As the Baltimore Ravens conducted their special teams phase of Thursday’s practice, most of the front-line defensive backs were together off of the side of the field. Starting cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens were locked in conversation. Eddie Jackson sat on the ground stretching and talking to fellow safety Kyle Hamilton, who took a knee beside him, Starting safety Marcus Williams stood tall over his teammates, listening in and periodically joining the conversation.
The Ravens’ struggling secondary — and their defense as a whole — had plenty of time for soul-searching this week after they were torched for 442 total yards and five Joe Burrow touchdown passes in a 41-38 overtime victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The subpar performance left a proud defense ranked 26th in the league in points allowed per game, 31st against the pass, 26th in the red zone and 25th in yards per play.
“Most of our problems are nothing structural. It’s just fundamental stuff,” Hamilton said. “We have to tackle, we have to get off blocks, we have to communicate. We’ve been saying this for five weeks now, so it’s time to start actually doing it — not coming up here and just saying it.”
First-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr said this week that he’s been pleased with how his defense has stuck together, gone to work and not pointed fingers as it prepares for another significant challenge Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in the form of the surging Washington Commanders, who have won four straight games and rank at or near the top of the league in several offensive categories.
Orr has held himself accountable too and took the step this week of bringing in longtime NFL defensive coordinator Dean Pees as a senior advisor. The move was a clear indication that the Ravens are still searching for answers and looking everywhere for them.
“We’ve just got to eliminate the things that are not up to our standard because we know that we are one of the top defenses in the league. It’s just time to put it together for four quarters every week and on a consistent basis,” Orr said. “We know if you cut on the film, I highly doubt that you’ll see that we don’t have good players, we don’t have good schemes, we don’t have good coaches. We’ve just got to be consistent, and that’s what we’re chasing.”
It’s not that the Ravens’ defense hasn’t done some good things. It ranks first in the NFL against the run. It overwhelmed Josh Allen and a talented Buffalo Bills offense only two weeks ago. It played three high-quality quarters in games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys. Baltimore’s defense hasn’t been consistently bad. It’s been consistently inconsistent.
Orr and company also haven’t gotten any favors from the NFL schedule makers either. Between Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Allen and Burrow, the defense has faced four of the league’s top quarterbacks in the first five weeks of the season. It won’t get any easier on Sunday.
Washington’s dual-threat quarterback Jayden Daniels has been a rookie phenom, showing an ability to beat teams with his arm, legs and decision-making. The Commanders’ offense has been so prolific that punter Tress Way has only been called on eight times in five games.
“We don’t look at (Daniels) as a rookie,” Orr said. “We look at what we see on film, and what we see on film is one of the top quarterbacks in the league. We know that we have a big challenge in front of us.”
During game weeks, we’ll examine some of the storylines, matchups and questions the Ravens face heading into the contest. This week’s first-and-10:
1. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is 21-1 in his career in starts against non-conference teams. There has been plenty said about this statistic, which is dredged up every time the Ravens face an NFC team. Take from it what you will, but what can’t be disputed is that due to their uniqueness, Jackson and the Ravens’ offense are a nightmare to prepare for and hard to simulate during practice week. Teams that don’t face Jackson annually — the quarterback has played against Washington only once in his career and that was in 2020 — often struggle to defend him. Notably, Washington’s defense did a nice job two weeks ago in limiting the Arizona Cardinals and dual-threat quarterback Kyler Murray. We’ll see if that matters on Sunday.
2. Remember what happened the last time the Ravens faced a team that is rarely in its base defense and relies heavily on its nickel package? It was only two weeks ago when the Ravens gouged the Bills for 427 yards of total offense and 271 rushing yards in a 35-10 blowout. Washington is in its nickel defense on a league-high 90.3 percent of the snaps and its dime defense on 8.7 percent of the snaps, according to TruMedia. The Ravens have shown that they are comfortable living with heavy personnel and feeding Derrick Henry behind fullback Patrick Ricard and two tight ends if a defense loads the field with defensive backs. It will be an interesting cat-and-mouse game between Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt.
DERRICK HENRY!!!!
📺: Sunday 1 pm on CBS pic.twitter.com/7qKcVgBmF7
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 6, 2024
3. The day after two of the past three regular-season meetings with the Commanders, the Ravens have fired their offensive coordinator. Cam Cameron was dismissed following Baltimore’s 31-28 overtime loss to Washington on Dec. 9, 2012. Marc Trestman was fired after the Ravens’ 16-10 loss to the Commanders on Oct. 9, 2016. Obviously, Monken, whose offense is ranked first in DVOA, isn’t on the hot seat. He may want to be in his play-calling bag just in case.
4. The Ravens haven’t had many peers when it comes to running the football, but the Commanders are the closest thing to one currently. Baltimore (211.2 rushing yards per game) ranks first in rushing. Washington (178.4) ranks second. This marks the first meeting between two teams averaging 175 or more rushing yards in Week 6 or later in 46 years. The last time it happened was in Week 6 of the 1978 season when the New England Patriots played the Philadelphia Eagles. With 144 rushing yards Sunday, the Ravens would be just the sixth team since 1980 to rush for 1,200 yards or more in their first six games. The last team to do it? The 2019 Ravens.
5. Ravens left guard Andrew Vorhees, who started the first three games, is relatively healthy again after missing two games with a high ankle sprain. Yet, that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be back as a starter Sunday. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh sounded this week like a coach who might be reluctant to make changes along an offensive line that has played well the past two weeks. That will probably mean Patrick Mekari will continue to play left guard and rookie Roger Rosengarten will remain at right tackle.
6. While numbers suggest that Baltimore could exploit the Commanders’ 22nd-ranked run defense, the Ravens may like a few of their matchups outside, too. Cornerback play is somewhat of a concern for the Commanders and committing another defender in the box to stop Henry would leave cornerbacks Benjamin St-Juste and Mike Sainristil in some one-on-one situations. Ravens receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman are coming off arguably their best combined game of the season. Bateman, in particular, has been a tough matchup for teams. According to Pro Football Focus, Bateman has created separation on a league-high 72.73 percent of his snaps against press coverage. The Commanders have at least one defender in press coverage 5.1 percent of the time, which ranks 18th in the league, per Pro Football Focus.
BATE SIGNAL ACTIVATED 🚨
TOUCHDOWN, @R_bateman2❗
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/KTEAt1X3Hh
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 6, 2024
7. There was a time when the thought of a rookie quarterback coming into Baltimore and getting the best of the Ravens’ vaunted defense was preposterous. The Ravens are 15-2 against rookie quarterbacks at M&T Bank Stadium in the Harbaugh era (starting in 2008) with the two losses coming against the Chicago Bears’ Mitchell Trubisky (2017) and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kenny Pickett (2022). Of course, several Ravens this week, including Orr, made clear that Daniels doesn’t look or play like a rookie. You heard just as much talk in the locker room this week about Daniels’ maturity and poise than you did about his talent and athletic skills.
8. Of the litany of things that should concern the Ravens about Daniels and the Commanders’ offense is their ability to create big plays and his touch on the deep ball. The Commanders have 24 plays of 20-plus yards this season. Fourteen of them are Daniels’ throws. Meanwhile, the Ravens have allowed 22 passing plays this season of 20 yards or more, the second most in the NFL. It seems likely that Stephens will spend a good portion of the afternoon matched up against star receiver Terry McLaurin, who is averaging 13.2 yards per reception. The Ravens need to be aware of that matchup.
9. Much has been made about the dominant Ravens’ run defense and rightly so. They’ve allowed a league-low 302 rushing yards. However, they’ve also yet to play against a running team of Washington’s caliber. These are the rankings of the Ravens’ five opponents in terms of rushing yards per game: 15th, 30th, 31st, 14th and 28th. And the Bills, who rank 14th, trailed 21-3 by midway through the second quarter and had to abandon the run. It could be a significant blow to the Commanders, though, if Brian Robinson Jr. (knee) can’t go.
10. The Ravens won’t have reserve linebacker Malik Harrison (groin) and reserve defensive lineman Broderick Washington (knee). Otherwise, it will be another week where the Ravens will have tough decisions with their inactive players because they have a healthy roster. With the Ravens needing a third running back and with Chris Collier out of practice-squad elevations, a logical move would be activating rookie running back Rasheen Ali to the 53-man roster. The Ravens have an open spot. That would allow them to use their two practice-squad elevations elsewhere. With Washington out, they have the option of elevating either defensive lineman C.J. Ravenell or Chris Wormley from the practice squad. They also may want edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue up for a second consecutive week. Harrison leads the team in special teams snaps. His absence could open the door for rookie safety Beau Brade to make his debut.
Prediction
Ravens 26, Commanders 21
If you trust trends, you probably think that the Ravens will run roughshod over the Commanders. Jackson dominates the NFC. The Ravens rarely lose to rookie quarterbacks. Baltimore exploits suspect run defenses. If you trust your eyes, you probably have concluded that the Ravens will be getting a significant test on Sunday. Daniels and the Commanders’ offense is legit and the defense has seemingly improved every week. They are a dangerous opponent as the Bengals and Browns can attest. The Ravens, however, seem to be in a very good place. They’ve been in many of these “statement” games and they typically play well.
(Top photo of Jayden Daniels: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
