Is it the players, or is it the approach? I'm not sure. We used to be a very physical defense, back in the old days. The last guy we had on our D who was really a "badass" was Meriweather, and we cut him. He had his problems, but he did bring some attitude and toughness. Talib brought a little of that, but it seemed missing when he left.
I found it very telling that none other than Dean Pees was the DC of that Ravens defense. Pees was the poster child for soft BBDB defense when he was here. But was that his choice, or because that was what BB asked of him? It seems like he was perfectly comfortable playing a more aggressive, physical style yesterday. And I don't think that Bernard Pollard is a special talent. He's just a tough, nasty dude. How many tough, nasty dudes do we have on either side of the ball? Mankins, maybe Gronk and Vollmer on offense. We have lots of very good players on defense, and some of them are fairly physical, but in terms of pure physical punishment and nastiness? Brandon Spikes is really the only guy who stands out. Remember how Rodney was reviled as the "dirtiest" player in the NFL? He was a headhunter, and sent a message. Who in our defense sends that kind of "don't mess with me" message any more?
We've loaded up on team captains and talent. I'd like to see us get some really bad ass dudes. They don't have to be high draft picks. But they have to be really physical guys, who won't back down from anyone. Because what I saw was that the other team hit us in the mouth, and we backed down, just like we used to make other teams back down. That happened to us against the Steelers last year, too, and to some extent against the 49ers this year, at least for 3 quarters. That's too big a weakness to be ignored. JMHO.