There are all sorts of reasons the game the Ravens' secondary played last week against the Philadelphia Eagles will go down as one of the wondrous achievements of this surprising season. No reason, however, looms larger than the fact that it was pulled off by a defensive backfield in which exactly one player has started every game.
It helped that the one player was Ed Reed - then again, he was the one whose season was most in doubt as opening day approached because of a serious nerve problem in his neck. Overall, it did not look like a secondary in which starters had been laid low by knee surgery (Chris McAlister), neck surgery (not Reed, but Samari Rolle) and an even more serious neck injury (Dawan Landry).
Collectively, the unit deserved every bit of praise John Harbaugh heaped it last week - and it deserves as much attention as the other positions at which the Ravens have overcome injury, such as offensive line and quarterback. The defensive backs deserve every fraction of concern today's opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, can direct toward them, even with T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Ocho Cinco waiting for them.
They might even deserve more appreciation than they give themselves. Reed said last week that he thought intercepting the Eagles' quarterbacks four times - and driving Andy Reid to bench Donovan McNabb at halftime - did not automatically make that the secondary's best game this season.
"I don't think interceptions make one particular game our best game, because we've had interceptions," Reed said. "I would think [it would be] when we're having less mental mistakes, great communication - great communication with guys that are flying around, doing things that they're supposed to do - and we get a shutout. That's more like a good game for the secondary."
Coincidentally, that's what the Ravens did against the Eagles, which Harbaugh also pointed out. That's part of the miracle, how they managed that under the circumstances. Fabian Washington, Frank Walker and Jim Leonhard are new to the team, but they all stepped in and stepped up in various ways after McAlister was sidelined for good, Rolle missed six games and Landry went out in the second game. Against the Eagles, Washington had the most acrobatic pick and Rolle got his second interception in three games since his return.
Not every game has gone quite that smoothly, but the secondary has gone above and beyond just holding things together.
