How Did Suggs Do It?

Baltimore Ravens LB Terrell Suggs may miss the
entire upcoming season with a torn Achilles.

ESPN and other sports media outlets reported on Thursday that Baltimore Ravens LB Terrell Suggs would miss the 2012 season with a torn Achilles tendon. It wasn't reported initially how he got the injury but there were rumors that he injured his Achilles tendon playing basketball. Suggs quickly negated that notion, saying he injured himself during a conditioning test. The Baltimore Ravens or anyone else have not quite confirmed if the injury happened that way, but Suggs will have his hands full going forward.

Suggs vowed to return during the season as opposed to missing the entire season. That remains to be seen. If Suggs misses the entire season, or a significant portion of the season, it could have a significant impact. The Ravens drafted Alabama LB Courtney Upshaw in the second round and they still have pass rushing LB Sergio Kindle. There's opportunity there for players to step up in Suggs' absence, so it remains to be seen whether his injury will be a major blow.

Suggs won the AFC Defensive Player of the Year award, but he won it in a conference that didn't have any clear dominant defensive players. Suggs did have 14 sacks, but there were numerous NFC defensive players with better production overall. The Ravens schedule will not be easy either, having to play the NFC East. So it'll be clear whether Suggs injury will be a blow.

The Ravens were 12-4 last year and won the AFC North division. While many expect them to do the same this year and compete for a championship, many shouldn't be overly optimistic. The Ravens do have a more difficult schedule this upcoming season, and it is not clear if QB Joe Flacco will make the necessary improvements needed for the Ravens to be a title contender. A lot of analysts looked at his performance in the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots and thought he turned the corner.

If you think back a week earlier, Flacco looked pathetic against the Houston Texans. During the regular season, bad losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks were solely because of his performance. I'm not entirely convinced he has turned the corner just because he did well against a bad defense statistically. I am interested to see if Flacco can elevate his game consistently. I also definitely want to see if Suggs' absence affects their vaunted defense.