Calling out Ed Reed and Ray Lewis is indefensible

You know the old saying about rocking the boat? The Ravens do, too. Which is why there is absolutely zero chance they’ll address the declining productivity of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed anytime soon.

That’s an issue for the offseason, not for a team with its sights set on the Super Bowl. It’s too explosive. That wouldn’t be just rocking the boat. That would be lobbing a stick of dynamite into the boat, too.

So I disagree with my buddy Mike Preston, who wrote Tuesday that the time has come for John Harbaugh to talk to his two future Hall of Famers about their diminished play and what the team should do about it.

Has Ray Lewis, the greatest inside linebacker to ever play the game, lost a step or two? Absolutely. Is he a liability dropping into coverage? Probably.

Hey, the man is in his 16th season in the NFL. His body is giving out on him. It happens. Even to the great ones.

Is Ed Reed, an eight-time Pro Bowl safety, playing like a shadow of himself this season? Also true. He’s not making the big plays. And he seems to be shying away from tackles for fear of ending up in a wheelchair from another serious neck or back injury.

Exhibit A was his whiff on the Bengals’ Bernard Scott in the Ravens’ win over Cincinnati on Sunday. Reed looked bad coming up with nothing but air on Scott’s 25-yard touchdown run. And he didn’t try to deny it in a postgame interview.

But overall, both No. 52 and No. 20 are still playing at a high-enough level to help TEXANS/ BRONCOS/ STEELERS @RAVENS

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