OWINGS MILLS, Md. — A day after the Baltimore Ravens’ 28-25 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, coach John Harbaugh spent far more time talking about what went wrong during the team’s first win of the season than what went right.
The first of nearly two dozen questions concerned the struggles of veteran kicker Justin Tucker. The second was about Baltimore’s fourth-quarter issues. The third, fourth and fifth questions were on penalties and officiating decisions, a popular topic with the Ravens standing as the most penalized team in the NFL.
There was then another Tucker question followed by a query about why Baltimore’s pass defense is getting gashed in the middle of the field. Before the roughly 23-minute news conference was over, Harbaugh was asked about the much-scrutinized offensive line, tight end Mark Andrews’ slow start, rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins’ uneven performance versus Dallas and another special teams miscue.
Harbaugh has used the word “inconsistent” on several occasions to describe the 2024 Ravens, and it certainly applies. The offense ranks second in the NFL in defense-adjusted value over average despite struggling through three games to convert yards into points, avoid penalties and adequately use the playmakers at its disposal. In the past two games, the defense has been dominant through three quarters and then fallen apart in the fourth. It ranks last in the league against the pass. Special teams have been underwhelming and culpable in the fourth-quarter problems.
With the win over the Cowboys, the Ravens avoided an 0-3 start. But in nearly blowing a 28-6 lead over the final 10 minutes, they hardly erased early-season concerns. Now, they have a date Sunday night at M&T Bank Stadium with the undefeated Buffalo Bills, who are playing perhaps better than any team in football.
“We’re going to have to continue to improve a lot to be ready for that challenge,” said Harbaugh.
There’s been plenty said and written about the Ravens’ offensive line needing to grow up fast. That remains the case. But to beat Josh Allen and the Bills, Baltimore will have to show improvement in several of these areas, too:
Tucker making kicks
Fox Sports’ game broadcast Sunday caught Harbaugh and Tucker engaged in conversation after Baltimore’s victory over Dallas was finally in hand. Before that, Tucker was pacing around the sideline, looking incensed that his 46-yard miss in the fourth quarter played a part in the near-Cowboys comeback and extended the roughest stretch of his standout career.
Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, has missed field goals in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. He’s now 5-for-8 on the season and has missed six of his last seven from 50-plus yards dating back to last year. Tucker’s struggles have been exacerbated by the success kickers have had against the Ravens and around the league. Opposing kickers are 8-for-8 against Baltimore, with four of those from beyond 50 yards. Those makes and Tucker’s misses have loomed large in two one-score losses.
It wasn’t long ago when Tucker converting, even from long distance, was one of the surest things in the sport. That’s what makes his rocky start so jarring.
“I’ve been working through a technique thing,” Tucker said Wednesday. “For the most part, we’ve been striking the ball really well and I’ve let three kicks get away from me.”
A technique issue is one thing. Tucker is a maniacal worker, and senior special teams coach Randy Brown has long been one of the league’s top kicking gurus. They should be able to make those tweaks. A confidence issue would be a bigger problem entirely. Tucker has proven to be one of the toughest-minded players the Ravens have, but he’s never been through a stretch like this. As great as he’s been, there’s been plenty of cases around the league of top kickers fading from the elite fast.
The Ravens trust Tucker and their special teams coaching. His leash will be plenty long, and deservedly so. But the 34-year-old would be the first to say he needs to start making kicks.
“Everybody else is doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing,” Tucker said. “It’s on me.”
Getting Andrews more involved
Against the Cowboys, Andrews was targeted just once and held without a catch for the first time since October 2022. In three games, he has just six receptions on eight targets for 65 yards. During his first three games last year, the 29-year-old tight end had 14 catches on 18 targets for 160 yards and three scores.
Andrews had a disjointed training camp/preseason. He was dealing with a leg strain that cost him some practice time. Then, he got into a scary car accident. He’s also coming off a season where he missed a ton of time with a significant leg injury. It’s possible Andrews is playing at less than 100 percent, even if he or the team won’t admit it.
However, his quiet start seems more of a result of other factors. In Week 1, the Kansas City Chiefs focused on taking Andrews away and Lamar Jackson went to fellow tight end Isaiah Likely instead. In Week 2, Andrews was reasonably involved with four catches for 51 yards. In Week 3, the team opted for a run-heavy game plan that relied more on fullback Patrick Ricard and tight end Charlie Kolar.
It’s also clear the Ravens are trying to be less predictable and spread the ball around more. That includes a bigger role for Likely, who has eight more targets than Andrews. Harbaugh foreshadowed this during training camp when he acknowledged that there will be games where players who have traditionally been go-to guys won’t get as many opportunities.
“There’ll always be somebody that didn’t get the ball thrown to them or didn’t get many touches or wasn’t on the field as much,” Harbaugh said. “It’s probably going to be a part of the game plan each week — and a lot of it is how the game goes, too.”
Andrews, a three-time Pro Bowler, is one of the Ravens’ best players and has good chemistry with Jackson. His slow start is bedeviling fantasy owners, but it’s probably not the worst thing in the long run for Jackson to be spreading the ball around. In years past, the Ravens have been so reliant on Andrews and he’s been banged up when the playoffs have rolled around. Having a fresher Andrews later in the season would be a coup.
Defending middle of the field/impacting QB
When you’re dead last in the NFL in pass defense, you have a lot to figure out. Coaches and players have simplified the issues in recent days, saying the Ravens just need to be more in sync with the pass rush aligning better with the coverage. They’re struggling to consistently impact the quarterback, even though they have mostly stopped the run and made their first three opponents one-dimensional.
The Ravens are blitzing more than they did last year when they led the league in sacks, but they’re not getting as consistent pressure. Beyond that, their pass-defense issues seem confined to the middle of the field, where quarterbacks are finding open receivers. The Ravens have been exploited between the hashes.
“The easiest place to complete passes is in the middle of the field,” Harbaugh said. “You have to get between the quarterback and the football, and we’re not doing a good job of that. We have to put a stop to it.”
Perhaps, most concerning, the Ravens built their defense with dominating the middle of the field in mind. However, Roquan Smith, the highest-paid inside linebacker in football, has been a step behind in coverage. Safety Kyle Hamilton, an All-Pro last year, played much better against Dallas but got off to a disappointing start and blew coverage on the game-winning touchdown against the Chiefs. Marcus Williams, whose $18 million cap hit is the third highest on the team, is currently the lowest-ranked safety in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus, and has sparingly been around the ball.
The departures of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver are probably all being felt. However, the Ravens also need their best defensive players to play like it.
Limiting penalties
From the illegal formation calls on left tackle Ronnie Stanley in Week 1 to the face mask penalty on Nnamdi Madubuike in Week 2 to the Odafe Oweh roughing the passer penalty in Week 3, the Ravens have certainly been victimized by some curious calls this year. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that they’ve been a penalty-prone team after absorbing the second-most penalty yards last season.
The Ravens currently lead the league in penalties (31) and penalty yards (278). They’ve taken 16 more penalties than their opponents in three games, and that’s resulted in a 174-yard penalty differential, an astonishing number. Offensive penalties — they’ve garnered seven holding calls — have too often put them behind the sticks and scuttled drives. Defensive ones — they’ve been flagged four times for pass interference, twice for face masks and twice for roughing the passer — have continually prolonged opponents’ drives.
“It’s hurting us. It’s costing us points in the end,” Harbaugh said. “That’s a matter of playing football the right way in all of those situations, and I guarantee you, we’re going to be on our guys to do it right.”
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Fixing fourth-quarter woes
If it was just one facet resulting in all of these poor fourth quarters for the Ravens, the issue would probably be much easier to fix. However, it’s been a little of everything that’s resulted in Baltimore being outscored by 22 points in the fourth quarter, blowing a 10-point lead to the Las Vegas Raiders and nearly squandering a 22-point advantage against the Cowboys. The Ravens’ late-game meltdowns this year and in seasons past have featured team-wide breakdowns.
The offense has far too often gone dormant or committed turnovers. The defense has far too often failed to slow its opponent’s momentum or get off the field. Special teams have made a litany of mistakes late in games, too. Ricard attributed the issue to the Ravens just not playing complementary football and trusting the other units.
Harbaugh and his staff need to accept accountability, too, because this is not just a 2024 problem. Since 2021, the Ravens have lost an NFL-high 10 games when leading by at least a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Whether it’s being more aggressive/less conservative, making better challenge or timeout decisions, or finding ways to regain momentum, Harbaugh needs to find the proper balance to prevent this from happening so often.
“I can’t dial it down to one specific thing, because I feel like we’re doing a lot of good things out there,” said Stanley. “When it comes down to having a lead, keeping a lead and extending it when we really need to, we’re just not doing it right now, and that’s what we need to figure out.”
(Top photo: Denny Medley / Imagn Images)
