Chargers offense only a passing concern for Ravens secondary

Despite facing tougher air attack, defensive backs confident they'll improve on Week 1 performance

When the Kansas City Chiefs went 80 yards in six plays in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Ravens to tie the score at 24, the announced 71,099 at M&T Bank Stadium were silenced. Since 2000, few teams had done this to the Ravens, and the Chiefs did it in six plays, all of them passes.

So you knew at whom fingers were going to be pointed Monday morning.

As the Ravens (1-0) prepare to face the Chargers (1-0) on Sunday in San Diego, there is still concern about the secondary, but those players aren't worried.

Overall, they thought they did a solid job against Kansas City - allowing just 177 passing yards - even though Chiefs backup quarterback Brodie Croyle led his team on two scoring drives in the fourth quarter to give his team a chance to win.

"The Chargers are better offensively than Kansas City," said Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington, who allowed a 50-yard reception to Mark Bradley. "They've been together a lot longer than the Chiefs. They know their system, so you have to expect them to be better in the passing game.

"I think we were solid against Kansas City. Except for the big play I gave up, we played lights out on defense. We gave up more points than we're accustomed to giving up, but if you look at yards and the plays we made on the field, we played pretty well."

But that performance might not have been good enough to beat the Chargers. San Diego has a Pro Bowl quarterback in Phillip Rivers, and big, physical receivers who could give the Ravens trouble. Wide receiver Vincent Jackson is 6 feet 5 and weighs 230 pounds. Tight end Antonio Gates is 6-4 and 260. Wide receiver Chris Chambers is the runt of the starting group at 5-11 and 210 pounds.

The Ravens can counter San Diego's size with the speed of cornerbacks Domonique Foxworth and Washington, and safeties Ed Reed and Dawan Landry.

The Chargers run the West Coast offense, which is predicated on short passes. But San Diego likes to take shots downfield, something familiar to Foxworth and Washington, who played several seasons in the AFC West against the Chargers.

"I have played against them six times now," said Washington, who spent three seasons with the Oakland Raiders before joining the Ravens last year. "They run the ball very well and have one of the best running backs ever. They have big, tall, aggressive receivers and a quarterback who likes to put it up there. They are going to take their shots."

The Ravens are going to have to make some adjustments compared with a week ago. They thought they could get to Croyle with a four-man rush, but that might change against Rivers because the Chargers, when healthy, have an excellent offensive line.

A major key for the Ravens will be improving communication. Last week, they appeared disorganized on the back end of the defense, shuffling personnel on and off the field even with Kansas City about to snap the ball.

The Ravens have a front seven who have played together for a while, but Foxworth is new in the secondary and Washington is in his second season with the Ravens. Landry missed the final 14 games last season with a neck injury.

"It was the first game. We're still feeling some things out, becoming more comfortable with each other," Landry said. "Against Kansas City, we really didn't know what to expect because they fired their offensive coordinator [Chan Gailey] shortly before we played them. We studied Arizona film from a year ago because that's where the head coach [Todd Haley] was the offensive coordinator, but we also had to study Kansas City to look at their personnel."

The Ravens were confused at times.

"It seemed like every third down they would no-huddle us, and that rattled us at times in the first half, but then we got that corrected," Washington said.

Washington said veteran cornerback Samari Rolle, who will miss five more weeks with a neck injury, would have been a steadying influence. And once the Ravens get a few more games under their belt, and Rolle back, they will be as good as any other defensive unit, Landry said.

"I thought the defensive line and linebackers did a great job, and we were just OK," he said. "It's all about being on the same page, and for the most part, the stuff we did wrong is easily correctable."