ExtremeRavens Posted September 20 Posted September 20 Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr is right when he says the tone of discourse around his group’s flaws would be very different if they were 1-1 or 2-0. But they’re not. They’re winless, with enough defensive blunders to raise eyebrows about divergence from last year’s ascendancy. “Right now,” Orr said, “we’re not the football team, and we’re not the defense, that we want to be.” Roquan Smith, Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Hamilton were all staples of an elite Ravens defense a year ago, a group that led the NFL in points allowed (16.5), sacks (60) and takeaways (31). In two weeks, they’ve given up the fifth-most points and 13 teams have more takeaways. Baltimore’s stars aren’t starring — in a small two-game sample size — and that defense can only go as far as the three-headed monster will take them. “Gotta be better, in a nutshell,” Smith told The Baltimore Sun. “I’d say that’s each and every person looking themselves in the mirror and doing their job to the best of their ability and not allowing mistakes in critical moments. “When you eliminate those things, we’re playing great ball. Because 85-90% of the plays we’re doing good but then it’s that other 10%. In this league 10% is a lot.” Each of Baltimore’s first two games came down to that 10%. A missed assignment here, a penalty there. Orr spoke Wednesday about how much pride those guys take in helping turn their season around. Hamilton was critical of himself after the season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, saying, “we didn’t play our best football — especially me, personally — I don’t think I played well at all.” The play he’d most want back was a 35-yard freebie to Xavier Worthy. Baltimore trailed by a field goal in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Hamilton was supposed to cover over the top but lined up closer to the line of scrimmage before the snap, ultimately leaving the first-round draft pick with the NFL’s fastest 40-yard dash uncovered up the sideline for a touchdown. “That was on me, 100%,” he said after a misstep that left his team down. Hamilton emerged last year as an All-Pro safety in his sophomore season. It was around this time last year, Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts, that he had his true coming-out party with three first-half sacks, an NFL record for a defensive back. Between losses to the Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders, Hamilton is top five in both pass rush and run defense, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s also 65th out of 77 safeties in coverage. Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton’s coverage hasn’t been up to his standard in 2024, but he’s been strong against the run and when rushing the passer. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Both Madubuike and Smith earned hefty pay days for how integral they were to last year’s success. Madubuike recorded a career-high 13 sacks — doubling his total from 2022 — and signed for four years, $98 million this offseason. Smith was far-and-away their tackles leader with 158, sixth most in the NFL. He signed for five years, $100 million in January. Both could very well still get to the end of the regular season having posted similar numbers. That just hasn’t shown itself through these two Ravens losses. Madubuike has just one quarterback hit and one quarterback hurry in each loss. Last year, he more often found himself breaking into the backfield and disrupting the passer, such as his five hurries in both the AFC divisional round and conference championship game. Outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said the pass rushers have — like the rest of the team — been messing up the little things. “Running the blitz right, just doing our job, little miscues,” he said. “A lot of these losses are self-inflicted wounds.” Like Madubuike, Smith hasn’t yet played to the level he was showcasing last year. In two games, PFF grades him at 47.1, making him, out of 77 linebackers, the 67th-most productive. Smith’s production, his contract and ability to stir a pregame huddle put him in a long lineage of organization-defining Ravens defenders. Two games don’t diminish that track. But he takes some of the onus for righting the ship of Baltimore’s worst start since 2015. “It’s not just one person,” Smith said. “It’s about echoing throughout and all being on the same page. … And it starts with me making sure everybody’s in tune to every single check that we have. It’s part of my job and I take pride in that. We have to be better at that.” The Raiders’ game-tying drive in the fourth quarter is a good example. On second-and-5 from from the Ravens’ 40, Minshew found rookie tight end Brock Bowers in no man’s land to his right for a first down. Two plays later, wide receiver Davante Adams dropped a pass over the middle without a defender in a 10-yard radius from him. “Sometimes it’s a one-on-one thing where they make a good play … There’s other plays where we’re not — we don’t play it as well as we could,” coach John Harbaugh said. “We’re not in position, [or] we don’t see it quite the same way, [or] we react a little late.” All of those minor miscues, like Orr said, mean less if the Ravens aren’t 0-2. Until they win a game coupled with a dominant defensive outing, the spotlight will stay on the trio of the team’s best defensive players. View the full article Quote
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