Ryan

        It has been 15 years since a defense as dominant as the Baltimore Ravens' swaggered — or should that be shuffled? — its way into the Super Bowl.

        The 1985-86 Chicago Bears shut out both their NFC playoff opponents before dismantling New England 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. They had predicted their fate months before by rapping “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” which began the sports music-video trend.

BUDDY'S CHOICES

Here are the 11 players Buddy Ryan would put on the field if he had to choose between the '85 Bears and the '00 Ravens. He picked Baltimore MLB Ray Lewis over Bears Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, and Bears S Gary Fencik over future Hall of Famer Rod Woodson. He picked six Ravens, five Bears:   • LE: Dan Hampton, Bears, over Rob Burnett   • LT: Sam Adams, Ravens, over Steve McMichael   • RT: Tony Siragusa, Ravens, over William Perry   • RE: Richard Dent, Bears, over Michael McCrary   • OLB: Otis Wilson, Bears, over Peter Boulware   • MLB: Ray Lewis, Ravens, over Mike Singletary   • OLB: Wilbur Marshall, Bears, over Jamie Sharper   • LCB: Duane Starks, Ravens, over Mike Richardson   • RCB: Chris McAlister, Ravens, over Leslie Frazier   • SS: Corey Harris, Ravens, over Dave Duerson   • FS: Gary Fencik, Bears, over Rod Woodson.

        The 2000 Ravens set an NFL standard by allowing just 165 points in the 16-game regular season — the 1986-87 Bears had the previous record at 187 — and have allowed only one touchdown and three field goals in three postseason victories.

        During a season when every team said it “let the dogs out” on defense, the Ravens clearly had the biggest bite on the block.

        Buddy Ryan has a unique perspective on the two teams.

        The Super Bowl season was his last as Chicago's defensive coordinator before he became Philadelphia Eagles head coach. And Ryan was the architect of the great Bears defenses that featured Super Bowl MVP lineman Richard Dent, Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary and one of professional football's ultimate warriors, de fensive end Dan Hampton.

        Ryan also is the father of Ravens defensive line coach (and former UC defensive coordinator) Rex Ryan, and Buddy Ryan addressed the team twice in the preseason and again in December.

        “Like I told them four or five weeks ago, "If you win the Super Bowl, you can take your place with the great defenses of all time,'” Ryan, who is retired from football, said by phone from his Lawrenceburg, Ky., farm. “"If you don't, you'll just be another team with a good defense.'”

        As for the Bears, who were ranked

        first or second in team defense from 1985-88, Ryan said: “We had some good football players. We had a good scheme that people didn't know how to block.”

        That scheme was the “46” defense, named for the number of safety Doug Plank, whose last year with the Bears was 1982.

        “We couldn't rush the passer, so we covered up the guards and center,” Ryan said of the 46. “We put it in as a nickel package. We put up eight-man fronts and had run blitzes and pass blitzes. You see everybody use it now. Baltimore opened up in it Sunday.”

        Ryan said the key players on the '85 defense were Hampton and Dent up front; linebackers Singletary, Otis Wilson and Wilbur Marshall; and safety Gary Fencik, the team's leading tackler.

        The Bears weren't as concerned as the Ravens about giving up points, Ryan said. The Bears wanted to knock people down and out, particularly quarterbacks.

        Baltimore is playing great team defense, Ryan said, and the centerpiece is middle linebacker Ray Lewis, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Lewis, is “a great, great player,” said Ryan, who gave a slight edge to the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Lewis over the 6-foot, 230-pound Singletary because he's “bigger and just as fast.”

        “They have five or six defensive linemen who are playing great football, but I don't think their two outside linebackers (Jamie Sharper and Peter Boulware) are as good as the two guys we had (Wilson and Marshall),” Ryan said.

        Ryan also gives the Ravens the edge in the secondary, especially on the corners, with Duane Starks and Chris McAlister. But Ryan gives the nod to Fencik, who moved into Plank's role as the playmaking safety, over future Hall of Famer Rod Woodson at free safety. “Gary was smart and tough,” Ryan said.

        The Bears weren't Ryan's only Super Bowl team. He also served on the defensive staffs of the 1976 Minnesota Vikings, coaching the Purple People Eaters line, and the 1968-69 New York Jets, who shut down the Baltimore Colts in the famed 16-7 Super Bowl III upset.

        Now, XXXII years later, Ryan is rooting for Baltimore to beat New York because of Rex — one of two Ryan sons working as NFL defensive assistants (Rob Ryan is New England's linebackers coach). Either way, Buddy Ryan has enjoyed how the Giants and Ravens have shown the key to getting this far.

        “I think it's been proven,” Ryan said, “that defense wins championships.”
       

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