NFL Baltimore Ravens

The Defensive Front Is Key To Baltimore Ravens’ Week 12 Win

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By @RoKnowsDFS

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For well over a decade, the Baltimore Ravens‘ calling card has been ferocious, jaw-crunching defense. Legendary players such as LB Ray Lewis and FS Ed Reed, who are both retired now, helped lead the Ravens to two Super Bowl victories, including a 34-7 destruction of the New York Giants in 2000. It was such a dominating performance that Baltimore didn’t allow New York to score one offensive TD in the game. Fast forward to 2014 and Baltimore still boasts one of the best defenses in the NFL. This was on display in their Week 10 game against the Tennessee Titans, where they recorded five sacks, one INT and one forced fumble in a 21-7 victory. Not to take any credit away from the Ravens, but the Titans weren’t exactly an offensively daunting opponent. However, their opponent for their Week 12 Monday Night Football is as they square off against the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints have a multitude of weapons at their disposal that begins with QB Drew Brees and extends into TE Jimmy Graham and WRs Marques Colston, Kenny Stills and rookie star-in-the-making Brandin Cooks. Although, Cooks won’t be available for this game and the next few as his broken hand continues to heal. Additionally, they have a strong and established ground game with Mark Ingram as their every-down RB. Additionally, the game takes place at the Superdome where the Saints are known to perform nearly twice as better than they do on the road. Facing an offense like that would cause many defensive coordinators sleepless nights and this is why the key to a Ravens victory on Monday will be their dominant defense. Specifically, within that defense, the key rests in the hands of their front seven.

On the defensive line in their base 3-4 scheme, Haloti Ngata, Timmy Jernigan and Brandon Williams have been disruptive forces all season. All three linemen have an overall Pro Football Focus defensive grade of at least six, with Ngata’s 20.3 being the highest. In the second level of the defense, LBs Terrell Suggs, Pernell McPhee, Elvis Dumervil and rookie standout C.J. Mosley all have defensive grades of at least 13 and no more than 17. This group of great defenders are the reason why Baltimore has a run defense grade of 41.2 and a pass rush grade of 47.6. Therefore, in the case of New Orleans, Ingram may not see much success on the ground even though the Saints do have a run blocking grade of 6.9. A grade like that would need to be much higher to counteract the insanely high run defense grade of Baltimore’s. Additionally, the Saints are deficient at pass blocking and Baltimore should have a field day with that.

Despite an amazing front seven, the Ravens’ porous secondary is cause for concern. This was clearly proven by Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger‘s six TDs against them in a 43-23 massacre in Week 9. It’s also a feat that can be accomplished by Brees and his aerial weapons if Baltimore isn’t careful. It is absolutely critical for the Ravens to protect their weakness as much as possible in order to keep Brees off the field early and often. This would allow Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ offense plenty of extra opportunities to steal a road victory from the Saints.

Therefore, there is no other key to a Week 12 win for the Ravens than their defensive front seven. If they don’t dominate, then it could be a long and sad day for the Baltimore franchise and its fans.

Roje Smith is a Fantasy Sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoKnowsDFS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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