(Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
The Baltimore Ravens defense has been the cream of the crop in the NFL this year at all levels.
They’ve allowed the fewest points per game, the fewest yards per play, and sixth-fewest yards per game on their way to the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
A lot of that success is thanks to outside linebacker Roquan Smith, whom the Ravens traded for in 2022 with the Chicago Bears.
He’s been one of the main factors on the defense and earned huge praise from quarterback Lamar Jackson.
“He brought the Ray Lewis juice back for our generation,” Jackson said, via NFL Network. “The grit. Everything. The leadership. His poise. The aggression. We needed that from our linebacker.”
“He brought the Ray Lewis juice back.”
Lamar Jackson gives Roquan Smith the ultimate praise pic.twitter.com/0EiAu3ILo7
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 24, 2024
Lewis played an instrumental in both of the Ravens’ previous Super Bowls in 2000 and 2012, won Super Bowl MVP in the first one at the turn of the millennium, and retired from the NFL following Baltimore’s second championship ring.
Smith doesn’t have quite the same accolades as the Hall of Famer and two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, but Smith’s ability to disrupt an offense is why the Ravens brought him in this past season and signed him to a huge contract extension this past offseason.
The Lewis comparison is a huge compliment for Smith, who will now take on one of the toughest offenses in the NFL with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs coming to town for the AFC Championship Game this Sunday.
Baltimore will be ready, though, after shutting down other top-flight offenses this year on their way to the best record in the NFL.
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