Kyle Van Noy gives Ravens pass rush two sacks, vibes and wisdom

Every stadium the Ravens go to, about “10 coaches” go up to Kyle Van Noy and tell him, “My brother, you were around.”

At least that's how David Ojabo told the story with a big grin after the Ravens' 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. The 24-year-old outside linebacker emphasized the 33-year-old Van Noy's age and experience in the same breath as he marveled at his youthfulness after Van Noy's third two-sack performance.

“KV is that boy, that man,” Ojabo said, barely suppressing his laughter as Van Noy shook his head from the locker next to him. “He’s a veterinarian. He doesn't age. And he has Gucci on his chest.”

“That old man is out there playing and having fun,” defensive tackle Travis Jones added with a chuckle. “(…) He's just an old man. The way he acts, the way he carries himself – he’s just older.”

Van Noy's age was a common topic in postgame interviews with Ravens pass rushers. He is at least six years older than his fellow outside linebackers and he is the oldest when all defensive linemen are included by 40 days. Despite the jokes, every player made it clear how much they looked up to the veteran.

Based on stats alone, Van Noy earns respect from his teammates and opposing offenses. After going without a sack in the season opener, Van Noy has had two sacks in each of the three games since, for a total of six. Against the Bills, Van Noy had one of the most important defensive plays of the game when he picked off Josh Allen on a trick play and forced a fumble that was recovered by Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton.

But it's more than that. Ojabo said Van Noy has set an example with the way he works and passes on his knowledge to the younger players. Nnamdi Madubuike added that Van Noy has a high football IQ and knows how to pass on his wisdom to the guys on the line in the middle of the game.

“He’s pretty damn close to a coach on the sidelines,” Madubuike said. “He's so smart. And he just knows things are coming before they even come.”

Despite being the third-oldest player on the team, Van Noy predicted big things in minicamp.

He was a late addition to the Ravens last season, joining the team in Week 4. He had nine sacks in just 14 games, a career-high 32. Another year hasn't resulted in a decline in his athleticism – Ojabo said Van Noy was “almost” as fast as Odafe Oweh, who ran a 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds. But another year has actually made a difference in his pass-rushing abilities.

Over the course of his career, Van Noy said he has taken on many responsibilities. Last season provided a rare opportunity to focus on the pass rush. With a full offseason and training camp to further hone his skills, he hoped to produce even more results than the nine sacks he had last year.

“I'm hoping this will be my third of 11 years where I can just focus on pass rushing,” Van Noy said at minicamp. “The other year was 2019 where I had a really good year. Last year it was just pass rush. So I expect great things from myself and hopefully from you too.”

Less than a quarter of the way through the season, Van Noy has already reached two-thirds of his sack total from last year.

His teammates sense his mood.

The entire defensive line began celebrating, holding their hands up and jumping every time one of them did something good. They also did this on the sidelines, watching the offense near the end of the game. Neither Madubuike nor Jones know what the celebration is called or where it comes from.

“I just saw KV started it, so I just went with it,” Jones said with a laugh.

But Van Noy's play did more than just put smiles on his teammates' faces. Madubuike said his play was infectious and the pass rush as a whole had a good night.

In addition to Van Noy, Oweh also finished with a sack. Five players finished the game with a quarterback hit, for a total of eight. Van Noy had three, Oweh had two and Ojabo, Madubuike and safety Eddie Jackson had one. Even rookie outside linebacker Adisa Isaac made a tackle for loss in his first NFL appearance.

Overall, the Ravens' pressure rate increased to 37.8%, a big improvement from the first three weeks when it was 26.7%. “It was a testament to the pass rushers figuring out how to finish plays,” Jones said. But it was also the result of new defensive coordinator Zach Orr's plan and style of play. Jones said the plan is to keep Allen in the pocket as much as possible so the pass rush can get to him.

“We did well – I think we caught him pretty well,” Madubuike said. “Zach called a series of plays that put a lot of pressure on him. He wanted to crawl through the B gap, but he didn't, so he had to go through the perimeter, and then he threw these little crazy ones – he threw so many crazy ones, offside, out of bounds. So that shows how much pressure we applied throughout the game.”

And the Ravens didn't do it against any old offensive line either. The Bills were the No. 1 pass blocking team coming into the game with a winning percentage of 85%.

This, the pass rushers said, is who they really are.

“Working as a cohesive unit, man, that goes a long way,” Ojabo said. “We have everything. There was never any doubt about that. It just brought everything together. … Lucky all my dogs ate, man. It means the world when we win and we all do good.”