COULD OGDEN AND LEWIS SOMEDAY WEAR DIFFERENT COLORS?

Back on August 1, 2005 training camp commenced.  It was deemed to be the start of the “real season” by many fans that have grown weary of the trials and tribulations at the Camden Yards warehouse where losing has spanned nearly a decade.  We were all “ready for some football.”

Optimism abounded.  The Ravens added offensive weaponry and they cut loose what was believed to be the drag on the offense, Matt Cavanaugh.  With Jim Fassel at the controls, a solid offensive mind and a developer of quarterbacks like John Elway, surely things would be different in 2005 on the offensive side of the football.

Yet nothing has changed.  Actually, it looks even worse.

The preseason seemed endless as did the struggles of the offense and its trigger man, Kyle Boller.  Faith in Boller plummeted so far that thousands cheered his injury in an ugly display of subhuman classlessness on Opening Night before a national TV audience.  The rogues in the crowd got their wish as Anthony Wright marched onto the field and under center where it appears he will likely stay for the foreseeable future.

Provided of course Wright can stay upright.  The pass protection has been a disaster.

It’s no secret that the Ravens offensive line wasn’t very good in pass protection for the past few years – particularly for a team that commanded the respect of opponents with their rushing attack.  The line has been one-dimensional and they’ve lacked agility displaying nimbleness just a notch north of Humpty Dumpty.  Yet the Ravens front office convinced itself that with a healthier Jonathan Ogden, Edwin Mulitalo and Orlando Brown they would be stronger.  They convinced themselves that Keydrick Vincent would provide an upgrade over Bennie Anderson and bring more versatility to the line.  They tricked themselves into believing that Mike Flynn and Casey Rabach were interchangeable. 

And now all of Billick’s horses and all of Billick’s men, can’t put the pass protection together again.  It’s a mess! 

August 1 now feels like an eternity ago.  In 53 days the promise and optimism has hit a wall.  In 53 days this Ravens team looks so much older and now they find themselves in a hole that few teams have emerged from – a hole called 0-2. 

Some have said that running the football effectively and re-establishing an offensive identity would help the overall performance of the offensive unit.  So they tried that against a Tennessee Titans defense that yielded 206 yards on the ground to the Pittsburgh Steelers one week earlier.  And the Steelers did it with Willie Parker, a back up RB from the offensive powerhouse, the University of North Carolina.  Surely Jamal would have a field day, right?

Wrong!

The Ravens netted 14 yards rushing – thirteen of those positive yards on a third and 26 draw to Jamal Lewis.  Of the Ravens 60 offensive plays, only 28 had positive yardage.  The offensive line couldn’t pass block, couldn’t run block yet they did manage to rack up something – penalties, four of them in total.  All of this against a Titans team that has 17 rookies on their 53 man roster and a total of 37 players with 2 years or less of NFL experience.

How has it gone so wrong so fast?

Perhaps the most disturbing part of the offensive line has been the play of its anchor – Jonathan Ogden.  Ogden was embarrassed by the Colts and it wasn’t just Dwight Freeney who had his way with the 8 time Pro Bowler.  Robert Mathis got in on the act, going by Ogden untouched on his way to sacking and stripping Anthony Wright to force a turnover.  The not-so-household name of Larry Tripplett beat Ogden as well on his way to a sack of Kyle Boller – the sack that led to Boller’s hyperextended toe.

Always the consummate technician, Ogden in the past has effortlessly mastered his trade while protecting his QB’s back side and caving in the flank of rushing defenses.  Now it appears as though his feet are slow and without those great feet and well positioned trunk, the technique falls apart.  He appears to lunge and reach and if the truth be told, his reputation prevented a few holding penalties against Freeney who was found in the grips of an Ogden bear hug several times.  Hey if you can’t beat ‘em, hold ‘em.

Ogden has been the best at this craft for seven of his 9 seasons.  And as hard as it is for Ravens fans to admit, he’s no longer the best.  And it’s probably not even close.

If you look back at some of the game’s best tackles, the luster on the star begins to fade at Ogden’s level of NFL experience.  The late Jim Parker was an All Pro eight times, four as a left tackle and four as a left guard.  In 1967, while still an All-Pro, Parker suffered a knee injury that failed to respond to treatment.  At the time, the Colts were undefeated and they were hopeful of going to a Super Bowl.  Parker then voluntarily stepped aside as an active player stating, "I can’t help the team and I won’t deprive 40 guys of their big chance."  According to then Colts head coach Don Shula, "It was one of the most unselfish moves ever made in sports.  Jim stepped aside strictly to help the team. He will be remembered as one of the greatest offensive linemen in pro football history."

As will Jonathan Ogden although there is evidence that he might not be among the elite tackles in today’s NFL.  Yet he still commands a big cap figure and will continue to do so through 2010.  Back in October of 2004, Ogden re-worked his contract while agreeing to a seven year, $55 million deal that included an $18 million signing bonus. 

On the other side of the football, there’s J.O.’s NFL career long teammate and fellow 1996 first round draftee Ray Lewis.  Lewis has been the defacto emotional leader of the Ravens since at least 1999 and a seven time Pro Bowler.  He has arguably been the league’s best player since 2000 and he has been the Defensive Player of the Year (“DPOY”) twice.  He and Ogden share very, very impressive credentials.  And like Ogden, there’s evidence that Ray’s game is slipping as well.

In 2004, the Ravens 3-4 defense was criticized for enabling blockers to get to Ray Lewis and for not keeping him clean, preventing him from attacking ball carriers.  This year, the shift away from the 3-4 and towards variations of the 46 or “Double Eagle”, the 4-3 and the 5-2 were suppose to keep blockers away from Ray and allow him to make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage.

So far in 2005, Ray leads the team as expected with 19 tackles.  Yet of those 19 tackles, only one has resulted in no gain, none have resulted in a loss and the rest have taken place on average over 8 ½ yards down field!  In 2003 while in the same criticized 3-4 and during his second tour as DPOY, Ray had 6 interceptions.  Since then, he’s had none.

There hasn’t been much change in personnel since 2003 – nothing that would detract from Ray’s effectiveness on the field.  It appears that his diminished effectiveness has more to do with diminished skills than anything else.  He’s no longer invincible.  He’s not the Ray Lewis of 2000 or even the Ray Lewis of 2003.  He’s the Ray Lewis of 2005 and while he’s still a very good player, he’s not the player he once was and nowhere near the player that he expects to be in 2005.  He has virtually no chance of fulfilling a desire to be the league’s MVP.

Against the Titans, Ray was driven down field by tight ends.  That didn’t happen before but it’s happening now.  And it’s cause for concern.  Ray’s play hasn’t fallen as much as Ogden’s play appears to be falling but the dollars invested in Ray could be just as big of a problem as those invested in J.O.  In 2002, Ray signed an extension that keeps him as a Raven through 2008 and for his commitment he received a $19 million signing bonus.

It’s still early in the season and much can change.  But that doesn’t mitigate the problems associated with the degradation in play of highly paid players and the resulting impact on a team’s future cap and its depth.  No one ever thought that Ronnie Lott would be anything but a 49er.  The same can be said of Jerry Rice and Joe Montana.  Yet each of those players still held on to their competitive thirst and finished their career in seemingly strange colors.

Anthony Munoz’ career was very similar to J.O.’s career.  Munoz was the first-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals and the third player selected overall in the 1980 NFL Draft (J.O. the fourth player selected). An exceptional straight-on blocker, Muñoz was agile, quick, and strong. He had great foot quickness and agility and was considered by many to be the premier tackle during his career.  Munoz was selected to the Pro Bowl 11 consecutive times.  Munoz eventually left the Bengals to play for Tampa Bay but retired before he could be cut in 1993.

Junior Seau was arguably as much a part of the San Diego community as Ray Lewis is in Baltimore.  No one expected Seau to be anything but a Charger.  Yet we know it didn’t work out that way.  Like Munoz, Seau played in 11 consecutive Pro Bowls before the Chargers organization decided that his performance when measured against his cap figure, just didn’t work out.  He like Lott, Rice and Montana spent the twilight of his career in a different uniform other than the one he’s most closely associated with.

It’s still early in the 2005 campaign and a lot can happen during the balance of the season.  After all, look at all of the ways things can change for the worse in just 53 days.  But since 1990, only 17 of the 121 teams that have lost their first two games have made the playoffs.  And to think of the Ravens as being as capable as the roughly 14 percent that did make, is not at all reasonable based upon the level of performance in the preseason and so far during the regular season.  Against the Titans, the Ravens went three-and-out on six of their first seven possessions and didn’t get a first down until the third quarter.  Certainly things must change and they must change drastically.

And if they don’t, the Ravens will soon have to face and address some very difficult questions, a few of which are focused upon the perennial franchise cornerstones, Ogden and Lewis.   There are no easy answers, no ideal solutions.  In today’s NFL, teams are forced to make tough decisions that may not be the sentimental favorites but they may be the best for the greater good of the team.  The Patriots understand this as do the Eagles.  Jim Parker understood it as well.

And while it seems unconscionable that Ogden and Lewis could wear colors other than purple, the Ravens need to understand that the roads of a sentimental journey lead to a dead end in the NFL. 

Salary figures obtained from NFLPA
Allocation of Signing Bonus spread equally over contract term