Go ahead and dream about what could happen today at Qualcomm Stadium if the CPR the Ravens performed on their offense continues to hold.
Close your eyes and envision Joe Flacco airing it out against the San Diego Chargers, spreading the ball around to his receivers as he did last week in the win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Imagine another big pass-catching afternoon from Todd Heap, the tight end whose only role in the offense last season seemed to be: "Block that guy over there."
Think how entertaining it'll be if this Air Harbaugh thing really takes off and 500 yards of total offense in a game becomes the norm around here.
Sure, dream all you want about this team's newfound ability to move the ball.
But let's not forget this: The Ravens will still live and die with their defense.
The defense is what gives this team its identity. The defense is what gives this team its swagger.
The defense is still what intimidates opposing teams.
Trust me, when the rest of the NFL talks about the Ravens, the first thing that comes up isn't: "Gee, I hear they have a cool variation of the Statue of Liberty play ... "
No. The first thing opposing players talk about is still the killer "D."
The first thing they talk about is going up against Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed, Kelly Gregg, Haloti Ngata and the rest and getting their heads bashed in.
So let's not lose sight of that in our rush to consecrate this Ravens offense as new and improved.
Not that it wouldn't be fun to see another shoot out on offense like we saw last week against the Chiefs.
More than 300 passing yards from Flacco, someone besides Derrick Mason catching a pass in the end zone, Heap (five catches, 74 yards against Kansas City) blowing up the middle of the defense like the old days - who wouldn't want to see something like that against the Chargers?
And here's the thing: No one's rooting harder for that to happen than the Ravens' "D."
"We've always had a really good tradition with our defense around here," linebacker Jarret Johnson said the other day. "But it's awesome to see our offense play like this. It's just going to make us better.
"Anytime they can hold the ball the way they did, put points on the board, give us some rest - we played 40-some snaps [against the Chiefs]; it's kind of a joke. So if they can do that, it's just going to make us that much better. The more balanced you are, the better you are as a team."
