Media Spin On Defense's Age!

[jdynamite]

It seems like every time I'm watching one of the Football talk shows on ESPN or NFL Network and the Ravens come up, the Topic of 1st can Flacco win a SuperBowl comes up followed by can an Aging Defense continue to play well.....

My Question is Why is this Defense Constantly Referred To As OLD!!?

Facts are:
5 members of the Defense are currently over 30 years old
2 of those 5 happen to be Ed Reed (33) and Ray Lewis (36) the unquestioned leaders on defense ( followed by Suggs )
The other 3 players are C.Redding (31), J.Johnson (30) , B.Ayanbadejo (35)..... while I'm not trying to discredit or diminish these 3 guys impact on this team, the fact is that young players are in place to fill the positions in the future....

It's like none of the other talent on Defense even exists : Ngata (27), Suggs (29) , Webb (26), C.Williams (26), T.Cody (23), J.Smith (23), P.McPhee (22), P.Kruger (25).....

The point is we have young talent on both sides of the ball defense and offense but somehow the media acts if the Window is closing on the Ravens SuperBowl Chances....

[Ravenslifer]

Somehow, whenever analysts mention Ravens Defense, what they really mean is Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, and that they are aging. It's amazing how many people seem to think that once Lewis and/or Reed retire, this whole team will fall flat on its face.

[Crabcakes&Football]

They're ignorant. They don't really follow this team or do their research.

[lowrider]

I'm not worried about those comments. Those are made out of ignorance. Are we going to have a team with just 25 year olds? Would that make any sense? We have depth. And maybe we do have some age in some places, but where the age is, we have a talented young player right behind them to back them up. The only player I think that the Ravens couldn't replace on defense is Ed Reed because I don't think we have a safety on our roster that could do what he does. But I don't think there is a player in the NFL that could do what he does.

Great teams have a mix of youth and experience. We have both. Otherwise you will see inconsistencies like Tampa Bay or Kansas City is experiencing with the youth. Or you will see fatigue and injuries like the Steelers are experiencing and how we experienced them the past couple years when we actually were old.

[UMDan]

And I believe the Steelers defense is technically older. They seem to forget that quite often.

[T-ray]

[quote name='UMDan' timestamp='1323358047' post='899301']
And I believe the Steelers defense is technically older. They seem to forget that quite often.
[/quote]

They seem to conveniently forget about that lol. Whenever their D's age comes into question, analysts start laughing and saying they're not old... well guess what?? Their whole nucleus on D is old, outside of Woodley.

I love Lewis to death, and think he's the best MLB to ever play the game.... but we've been doing excellent on D without him, so we can do without him playing. His coaching will be missed, sure, but we can keep him as a coach if thats the case. While Ray has been gone, Suggs has stepped up as the leader on D

[ravens88]

the average age of the starting defense is 28 years old so i dont knw what is "old" anymore.. but they have to have a knock an argument or something its the media their job is to find ways to make topics we know how young the defense is and how fast they are playing its pretty awesome to watch every sunday.

[CapoRocky]

Just remember, analysts are paid to stir things up to create viewer interest. They often have a bias towards the teams that they played for or like. There is a general jealousy of our defense among the other teams because we have beat up on them for so long. Let them keep talking about Baltimore and the Ravens, good or bad, and we will keep winning.

[Carson16Lax]

[quote name='Crabcakes&Football' timestamp='1323357930' post='899298']
They're ignorant. They don't really follow this team or do their research.
[/quote]

This^^^^. Analysts were more worried about Pittsburgh's "collapse", and are now more focused on Tebow, the Packers, and Suh. Nevermind us... we play better under the radar anyway.

[cobrajet]

[quote name='Ravenslifer' timestamp='1323357449' post='899292']
Somehow, whenever analysts mention Ravens Defense, what they really mean is Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, and that they are aging. It's amazing how many people seem to think that once Lewis and/or Reed retire, this whole team will fall flat on its face.
[/quote]
I think that is such respect and reverence to Ray and Ed, who are both Baltimore Legends. We should not take this too personal. We will be OK after they retire because of Ozzie, because he is always looking for those gems that "Play like a Raven!"

[AsianRice]

As long as Ray Lewis doesn't retire, the media and sport analysis still view the Ravens' defense as Ray Lewis defense as a whole. Ray is too big as figurative speech for the media to look beyond him....

[Tank 92]

Totally untrue and ridiculous. I think we have an excellent combination, both on D and O, of veterans, youngsters and "in betweens". The veterans like Ray and Ed are passing along their knowledge and experience to the younger guys and their legacy should provide excellence for many years to come.

As we move closer to the playoffs, these guys are just looking for another reason for us to fail. We just need to ignore the talking heads as we are obviously not the "chosen ones" of the media.

[berad]

They've been saying it for years. Our D is actually younger now than it's ever been in recent history, I believe.

[flynismo]

Our defense has been old and suspect for the last five years -- lol!
Every year they talk about this. Every year we are in the playoffs -- in large part because of our 'old' defense.

[Irish Raven]

Lazy journalists and talking heads, that's all

Much the same as Tebow is getting all the credit in Denver and their D is getting zero credit despite the fact they've stepped up and playing great

Media work with sound bytes and one liners.

There are some decent analysts there too of course but too many charlatans

[ravensfan160]

Age also isn't as big a factor on the d-line. Redding may be over 30 and Suggs is getting there but a great d-lineman can play into their mid and late 30's fairly easily. Just look at how long Michael Strahan's career lasted for example. Age is relative to the position they play and the only player on our defense that is excessively old for his position is Ray and he's a freak of nature.

[Ravenslifer]

[quote name='cobrajet' timestamp='1323360395' post='899351']
I think that is such respect and reverence to Ray and Ed, who are both Baltimore Legends. We should not take this too personal. We will be OK after they retire because of Ozzie, because he is always looking for those gems that "Play like a Raven!"
[/quote]

Yeah, I get that, and if it was a casual fan I'd be like "okay" because they don't know the team. But analysts, guys who are paid to "know" football, seem to forget about Ngata, Sizzle, Cody, Webb, Smith, Jameel McClain, Redding, Kruger, McPhee, Jarrett Johnson, Pollard, etc. and while certainly none of these guys outside of Ngata and Sizze are at the caliber of Ray and Ed (yet) it's not like they're chopped liver, either.

[RavenDefense]

They Can Say What They Want , But If You Look At Later That Year , They All Get Replaced In Aprils Draft , Like Ray Lewis And Ed Reed , Theyll Be Replaced This Year , But Wont Become Starters 1-2 Years From Now ,

[Corvus]

I almost always get a good chuckle and write off most of the media's opinions, but this is the one and only thing the talking heads harp on that really pisses me off. It's one thing to have your opinions or whatever to get ratings up. But when the FACTS are staring you in the face that there are two old players on an overall pretty young defense, its utterly ridiculous and absolutely terrible journalism (if you wanna even give it the dignity of referring to it as journalism). And when you consider the defense has looked great the last 3 weeks WITHOUT one of those two old players, it makes statements like this even more laughable...

[Gordo52]

Who cares. We know what we got

[Militant X 1]

our defense is not old! yes! we have 2 seasoned lions in Ray Lewis and Ed Reed but we also have many young pups on the team roster as well. smh!

~Mili

[hawkprey]

[quote name='Irish Raven' timestamp='1323362861' post='899391']
Lazy journalists and talking heads, that's all

Much the same as Tebow is getting all the credit in Denver and their D is getting zero credit despite the fact they've stepped up and playing great

Media work with sound bytes and one liners.

There are some decent analysts there too of course but too many charlatans
[/quote]
I remember multiple analysts saying Tebow should be rookie of the year... this year. [img]http://content.boards.baltimoreravens.com//public/style_emoticons/default/34853_doh.GIF[/img]

There are some real know-nothings around the league.

[grape drank]

[quote name='UMDan' timestamp='1323358047' post='899301']
And I believe the Steelers defense is technically older. They seem to forget that quite often.
[/quote]
If Im not mistaken I believe a majority of their players are either 30+ or 1 or 2 years away from it.

Lamarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, and Ziggy Hood are the only young contributors I believe they have. (Im not very knowledgeable about their secondary though, Ryan Clark may be under 30 but he's not even good anyway)

[JEEPercreepermd]

Yeah, the talking heads have been claiming that our defense is old for some time now. The truth is that the Ravens have been constantly adding younger talent on defense for the past 5 years and now we have YOUNG guys on defense like J.Smith, Cody,Webb,Williams,Kruger,Mcphee,Ellerbe,Mclain, and lets not forget that ngata and suggs arent 30 yet either.

This defense is as young and talented as it's been in a very long time.

[PeRK82]

[quote name='jdynamite' timestamp='1323357328' post='899291']
It seems like every time I'm watching one of the Football talk shows on ESPN or NFL Network and the Ravens come up, the Topic of 1st can Flacco win a SuperBowl comes up followed by can an Aging Defense continue to play well.....

My Question is Why is this Defense Constantly Referred To As OLD!!?

Facts are:
5 members of the Defense are currently over 30 years old
2 of those 5 happen to be Ed Reed (33) and Ray Lewis (36) the unquestioned leaders on defense ( followed by Suggs )
The other 3 players are C.Redding (31), J.Johnson (30) , B.Ayanbadejo (35)..... while I'm not trying to discredit or diminish these 3 guys impact on this team, the fact is that young players are in place to fill the positions in the future....

It's like none of the other talent on Defense even exists : Ngata (27), Suggs (29) , Webb (26), C.Williams (26), T.Cody (23), J.Smith (23), P.McPhee (22), P.Kruger (25).....

The point is we have young talent on both sides of the ball defense and offense but somehow the media acts if the Window is closing on the Ravens SuperBowl Chances....
[/quote]

Great post, and i have to agree with you. I personally dont think our DEFENSE is old, especially with all the GREAT talent that we have with all the Young players that are difference makers now, let alone what they are going to do in the Future. I think we are Set on Offense and Defense. Im surprised that the media isnt talking about out set our team is. You know the media was dying for our Defense to fail horribly when Ray went out. That didnt happen so now they are just trying to find anything to make us look bad. I personally dont get why it looks and sounds like we are hated so much, like we are a second tier team. Heck i think we are one of the top 3 nfl teams, last yr,this yr and yrs to come.

Im starting to think the Media is just Jealous and they wont be able to deny our greatness for much longer, you know the media had a field day when we lost to horrible teams because they always bring it up, no one mentions, how we lost to the Seahawks. And that surprises me more, Yes we lost when Rice didnt get that many carries but i dont think thats the reason why we lost, it was just some fluke plays and play calling. I dont think we have to Run Rice 25 times to win, i think we can win throwing it. We have the QB that can lead us and we have a great WRer and TE core. And we have a Marshall Faulk type RB that is just as good at receiving. I feel that if Rice was a few inches taller he would be an elite wr.

[PeRK82]

[quote name='hawkprey' timestamp='1323374367' post='899539']
I remember multiple analysts saying Tebow should be rookie of the year... this year. [img]http://content.boards.baltimoreravens.com//public/style_emoticons/default/34853_doh.GIF[/img]

There are some real know-nothings around the league.
[/quote]


LOLOL unreal, the kid sucks, im sorry he does. I think Andy Dalton should be Rookie of the yr if it were to come down to a rookie QB. The Defense and just pure dumb luck (opposing teams missing very easy field goals) have been helping Tebow win.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='PeRK82' timestamp='1323381792' post='899644']


LOLOL unreal, the kid sucks, im sorry he does.  I think Andy Dalton should be Rookie of the yr if it were to come down to a rookie QB.  The Defense and just pure dumb luck (opposing teams missing very easy field goals) have been helping Tebow win.
[/quote]
Did you see the "this year" part?

[grape drank]

[quote name='PeRK82' timestamp='1323381792' post='899644']


LOLOL unreal, the kid sucks, im sorry he does. I think Andy Dalton should be Rookie of the yr if it were to come down to a rookie QB. The Defense and just pure dumb luck (opposing teams missing very easy field goals) have been helping Tebow win.
[/quote]
he's also not a rookie......

[PeRK82]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1323383020' post='899660']
Did you see the "this year" part? [img]http://content.boards.baltimoreravens.com//public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.png[/img]
[/quote]


No whats that???

[PeRK82]

[quote name='grape drank' timestamp='1323383753' post='899667']
he's also not a rookie......
[/quote]


Your right, my mistake. Totally forgot he played last yr. Just shows you how much i pay attention to Tebow.