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Blaming the secondary for the troublse the Baltimore Ravens are experiencing on defense this season has become common, but statistics reveal a deeper problem. Hidden in the numbers, there’s a fatal flaw negatively impacting every phase of the unit.
The underlying weakness concerns a pass rush gone stale after the Ravens led the NFL with 60 sacks last season. Pressure and sacks have been harder to come by this year, particularly in clutch situations.
To explain the problem, The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer cited TruMedia to reveal “Opposing QBs are getting an average of 3.96 seconds to throw on third-and-long (7+) against the Ravens this season. That’s the worst mark for any team in the past decade, per TruMedia, and almost a half-second slower than the runner-up (3.52 seconds). Pass rush needs some help.”
Identifying the impact of not being able to put consistent heat on quarterbacks is easy. You only need to look at the Ravens’ league-worst pass defense, but pinpointing why the pass rush is struggling so much is tougher.
It’s not as if there’s been wholesale changes in personnel and scheme.
Ravens Defense Missing 2023 Magic
The mystery of a once active pass rush gone dormant is not easy to solve. Not when the Ravens retained most of the key players from last season’s league-leading unit, particularly along the front seven.
Veteran edge-rusher Jadeveon Clowney is the only notable name missing up front. He signed with the Carolina Panthers in free agency after logging 9.5 sacks during his lone season in Baltimore.
Clowney’s gone, but Kyle Van Noy is still around. The 32-year-old started the season in fine form by recording six sacks across three games, but he’s had just one since Week 4.
He was thriving without Clowney, but the Ravens still got Van Noy some help. They signed Yannick Ngakoue to the practice squad and soon activated the 2017 Pro Bowler on the 53-man roster.
The names are there, but the Ravens aren’t dominating the pass pocket. They have 24 sacks through eight games, a respectable number, but no edge-rusher is feasting every week.
More than sacks, this is about pressure and reducing the time opposing passers have to make reads and exploit gaps in coverage on football’s money down. The Ravens reduced those things with designer blitzes and disguised coverages under previous coordinator Mike Macdonald in 2023, but he took the job as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, leaving Zach Orr to tackle a major promotion.
Although Orr is a rookie on the headset, he’s sending pressure almost and changing the picture on the back end almost as much as Macdonald. As Shaffer pointed out, “The 2023 Ravens ran disguised coverages 41.3% of the time and simulated pressures 27.4% of the time. The 2024 Ravens are running disguises 41.5% of the time and sim pressures 26% of the time.”
Shaffer focused on communication as a central problem. That’s fair, but the Ravens could also use another infusion of proven talent in the pass rush department.
Trading for Help Makes Sense
The Ravens are rarely shy about striking mid-season deals. General manager Eric DeCosta has already added a natural separator at wide receiver, but returning to the trade market for pass rush help makes sense.
Securing an established presence on the edge would ease the burden on a defensive backfield beset by injuries. It would also provide a necessary boost for a defense ranked 26th in points and 25th in yards, according to Pro Football Reference.
The unit is being let down by coverage that’s already given up 39 completions of 20-plus yards, most in the league. Increasing the rush is a good way to stop the rot.
Somebody like former Raven Za’Darius Smith, who Forbes’ Jesse Reed rates as one of the top five players on the block, should interest DeCosta before the deadline.
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