Getty Tavon Young walks off the field injured.
The Baltimore Ravens had a good win against the Houston Texans, but it was dampened significantly by news that cornerback Tavon Young has a bad knee injury.
Young went down during the game and afterward, John Harbaugh confirmed that Young’s injury is likely of the season ending variety, dealing a significant blow to Baltimore’s depth on the back end of their defense.
Harbaugh said:
“Just a disappointing thing for a guy we love, we care about and he’s been through so much already. We know he’ll tackle this challenge head on. I think he’s got a season ending knee injury the way it looks right now. We’re very disappointed about that but we love him and we’ll be there with him all the way through the next challenge he’s going to have to face.”
Young was placed on IR after the game thus effectively ending his season for the Ravens, which is a tough break. Overall, it’s tough to see Young go down for the Ravens considering he was playing well a few years after having another injury. In his career, he’s put up 90 tackles, 3 interceptions and 13 passes defended.
The Ravens will now be charged with moving on following the injury.
Ravens Secondary Called NFL’s Best
Though Young is now lost, the team’s backfield will be charged with picking him up. Lucky for them, they have an elite backfield which is a tradition that hasn’t slowed a bit since the team has last won the Super Bowl. In fact it can be argued it’s only getting better and better with time. NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks would likely agree with that assessment, as he has placed the Ravens as having the top cornerback tandem in the league in 2020. The reasoning for that had everything to do with how well they play together.
Brooks said:
“The Ravens’ decision to trade for Peters in October helped the defense emerge as one of the NFL’s top units in the second half of the season and gave coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale the league’s best cornerback tandem. Peters lived up to his reputation as a dynamic playmaker with three picks in 10 games with the Ravens, including a pair of pick-sixes. He played with better discipline in coverage after coming over from the Rams, and his improved attention to detail resulted in more consistent performance. Humphrey has quietly emerged as one of the best cover corners in the game, particularly as a bump-and-run technician on the perimeter. He aggressively challenges receivers at the line and does a great job of maintaining hip-pocket positioning down the field. With Humphrey playing at a high level in coverage and Peters providing timely playmaking on the island, the Ravens have an elite set of corners.”
Peters coming to Baltimore was a huge shot in the arm for the group, and joining him with Humphrey was huge for the team. Moving forward, the Ravens have kept Jimmy Smith this offseason for some added depth, so they will be completely loaded for this coming season as they always seem to be.
They will need all those players to pick up Young now that he is lost.
Analyst: Ravens Will Win With Defense
According to Peter Schrager of the NFL Network, that defense is going to be what determines how good the Ravens are this coming season. Speaking after the blowout win, Schrager said that in his mind, Baltimore’s defense is looking much improved and could be pushing the team toward greatness this season as evidence of their attacking mindset all over the field.
“With Lamar at QB, the @Ravens defense is always going to get overlooked. But the performance Wink Martindale’s D put on yesterday can’t be minimized. Both @CalaisCampbell and @Patrickqueen_ were magnificent in their debuts.” – @PSchrags
Schrager said:
“I’d like to talk about Wink Martindale’s defense because they keep on getting better and better every season. The Browns were 3-12 on third down and 0-3 on fourth down. Baker (Mayfield) was running like a chicken with his head cut off because the Ravens defense was all over the field. Lamar (Jackson’s) great, we know that. It’s going to be the defense that gets them to that next level. Calais (Campbell) was fantastic in his debut. Patrick Queen was fantastic as a rookie. I’m so excited to see the Ravens progress because this could have gone one of two ways. It went the right way.”
All told, Schrager is right. If the Ravens defense can put up some lopsided numbers, the team might blow plenty of teams out this season given how well their offense has played and how consistent that group figures to remain.
The hope is the team can continue to win without Young in the lineup.
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