When Elvis Dumervil signed with the Ravens this offseason, the thought of him lining up opposite a healthy Terrell Suggs seemed almost too good to be true.
Through the first quarter of the season the pass rush hasn’t quite clicked on all cylinders yet as many had hoped. So far, Suggs has shed double-teams and his four sacks are tied for seventh-best in the league. He has also combined for 31 tackles (16 solo). Dumervil, on the other hand, has only two sacks on the season, and 11 tackles (five solo).
If Suggs is drawing the majority of the attention, certainly the Ravens have full confidence in Dumervil being able to win a one-on-one matchup. “Doom,” though, has failed to have his name called that much during his first four games in Baltimore. However, facing an extremely suspect line in Miami this week, Dumervil and Suggs should have the coming out party we’ve expected, albeit a little later than we’d hoped.
Heading into Week 5, the Dolphins are tied with the Jaguars with an NFL-worst 18 sacks allowed, averaging 4.5 per game. Suggs and Dumervil (and Chris Canty, Pernell McPhee, Daryl Smith, etc.) should be licking their chops to pad their stats. Not only that, but Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill leads the NFL with six fumbles.
Now they’re getting hungry.
The Ravens do a fair amount of shifting of Suggs and Dumervil between the left and right sides of the line, but this may be a game where Dumervil stays on the right side to boost his confidence. While both left tackle Jonathan Martin and right tackle Tyson Clabo have allowed four sacks this season, Clabo is a liability in pass blocking, an area in which Martin excels in. Playing next to Martin is left guard Richie Incognito, who has allowed two sacks this season, but who is an above average guard in the league. It’s safe to say, the Ravens pass rushers should have success no matter where they line up, but the right side of the Dolphins offensive line is their weakest link.
I personally don’t have any complaints with Dumervil, but it’s fair to expect him to be up to speed with the defense by this point. He’s playing with a similar complement to the one he had with the Broncos in Von Miller, but thus far, he’s off the pace from his 11-sack, 54-tackle 2012 season.
As a whole, the Ravens defense has been playing pretty well, but they can get even better once they start striking more fear in opposing quarterbacks’ hearts.
Miami is known for its party atmosphere, so what better place than for Suggs and Dumervil to have a coming out sack party on Sunday?
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