Matt Vensel – Page 14

Not long after the Ravens ran down the tunnel at Heinz Field -- some of them wearing Terrible Towels on their heads -- I started getting bombarded on my Twitter feed with excuses from Pittsburgh Steelers fans, who tried to imply that the Ravens hadn't really earned a victory. But Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said in the days leading up to the Ravens' 13-10 win on Sunday that "excuses are tools for the incompetent." The Steelers didn't use those tools and played another hard-fought game with the Ravens, but backup quarterback Byron Leftwich, who took a pounding and whose teammates said was in a lot of pain throughout the game, lamented the many opportunities he bounced off the grass Sunday. In the Steelers locker room afterward, injured starter Ben Roethlisberger, who spent the game in gray sweats on the sideline, was nowhere to be seen, but his grisly mug was the elephant in the locker room.

The Ravens allowed 5 yards per carry to the Steelers, 31 of which came on Leftwich's first-quarter touchdown run, but they defended the pass well, holding Leftwich to about 5 yards per throw. The Steelers missed Roethlisberger the most on third down, when the Ravens allowed them to convert just five of 17 opportunities. Instead of shrugging off defenders and slipping out of the pocket, Leftwich was mostly stationary -- after his unbelievable touchdown run -- as the Ravens teed off on him. His teammates praised him for his toughness. Offensive tackle Max Starks called Leftwich "a tiger," but those hits took their toll.

The Steelers haven't said when Roethlisberger might return from a sprained throwing shoulder and a dislocated rib he said threatened to puncture his aorta. But knowing him and knowing how badly the Steelers need a win to gain ground on the first-place Ravens in the AFC North, I am already envisioning Roethlisberger revising his famous horror movie villain routine, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Steelers rolled him out onto the field in a straitjacket like Hannibal Lector in "Silence of the Lambs." The Steelers would likely pose an even greater challenge than they did Sunday, when this rivalry game went down to the wire once again. But a win won't be guaranteed for them if Roethlisberger does return, especially considering how well the Ravens play while defending their home turf. Plus, the good news is that if the Ravens beat him, too, we won't have to hear any excuses from Steelers fans as they sharpen those tools for the incompetent.

Read and react: Tackling five opinions on the Ravens

August 19, 2019 at 4:58 a.m.

This feature appears every week on the Baltimore Sports Blitz. It's just like "What They're Saying About the Ravens," but it includes blogger Matt Vensel saying something about what those...

Byron Leftwich starts strong for Steelers, fades late

August 19, 2019 at 4:57 a.m.

With injured Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger watching from the sideline in sweats Sunday, backup Byron Leftwich started against the Ravens, his first start since 2009. Leftwich hit the ground...

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, center left, yells toward head linesman Kent Payne (79) after a Ravens touchdown was overturned following a review in the first half.

Big Ben (baby) questionable for Ravens-Steelers

August 19, 2019 at 4:57 a.m.

As we have seen over the years, it can sometimes take a lot for the Pittsburgh Steelers to drag quarterback Ben Roethlisberger off the field. But the birth of his...

Desperately seeking a consistent Ravens pass rush

August 19, 2019 at 4:57 a.m.

Not often have the Ravens, who reveled in wreaking havoc with their pass rush under former defensive coordinators like Rex Ryan and Chuck Pagano, gotten close enough to the quarterback...

Five Ravens stats that stand out: Week 10

August 19, 2019 at 4:57 a.m.

Each Wednesday, blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Ravens. 55.0 -- Joe Flacco's completion percentage in his last four starts, three of which...

Coffee Companion (10/26): your daily Ravens fix

August 19, 2019 at 4:57 a.m.

Every morning, Monday through Friday, blogger Matt Vensel will hook you up with reading material -- mostly on the Ravens but with some other Baltimore sports stuff, too -- to...

Checking in with rookie cornerback Asa Jackson

August 19, 2019 at 4:57 a.m.

Each week, blogger Matt Vensel fires a few questions at rookie cornerback and kick returner Asa Jackson. The Ravens' fifth-round pick in April's draft, Jackson is a Sacramento native who...

The talent level on defense isn't great and isn't going to get any better during the season, so it's up to defensive coordinator Dean Pees to patch up his busted defense.

Ravens fans could relate to defensive coordinator Dean Pees when he said Thursday that the play of his defense in October made him sick. Three days later, during a 43-13 loss to the Houston Texans, the defense probably made them all want to chug a few bottles of Pepto Bismol again. The Ravens allowed more than 400 total yards again (420 to be exact), but at least they didn't allow more than 200 rushing yards for a third straight game (those slackers from Houston could only muster 181). For the first time since Week 3, the Ravens didn't force a turnover. The Texans picked up first downs on eight of their 15 third-down conversions and scored touchdowns on three of five trips inside the red zone. As linebacker Terrell Suggs put it, "When you step into the shower, you're going to get wet -- and it rained tonight." I'm not 100 percent sure about that analogy, but there is no doubt the Texans poured it on Sunday.

"I was like, 'Damn, 40 points,' but this is going to happen," Suggs, who played well, said after the game. "We went down to San Diego last year and it was raining touchdowns. ... We've been here before, but after seven games, and you think of everything this team has been through to come out 5-2 going into the bye, we'll take that. We'll take that every day. We're going to go to work tomorrow. We're going to go to work during this bye, and we're going to come back. You all know what we do down the stretch."

Sorry, Sizzle, but this is not the same Baltimore defense. Linebacker Ray Lewis, who is likely out for the year with a torn triceps, and safety Ed Reed have looked like guys who are in their mid-30s. Reliable run defenders in Jarret Johnson and Cory Redding are playing elsewhere. And by focusing on overhauling their offense in recent drafts -- 24 of their 38 picks from 2007 to 2011 went to the offense -- they appear to have left the cupboard bare defensively. They have only spent one first-round draft pick (cornerback Jimmy Smith) on defense since 2006, and three of their second-round picks have disappointed. Nose tackle Terrence Cody and outside linebacker Paul Kruger haven't secured starting spots, and outside linebacker Sergio Kindle, who was cut Saturday to make room for Suggs, was unfortunately unable to come remotely close to reaching his potential after fracturing his skull before his first training camp.

On Thursday, Pees was adamant that he has enough talent for the defense to succeed, even with the loss of both Lewis and standout cornerback Lardarius Webb. And safety Bernard Pollard defended Pees passionately, interrupting a reporter at the podium to say that the players, not the coaches, are to blame for the collapse of the defense. They are the ones blowing assignments. They are the ones missing tackles. And they are the ones getting pushed around at the line of scrimmage. But it's up to the coordinator to put the talent he has in a position to succeed, and Pees hasn't done that. Some of it is correctable, and Pees and his staff will get two weeks to build this defense back up with the bricks and mortar that were given to him. There are calls from the vocal, over-reactionary sector of the fan base that would like to see Pees shipped out of Baltimore for good -- maybe to Ann Arbor, Mich. to spend some time with Greg Mattison? -- but the Ravens organization isn't the type to panic. They believed in him enough to hire him after his divorce from the New England Patriots and they had enough faith in him, and in how his players would respond to him, to promote him to defensive coordinator when Chuck Pagano left to become the coach of the Indianapolis Colts. The Ravens have been rocked by injuries, but Pees isn't going to back down from the challenge of fixing this flawed Baltimore defense. But until he actually does it, you might want to keep the Pepto Bismol within arm's reach on game day.

Examining Ray Rice’s workload so far this season

August 19, 2019 at 4:57 a.m.

The Ravens inexplicably went away from Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice after he had success on their first drive during Sunday's blowout loss to the Houston Texans. He didn't...

Coffee Companion (10/19): your daily Ravens fix

August 19, 2019 at 4:56 a.m.

Every morning, Monday through Friday, blogger Matt Vensel will hook you up with reading material -- mostly on the Ravens but with some other Baltimore sports stuff, too -- to...

Looking at defenders recently drafted by the Ravens

August 19, 2019 at 4:56 a.m.

The numbers aren't pretty. Through six games, the Ravens are allowing nearly 400 total yards per game and rank near the bottom of the league in a handful of major...

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