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Leonhard, Scott, Ryan bigger losses than first thought
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Rex Ryan is making things happen with New York's defense and is greatly missed in Baltimore.
Coming into this season, everyone thought it would be business as usual on the defensive side for the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens have seen defensive coordinators and players come and go in past years and simply replaced them in the "Next Man Up" style. There was no dropoff from Marvin Lewis to Mike Nolan to Rex Ryan, just as there was no dropoff from Edgerton Hartwell to Adalius Thomas to Bart Scott.
Now it seems that maybe not everyone is replaceable when it comes to the Ravens defense, or at least so it seems through the first six games of the season. Opponents are churning up yardage and putting points on the board at an alarming rate, certainly one we haven't seen in Baltimore in many seasons.
The team's overall defensive scheme seems completely different under Greg Mattison than it did under Rex Ryan. Gone are the crazy blitzes and exotic looks. The new style is a base, bland defense that does little to confuse or trick the opposing offense. The result has been very little pressure on the quarterback, which has meant big plays, and very few forced turnovers.
Bart Scott's loss has also been damaging. The Ravens thought one of their many talented, young linebackers could step up, but no one has been able to fill his shoes. Scott was such a solid all-around linebacker. He was very effective blitzing as well as dropping into pass coverage. He was a sound tackler and brought some swagger and a fear factor to the Ravens defense.
Jim Leonhard wasn't anything special, but he was effective if nothing else. His work on punt returns was fantastic, an area where the Ravens are really struggling right now. He was also fundamentally sound in the secondary, always in the right position. That allowed Ed Reed to roam around more and intercept passes. He was also an excellent tackler and had a knack for coming up with a big play.
The Ravens are now stuck with Dawan Landry, who is constantly out of position and takes poor angles when trying to make a tackle in the open field. It has hurt the Ravens in the form of several big pass plays and doesn't allow Reed to come up with big interceptions. Instead, he is busy running around trying to cover huge chunks of the field to cover up for mistakes in the secondary.
A large part of the blame must be placed on Ozzie Newsome, who thought Leonhard was expendable with Landry returning from injury. I can't blame him for letting Bart Scott leave via free agency, because the team could never afford to keep him.
Losing Ryan wasn't his fault either, but John Harbaugh deserves blame for promoting Mattison to defensive coordinator instead of looking elsewhere to fill the position. Mike Nolan was available, among others.
It will be interesting to see if the Ravens can improve throughout the year and overcome the offseason defections or if they will have to wait until after the season to make some changes to improve the performance on the defensive end.
