Ravens-Giants: Battle of Past Vs. Present
The Baltimore Ravens (3-2) have a big game against the New York Giants (4-1) on Sunday.
And while this is a non-conference game, there is familiarity within both organizations centered around former Ravens and current Giants defensive coordinator Don Martindale.
But the familiarity runs deeper than that as Martindale’s replacement, Mike MacDonald, worked under him as a linebackers coach from 2018-2020. When asked about what he’s learned from Martindale, Macdonald was more than happy to share.
"There's so many,” stated MacDonald with a grin. “Big takeaways are just constant open communication with the guys. Keeping it real, as he likes to say. His aggressive mindset – I definitely take that away from him. That's probably it right now – the big ones – but yes, a lot of positives."
MacDonald was brought in to replace Martindale for both his familiarity with the team and his impressive results with the Michigan Wolverines. His defense finished 8th in scoring defense and 20th in total defense.
And more importantly for John Harbaugh, MacDonald’s Wolverines unit allowed only 8 passing plays longer than 40 yards the entire season. That is vastly different from the onslaught of big plays unleashed on the Ravens defense in 2021 under Martindale.
And yet so far in the 2022 season, it is Martindale who is experiencing success defensively with the New York Giants, while MacDonald has struggled defensively to rectify the glaring flaws which overcame the Ravens last season. Baltimore’s pass defense ranks dead last (32nd) in the NFL due to 4th quarter meltdowns that seem to be occurring on a weekly basis.
Even against the Bengals in Week 5, Cincinnati was able to take the lead late before Justin Tucker kicked the game winning field goal as time expired. MacDonald will take the win, but he can’t be overly excited with what he’s seen so far.
"Am I happy with it? I'd say I'm not satisfied,” MacDonald told a group of reporters on Thursday. “I think we're on the right trajectory. But I think everyone would agree we're not where we want to be right now. But what matters is where we're going."
On the other hand, Martindale has flourished with injuries to the secondary similar to those suffered last season with Baltimore. Despite the injuries the Giants still boast the 8th rank pass defense in the NFL. Something he refuses to take full credit for.
“I think there’s a lot of things that you have to handle with just the different things that happen in a game,” stated Martindale. “I give credit to (Defensive Backs Coach) Jerome Henderson and (Assistant Defense Backs Coach) Mike Treier. Jerome’s in charge of the secondary and they’ve just had guys stepping up and just being ready to play. I think that we’ve handled the series of events well as a defense.”
The big story is centered around Martindale and his time in Baltimore and rightfully so. But when the whistle blows at 1pm ET on Sunday, it will be a battle of past vs present. One side will be hoping to prove to an organization that their decision to move on was foolish. While the other side will look to make a statement that their defense has improved a great deal under his tutelage.
