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Ravens Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees should be on the first flight out of Baltimore

Enough is enough. It's time for Harbaugh to cut his loyalty and move on from Pees.

To put it simply, I'm absolutely tired of being 'Peed' on by the awful defenses of Dean Pees. His terrible schemes, inadequate playcalling and lack of leadership have bogged down the development of some of the league's best and brightest young players.

When I wrote this somewhat harsh op-ed a couple weeks ago, there was still certainly some time for Dees to prove himself, and perhaps my actions could be considered premature.

But that time has passed. Pees has had so many chances to redeem himself, and has failed to do so each time. In my mind, he has singlehandedly lost the Ravens 3 games this year, and has lost the team countless other contests in previous years. This defense is an abomination, and an insult to the legendary defenses the Ravens have fielded in years' past. I can just picture Ravens' legends Ed Reed and Ray Lewis rolling over and crying each and every time this defense hits the field.

To put how much this defense has suffered into perspective, just look at the stats.

  • The Ravens have allowed 137 points this season -- the most ever given up in the first five games in their 20-year existence.
  • Josh McCown's 425 yards in regulation are the fourth-most given up yards in Ravens' history.
  • The Ravens have lost a total of five fourth-quarter leads.
  • Derek Carr, Andy Dalton and now McCown have a combined for 1,191 yards passing on the Ravens secondary.
  • Michael Vick still managed to post a 95.7 passer rating against the Ravens.
The point is, on paper, the Ravens have a really talented group. Guys like C.J. Mosley, Timmy Jernigan, Brandon Williams, and Jimmy Smith could be the next Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, or Lardarius Webb (in his prime). But instead, we are sitting on a stockpile of defensive talent that is being absolutely wasted. It's simply unacceptable.

We've dealt with four years of this. Four years of loose coverage on third and short, four years of blitzing with great success, and then letting the opponent get right back into the game. It's gone on for four years, and it's not changing any time soon. While Coach John Harbaugh is notorious for being loyal to his coordinators, something has got to give.