And not just once. Not just twice. But three times over in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. Surprising in part because just last year Rex Ryan and the Ravens dominated the Dolphins in Miami twice, and the Wildcat was declared extinct.

Everyone’s vulnerable. It’s about making adjustments. The Ravens problems, but they have plenty to work with. It’s just not guaranteed. It takes time, it takes effort. There is a learning curve. Have patience.

In Week 1, when Brodie Croyle threw two touchdowns and manufactured back-to-back scoring drives in the air, most Ravens fans and players called it a fluke, a sign of the unit’s complacency. Now in Week 2, following Philip Rivers monster 440 yard game, some of that reassuring “it won’t happen again” mentality is fading – and many fans are wondering not if it will happen, but when it will start to affect the Ravens record.

The Ravens secondary play this season should be a big concern for the Ravens and their fans. With the exception of two interceptions against Rivers on Sunday, there has been little to get excited about. The unit has been bounced in every possible way – confused by play action, outrun on deep balls, and out of position on screens and crosses.

Here are four reasons the Ravens secondary has looked so bad – things we all should have seen coming – and how to fix it.

1. Coaching. This is not a lamentation for the days of old and the return of Rex Ryan. Ryan’s secondaries were rarely perfect and often flawed, especially against good receivers and quarterbacks. But Greg Mattison certainly has plenty to work on. Luckily, Mattison has a lot to work with, as well. Mattison and John Harbaugh both noted after the game that some of the Chargers biggest and most damaging plays were the result of missed coverages and defensive confusion. This was most notable on the Darren Sproles swing pass for an 80-yard touchdown; no one accounted for Sproles. No one.

The Ravens run complex schemes, but the first rule of any defense is know your man. Mattison needs to have his entire defense in the film room all week, playbooks open and pens out. Mattison has some work cut out for him, though. Remember, most of the Ravens corners right now are cast-offs from other teams. Foxworth and Washington were both underperforming high round picks that the Ravens targeted for their speed. They are supposed to be a work in progress. The entire Ravens defense has the talent to be very good, but only if they can execute their playbook.

2. Size. Fabian Washington, Domonique Foxworth, Chris Carr, Frank Walker. All fast, all around 5′11 and 175 (some would even argue with pads on). That’s not quite Chris McAlister and  Samari Rolle. The current Ravens corners aren’t especially small, but you won’t find anyone calling them big. These corners won’t have much success chucking receivers at the line or bumping them downfield, which leads to an entirely different style of play for this secondary than most Ravens fans are used to. In their defense, Washington and Foxworth did an impressive job of staying with their coverage throughout the game on Sunday, but they simply weren’t able to make the plays when the ball game.

Is it truly good coverage if you don’t make the play, though? The Ravens corners need to learn how to run with their man and play the ball. In the Chargers later series, we saw some of this happening. Kudos to you, Frank Walker. It needs to happen more. Speed can’t be taught, but finding the ball can be.

3. The Pass Rush. Another familiar complaint from the past few years. If you hit the quarterback, he can’t throw the ball. And if he can’t throw the ball, no one can catch it. And even if you can’t stop him from throwing, maybe you can stop him from throwing it well. The Ravens front-seven needs to do more to help their secondary be effective. The Ravens actually got pretty solid pressure on Rivers on Sunday, but only when bringing the house – and eventually even that stopped working. Without the blitz, the Ravens pass rush looked handicapped against the Chargers, who were missing three (three!) starters on the offensive line. Terrell Suggs was solid throughout most of the game, but always a half-step behind, and only got through on the blitz. We haven’t seen rookie motor Paul Kruger yet because the Ravens can’t find room for him, but it may be time for that to change.

The Ravens need to find ways to get pressure even when rushing three or four. It’s that simple. Haloti Ngata takes up two men all be his lonesome, that leaves 3 or 4 on the line (depending on the alignment) to handle three Ravens rushers. That match-up should favor the defense pretty consistently. Yes, I’m looking at you Trevor Pryce and Terrell Suggs. If the current rushers cannot get it done, let’s try something new. Kruger is known for his motor, which is precisely what the Ravens defensive line needs.

4. Philip Rivers. Yup, I’m going to just plain say it. Part of the Ravens struggle was simply Philip Rivers. Where was Ed Reed? Ed Reed was all over the field. But wherever Reed went, Rivers went the other way. Rivers held this game together for the Chargers. He spotted blitzes and rushes, helping his handicapped offensive line protect him. He got rid of the ball quickly and knew when the rush was coming. And he put the ball high and out of reach of the Ravens defenders time and time again. Rivers is one of the league’s best – perhaps only Manning and Brady are better right now (maybe not even Brady right now) – and he might have the most raw talent of any quarterback out there.

So, how do the Ravens fix this? Well, don’t play good quarterbacks. That won’t work. The Ravens get Big Ben twice, Palmer twice, Manning, Brady, Favre, Cutler once each… Let’s start by just avoiding Philip Rivers. Done. We won’t have to see him until at least week 18.

Despite a familiar chorus of criticism directed at the offense, most of the Ravens’ moves this offseason have involved the defense. Unfortunately, not all of the changes were entirely voluntary.

Defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has found a new home, this time in New York as a head coach. Under Ryan, the Ravens defense never finished worse than sixth in the league in yards allowed, and they also consistently ranked near the top of the league in rushing yards allowed as well as turnovers.

And it is not just Ryan who’s gone. He took with him star linebacker Bart Scott and safety Jim Leonhard, who filled in for the injured Dawan Landry for nearly the entire 2008 season.

Top it all off with the fact that three-time Pro Bowl selection Chris McAlister, the team’s lockdown cornerback for the last nine seasons, is gone as well.

For the Ravens, the combination of coordinator and player changes will lead to some pretty glaring differences on the field. Given the team’s depth and breadth of defensive talent, however, you can be sure that Baltimore will again be ranked among the league’s best defenses.

The most significant change resulting from this transition will come in response to the loss of Scott.

In Rex Ryan’s signature “organized chaos” schemes, the Ravens typically ran out of a 3-4 set, with occasional dips into a 46. The ability to shift between the two sets was made easy by the Ravens’ depth of talent at defensive end and linebacker; in particular, Pro Bowler Terrell Suggs could line up as an end to anchor a 46, allowing Bart Scott to become the team’s strong side linebacker, or he could stay on his feet and work as an outsider linebacker in a 3-4.

The loss of Scott, however, makes the slide to a 3-4 more difficult for the Ravens, who are now lacking an experienced inside linebacker to play alongside Ray Lewis. Combine this difficulty with the introduction of new defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, and the entire defensive playbook is in for a rewrite.

Mattison is an old-fashioned kind of defensive coach. His primary focus is on the line of scrimmage, where his defensive line sets the tone. Mattison’s primary goal is to stop the run, which should fit in well with a Ravens’ unit that prides itself on shutting opposing running backs down.

Early indications are that Mattison is going to shift the Ravens to a 4-3 base defense, with a solid linebacking corps of Lewis, Suggs, and Jarrett Johnson behind a bulky defensive line. Suggs will still see lots of time on the line of scrimmage, though, especially with the Ravens’ depth at linebacker and relative lack of pass rushers up front.

The Ravens have a lot of youthful talent at ‘backer, including the likes of Antwaan Barnes, Jameel McClain, and Tavares Gooden, not to mention rookie end/linebacker Paul Kruger.

On the defensive line, however, the Ravens have just one established pass-rushing threat in the form of veteran Trevor Pryce. The addition of Kruger will certainly ease some of Pryce’s load, but Suggs will certainly have his chances as well.

Given the depth of the Ravens linebacking corps, a shift from a 3-4 may seem unnecessary. But amidst all the youth, only Gooden has experience playing inside linebacker, and never in a 3-4. The unit would rather have Ray Lewis patrolling the middle of the field with a defensive front eating blockers than risk putting an inexperienced linebacker in his way.

To further help Mattison and this adjustment, the team has used the off months to focus on acquiring speed in the secondary. With the addition of Dominique Foxworth and Chris Carr, the team now has one of the fastest defensive backfields in the league; Fabian Washington and Foxworth may well be the game’s two fastest corners.

The hope is that faster corners can play closer to the line and hold their coverage longer, giving the restructured front seven a little more time to find the quarterback. The formula is simple: Better coverage downfield plus an improved pass rush should lead to more pressure, even after losing Bart.

While the names and faces may be changing slightly, and the schemes in the playbook may be changing a lot, fans should still expect great things from the Ravens defense in 2009. The unit’s goals remain the same: stop the rush, pressure the pass, and force big turnovers.

The Ravens’ defensive coordinator for the last three seasons, Rex Ryan, is a fan favorite and it’s fair to say that most fans would love to have Ryan back in charge of the team’s strongest unit. The Ravens have also expressed interest in retaining Ryan, who is also a front-runner for the open head coaching position in Atlanta.

But from a broader perspective, one has to wonder if Ryan is really the best option as this team’s defensive coordinator in the year(s) to come.

Ryan has been a part of the Ravens since Brian Billick became head coach in 1999. He’s respected around the league for his work with the team’s defense, which in 2006 finished 1st overall in both points and yards allowed. That defense also led the league in forced turnovers.

Fans and players alike revere Ryan for his old-school, hit ‘em hard style and the results it has produced with this team. In the days before the Ravens made the decision to offer their coaching availability to John Harbaugh (and before that to Jason Garrett), local television and radio waves were flooded with support for Ryan. Former and current Ravens held nothing back in letting the world know that Ryan was there man.

So what could be the problem with bringing Ryan back as defensive coordinator one more time?

Exactly that: he might be too popular, among fans and players, to mesh well with what Harbaugh brings to the team. John Harbaugh is supposed to be a breath of fresh air for a team that most fans thought was flat and unproductive for most of 2007. And like it or not, Rex Ryan was a part of that system.

In addition, it is fair to say that not every decision Harbaugh makes will be popular; and there’s also no guarantee that Harbaugh will have immediate success. Keeping the fan- and player-favorite around won’t make those bad days any easier. It’s not difficult to imagine players and fans siding with Ryan, instead of Harbaugh, when it comes time for tough decisions to be made. Good ol’ Rex, who knows what Ray and Ed like. Good ol’ Rex, who they wanted to see as head coach anyway, remember?

And let’s not forget that Ryan is far from perfect himself. Often lost among the poor play of the offense this season was the inconsistent play of the defense as well – missed assignments, forgotten coverages, and an overall lack of discipline. The once dominant unit couldn’t buy a turnover in most games. Ryan was under fire several times for misusing some of the unit’s best weapons.

Don’t get me wrong: I’d rather play with Ryan on our side than against him. And if he truly is the best candidate out there, then by all means he’s the man I want on our sideline. But Rex comes brings his own baggage into the clubhouse, just like any other coach. John Harbaugh is the man in charge now, and we deserve to let him have full control over where this teams goes for at least one season.

Perhaps “settle” is a poor choice of words at this point…

Settling is the last thing Ravens fans want to do and the last thing anyone expected this team to do – especially with a front office known for its ability to get things done quickly and correctly. At this point, however, with Jason Garrett passing on the Ravens’ offer, and other notable names falling off the list, someone has to be wondering what’s going on.

Suddenly this entire experience is more reminiscent of the Orioles in the last decade than it is of the Ravens. Since the Ravens arrival, the teams have been on paths heading towards very separate poles. But firing a successful coach, just one season after a serious extension and just one year removed from a 13-win season? And then, to put on their best dog-and-pony show (reminiscent of the tricks that lured in the likes of Shannon Sharpe and Rod Woodson), and be turned down? You can find “Orioles” stamped all over this story.

Needless to say, no one expected the search to happen the way it has. The general consensus, among fans and the media, was that Rex Ryan (the Ravens defensive coordinator) not only had the inside edge, but could legitimately be the best option for this team. It was supposed to be quick, neat and clean – Brian out, Rex in, and the Ravens back on their way. Instead, the Ravens apparently passed on Ryan, and now they may have missed their chance to see him back as coach or coordinator.

And that leaves the organization and its fans in the odd position of settling for what’s left. John Harbaugh, a defensive and special teams coach for the Eagles, is apparently next in line. Both the team and the fans have now fallen to their second choice. And while Harbaugh might not be too bothered, you have to imagine he is less than thrilled knowing he’s only coming back to take someone else’s scraps.

So, at this point, the question certainly arises: wouldn’t it have just made more sense to stick with Billick? For as unpopular as he was over the last ten weeks of the 2007 season, Billick’s success speaks for itself. He was a serious part of the team’s growth over the last nine years, winning two division titles and a Super Bowl. He was far from perfect, but he was far from atrocious as well.

Like any time you opt for an upgrade, the assumption is you’re going to come out better because of it – that the goods you’re buying are going to be more valuable than the goods your selling. After 18 days and a series of interviews, everyone has to be wondering if maybe Billick really was the best thing out there…