Ravens secondary a primary concern

Despite 2-0 record, team's defense has holes to plug to return to form

SAN DIEGO

Nine days ago, it was considered an aberration because it was unimaginable: the Kansas City Chiefs, with a second-string quarterback, mounting two scoring drives in the fourth quarter.

And then there was game No. 2.

The Ravens managed a 31-26 win against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, but one of the greatest concerns of the preseason seems to be valid.

The once-feared Ravens defense is now vulnerable, and until it is proved otherwise, a secondary that has quantity, has very little quality, especially at the cornerback positions.

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers and his crop of big receivers carved the Ravens secondary up for 436 yards, and if it weren't for late heroics by middle linebacker Ray Lewis and poor play-calling by Chargers coach Norv Turner (which is nothing new), the Ravens would be nursing their first defeat of the season.

Instead, they are 2-0 but looking for a lot of answers in the secondary.

"It wasn't pretty," Ravens safety Dawan Landry said. "We got the job done, but there is always something to learn. We have to minimize mistakes. We have to play our techniques. A lot of things we've done in the secondary contributed to the passing."

What happened?

It was a mess, and it appears Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison is still trying to learn the rhythm of this defense. He mixed up his calls and defenses, but he left his cornerbacks exposed quite often by playing more one-deep as opposed to two-deep, which is supposed to cut down on big plays.

The Ravens also need to get more pressure from defensive ends Trevor Pryce and the $63 million man, Terrell Suggs. Suggs spent more time panting than tracking down Rivers. Maybe there is something to participating in training camp.

"It's the big plays," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "Those are situations where you've got a big wide receiver matched up, running downfield against the corner, going up and making the play. We can play more two-deep, put double coverage back there more often, but here's a team that can run screens, run draws a little bit, throws the ball over the middle, so we tried to mix it up."

"I think we can get more pressure in certain situations," Harbaugh said.

Right now, it's a litany of things. Sunday, the Ravens gave up four passing plays of 30 yards or more. The Ravens signed cornerback Domonique Foxworth in the offseason as a free agent out of Denver to become their shutdown guy, but it was Foxworth who was victimized several times by San Diego.

"We got to make plays," Foxworth said. "Speaking for myself, I was in position to make plays but didn't. They've got some Pro Bowl players over there, and you've got to give them credit. To be honest, size wasn't the only issue.

"I was indecisive at the point whether to go underneath or go over top and knock it down. We're better than what we showed. This is obviously not our best. It wasn't them just manning up and destroying us, it was our mistakes and errors, which can be corrected."

Maybe in some cases, but in others the Ravens were just beaten physically. Ravens starting cornerback Fabian Washington was repeatedly beat, and at times did more turns and spins than the King of Pop, the late Michael Jackson.

Landry got caught out of position several times, and when the Ravens kept him near the line of scrimmage to shut down Chargers running back Darren Sproles, San Diego went over the top, attacking the corners and safety Ed Reed, who had to cover way too much ground by himself.

The Ravens got a win, but their egos and pride were hurt. Seldom since the 2000 Super Bowl season has a Ravens defense looked so bad, and they won't get any relief at the cornerback position until veteran Samari Rolle returns from a neck injury in four weeks.

That's if the injury has healed.

"They were throwing the ball up a lot, using a lot of jump balls," Landry said. "They did it well, and it was one of the best passing games we'll see this year. They didn't dink and dunk us. We have to eliminate the big plays, and if we do that we'll be fine."

Reed said: "We got to buckle down and make corrections, which we've always done. They executed their game plan. They get paid to make plays, too, and my hat's off to them."