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OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The Ravens’ defense was by far the most dominant group in the NFL during the preseason.
Baltimore allowed a league record with 6.7 points per game in three exhibition games. Baltimore has only allowed the Saints two touchdowns in that span.
The Ravens also led the NFL, allowing just 57.3 rushing yards per game. The top seven were solid in all three games and opposing backs had little room to work.
Defensive coordinator Don Martindale is optimistic his players will maintain this performance in the regular season.
“All the credit goes to the players, to themselves and to the way they attacked every game, every practice, every OTA, minicamp and everything in between,” said Martindale. “We talk about these things before the game – what we want to accomplish in a game – and that was one of them, because we weren’t happy with the New Orleans game. remember that there were a few leads that leaked out on us.
“It was just simple things to fix, and they fixed it, and I was really happy with our race defense. I was happy with our defense, overall.”
Throughout the offseason, questions have been raised about the Ravens’ pass rush. They did not replace their best players who left via free agency.
However, the Ravens put an end to these fears.
The Ravens have added veteran linebacker Justin Houston, a four-time Pro Bowl defenseman who has recorded at least eight sacks in each of the past four seasons.
Baltimore also added a pair of rookie outside linebackers who had no history of securing sacks.
The Ravens’ defense was dominant throughout training camp and kept the pressure on the opposing quarterbacks in all three preseason games.
Defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Justin Madubuike have been under pressure inside the inside line and that is expected to continue into the season.
Inside linebacker Patrick Queen has become more adept at finding seams and getting the quarterback.
Rookie outside linebacker Odafe Oweh has wowed coaches with his size and speed and has managed to get into the backfield several times over the past two weeks, veteran Tyus Bowser has shown more polish and is ready to step up. the number of bags this season.
Finally, the secondary led by Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters locked the wide receivers and created more time to put pressure on the quarterback.
“We’re too talented; we’re deep,” said defensive end Calais Campbell. “This team is perfectly set up to do a race. Now obviously it’s hard to do, and every team wants it. There are other teams that have just as much talent and great players, so it’s going to be. a battle, but there’s no excuse, we’ve got it all, and so it really boils down to execution, taking it one day at a time and winning the right.
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