| Talk about talking the talk! The Ravens
won’t shut up. And they really don’t seem to care what anybody thinks about it.
They’ve got their sights set super high. Just ask them. Anytime. Night or day.
Even right now, with pro football’s dog days officially entering the full-bark stage,
as players everywhere start thinking more about tee times than anything else.
You’re almost guaranteed to get a response.
Baltimore’s head coach, the extremely loose-lipped Brian Billick, has never met a
tape recorder he didn’t like, which, of course, is great for guys in my profession.
In advance of the draft, Billick appeared to revel in his role as the league’s chief
rumor-monger, openly discussing all kinds of spicy trade options, offering the
draft’s fifth and 10th overall picks as bait.
Remember how ticked off Bill Parcells was after Billick told everyone within earshot
that the Jets and Ravens were considering a trade involving WR Keyshawn Johnson?
Billick just kept on chirping … and chirping … and chirping …
And he’s got plenty of company on the Ravens.
Consider one Shannon Sharpe, the team’s new tight end.
Just give him the damn mike …
"I can honestly say that, with the exception of a few positions, we have as much
talent totally on this team as those teams that we won the Super Bowl with," Sharpe
breathlessly told Ravens minicamp observers — the same way he used to fill the Mile
High air with pithy quotes as a seven-time Pro Bowler with the Broncos.
Of course, Billick agreed.
"There’s a lot of energy right now," Billick said. "The thing I
like is that the difference in talent between last year and this year is tangible. …
I know there’s a lot of anticipation by the fans and media. And there should be, but
that’s because we created it.
"You didn’t manufacture it; we did. We set the bar, so there’s no going
back."
Translation: If the Ravens don’t make the playoffs in 2000, mark them down as the
most disappointing team in the NFL. With all the lip service coming out of Baltimore,
anything less just possibly could be considered grounds for Billick’s dismissal.
The way this football chronicler sees it, Billick won’t have anything to worry
about — as long as MLB Ray Lewis is cleared from the assault and murder charges that
currently hang over his team like a sky full of vultures.
If Lewis is back, the Ravens’ defense looks even better than the one that
dominated at times last year. Even if Larry Webster remains suspended for violating the
league’s substance and alcohol abuse policy and Tony Siragusa is unable to come to
terms on a new contract, the Ravens’ front line looks a lot younger and quicker with
free-agent addition Sam Adams in the mix. For the first time in four years, Ravens DE
Michael McCrary — who just happens to be good buddies with Adams from their days
together with the Seahawks — hasn’t had knee surgery during the offseason.
With McCrary as healthy as he’s been in some time, and OLB Peter Boulware expected
to be able to use two arms all year instead of just the one he was forced to overexert
most of last season, the team’s defensive future looks bright indeed.
It’s on offense where the team really needs to walk the walk — especially
inside the red zone.
Billick thinks Sharpe and first-round rookies RB Jamal Lewis and WR Travis Taylor will
make a big difference — as will the continued development of QB Tony Banks, who will
be in the same offensive system two years in a row for the first time since turning pro in
’96.
But there are plenty of critics who question his optimism. Sharpe is coming off a
season-ending broken collarbone, and it remains to be seen whether or not he’s fully
healed. There are also medical concerns with Lewis and Taylor, both of whom battled
injuries on and off during their college careers.
Banks? While he looked impressive down the stretch last season, the verdict is still
very much out on him, so much so that many onlookers feel free-agent addition Trent Dilfer
will be quarterbacking the team by the season’s midpoint.
But by far the biggest problem the Ravens face is a paper-thin offensive line that must
replace starters OG Jeff Blackshear and OG-OT Everett Lindsay and hope veteran ORT Harry
Swayne is fully recovered from a fractured foot that forced him to miss eight games last
year.
If the Ravens’ front wall falters, their playoff hopes will come tumbling down.
And there’s nothing they could say to change that scenario.
Even though they’d no doubt try. |
