Football Digest: A blast from the past: remember Chicago's 46 defense? It's back again

WHEN REX RYAN PHONED HIS father, Buddy, to let him know that the Baltimore Ravens were wiping the dust off his famed 46 defense, the retired coach got so excited he nearly jumped through the phone.

But nobody was more pumped than Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis. "I'm like a kid all over again," he says.

In the 46 defense, Lewis is no longer left unprotected to deal with 300-pound offensive linemen. The mammoth defense linemen screen him from blockers, leaving him free to roam from sideline to sideline and make plenty of his punishing open-field tackles.

Last season in the 3-4 alignment Baltimore employed, Lewis received no such help, and blockers were on him constantly. His numbers told the story. His tackles were down 10% to 147, and for the first time in his career, he did not. intercept a pass during a 16-game season.

"My dad told me he doesn't think [Lewis] will have to play nose guard this year," Rex Ryan says. "Playing in a true 34, a lot of times he would have to take on guards. He didn't get any help in that defense. Now, we're getting the bulls-eye off Ray Lewis. You don't have a blocker on Ray."

The 30-year-old Lewis wasn't particularly happy playing in the 34, and he did not think it made the best use of his talents, which are still considerable. Still, the normally outspoken linebacker didn't spout off and make headlines like he typically does when he sees things he doesn't like.

"I never had to change anything," Lewis says. "The scheme had to change. The scheme has got to fit your players. Last year was the first time in history that I heard a linebacker being compared to an offense lineman. No running back in this league wants to face me, and they know that. My thing is hashing running backs. That's what the 46 defense lets me do."

It's almost like Lewis has been reborn. He appears more energized than at any time since he earned MVP honors in the 2000 Super Bowl. Lewis believes the Ravens new defense will allow him to make a serious run at a third NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. He won the honor in 2000 and 2003.

"He just seems to be on a different level again," Baltimore linebackers coach Jeff Fitzgerald says. "His level is extremely high, and he is pushing it higher. He's interested in learning new techniques and things that will help him deflect blockers."

Lewis' role in the 46 is analogous to the one Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary--Lewis' position coach in Baltimore in 2003 and 2004--played with the Bears in their heyday. After Buddy Ryan, Chicago's defensive coordinator, installed the 46, the unit turned in one of the greatest performances of all time in the team's Super Bowl-winning season in 1985.

The scheme's fortunes were always closely tied to the elder Ryan's, however, and since the Arizona Cardinals fired him as head coach after the 1995 season, the 46 has become rare. The New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans have used it on occasion, but no team has employed it as its base defense--until now.

The rest of the league is watching--a little skeptically perhaps--to see how the 46 pans out for the Ravens. After all, Washington's Joe Gibbs did not fare particularly well last year when he dusted off his offense, which last saw action in 1992. The Redskins ranked 30th in the league in total offense.

Helping matters for the Ravens is their solid nucleus of defensive talent. Baltimore finished with the NFL's sixth-best defense in 2004. It was highlighted by a bevy of Pro Bowl talent, including Lewis, Terrell Suggs, safety Ed Reed, and cornerback Chris McAlister.

Furthermore, Buddy Ryan says Rex, who is in his eighth season as a Ravens defensive coach and his first as coordinator, is perfectly suited to run the defense. "He knows the ins and outs," Buddy Ryan says of his son. "He'll do a great job." As a matter of fact, Rex Ryan wrote the book on the 46, literally. He published a textbook on the scheme for college and high school coaches.

"People can say what they want, but I know what they know about the 46, and a heck of a lot more," Rex Ryan says. "I have been in it, and I have the guy who created it as my father. To have him as a personal tutor is probably a lot better than anyone else teaching someone."

The 46 is a gambling, high-pressure defense. In its basic formation, the defense crowds the line of scrimmage with six players: a nose tackle, two defensive ends, two linebackers and a rush end. Another linebacker--in Baltimore's case, Lewis--and a safety play right behind them. That leaves the cornerbacks in one-on-one coverage with the free safety roaming as a "center fielder." The goal is to put constant pressure on the quarterback and to make running the football difficult, if not impossible.

"I just think it fits our personnel--I don't think there's any doubt about that," Rex Ryan says, explaining why he decided to go with the 46. "We have guys that can rush the passer. We have guys that can cover. I think the reason a lot of teams don't run this defense is because it doesn't fit their personnel that well, but I think it fits ours."

Another player who clearly stands to benefit from the installation of the 46 is Suggs, who is entering his third season. He is playing the role Richard Dent did in Chicago. His main job is simply to get to the quarterback. That should mean more sack opportunities for Suggs, who already racked up 22.5 in his first two seasons.

"A lot of teams focus on the back end first instead of focusing on the front end," Rex Ryan says. "It's a mismatch for us having a running back blocking Terrell Suggs. We should be able to get some of those favorable matchups."

The defense complements the talents of several other emerging players, too. Take nose guard Maake Kemoeatu. At 6'5" and 340 pounds, he is significantly larger than Kelly Gregg, who played the position last year and is listed generously at 310 pounds. Gregg now starts at end along with Anthony Weaver. The Ravens have more depth on the defensive line than they ever have had, with a six-man rotation that also includes Dwan Edwards, Aubrayo Franklin, and Jarret Johnson.

"I am confident we're going to be better than the great defenses we've had here in the past," Kemoeatu says. "We could pretty much run any defense we want because we have the personnel."

It's difficult to pinpoint a single strength on the Ravens defense. At linebacker, besides Lewis, Baltimore features the underrated Adalius Thomas. Last year he had eight sacks and excelled in pass coverage. Free-agent Tommy Polley, who will play the weak side, acids exceptional speed to the mix.

"We have the right kind of defensive linemen on the edge and playing inside doing the grubby things," Fitzgerald says. "They allow the second-level players to flow with speed to the football. Being the No. 1 defense in the league is something we want to show up on paper when the season is over. If we are doing that, we are doing our part to get us to the Super Bowl."

Given the fact that they receive little help in the 46, cornerbacks McAlister and Samari Rolle, a free-agent pickup from the Tennessee Titans, are critical. But they appear equal to the challenge; both players are considered among the league's best at their position. Safety Ed Reed, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2004, plays the "center fielder" role. The other starting safety, fourth-year pro Will Demps, fills the position that Doug Plank did with the Bears. The 46 defense was, in fact, named after Plank, who wore that number. In Baltimore, Demps plays close to the line as a run-stopper or pass-rusher.

When all is said and done, though, Lewis remains the center of attention. It's no secret that he wanted a new contract with a big raise. He signed a $50 million deal in 2002 with a $19 million signing bonus. The Ravens have refused to redo Lewis' deal, which runs through 2008.

But if things work out as well as Rex Ryan expects, Baltimore might just have to give Lewis that new contract. And the Ravens as a whole might just have the league's most dominant defense.