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Will T-Sizzle Return?

Terrell Suggs came back to the Ravens mid-season in 2012 and his presence definitely helped the defense but he was far from the DPOY form he had a year ago.

Larry French

In 2011 Terrell Suggs was a one man wrecking crew. He won the defensive player of the year before and struck fear in opposing quarterbacks weekly.Suggs was not only an All-World pass rusher but he also showed great instincts from film study and he played the run and the pass just as well as he rushed the passer.

Then the worst possible scenario happened. Suggs tore his injured himself during an off season "workout" and was doubtful to play the 2012 season. Although the doctors predicted that he would miss the entire season Suggs proclaimed that he would return by mid-season and be "ready to go" for the teams post season run.

True to his word Terrell did return to the team just after mid-season in a (at the time) huge match-up with the AFC division leading Houston Texans. Although Suggs played very well in that game, recording a sack, pass deflection and several tackles, the team as a whole had it's worst game of the season.

After that the return of Suggs did solidify his side of the Ravens defense, making them much better against the run and his presence alone making the defense better because opposing offenses felt they must account for him. In turn that would free up other pass rushers to get after the quarterback, like Paul Kruger. However Anyone who has seen Terrell play over the past few years could tell he was not at his best. He looked slower and much less explosive than he was before the injury. Of course that is to be expected for someone coming off such a serious injury. the problem is, he never really showed any signs of improvement throughout the entire season

Of course it is hard to completely heal when you are out there every week mixing it up with some of the best offensive linemen in the game and every one of them knows your weakness. So, you couldn't really expect him to just. all-of-the-sudden be okay and playing at 100%.

The question is, will he ever be back to that form? Terrell Suggs has one of the top two highest cap hits on the Ravens roster so you would hope to get some pretty dominant performance from him. 2013 will be a big season for Suggs as he will be looked to for leadership on and off the field for the Ravens. He will need to be the T-Sizzle of old if the Ravens defense is to be as effective as they will need to be. Does he still have that in him? I guess we will have to wait and see...