OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he and his staff spent much of their “mini-bye” weekend working to solve issues with the team’s beleaguered pass defense, and he acknowledged both unacceptable struggles and a “great sense of urgency” to get the problem fixed.
Through 10 games, the Ravens rank dead last in the league in passing defense, allowing 294.9 yards a game through the air — 30 more than any other team. They are allowing 7.41 yards per pass, which ranks 29th, and have given up a league-high 47 passes of 20 yards or more.
The Ravens have been victimized by communication problems, poor technique, coverage lapses, and a handful of dropped would-be interceptions.
The problems were on full display in the Ravens’ “Thursday Night Football” showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals, as Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase torched the Ravens with 11 catches for 264 yards and three touchdowns. One of those came on a 70-yard bomb when Chase was left all alone deep in the middle of the field.
“It really comes down to how we’re playing. It comes down to us,” Harbaugh said at his weekly Monday news conference Nov. 11. “We have to play our coverages better in those situations, especially in the deep middle and intermediate middle part of the field. … We’re just very inconsistent back there in that sense.
“That’s probably the one major thing,” he continued. “… Obviously, probably everybody would agree with that. That’s the No. 1 target that we have to get better at.”
After the Bengals game, cornerback Marlon Humphrey was highly critical of the secondary play, and voiced frustration that technique and progress on the practice field isn’t showing up in games. Harbaugh concurred and especially was irked by the long touchdown passes. In addition to his 70-yard score, Chase scored on a 67-yard touchdown in which he caught the ball on the Ravens’ logo at midfield and weaved through passive Ravens traffic all the way to the end zone.
“To not tackle it, or to let it get behind us, those are just things that just are below the line,” Harbaugh said. “Those are not OK. Not that you don’t get beat every now and then — teams get beat here and there — but it’s just happening way too much with us right now.”
It’s all left Harbaugh searching for answers, and he vowed, without getting into specifics, that, “Everything is on the table.”
Earlier this season, the Ravens brought back longtime defensive coach Dean Pees to assist first-year coordinator Zach Orr, and they acquired cornerback Tre’Davious White at the trading deadline. White, who had been phased out of the Rams’ rotation and had been a healthy scratch for the past few games, is expected to work into the mix for the Ravens, Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh did say that Brandon Stephens will remain at cornerback and will not move back to safety.
“That’s not really on the table right now,” Harbaugh said. “He has a big job right now he’s trying to take care of.”
The Ravens projected Stephens as a safety when they drafted him out of SMU in 2021, and he started 11 games at safety as a rookie, but he moved full time to cornerback last spring and has been one of the team’s top outside cornerbacks.
The safety position has been an issue all season and potentially got much more problematic after Kyle Hamilton, who has been one of the top players on defense, suffered an ankle injury against Cincinnati. His status for this week’s AFC North showdown at Pittsburgh is unclear. Harbaugh had no update on Hamilton except to say, “We’ll see how he looks on Wednesday.”
Safety Marcus Williams, the high-priced starter opposite Hamilton, was benched at Cleveland, and his replacement, Eddie Jackson, was beaten on a game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute as the Browns stunned the Ravens.
Despite all those problems, the Ravens are 7-3, in large part because quarterback Lamar Jackson continues to play at an MVP level. He has thrown 24 touchdowns and two interceptions and leads the league with a 123.2 passer rating. He has also rushed for 538 yards and two touchdowns for a Ravens offense that ranks No. 1 in total offense, rushing and scoring.
The Ravens squeaked out a 35-34 win against Cincinnati when the Bengals misfired on a two-point conversion attempt in the game’s final minute after Chase’s third touchdown.
The Ravens have won seven of eight after an 0-2 start and head to Pittsburgh Nov. 17 with first place in the AFC North on the line.
The Steelers (7-2) have won seven of the past eight in the series, and they, more than any other team, have stymied Jackson; he is 2-4 against the Steelers as a starter and his passer rating against Pittsburgh (66.8) is his lowest against any team.
“[They] have played well against us, and we haven’t played well against them, in that sense, as far as moving the ball and scoring points,” Harbaugh said.
“This is a new game,” he added. “We don’t live in the past. … None of that matters.”
What does matter, Harbaugh knows as well as anyone, is that the Ravens need to get their pass defense fixed, and soon.
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