Baltimore Ravens Information
The Baltimore Ravens have experienced their fair share of turmoil over the last twelve months. They finished the 2003 season well, but fell early on in the playoffs, then watched their star offensive player arrested on drug charges, and then after they had a trade set up for one of the premiere players in the league, he told them he wouldn’t be reporting to camp, and they were forced to void the trade. The city of Baltimore is fully behind this team, and there’s no doubt they expect their team to bounce back with a very successful 2004 campaign.
The Ravens are coached by Brian Billick, one of the “geniuses” of the game. Billick has the ability to devise a game plan in a short period of time that almost always neutralizes the opposition’s best player or players. Billick was a coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings before taking over in Baltimore before the 1999 season, and in the 2000 season, he led the Ravens to their first ever Super Bowl victory. In his five seasons in the city of Baltimore, the Ravens have made the playoffs four times and have advanced to the conference championship twice.
The team is undoubtedly known for their play on the defensive side of the ball, and the man most responsible for that is middle linebacker Ray Lewis. In the Ravens’ 3-4 defense, Lewis is the middle, running from sideline to sideline to make the bone-jarring hits you see in all the highlight shows. Lewis finished the 2003 season with 163 tackles (125 solo), 1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 interceptions (1 for a score). Terrell Suggs made a successful transition to the professional game as witnessed by his team leading 12 sacks and 6 forced fumbles, and Ed Reed, another rookie out of the University of Miami, led the team with 7 interceptions.
Jamal Lewis led the league in rushing last season, becoming only the 5th player in league history to eclipse the 2,000 yard mark in a season. He found the end zone 14 times, and also carried a very respectable 5.3 average per carry. Marcus Robinson led the team in TD receptions with 6, but he’ll be playing in Minnesota next year. Todd Heap and Travis Taylor will lead the receiving corps in 2004. Kyle Boller, the team’s first round pick in 2003 out of California, is the franchise’s quarterback of the future. Although he suffered an injury in the middle of the season that limited him to only 10 games played, Boller posted respectable numbers. Since the franchise moved from Cleveland to Baltimore, the philosophy has always been defense first followed by the running game. The quarterback of this system doesn’t need to win the ball game for the team, he just needs to make sure he doesn’t lose it.
The Ravens boast one of the best special team units in the league, one of the reason they’re never out of games at any time. Matt Stover has proven himself to be one of the best kickers in the league, converting 33 of his 38 attempts (perfect from inside 40 yards) and also being perfect with extra points for a total of 134 points. Dave Zastudil averaged 41 yards a punt, and finished with a net average of 37 yards per punt, placing him near the top of the league. Lamont Brightful and Chester Taylor were the primary kick returners and each averaged 20 yards per return. Brightful also took most of the punts and averaged a return of almost 8 yards per return including a 44 yarder.