The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens rivalry is known for its hard-fought defensive battles. But that might not be the type of matchup fans receive this season.
That’s because Baltimore has struggled mightily to stop opposing passing attacks this fall.
During a guest appearance on “Punch Line Podcast” with Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, Steelers safety DeShon Elliott pointed out the fact Baltimore’s pass defense has performed so poorly.
“Defensively, I don’t know what y’all got going on over there. It has nothing to do with me,” Elliott said. “But the stat sheet says that y’all are No. 1 in run defense. But it says, I think, y’all are 32nd in pass defense.”
The comment, which Elliott made less than five minutes into the podcast episode, left Humphrey searching for a response for nearly 10 seconds.
“Yeah. Honestly, yeah,” Humphrey said initially.
“That has been quite rough I would say,” he then added.
Elliott’s statistics were correct. The Ravens allow 73 rushing yards per game, which is six yards fewer than any other team in the league.
But Baltimore also yields 294.9 passing yards per contest, which is dead last in the NFL. Incredibly, the Ravens are giving up 30 more passing yards per game than any other team in the league.
Topic Quickly Changes After DeShon Elliott Drops Shocking Ravens Statistics
As a follow up, Elliott asked Humphrey if the Ravens defense was getting any sacks. Essentially, the question was giving Humphrey an opportunity to explain that Baltimore’s poor pass defense statistics aren’t just a result of the team’s secondary.
Whether Humphrey didn’t want to throw teammates under the bus or simply didn’t want to answer the question, the topic quickly changed on the podcast to the Steelers facing Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson in back-to-back weeks.
To answer DeShon Elliott’s question, the Ravens are getting sacks. They have 31 sacks through 10 weeks, which is more than every NFL team but three.
Yet, the Ravens are still 28th in net yards per pass attempt this season.
The overall sack numbers could be a little misleading for a couple reasons. Opponents call a lot of passes versus the Ravens defense, and Baltimore hasn’t had its bye week yet. The Ravens are middle of the road in sack rate at 7.2%, which is 14th in the league.
Not a Coincidence the Ravens are 1st in Run Defense, 32nd in Pass Defense?
It’s extremely rare for a defense to excel against the run and struggle so much versus the pass. But there’s a couple factors contributing to Baltimore’s polarizing defensive statistics.
While the number of pass attempts has helped the Ravens sack numbers, it’s hurt their overall pass defense statistics. Baltimore has faced 22 more passes than any other team this season.
Meanwhile, opponents have only attempted 216 runs versus the Ravens. That’s seventh-fewest in the NFL during 2024.
That’s contributed to the disparity in run and pass defense for Baltimore.
From a percentage standpoint, though, the Ravens are still far better at stopping the run. Baltimore is No. 1 in the NFL with 3.4 yards per carry allowed. The Ravens are 29th in passing yards allowed per attempt.
Elliott can make fun of the Ravens poor pass defense all he wants. The jokes are warranted.
The Steelers, though, are a run-first offense, and that’s probably not going to be the recipe for success in Week 11 versus Baltimore.
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