The 2000 Baltimore Ravens: My Favorite Team of All Time

My favorite team all time is the 2000 Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens. This team is probably the favorite for all Ravens fans, but there are certain reasons why I liked them more then any other Ravens team.

This team had a nasty, cocky attitude that started with the head coach and worked its way down. Personally, I loved the fact that everyone outside Baltimore hated the Ravens because of their attitude, and I believe it united the city. The 2000 Ravens were viewed as ” bad boys” and “thugs” and they embraced this.

This team was littered with brash, outspoken personalities that all gelled together and led them to the Super Bowl. Brian Billick, Ray Lewis, and Shannon Sharpe were known to be “talkers,” but they backed up their talking with stellar play and good coaching.

Another reason I love this particular team so much was because of the defense and the adage that they won games “ugly.” This team went five games without scoring an offensive touchdown and won two of them, that shows how dominant this defense was. The Ravens defense, led by Ray Lewis, instilled fear in the hearts of all their opponents and gave their team a chance to win game in and game out.

This, in my opinion, was the greatest defense of all time, and their record proved it. They yielded the fewest amount of points in 16 games and even gave up fewer points if you include the post-season then the ’85 Bears did in 16 games. The Ravens defense led the league in take-aways and recorded a record tying five shutouts.

In every game that the Ravens won, everyone said that they had been dominated and lucky to escape, but I saw it in a different way. This team won because they had more heart and desire than all of their opponents.

This team was able to overcome a lot of adversity en route to winning a Super Bowl, and that is another reason that I loved them. No other team in the history of the NFL could have endured a five game drought in which they did not score an offensive touchdown and still won two of those games. Also, this team switched quarterbacks in the middle of the season, which is also something that is not easy to do.

After nine games the Ravens sat at 5-4 and seemed destined to finish the season without a playoff appearance. They then won seven straight in the regular season and the rest is history.

Another piece of adversity this team faced was the fact that the face of their franchise, Ray Lewis, had faced double murder charges prior to the season and the team was asked about it on a daily basis. This seemed to unite the team and definitely sparked the play of Lewis.

Baltimore sports fans always feel that we get no respect and that was the tone of the fans and the team in 2000. The Ravens players and fans were the only ones who seemed to believe that they were any good and the players played with chips on their shoulder because of this. Every week we heard reports and “experts” say that this team was no good or make excuses for why they won, and I loved that.

The 2000 Baltimore Ravens were brash, cocky, arrogant, and nasty. They has a quarterback that was run out of Tampa and a head coach who was proving to be anything but the offensive genius tag that he was labeled with. They went five games without scoring an offensive touchdown and had a rookie running back and won games “ugly” and that is why I loved them.

Nobody outside of Baltimore expected anything from this team and they proved everyone wrong. In 1996, Art Modell brought football back to Baltimore, but the 2000 Baltimore Ravens brought back the Lombardi trophy and I love them for that.

This is, and always will be, my favorite team of all time and I am sure many Ravens fans feel the same way.

 

CBS Correspondent Article: Baltimore Ravens’ 2009 Positional Battles

After free agency and the draft, the Ravens will enter training camp with many question marks at positions on both sides of the ball. These positional battles will go a long way in determining how much success they will have and if they can make a return trip to the playoffs.

Here are some of the key positional battles that will shape the Ravens roster:

 

Middle Linebacker position

The Ravens are looking for someone to take over for the departed Bart Scott alongside Ray Lewis at the middle linebacker position. The Ravens love Tavares Gooden so much that despite missing all of last year with an injury, they made him the favorite to win the position.

Gooden is refereed to has “Baby Ray” because he went to Miami where he played the same position as Lewis. If he can even be half as a good as Lewis then the Ravens will be set for years.

I think Gooden will end up getting the job, but he will be battling the likes of Jameel McClain and rookie Jason Phillips. Antwan Barnes and Prescott Burgess will play more of the outside linebacker position and should not be factors in challenging Gooden.

Gooden has yet to play an NFL snap but the expectations are there that he will more then fill Bart Scott’s shoes. Given the Ravens track record of “discovering” linebackers, I would not be surprised to see Gooden as a perennial pro bowler for years to come.

 

Right Tackle

This job will be a battle the Ravens’ No. 1 draft pick Michael Oher and Adam Terry. Last year, the Ravens acquired Willie Anderson right before the season and that might have been their most important signing.

This looks to be Oher’s to lose. If he can pick up the play book quickly—which was his one major concern- then he will start the season opposite Jared Gaither at right tackle. If he can not then the Ravens will either slide Marshall Yanda to right tackle or give the job to Adam Terry.

The coaching staff is not high on Terry and they would love to put Yanda at guard, so they will give Oher every opportunity to win the job in training camp. IF Oher pans out the Ravens will have one of the best offensive lines in the league, a far cry from two seasons ago.

 

Kicker

Matt Stover was the only player that was on the roster since they moved to Cleveland and he has amassed a Hall of Fame career. The Ravens made it known that Stover will not be in their plans for the 2009 season, a decision that disappointed many fans.

Matt Stover has been of the most clutch kicker of this era and single handily won games for the Ravens. Despite his clutch ability and accuracy, Stover was losing distance on his kicks and it was only a matter of time before he retired. It is sad to see him go but I think it is the right move for the Ravens.

The starting job will be up for grabs between Steven “the kid” Hauschka and Graham Gano. Hauschka was the Ravens kicker last year for field goals of 50 yards and higher. He has a booming leg but lacks consistent accuracy.

Last season at Florida St, Graham Gano won the Lou Groza award for the nation’s best kicker. Bringing in Gano shows that the Ravens coaching staff is not fully confident in Haushcka and it would not surprise me to see Gano win the job.

Matt Stover is a tremendous loss, and they will no longer have an “automatic” three points every time they get into the red zone.

This might be the most key positional battle since it wins and loses games for every team. In the end I think Gano wins the job and will be the Ravens kicker for year’s to come.

 

Secondary

There will be a major positional battle and the strong safety position along side Ed Reed. Dawan Landry is coming off a major injury but was awarded his starting safety position this season.

There are still question marks about how Landry will respond from his injury and he will be in a battle with Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura for the starting position. Both Zbikowski and Nakamura got a lot playing time last season and should improve immensely in their second year.

Both Zbikowski and Nakamura are hard hitters and they made some big plays last season. Landry has been a pleasant surprise since getting drafted in the sixth round but many fans were upset to see him given the job over Jim Leonhard.

I think that Landry will win the job but it will be interesting to see how he responds from his neck injury. With him and Reed back there, the Ravens will have two safeties that had major injuries. Don’t be surprised in Tom Zbikowski ends up as the starter half way through the season.

 

Wide Receiver

Derrick Mason is the clear cut number 1 receiver for this team but the battle will be through the two through four positions. Mark Clayton, Demetrius Williams, Kelly Washington and Marcus Smith will all be competing for playing time, but Clayton and Williams seem to have the upper hand.

Both Clayton and Williams have shown sings of brilliance and the Ravens and their fans are waiting for them to show some consistency.

Washington has NFL experience although he was not a major factor the Bengals. Smith was injured for the majority of last season but he has good height, speed and a lot of upside. I like Smith and think he could crack his way into the starting lineup.

The “X-factor” at the Wide Receiver position could be Eron Riley. Riley is a free agent out of Duke, and he ran the fastest time in the 40-yard dash any receiver. He has the speed to stretch the field and the Ravens fans love him because of this. If Riley could learn how to run routes properly then he could be a major factor for this team.

As always, Wide Receiver is a major question mark for this team. Many feel they should of upgraded at the position but the Ravens like their receivers.

It will be interesting to see if this receiving corps improves from last year and if they can make the Ravens offense productive.

These are just some of the positional battles that will shape this roster in training camp and during the season. They will go a long way in determining if this team can make the playoffs in back to back seasons for only the second time in franchise history.

CBS Correspondent Article: How Will the Baltimore Ravens’ Playbook Change?

The Ravens playbook should open up significantly this season, much to the liking of the fan base. Cam Cameron has a track record of being a fearless play caller who likes to open things up and spread the ball around.

Last year the Ravens started a rookie quarterback and they were very conservative in their play calling because of this. Cameron tried to make things simple for Flacco and put him in manageable situations.

The biggest reason the Ravens offense lacked in explosiveness was because Cameron kept Todd Heap into block in order to help protect Flacco. This season however Heap should be a major factor in the Ravens offense and might revert back to his pro bowl form.

This offseason the Ravens brought in another tight end in L.J Smith, who is known for his blocking, and they drafted a right tackle. Both of these players will bolster the offensive line and should help Todd Heap run free to catch passes.

I look for the Ravens to take more shots down the field this season and Flacco will spread the ball around much better then he did last year.

The last half of the year last year Flacco and Mark Clayton developed a rapport that helped open up the offense. Clayton and Demetrius Williams are the Ravens big play receivers and they will help the offense.

Williams was injured for the majority of the year but everyone says he looked good in mini camp and they are confident he can produce.

Another major change in the playbook should be getting Ray Rice and Will McGahee more involved running and receiving. The team let Lorenzo Neal go and will move Le’Ron McClain back to his natural position of fullback despite almost rushing for 1000 yards last season.

McGahee is finally healthy and Rice adds that extra dimension of speed and elusiveness that makes him the “X- Factor” for this offense. I look for the Ravens to use a tandem back field in which Rice gets about 10-15 touches per game running and catching the ball.

A healthy Willis McGahee that reverts back to his 1200 yard for could put this offense over the top.

Cam Cameron ran a good amount of trick plays last season and instituted a version of the “wildcat” using Troy Smith and Joe Flacco. I expect more trick plays this season but less of the wildcat style of offense because of its overall in-effectiveness.

Mark Clayton is the team’s emergency quarterback so look for him on some reverses and reverse passes that should be effective.

The wildcat was effective the first time the Ravens ran it and then unsuccessful there after. The Ravens brought in John Beck to compete for the back up quarterback position with Troy Smith which tells me they either have given up on Smith or might be looking to move him to receiver.

Defensively the playbook will change but not that much. No defensive coordinator disguised blitzes and schemes better then Rex Ryan, but his departure should effect the defensive strategies a little.

Greg Mattison is a disciple of Ryan and has a similar style with almost the same personnel. Mattison is in his first season and he want to make a splash and show he was worthy of the job. I personally think the defense will be a little bit down because Rex Ryan was such a amazing game planner, but I think Mattison will do a fine job.

I expect this team to still stick to a lot of blitzing and look for Ed Reed to be more of a factor early this year then he was early last season. The key for the defense will be the secondary, most importantly how strong safety Dawan Landry responds from his injury.

I know Cam Cameron wants to open up the offense and most of the tools are there to do so. This offense should be better then last season and I think Todd Heap is in line for a big year.

This franchise has always played things close to the vest offensively, but I would be shocked be to see the same thing this season. The Ravens have finally turned the corner and are a balanced team.

This will be an exciting season to watch and Joe Flacco will emerge as a star.

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