After Baltimore had issues stopping the run in the playoffs, some pundits questioned the health and effectiveness of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.
On Wednesday, Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome was asked about the situation.
“Haloti did have some injury, but I don’t think that it hurt his performance down the stretch,” Newsome said.
After the loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC championship, Ngata told The Carroll County Times’ Aaron Wilson that he battled a thigh injury for the majority of the season.
Ngata pulled out of the Pro Bowl, citing an injury as the reason.
New England’s BenJarvis Green-Ellis tallied 68 yards on 15 carries (4.5 per carry) and a 7-yard touchdown in the AFC championship. The week before, Houston’s Arian Foster ran for 132 yards on 27 carries (4.9 per carry) in the divisional playoffs.
It was out of the norm considering the Ravens had one of the NFL’s best run defenses during the regular season and had previously held Foster to just 49 rushing yards.
Baltimore finished the regular-season tied with San Francisco atop the NFL by allowing 3.5 per carry. The Ravens were second in average yards allowed per game (92.6).
