NEW ORLEANS -- Baltimore Ravens safety Will Hill didn't go a day this past week without hearing the question:
Do you believe you can cover New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham?
Every coach from John Harbaugh on down wanted to hear Hill's response. Even offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak came up to him and asked if he was ready.
"I looked at Coach, like 'Was he serious?'" Hill said. "I'm always going to bet on myself."
Hill's boldness showed when he made the biggest play in the Baltimore Ravens' 34-27 victory over the Saints on "Monday Night Football," stepping in front of Graham and returning an interception 44 yards for a touchdown.
He gave the Ravens a pivotal momentum swing in the third quarter. He also injected something they desperately needed -- a jolt of confidence.
The next five games will tell if this is a turning point for a secondary that is lost its best player (cornerback Jimmy Smith) for the season. This makeshift defensive backfield is still going to give up plenty of passing yards and a frustrating amount of big plays. The Ravens just have to find it within themselves to push back. What's going to keep the Ravens (7-4) in the ultra-competitive AFC North and a crowded playoff field is showing much-needed fight in the defensive backfield.
The Ravens have watched their secondary flop this season in allowing a 77-yard winning touchdown to Cincinnati's A.J. Green in the season opener and six touchdowns to Ben Roethlisberger in Week 9. It looked like the Ravens were headed for a similar fate when Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 260 yards in the first half.
The disturbing part was the Ravens were in position to make plays. Cornerback Danny Gorrer had what should have been an interception ripped away along the sideline, and rookie safety Terrence Brooks allowed a deep pass to the end zone because he didn't attack the ball.
Then, something changed after defensive coordinator Dean Pees gave a fiery halftime speech and Hill delivered his take.
"I saw the way our offense was playing and was playing with fire," Hill said. "I told our defense that we have to match our offense. They're more physical than us right now. It just fell in place."
More accurately, the ball fell into Hill's hands, which came courtesy of some deception on the Saints' first drive of the second half. Outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, who usually lines up on the edge, lined up as a middle linebacker and blitzed to get his hands on Brees as the eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback threw the ball.
Anticipating that Brees would throw the ball to his go-to target Graham, Hill jumped in front of the Saints tight end and raced to the end zone untouched.
"Will Hill's play was the difference in the game for a lot of reasons," Harbaugh said. "There's seven points, so that's the most obvious reason. There's also the fact that we could make a play on defense, we could come up with a play. Not just a stop -- we made plenty of stops -- but an interception. Go grab it and take it the other way. That's something that's been lacking, that we needed. It came at the right time."
These types of game-changing plays have been rare for a Ravens team that has historically been defined by defense. Hill's play marked only the third interception by a Ravens defensive back this season and was the team's first defensive touchdown in 23 games.
The Ravens put faith in Hill when they signed him this offseason despite a six-game suspension, and it's beginning to pay off. At a time when the Ravens were struggling to stop the pass, they made a big play instead of giving up one.
The Ravens are building a physical identity with a bullying ground game and a run defense that doesn't budge. Their glaring weakness is a secondary that starts a converted safety (Anthony Levine) at cornerback and rotates safeties on almost every series.
If this secondary can stay competitive, the Ravens will stay in the thick of the playoff race.
"We're NFL defensive backs, and for people to talk about us like we're kids, that's belittling," Hill said. "It's time for us to step up and show what we're capable of."