Shoring up the run defense

Despite surrendering at least 100 rushing yards to an individual running back in back-to-back games, the Ravens rank seventh in the NFL against the run. Still, allowing the Cincinnati Bengals' Cedric Benson to rush for 120 yards and a touchdown and the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson to compile 143 yards has been an unusual sight for a defense that had once prevented an opposing running back to reach the century mark for 39 consecutive games. Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said players have been pressing to make a play in the past two games, which has opened up running lanes. "It's common when that happens, when you don't have success or when something happens, it's common for a guy to say, 'I can make that play. I'm going to try to make that play,' Mattison said. "What ends up happening is you can go through that whole ball game against the Vikings -- and there are a lot of things going really good -- then all of the sudden, bang...