on the bubble because of the numbers game that every NFL team has to play with regards to its roster.  But the Ravens gambled and kept an unhealthy Ellerbe over some other players.  And now that gamble is paying off. Ellerbe is a very instinctual player and he has improved weekly. That improvement was extremely evident in Oakland when he intercepted a pass during a critical time in the game. Ellerbe, along with Ray Lewis and Jarret Johnson will need to be at the top of their game with regard to pass defense tomorrow.  Even though the Patriots lost a great player in Wes Welker, they will still use the short passing game alot.  That puts a ton of pressure on the linebackers to play sound position defense and not let guys like Julian Edelman get loose over the middle.  Edelman filled in nicely for Welker vs. Houston last week.  He caught 10 passes for over 100 yards.  He is no Welker but he has shown he can make plays.

Secondary: And here we are again. The unit that will be the key on defense. People probably don’t want to hear it, but Charlie Frye was pretty damn effective last week until he finally got knocked out of the game.  He worked the middle of the field very well and seemed to know where the holes in the Ravens secondary were. I have to admit that Chris Carr played fairly well and was flagged for a very questionable pass interference call.  Domonique Foxworth seems to have settled down and is playing fairly well although still not at the level of his contract. Frank Walker is Frank Walker. It’s all about minimizing mistakes with him because there will be mistakes. Ed Reed is back and looked pretty rusty. That’s to be expected but he needs to knock off that rust in a hurry with Randy Moss lining up on the other side of the field.  Moss is the obvious key to the Patriots passing game.  Much has been made of him missing practices this week but we all know how the Patriots are with injuries. In fact, Bill Belichick said that the reason Moss missed practice yesterday was not injury related.  I think it’s safe to say that he, along with Tom Brady, will be ready to play tomorrow. The question is, will the Ravens be prepared as well?