Talking Defense with Ed Reed!!
Posted by Steve O'Reilly on December 15, 2009 · 1 Comment
The Baltimore Ravens, for over a decade, have had one of the most intimidating and dominant defenses in the NFL. There are a few reasons for their impressive D’ and it starts with the players. Longtime standout Ed Reed has anchored the Safety position of the secondary for years and his talent has allowed coaches to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage and point of attack. Specifically, the Ravens will sometimes drop out of their base 3-4 defense and use a 5-2 defensive front, where they bring a linebacker down onto the line of scrimmage as a run stopper or pass rusher and play with only 2 linebackers standing up. This formation requires a talented Safety who must now be able to do two things, 1. Come up in run support in case the Running Back breaks through the 5 man front and 2. Be able to cover much more ground. As always, the Safety is the last line of defense but in a 5-2 the Safety not also must be aware of what is going on behind him but also what is going on in front of him. Enter Ed Reed, one of the best Safeties the NFL has ever had. One of the things that allows the Ravens to run this unique defensive front is the range that Ed Reed possesses. So far in his career, Reed has amassed 46 Interceptions and gained 1255 yards off of those picks. He has 6 career touchdowns off of those interceptions, 2 more off of fumble returns and 1 punt return TD. He possesses a natural knack for finding the ball once it’s in the air. Recently we caught up with Ed and talked about how he has been so successful, the 5-2 defense and his natural ball hawking skills that started since his days at the University of Miami!
Great stuff Steve O! It’s hard for a Steelers fan to enjoy seeing a Raven succeed, but this guy is such a talent. As a football fan, I love watching him play. Of course, I am a bit partial to my boy Troy P in the safety slot. Different type of player, but Troy is simply the most versatile safety in league in my opinion. We all see where the Steelers are without him in the lineup.