Ravens Defense Continued To Suffer In These 3 Key Areas In 24-18 Win Over Lowly Titans

The Ravens defense had its moments on Sunday.

Book-ending the first half with takeaways and taking advantage of a novice quarterback on the road in Baltimore was a step in the right direction. They bowed up as a unit against the under-center runs that have been troubling them in a 24-18 win at M&T Bank Stadium, holding Tony Pollard to three yards per carry.

Nnamdi Madubuke, in just his second game back from neck surgery and just his second game in over a year since suffering the neck injury, made a critical stop on Pollard on a fourth-and-goal run and finished the day with three pressures, two quarterback hits and three hurries and led the team’s defensive linemen with 42 snaps played. But, alas there was also a lot that still needs to be corrected, and quickly, from a defense that still has far too much in common with the unit that struggled the last two years under former coordinator Zach Orr.

Rookie head coach Jesse Minter played a 3-4 front more than he had all year (33% in the first half when the Titans tried to establish the run), making necessary adjustments to win up front, but there are big questions being asked of his defense’s pass rush, its fourth-quarter mentality, and its ability to contain No. 1 receivers, suffering up front without top edge rusher Trey Hendrickson (finger surgery) and with their highest-paid corner, Marlon Humphrey, missing the second half with a calf injury.

“We’re chasing a much, much higher level for us,” Minter said after the game, perhaps summing it up best.

Pass Rush

Maybe Hendrickson’s finger was a significant issue, but Baltimore’s pressure rate and potency impacting the QB peaked in Week 1 (before he was hurt), and Colts passer Daniel Jones did not look comfortable at all in his first game back from Achilles surgery. Sacks do matter at the end of games when you have to get off the field, and the lack of closers in the second half of games is a big part of why this second half defense remains so flawed even with a big lead.

The Ravens only mustered a pressure rate around 20% against a raw quarterback in Cam Ward, who struggled mightily against the blitz. Minter played it “conservatively” due to the big lead and injuries and other factors, and didn’t sell out to attack him (14% blitz rate) and settled for a lot of passes chucked out of bounds with moderate pressure.

They only hit Ward six times on 34 dropbacks, they mustered one sack, and now have a season sack rate below 5%; essentially what it was last year. They are generating pressure only around 32% of the time (23rd).

“We didn’t finish the way were capable of,” Minter said, later adding that “hopefully down the road that type of game is a four, five or six sack game.”

Fourth-Quarter Breakdowns

The Titans barely had the ball in the fourth quarter with Baltimore grinding out another six-minute drive on the ground. And everyone knew where the ball was going when Ward did throw – rookie Carnell Tate – and he still ran free and ran threw tackles and the Titans scored a touchdown and late two-point conversion to make it a one-score game at the end when it never shoulda been that close.

So now, for the season, the Ravens have been out-scored, 40-20, in the fourth quarter. That’s not nearly good enough, it will continue haunting them with the blown leads, and that differential ranks 29th in the NFL. They have allowed 414 yards in the final quarter, 29th overall and they are 30th in fourth-quarter points allowed.

A week after Kyle Hamilton called this defense “unacceptable” and put the onus on the players to improve, this unit still looks far more like a work in progress than anyone in The Castle was hoping when they made this coaching change.

Top Receivers Can’t Be Stopped

It was no secret that Ward was not pushing the ball downfield at all and when he did it was always going to Tate. Maybe if Humphrey stays in the game he holds him down, but he was exposed by Chris Olave in Week 2 and several Cowboys receivers in Week 3. A few balls sailed over the head of free safety Malaki Starks and I continue to wonder if Hamilton, a hybrid defender, is going to find himself playing more in the deep end as the season plays on.

Tate catching nine of his 12 targets for 145 yards (and he dropped two other passes that could have been gains) is indicative of the state of this secondary and it’s continuing an ugly trend. Recall, the Colts deep threat, Alec Pierce, was coming back from surgery and was barely a decoy in Week 1. Since then, here’s what’s been going on against this group:

CeeDee Lamb: 7 catches on 8 targets, 112 yards

George Pickens: 7 catches on 11 targets, 82 yards

Olave: 8 catches on 10 targets, 86 yards, 1 TD

Those four receivers have combined for 21 first down receptions in three games. Two of those games were at home. The Titans were probably the worst pass game in the NFL entering this game, or certainly bottom three.

“It’s early in the season,” Madubuike said. “Everybody is trying to find their way, trying to find their identity.”

Perhaps, but these Ravens best find a new one, fast, on defense.

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