Every Play Counts: Ravens' Ray Lewis Looks Rejuvenated Against the Bengals

Every Play Counts is Michael David Smith's weekly look at one specific player or one aspect of a team on every single play of the previous game.

Ray Lewis is 33 years old and seven years removed from the pinnacle of his career, when he capped a brilliant 2001 season by winning the Super Bowl MVP award.

But while Lewis isn't the sensational athlete that he was in his 20s, as I watched him on every play of the Ravens' 17-10 win over the Bengals on Sunday, I saw a player who reads offenses as well as anyone in the league, and who hits like a freight train when he gets to the ball carrier. The Ravens held the Bengals to just 154 total yards and eight first downs while forcing two turnovers, and Lewis had as much to do with Baltimore starting the season 1-0 as anyone.

The play that epitomizes the 2008 version of Lewis was a Bengals first-and-10 late in the second quarter. Lewis was at middle linebacker in a standard 4-3 alignment, and when the handoff went to Bengals running back Chris Perry, Lewis played it perfectly: He shed the block of Bengals center Eric Ghiaciuc, drilled Perry right on the arm he was using to hold the ball, and reached his hand in to force a fumble as he drove Perry to the ground. Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister recovered.

On that play, Lewis showed good awareness to get to Perry, a heads-up play to go for the strip, and the strength to both fight off the 303-pound Ghiaciuc and to bring Perry to the ground. That's what Lewis is now: A strong, smart player in the middle of the defense.

In fact, it was surprising how often Lewis took on much bigger Bengals offensive linemen and barely seemed to feel it when they tried to shove him around. On a second-and-3 in the first quarter, Bengals tackle Stacy Andrews -- whose listed weight is 92 pounds heavier than Lewis's -- pushed Lewis but didn't move him, and Lewis stood his ground and tackled Perry short of the first down.

What Lewis lacks is the speed that he had coming out of the University of Miami in 1996, and in his first half-dozen or so NFL seasons. But the way Lewis compensates for his lack of speed was apparent on a first-and-10 late in the first quarter, when the Bengals pitched the ball to Perry around the left end. Lewis recognized the play and took an angle to the outside, where he and safety Dawan Landry stopped Perry after he picked up five yards. But Lewis had an opening to run to the inside and hit Perry behind the line of scrimmage, and he didn't take that angle because he didn't think he could get there in time. The 26-year-old Lewis would have tackled Perry for a two-yard loss, not a five-yard gain.

Lewis's loss of speed has cost him some of his coverage skills. Lewis covered Perry on a third-and-2 pass, and after the ball fell incomplete, Perry complained to the officials -- correctly, in my view -- that Lewis held him. If I were advising the Ravens' future opponents about how to play against Lewis, I'd say if you've got a speedy running back, try to get him matched one-on-one with Lewis in coverage. If you don't pick up a couple of big pass plays, you should at least pick up a couple of defensive holding penalties.

But while Lewis will probably never have another six-interception season like he did in 2003, he compensates for whatever physical shortcomings he has by being the smartest player on the field. Just before the snap on a second-and-9 in the second quarter, Lewis surveyed the offense and clearly recognized something he had seen before: He moved up, shouted to his teammates, and then at the snap took two steps to his right and was right there waiting for Perry, who got the handoff. Lewis stopped him for a two-yard gain, and to look at the play you'd think the radio in his helmet had told him where the Bengals were going.

Lewis was always known as a bone-crunching hitter, but I actually thought he packed more of a punch on his tackles on Sunday than I had seen from him in several years -- at least since before he suffered a serious shoulder injury that cut short his 2002 season. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals were coming back and appeared to have all the momentum in the game when they went for it on fourth-and-1 on the Ravens' 25-yard line. The handoff went to Perry, and Lewis launched himself into the pile and blew up the right side of the Bengals' offensive line, causing Perry to get stuffed a yard behind the line of scrimmage. The Ravens got the ball, ran out the clock and won the game, 17-10.

If the Ravens are going to win many games this year, they're going to need to do it by scores like 17-10: This is still a team coming off a 5-11 season, with a mediocre offense led by a rookie quarterback. But on Sunday against the Bengals, the Ravens' defense looked like it was up to the task, and Lewis looked like a 33-year-old who still has a few good years of football left in him.