The Ravens were pouncing on quarterbacks at the start of last year.
They notched six in sunny Miami on Oct. 6. Terrell Suggs had nine through the first eight games and Elvis Dumervil had 8.5 in the first nine games.
But the pass rush slowed down significantly after that, leading to questions about which version fans will see in 2014.
"I think [the pass rush] was good early on, not as good at the end of the season, and I think we're going to really hone that thing back up," Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees said.
The Ravens have one of the most formidable pass-rushing duos in the league in Suggs and Dumervil on the outside, combined with defensive tackle Haloti Ngata inside.
Entering Week 6, the Ravens had the second-most sacks in the league. But Baltimore finished tied for 16th in the NFL (40).
What happened?
Pees said he wasn't putting his players in enough one-on-one situations with blockers and when those opportunities did arise, they sometimes weren't won. Now Pees wants to create more of those one-on-one opportunities for Suggs and Dumervil.
"I can help them a little bit with some of the schemes and stuff that we do to maybe free those guys up a little more than what I've done," Pees said.
Head Coach John Harbaugh has said a couple times this offseason that he would like to see the defense return to its more aggressive roots that it's been known for.
The Ravens can jam receivers off the line, slowing down their routes, and bring more heat to try to get more sacks and create turnovers.
"We forget sometimes that people have to stop us," Suggs said. "We've always been a very fast and violent defense, and we need to get back to that.
"When we're in the heat of the moment, we've gotten accustomed to and we've been playing a certain defense, a certain style, for so long, then maybe we may start to do some of those things – reacting too much to personnel groups or personnel – and just get back to the basics."
