The Ravens are not to be confused with the Green Bay Packers,
who fired coach Ray Rhodes after an 8-8 season. Baltimore had never
before won eight games, never completed a season without a losing
record and never finished as high as third place in the AFC
Central.
In that regard, Brian Billick's first season as coach of the
Ravens was a huge success. Thanks heavily to the second-ranked
defense in the NFL, Baltimore was difficult opponent for just about
everyone.
"It was a good season with tremendous promise," owner Art
Modell said. "I'm very, very happy with our state of affairs."
It won't mean a thing, however, if the Ravens don't build on
their breakthrough season.
"Eight-and-eight next year is not going to do it," Billick
said. "We've raised the bar. We can't go back. There are certain
expectations right now, and that's the way it should be."
There's no reason to think the Ravens won't get better. They
started the season 2-5 in part because the offense had trouble
adjusting to Billick's brand new offensive scheme. Plus, Billick
went through quarterbacks Scott Mitchell and Stoney Case before
finally settling on Tony Banks, who started the final 10 games.
Baltimore also has two picks in the first round of the draft,
having obtained Atlanta's No. 1 last year. Billick said the Ravens
will focus on improving an offense in dire need of a tight end, a
wide receiver and depth on the line.
Baltimore has 19 unrestricted free agents, so there will likely
be some turnover in personnel. But the offense should be better
because the players will be familiar with the system. Banks began
the season as a third-stringer and finished so well the Ravens
likely will pass on a quarterback in the early rounds of the draft.
"Certainly there's a lot of things to address on the offense,
but if you look over the last nine games _ when we began to finally
settle in at the quarterback position _ we had a certain level of
productivity that put us to where we can at least see the light at
the end of the tunnel," Billick said.
Banks, running back Errict Rhett, defensive end Rob Burnett,
wide receiver Qadry Ismail and kicker Matt Stover are free agents
who can expect substantial pay raises.
Billick said he would like another year to work with Case, but
Modell might be reluctant to offer a sizable contract to a
quarterback who had three touchdown passes, eight interceptions and
a 45.3 percent completion percentage.
"Stoney is not the answer. Stoney turned into a pebble,"
Modell said.
The defense, however, was rock solid. Led by Pro Bowl stars Ray
Lewis, Peter Boulware, Michael McCrary and Rod Woodson, the Ravens
did not permit a 100-yard rusher all season and four times held the
opposition under 10 points.
"What I see growing here is rewarding and gratifying," Modell
said. "Our defense is getting close to the best I've seen."
The players know it, too.
"This team came a long way this year. We finally have a
swagger," Woodson said. "We know we can play with any team in the
NFL. It was just a matter of the guys believing in themselves."
The Ravens' franchise-record four-game winning streak ended
Sunday with a humbling 20-3 loss to New England. Give the Ravens
credit for this much: They don't appear satisfied with their .500
finish, even if it is a nice improvement over their 6-10 record a
year ago under coach Ted Marchibroda.
"It's average, and even looks more average when you see how
many teams are 8-8," Banks said.
The Ravens were one of nine teams to finish .500. Next year,
that won't be good enough.
"I've got to feel very good about where we're at," Billick
said. "The goal now is very simple -- for me to stand up here a
year from now and say we're better than we were a year ago. If I
can do that, it would probably mean we're in the playoffs and have
this thing headed in the right direction."
