Following the 2017 season, the Baltimore Ravens were not only planning to make several changes but were forced to make some. One move that was forced was replacing defensive coordinator Dean Pees.
Pees announced his retirement on January 1st, one day after Baltimore’s heartbreaking loss to the Bengals. This loss marked the second time in two seasons that a defensive fourth quarter collapsed halted Baltimore’s playoff hopes.
With a talented secondary, even without Jimmy Smith, the Ravens’ defense should have been capable of stopping Cincinnati on a fourth-and-12. When looking at the play closer, the concept Baltimore ran was vanilla.