Inside the NFL analyst Ray Lewis looks at the Ravens’ and Bears’ dominant defenses as playoff races heat up.
The NFL’s high-flying offenses, like the Chiefs and Rams, generate the highlights. But the Bears and the Ravens are showing the importance of defense as playoff races heat up. The Bears limited the Rams to just six points in Week 14, and the Ravens came very close to knocking off the Chiefs. Both teams, oriented around defense, find themselves contending for division titles with just three games left in the season.
The Bears can lock up the NFC North this week, and the Ravens could pull ahead in the AFC North. And according to Inside the NFL analyst Ray Lewis, both of these teams can go deep in the playoffs should they get the right matchups. We caught up with Ray to talk defense and more as he prepared for the show. You can catch him alongside Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms, guest analyst Ed Reed and host James Brown tonight on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET.
What are the keys to slowing down the NFL’s elite offenses, like the Chiefs, Rams and Saints?
It’s never changed. We get so caught up in and enamored of the high scoring and the long passes. But the bottom line is whoever your dominant front seven is, that’s who’s going to dominate the game. Like you saw many times on Sunday, with the Bears and the Ravens, you saw both [opposing] quarterbacks, from those high-powered offenses, running. Once you can establish your dominance in that front seven, you control 90 percent of the game.
One of the biggest plays was made in that Kansas City game on a fourth and eight.
