Limiting Big Plays Has Been Key for Ravens

Baltimore Ravens pass defense playing much better.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens have managed to cut down on allowing big plays and that has coincided with their recent resurgence. 

In Week 2, the Ravens allowed a couple of long touchdown passes from Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill in a 42-38 loss. 

The following week, Patriots wide receiver DeVante Parker caught a 40-yard pass from Mac Jones. 

Since then, the Ravens have mostly contained opponents and have won three straight games, improving to 6-3 on the season. 

In the most recent 27-13 victory over the Saints, the Ravens held Andy Dalton to 210 yards passing with a touchdown, interception, and an 84 passer rating. Alvin Kamara managed just 62 total yards — 30 rushing and 32 receiving. 

“Every game and every play is graded individually on what happened in that play," Chris Hewitt, the Ravens pass game coordinator/secondary coach, said. "So, you can’t just say, ‘Alright, it’s this, it’s that.’ Everything is always different, but at the end of the day, you always go back, and you look at how you’re coaching something, how you’re saying something, or what are we doing. What’s the reason for the mistake? Whether you have to pare down, or say more, everything is different."

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Cornerback Marlon Humphrey has not allowed a touchdown over 372 snaps this season. He has the second-highest grade in the NFL for man coverage behind the Jets' Sauce Gardner.

Humphrey also ranks third on the Ravens with 35 tackles and is tied with Marcus Williams for the team lead with five passes defensed. Williams is out with a wrist injury but he is supposed to return next month.

Rookie safety Kyle Hamilton is also playing at a high level.

The Ravens' pass rush will also get a boost with Tyus Bower back i the lineup and the imminent NFL debut of David Ojabo.  Outside linebacker Justin Houston leads the team with 8.5 sacks. 

 "The way that we’ve attacked that is [to] just do the things that take no talent, meaning line up correctly, communicate, play with effort," Hewitt said. Those things don’t take a whole lot of talent to just go out there and do those things. That’s where really we’ve emphasized for the last couple weeks, is just do those things, and let’s see how good we can really get.”