The Broncos saw two longtime stalwarts leave this offseason in Chris Harris Jr. and Derek Wolfe, but they did a solid job of replacing them by adding Jurrell Casey up front and AJ Bouye on the back end. 6-keys: media/spln/nfl/reg/free/stories, at Even with regression, we should expect this to be one of the best defenses out there. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. And I don’t want to put it in any category of revenge or anything like that.”. Forcing as many turnovers as they did -- and turning them into as many scores as they did -- is just not sustainable from year to year. They stole Harris away from the Broncos, giving them one of the small handful of best secondaries in the NFL. They still have Stephon Gilmore and the McCourty twins and J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones. We've seen this over and over throughout NFL history. They should be able to account for the loss of players like Cory Littleton in free agency. section: | slug: ranking-the-top-10-nfl-defenses-for-2020-season-ravens-lead-the-way-by-prioritizing-pass-coverage | sport: football | route: article_single.us | Before the draft, we used our weighted system to run through the league's offensive infrastructures, separating them into buckets that included six teams who were not set up for success, nine teams who looked like they would struggle to reach average, 11 teams that should be good but not necessarily elite, and five teams who seemingly could only be held back by injuries. “They played winning football, they ran the ball on us, they stopped the run, they played a great football game, and they beat us handily. We let some big plays happen on defense. 2 corner spot, and allow Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to move back into a hybrid corner/safety type of role. Terms apply. And that was true even before they saw Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins, Danny Shelton, Duron Harmon and Elandon Roberts walk out the door. Copyright © 2020 Baltimore Ravens. © 2004-2020 CBS Interactive. Who are you going to throw at here: Harris, Casey Hayward, Desmond King, or a now-healthy Derwin James? The Bears took a slight step backward on defense last season but still managed to finish the year ranked eighth in defensive DVOA. Oh, and they have Earl Thomas patrolling center field. Compete for the $20k season prize plus $1k to the weekly champ. Vonn Bell was a perfectly fine fit for them at safety next to Marcus Williams, but the addition of Malcolm Jenkins makes for a dramatic upgrade. Add in the combination of Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram on the edge, with Linval Joseph, Justin Jones, and Jerry Tillery up the middle, plus Denzel Perryman and now Kenneth Murray cleaning up behind them, and this is a really strong unit. They still have Dont'a Hightower and Ja'Whaun Bentley at linebacker. After all, the Ravens got an up-close look at how talented of a roster they have early last season. Let's start here: The Steelers' defense is likely to regress from where it was last season. “So, we expect to see a lot of runs. As it turned out, that loss was the last Ravens loss of the season as they tore through the rest of the schedule — including the Browns in Week 16 — and finished the regular season 14-2. The Chargers already had an incredible wealth of talent on defense and they added to it this offseason. But that embarrassing loss at home, while not at the forefront of the week’s storylines, is certainly a reminder. The Ravens took some significant steps in the offseason to prevent another afternoon like Week 4 from last season, though. We've spent a lot of time this offseason talking about offenses. You’ve got to limit their explosive plays, their big plays. All games played on Sundays unless otherwise noted. Naturally, the 2020 NFL Draft changed things quite a bit, so we ran those rankings back for an update earlier this week. Add in some development from Ed Oliver -- who looked like a monster as a rookie -- and stabilization of the secondary by adding Josh Norman to a Tre'Davious White-led unit that was already quite good, and this team has the recipe to remain an excellent point-prevention unit. We turned the ball over on offense. Rather than go through every team from 32-1 on this side of the ball, however, we're going to reveal our top 10 defenses here, and then debut a list of team from outside that group that have the best chance to crash the party as the best defense in football. They’re a great running team. So, we’re certainly aware of that. Baltimore Ravens Schedule 2020 Add to Calendar Regular Season WK DATE OPPONENT … Using Baun, Cameron Jordan, and Marcus Davenport on the outside, with Sheldon Rankins, David Onyemate, Malcom Brown, and Margus Hunt up the middle should be incredibly tough for opposing offenses to deal with. OK so the Patriots are definitely going to regress from their performance last season. First-year defensive coordinator Brandon Staley has a lot to work with. We shouldn't expect Kinlaw to be a Buckner-level producer right away, but the depth and star power this team has up front should be able to overcome any sort of drop-off they experience at that spot. There are stars at all three levels with Akiem Hicks, Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, and Eddie Jackson, and the secondary should be improved after the addition of Jaylon Johnson in the draft as well. There are no weaknesses here. Robert Saleh's secondary was arguably the most improved unit in the entire league last season, and they're bringing back every key piece from that group of players. You always remember those things. They’ve added depth, with the selections of defensive linemen Justin Madubuike — who, at this point, isn’t likely to play Sunday — and Broderick Washington and inside linebacker Malik Harrison. Expect big things. With Von Miller and Bradley Chubb forming the basis of one of the league's better pressure units, plus Bouye, Bryce Callahan, Justin Simmons, and Kareem Jackson patrolling the secondary, and maybe most importantly with Vic Fangio at the controls, the Broncos should remain in the mix for the top 10. Didn’t capitalize on some opportunities in the red zone on offense. However, as we saw with Chicago last season, "regression" doesn't mean that you suddenly become a bad defense. It's possible this swap provides an upgrade with Casey coming in as arguably the best player of the four. Covering the impact of coronavirus on the sports world. The loss was an awakening in so many ways for the Ravens, who turned around the season after the blowout and racked up 12 straight wins. View the 2016 Baltimore Ravens schedule, results and scores for regular season, preseason and postseason NFL games. Because while offense has a greater effect on overall team performance -- and is more consistent year over year -- than defense, you still need to put up some resistance in order to actually win football games. Throw in their heist of hybrid linebacker/edge rusher Zack Baun in the third round of the draft and one of the league's more dangerous defensive fronts just has another key piece to play around with. Baltimore Ravens Schedule: The official source of the latest Ravens regular season and preseason schedule The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. The Chargers have a ridiculous amount of depth, but their LA brethren just have a ton of star power. The Ravens were dominated 40-25 in Week 4 at home against the Browns as they allowed 530 yards of total offense, including 165 yards on the ground and three scores from running back Nick Chubb. San Francisco traded away one of its best defenders in DeForest Buckner ... then replaced him with a like-for-like player by landing Javon Kinlaw in the first round of the draft. But then they replaced those guys by signing Mario Addison in free agency and drafting A.J. They added veteran defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Derek Wolfe and drafted inside linebacker Patrick Queen to bolster the middle. They’re a great team — very talented team. 7. That's the baseline expectation for the 2020 Steelers, who return 10 of 11 starters and brought in Chris Wormley to replace Javon Hargrave up front. Did you know that the Ravens finished last season fourth in defensive DVOA? “They ran for a lot of yards. 1d But no one has forgotten the amount of yards Chubb ran for, an afternoon capped by an 88-yard rush to put the Ravens away in the fourth quarter. Epenesa, and so they should see little to no drop-off in their production up front. Obviously, you have to limit their run game with Chubb and Kareem Hunt.”. So, we have our hands full, but I think we’re ready for the challenge.”, Ravens still remember last year’s blowout loss to the Browns. Brandon Carr isn't even going to start. If there was ever a team the Ravens could have faced to test their front seven right from the outset, it’s the Browns. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson didn't practice Thursday, marking the first time in his three-year career that he has missed back-to-back practices in the regular season. But they still have Bill Belichick. All Rights Reserved. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: nfl | pageType: stories | They still have one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL, and it's been made even more dangerous in the short term with the addition of Robert Quinn in free agency. It just means you go from historic to really good. When you have Aaron Donald wrecking defensive lines up front and Jalen Ramsey taking away an entire side of the field by himself, it just dramatically limits what opposing offenses can do. Schedule Roster Depth Chart Injuries Transactions Blog Tickets More Baltimore Ravens Player Stats 2020 Players Team Team leaders Passing Yards Lamar … It is highly recommended that you use the latest versions of a supported browser in order to receive an optimal viewing experience. The Ravens were dominated 40-25 in Week 4 at home against the Browns as they allowed 530 yards of total offense, including 165 yards on the ground and three scores from running back Nick Chubb As it turned out, that loss was the last Ravens loss of the season as they tore through the rest of the schedule — including the Browns in Week 16 — and finished the regular season 14-2. That may not have been the best value signing over the long haul, but that's not what we're worried about here. “They came in and they had a great game versus us that day,” running back Mark Ingram said. The Saints already had a very good and extremely underrated defense, but the additions they made this offseason should take them up a level. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. “The Browns came in and dominated the football game in so many ways,” coach John Harbaugh said. 2016 Baltimore Ravens schedule and results. The Bills were already going to have one of the league's better defenses in 2020 even despite letting Shaq Lawson walk and seeing Lorenzo Alexander retire. “If I’m a coach, I’m going to see how the guys’ tackling is going to be, so I’m going to run the ball at them downhill and see where guys’ tackling is,” Campbell said.