Greatest Defensive Plays In Ravens History

5. Sack Fumble Against The Redskins

The Ravens were on Sunday Night Football and this might have been a low point for the offense. Good thing we had a great defense and special teams to back them up. Down by two scores in the second half, Ed Reed blitzed off the corner and stripped Mark Brunell and then chased after the ball. He scooped it up shortly after and ran in for the touchdown. A play that certainly sparked the team to later take the lead and win the game.

4. Chris McAllister Returns a…FIELD GOAL

Two years removed from a Super Bowl championship, the Ravens were sputtering. They were starting Chris Redmon at quarterback and did not seem to have much of a chance. They had just had a fire sale of all the veteran talent on the team for salary cap reasons. They still found themselves on Monday Night Football against a very solid Broncos team. As the half wound down, the Broncos decided to kick a lengthy field goal with their reliable place kicker, Jason Elam. Elam did not get all of it and the ball fell in McAllister’s hands in the back of the end zone. The rest is, literally, history. McAllister took it all the way back and Ray Lewis blindsiding a Broncos linebacker for a key block punctuated the play.

3. Ed Reed Breaks Some Records

Ed Reed did a little record breaking of his own with two regular season pick-6s - one during a Sunday Night Football game against the Browns and the second against the Eagles, which was returned for 108 yards and also welcomed Kevin Kolb to the NFL.

2. Duane Starks To The House In Tampa

The third quarter of the Super Bowl had started and the Ravens defense looked to be impenetrable. Instead of continuing their stout ways, Starks went out and decided to do a little scoring of his own. Kerry Collins attempted to throw a hitch route to his outside receiver and Starks read it from the snap. He easily sauntered into the end zone giving the Ravens a 17-0 lead.

1. Ray Lewis vs. Eddie George

In the 2000 Divisional Round Playoffs, the Ravens visited Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville to face their then bitter rivals, the Tennessee Titans. The Ravens were still very much an unknown commodity, but they continued to hang with the Titans late into the game. The Baltimoreans took the lead on a blocked field goal return by Anthony Mitchell. Steve McNair was trying to rally the Titans to get the game tied at 17 when he swung the ball to Eddie George. Ray Lewis met George immediately upon the balls arrival and somehow Lewis ended up with the ball and began running the other way. He eventually took the ball to the end zone and the Ravens were on to Oakland for the AFC Championship.

What are your favorite defensive plays in Ravens history? Next week I would rank the top kick and punt returns for the purple and black.