Pagano Rejects Weak Link Label
May 28, 2010, 1:48PM
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What’s the Ravens’ biggest obstacle to reaching the Super Bowl?
Multiple media pundits have said it’s Baltimore’s secondary.
Good thing the Ravens aren’t listening – or at least not believing.
“We love it,” Secondary Coach Chuck Pagano said. “They can write us off and say we’re the Achilles heel right now. My guys, they don’t listen to it. They’ve got confidence in themselves and each other that they can get the job done.
“When everybody left us for dead last year and wrote us off because of a slow start, I saw a group of guys hang in there and stick together. They were determined to get things fixed and get things righted on the back end and they did.”
Despite suffering season ending injuries to two starters down the final stretch, the Ravens finished tied for eighth in the league in pass defense (average yards per game surrendered). That’s after being ranked 23rd in the NFL after Week 6’s loss to the Vikings.
Pagano didn’t have to say much to his players last year when they were getting criticized. They knew what had to be done. He did, however, remind them not to listen.
“What you chose to tell yourself in your own head and what you believe, that’s how you’re going to play,” Pagano said. “If somebody calls you a dog over and over again and you listen to it, you may just start barking one day.”
Pagano said much of what went into fixing last year’s problems was improving communication and technique. And as a result, Baltimore’s secondary cut down drastically on the number of big plays it allowed.
In an effort to carry over that momentum, Defensive Coordinator Greg Mattison presented Pagano with a stat at the beginning of this offseason.
Of the 209 drives against the Ravens’ defense when they did not give a big play (20 or more yards passing or 15 running) or a penalty, the opposition scored only two touchdowns and kicked just seven field goals.
“If you just don’t beat yourself, if you keep everything in front of you or make a penalty to extend a drive, you’re going to get off the field,” Pagano said.
“That’s the focus going into the offseason and I think the guys have carried it over to seven days of OTAs.”
