There is no room for Dean Pee’s prevent defense in 2017

The Baltimore Ravens end the 2016 NFL season like they wanted. In a battle for the AFC North on Christmas Day, a Kyle Juszczyk touchdown put the Ravens up with just over a minute left to play. It seemed liked they were in the drivers seat. A win would put them in great position to win the division and make the playoffs.

What happened next was a heart breaker. Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense drove down the field and an outstretched arm by Antonio Brown ended the Ravens season. The good news is that the season is over and the slate is clean, but one thing that cannot be continued this season is Dean Pees prevent defense.

Dean Pees has been under a lot of scrutiny from fans since he became defensive coordinator in 2012. His defense helped lead the way to a Super Bowl victory his first season, but there has seemed to be more negatives than positives. Many fans were frustrated this offseason when Harbaugh chose to keep Peas for the upcoming season. A big reason is because of Pee’s prevent defense that he has used at the end of games. After suffering through the pain of it last season, I cannot blame them.

The prevent defense is painful to watch. It’s not the kind prevent defense you use at the end of the half to stop the Hail Mary pass. The Dean Pees prevent defense gives the only rushes three or four guys and gives the receivers a ton of room to run. I get you do not want to be overaggressive, but this is different. The defense looked like they didn’t even want to get to the quarterback. It’s like watching the game while someone is slowly stabbing you with a knife. There is nothing you can do about it and you know there’s a really good chance the offense is going to score.

Two games stick out to me when talking about the prevent defense: the Oakland and Pittsburgh games. With all the complaints about the offense last season, they put the team in positions to win. But after going up, the defense let the opposing offense drive down the field. Derrick Carr and Ben Roethlisberger are good quarterbacks, but the Ravens defense were good enough to stop them.

No excuse this year

There might have been some excuses in the past, but there is no reason for the prevent defense this year. The Ravens have spent the offseason and draft improving the defense. They did not even take a single offensive skill player in the draft.

The secondary has gone from Shareece Wright, Jerraud Powers and Kyle Arrington to Tony Jefferson, Brandon Carr and Marlon Humphrey. It has gone from being the weak link on the defense to arguably the strongest part. The Ravens struggled to get to the quarterback, but they also improved this in the draft. Adding Tyus Bowser, Chris Wormley and Tim Williams adds significant help to the pass rush situation.

The Ravens have a more manageable schedule this year, but they still come up against some very good quarterbacks. They will come up against the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck and Matthew Stafford. Saving the prevent defense for a Rodgers Hail-Mary is going to be more effective than trying to stop him from driving down the field. If the Ravens want to close out games and be contenders, we cannot see the prevent defense next year.