Fabian Washington... d'oh!

The one-game suspension of CB Fabian Washington for off-field domestic issues is going to hurt more than any other one-game suspension in the history of Ravens football. I write that having neither researched suspensions nor even knowing whether or not the Ravens have ever had a player suspended for a single game before. My guess is that they have. Who cares, though. That's not really my point. My point is that this suspension hurts. A lot.

The Ravens open up the Cincy against Carson Palmer and the Bengals, who have a history of tearing apart the Ravens secondary, which itself suffered last year. "Suffered" is putting it mildly. No one in the NFL gave up more deep balls last year than Baltimore. The secondary was weak and the pass rush non-existent.

Trevor Pryce is back and healthy, which will definitely help the pass rush. T-Sizzle, who disappeared last year following Pryce's injury, will be back on the map, and Bart Scott should have a better season. That said, the secondary itself, weak pass rush aside, suffered. C-Mac is still solid, but he's getting old, and Samari Rolle is even older. The backups on the team didn't prove anything. Fabian Washington was brought in to shore up the secondary, and not having him in the season's opener against the Bengals is a big loss. Not many QBs in the league will test our secondary like Carson, and it would have been nice to put Fabian to the test right away. Also, nowhere is confidence more important than the secondary. If Carson tears apart our secondary to open the season, what does that do for the confidence of a team that's working with a new coach, new quarterback (probably), and a fanbase that's hungry for some Ws?