Ravens’ Banged-Up Secondary Finally Falters, Costs Baltimore Shot at Super Bowl

January 11, 2015   ·   Andrea Hangst   ·   Jump to comments

The Baltimore Ravens had few weaknesses heading into Saturday's divisional-round playoff matchup against the New England Patriots. They had a run-stopping defense and an excellent pass-rushing front seven. That was joined by a balanced offense led by quarterback Joe Flacco and unheralded running back Justin Forsett.
However, the Ravens had one glaring shortcoming—the secondary. Of Baltimore's 19 players on injured reserve, six were defensive backs, including starting cornerback Jimmy Smith, backup Asa Jackson and backup-to-the-backups Danny Gorrer.
That left the Ravens with few options. Safeties Anthony Levine and Matt Elam had been tapped to play slot corner, while career practice-squad journeyman Rashaan Melvin was called up to start alongside cornerback Lardarius Webb. And it was Melvin and Elam, in particular, who sunk Baltimore's Super Bowl aspirations in a 35-31 loss.
The Ravens masked their secondary with the aid of their pass rush in the team's 30-17 Wild C...

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