The Baltimore Ravens have been well known for their defenses over the years — hard-hitting, smack-talking, aggressive defenses. When asked which defense was the toughest to go against in his career, former New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush not only pointed to the Ravens but a specific game.
“When Baltimore came to New Orleans, they beat the breaks off us,” Bush said in an interview on Fox Sports.
It was October in 2006 and New Orleans was hosting Baltimore in a Week 8 game. The Ravens ran up the score quickly on the Saints, getting out to a 21-0 lead with six minutes remaining in the second quarter. It didn’t take long for Bush to realize they had no chance against the type of energy Baltimore had that day.
“They just scored a touchdown and the DJ was playing Mystikal, ‘Here I go’ and I looked on the other sideline and their whole defense was lined up rocking side-to-side to the beat of the song while we were kicking off. I was like ‘Hey man, we don’t have it today. They’re going to beat us, nothing we can do'”
Where Bush and fellow running back Deuce McAllister were held to just 27 combined yards on 10 attempts, Ravens running back Jamal Lewis crushed New Orleans’ defense into the ground, rushing for 109 yards on 31 attempts. Baltimore would force five turnovers in the game, including three interceptions from quarterback Drew Brees and another on a terrible pass from Bush.
“I remember Sean [Peyton] called a halfback pass that I threw up in the air to [Marques] Colston, they intercepted it.”
The Ravens would go on to win that game 35-22 but Bush wouldn’t have any more success against Baltimore throughout the rest of his career either. Bush lost three other meetups against the Ravens’ defense while playing for the Saints, Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills. Over four games, Bush ran 29 times for 94 yards and one touchdown while catching 13 passes for 56 yards but threw one interception and had two games where he finished with negative rushing yards.
