The season-ending Achilles injury to Terrell Suggs is easily the biggest loss of the season for the Baltimore Ravens. It also ranks as one of the most significant injuries of 2015.
Suggs' injury is No. 6 on the NFL's top 10 so far this season, according to ESPN NFL Nation's Kevin Seifert.
It's debatable whether Suggs, who has had double-digit sacks in his past four full NFL seasons, should be higher than Lions linebacker De'Andre Levy at No. 5. There's no arguing with the top four of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Clady, Giants pass-rusher Jason Pierre-Paul and Texans running back Arian Foster.
In the Ravens' first game without Suggs, Baltimore allowed 37 points and 448 yards to an Oakland Raiders offense that ranked last in the NFL a year ago.
"You can always notice an absence of a key player," safety Will Hill said. "But even if he was here, I think we still needed a little bit more to get the job done."
The Ravens signed Jason Babin last week to help with the Ravens' pass rush, but he was a surprise inactive Sunday.
"You can only put 46 guys up here; He's here for a week," coach John Harbaugh said. "We have Za'Darius Smith working hard and he had some speed out there. That's where we're at."
As Seifert pointed out, the Ravens pressured Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on just 17 percent of his dropbacks. Harbaugh explained the lack of pressure was the result of Carr getting rid of the ball quickly, but the players felt the loss of Suggs on the field.
"You can't replace a Hall of Fame caliber player," defensive end Chris Canty said. "We understood the challenge that was ahead of us. We understood that we had to find a way to win. Guys had to step up. Quite frankly, we didn't do that today. We took a step backwards."
