Baltimore Ravens

[Psyblast]

Woooo, time to get rolling with Madden!

• Playmakers' Sliders
• 11 minute quarters (acc. clock)
• Updated rosters...as best as possible

You know all the stuff coming up.

[3rdAnswer]

Dynasty: 1st of 8 more coming

[elicoleman]

Good luck. Should be fun playing with Mr Reed.

[Acid]

I've always liked your Ravens dynasties.

This shouldn't be any different.

Although, I hope this year you don't hold people to negative rushing yards.

[Psyblast]

The 2005 Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens' Nest
Season Preview
Volume 1, Issue 1

Ravens hope Defense will lead them to Detroit

BALTIMORE, MD- The Raven is a large, black, intimidating bird, associated with morbid and frightening things.

The same can be said about the defense of this year's Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens have playmakers at nearly every position, and they believe that it can elevate them to elite status and a Super Bowl title.

The Defense
"Our defense is stacked, this isn't many, if ANY, defenses in the league I would take over ours," Coach Brian Billick said as the team's first Training Camp.

Starting on the defensive line, Terrell Suggs will hope to make a successful conversion from OLB to DE. Suggs has 22.5 sacks in his first two seasons in the NFL, and went to the Pro Bowl last year with 60 tackles and 10.5 sacks. At the other end, Anthony Weaver is back. There are now two defensive tackles though, as the Ravens convert from the 3-4 to the 4-3. Dwan Edwards is a probable starter at one DT spot, although the Ravens are rumored to possibly be signing someone. At the other DT, Kelly Gregg is formidable. He had 60 tackles last year.

The Linebacking corp loses Suggs to the D-Line, and longtime Raven Peter Boulware has departed after missing all of 2004. But this corp is still solid. Adalius Thomas starts at ROLB (72 tackles, 8 sacks), and newcomer Tommy Polley is at LOLB (78 tackles, 2 sacks). The heart, soul and mouth of this Ravens TEAM though, is of course Middle Linebacker Ray Lewis. Almost a sure-fire Hall of Famer, the monster from Miami had a "down" year last year with no interceptions and only one sack. He still had 146 tackles, and went to his 7th Pro Bowl.

The secondary is the best in the NFL, bar none. 38 year old Deion Sanders is at Nickelback, where he intercepted four passes last year. Chris McAlister had only one interception as teams passed away from him most of the time. They no longer have that option, as the Ravens brought in the stellar Samari Rolle from Tennessee. With McAlister and Rolle, the Ravens' starting CBs may be the best in football. But the best player in the secondary, possibly the best defensive player on the team, and reigning Defensive Player of the Year is as Strong Safety--Ed Reed. Reed is the best ball-hawk in the league, bar none. In 2003 he had 71 tackles and seven interceptions, earning his first Pro Bowl appearance. He improved on those numbers in 2004 with 76 tackles and NINE interceptions. To add to that, on those 9 INTs, he had 358 yards on the returns (nearly 40 per return), the greatest coming in Primetime on national TV against Cleveland, as his 106 yard INT return for a TD set an NFL record. Reed is one of, if not the best Safeties in football, and seeks his third straight Pro Bowl.

The Offense
Expect the offense to be MUCH improved off of last year. It all depends on young QB Kyle Boller, entering his third year. He made small strides with 13 TDs to 11 INTs last year, and this year he has more weapons.

The Ravens receiving corp got a big boost by signing Derrick Mason away from the Titans in the offseason. Mason had 96 receptions for 1168 yards and 7 TDs last season, and is better than any WR Baltimore had last year. Second-year man Clarence Moore is starting at the other WR spot, but he may be beaten out by rookie Mark Clayton out of Oklahoma (#22 overall). With Todd Heap healthy, the Ravens also have one of the best receiving TEs in the game.

At running back, Jamal Lewis is finally ready to put his legal troubles behind him. He rushed for a career-low 1006 yards last season, as he missed four games. If he stays healthy, he believes his off-season workouts can propell him near 2000 yards again.

On the offensive line, Jonathan Ogden remains the best Left Tackle in football, as he went to his 8th straight Pro Bowl in 2004 despite missing four games due to injury. The O-Line is solid all around, with Orlando Brown at the other tackle spot, Mike Flynn at center, and Edwin Mulitalo a rising "star" at LG. Newcomer Keydrick Vincent is currently the starter at RG, but it is confirmed that the Ravens have contacted the agent of Free Agent Dan Neil, and may make him an offer in the next couple of days.

Looking at the regular season schedule, the "best defense" will look to stake its claim as just that, as the high-octane offense of the Indianapolis Colts comes to Baltimore in Week 1 for a Primetime Sunday night game. The Ravens face the NFC North this year, vs. the Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings. The Packers game is Monday Night Football at home on December 19th, and the Vikings come to Baltimore for a Sunday Night game six days later. The Ravens' other primetime appearance comes on Halloween, as they travel to Heinz Field to take on their archrival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Karlos05]

I'm polluting your thread with Steelers pics. Trust me it looks better this way

[Husker_OS]

Isn't that Terry Jones making the catch ?

[Karlos05]

Quote: Originally Posted by husker9

Isn't that Terry Jones making the catch ?

For 3 yards, and he doesn't make the first down. Plus Polamalu trucks him