Three Things Rookie HC Jesse Minter Must Do Now To Fix Broken Ravens Defense

The Ravens defense better get it together, quickly.

Baltimore’s offensive line is so suspect and inept and, now, injured, that expecting even the great Lamar Jackson to keep putting up 30 points a game given the situation at the of scrimmage is ridiculous. The defense was supposed to be the star, all the money and assets were poured into the defense and Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta was deadest on hiring rookie head coach Jesse Minter all along because he thought his familiarity with this franchise and with the scheme he runs being so close to the Baltimore’s 2022-2023 defense under Minter’s buddy Mike Macdonald, that this would be a quick fix.

Turns out DeCosta's rosters are too suspect in too many key areas for that.

The Ravens got shredded by the Saints in the second half in blowing an 11-point lead and they blew another 11-point lead to the Cowboys Sunday in Brazil only to get bailed out by the kicker and two-time MVP Lamar Jackson in the end. They are failing in critical areas and look exactly like the defense the last two years that coordinator Zach Orr was primarily blamed for, but that excuse is gone.

“It is unacceptable for us to keep putting ourselves in this position in the fourth quarter,” hybrid defender Kyle Hamilton said after Sunday’s game. “They should not have to go out there and score 30 points for us to win. That is kind of what it has been these first three games. We were in position as a defense to get off the field, win the game, and we have ebbs and flows, but I don't know — it is frustrating.

“Happy we got the win, but like I said, unacceptable to be saying we are a 'Ravens defense,' whatever that means at this point, and be going out there and doing that, it feels like, everytime we got a lead. Obviously, we have a new staff in, so it is on the players. We have to get it fixed as players and do right by these guys to put us in better positions.”

Some of it is simply the roster. DeCosta is probably the only exec in the NFL who thought it made sense to carry Roquan Smith at $20M with a cap hit $11M higher than anyone else at his position and to run it back with Marlon Humprey for $19.3M (10th highest among corners with the top cap hit). They struggled again in Week 3, and the idea they must play all the time should be recosidered, ASAP, but we’ll see how soon Minter is allowed to adjust the roles of two of DeCosta’s favorites.

Minter better address these three critical areas ASAP:

Four-Quarter Mentality

This defense is soft when it matters most, no two ways about it. All of their worst tendencies in blowing 14 leads of 10 points or more from 2019-2025 are as prevalent as ever – terrible tackling on third and longs, blown coverages, silly penalties, tactical adjustments that never come or don’t work. It’s a mess.

Dallas ran 38 plays for 273 yards in the second half and if not for silly game-management mistakes by its coaching staff the Cowboys win the game. Prescott dropped back 40 times and was sacked once. He got pressured only 33% of the time in the second half, despite Minter ramping up the blitz (Prescott was 8/11 for 82 yards vs it in the second half).

For the season here is where the Ravens defense – a blight in the fourth quarter the entirety of Jackson’s historic tenure – ranks:

6.3 yds/Play: 27th 99 pass yds/G: 30th 4 Plays 20 +: T 26th 2.9% Sack/Att: 24th

They do not have a fourth quarter interception, same as it ever was, and the safety play tends to suffer as the games go on, making Minter likely even more tempted to get Hamilton back there to settle it down, but that creates major issues elsewhere.

It already started happening Sunday with Hamilton lined up as a deep safety early in the game and ending up having a fairly even split between safety, linebacker and line of scrimmage/slot. Strong safety Jaylinn Hawkins went from an every down player to manning 58 of 71 reps Sunday.

Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver alluded to their mentality being an issue last week, and it all resurfaced as soon as things got real in Rio.

"I feel like with our guys right now, if I see them on the sideline — which you can mistake almost for focus sometimes — I think could be a little bit of stress," Weaver said before they flew to South America, "and we have to help alleviate that so when we are at that particular junction point, when those critical times occur, we are at our best when our best is needed, like [head] Coach [Jesse Minter] says all the time ... We always talk about event plus response equals outcome — when they are in those events again, we will have the appropriate response to go out there and get a stop."

Welp.

Changing Defensive Front

This is a new one – getting gutted on the ground. Didn’t have it on my dance card, especially against Dallas who mustered 3.1 yards per carry in Week 1 and 3.8/carry in Week 2 and had an injured offensive line and nothing close to a feature back in this league and a spry quarterback in Dak Prescott who really doesn’t want to run anymore. But they destroyed Minter’s light boxes even with All-Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike returning from a year-plus absence with a serious neck injury and even getting former starting linebacker Teddy Buchanan back.

Minter went to 3-4/4-3 looks more than ever before, and with his secondary getting shredded anyway, he might have to adopt even more of it. The Ravens played 15 snaps in one of those two looks Sunday, and had played five total in the first two weeks of the season. Minter was still in nickel or dime over 80% of the time – and with how Dallas can chuck the ball around, you have to respect that – but lesser pass games loom and he may need to stay heavier here.

Here’s what the tepid Dallas run game and depleted OL did when five or more defensive backs were on the field:

25 carries 139 yards 5.6/carry

The Cowboys ran 30 times for 148 yards and a touchdown in this game, with 10 rushing first downs. It’s one thing to be willing to give up loose yardage in the middle of the field on the ground living in a shell defense; this was getting gutted. Very different.

Minter played 3-4 base on first down six times in the second half – far more than he had played it overall all season – and Dallas had 2 net yards on those plays, which included a turnover on Travis Jones forcing a fumble on a silly shovel pass and two Prescott failing to complete both his passes. With Nnamdi Madubuike back and playing 45 snaps in his return from neck surgery, might need more of this!

Altering Corner Rotation

At some point production will start to matter around here again and not what the GM thinks of you or how much he really wants this draft class (they comprise 20% of the roster) to shine right away HYPER. At the same time the offensive coordinator is telling us he needs to watch Durham Smythe’s reps in Week 2, Roquan Smith is an automatic every-down guy going into age 30 with 3000 reps under his built even with the defense stuck on the field for 135 snaps the last two weeks (sixth-highest in the NFL).

Okay!

And Humphrey certainly seemed to want Saints top receiver Chris Olave in Week 2 and the Ravens paid the price – Tyler Shough was 5/5 for 54 yards and TD throwing to him down the stretch in their upset win – and Prescott was picking on him in the second half Sunday (next Gen Stats had Humphrey allowing six catches on nine targets for 108 yards. Now Dallas has legit WRs, but this is a top 10 corner – to DeCosta and the Ravens’ payroll at least.

Chidobe Awuzie was way better than Humphrey last year and Humphrey should be in the slot. Now, they really want Chandler Rivers (fifth round pick) to be a thing, and he has looked great reading some screens, but less of that, please, and more Humphrey in the slot and more Awuzie on the field (21 snaps on defense all season).

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