ExtremeRavens Posted November 1 Posted November 1 Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston will answer fans’ questions in the middle of each week throughout the Ravens season. After a 29-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns last week, Baltimore (5-3) faces a tough matchup against the Denver Broncos (5-3) on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Here’s Preston’s take on a handful of questions from readers: (Editor’s note: Questions have been edited for length and clarity.) Do you think any changes will be made in the near future for players and/or coaches? Zach Orr seems to be in over his head. I know it’s only one game, but losing to both the Raiders and “Clowns” this early raises red flags. — Bob in North Carolina Bob, that question won’t be answered anytime soon. Most coaches might make some changes in the offseason, and that usually happens with winning teams. I don’t assume John Harbaugh will make a rash decision on Orr during the season. If that happened, then it would probably change the schematics and some of the language the defense uses. Also, Harbaugh already made an adjustment by bringing in former defensive coordinator Dean Pees as an adviser several weeks ago. There is one more issue here. If Harbaugh made a change, it would indicate he made a mistake in hiring Orr. That’s a no-no. Few, if any, Ravens fans want to give Cleveland credit, but the Browns played their best game of the season with a new starting quarterback in Jameis Winston last week and their defensive line played well against the Ravens’ offensive line, which has been an area of concern all season. I’ve said this more than once this season: If a team is going to beat the Ravens, they will need a strong defensive line (see Kansas City, Las Vegas and Cleveland) and strong, fast cornerbacks. I wasn’t overly impressed with the Browns’ cornerbacks, but their safeties could fly to the ball. In your opinion, why the soft pass defense displayed by the Ravens against Cleveland? Baltimore made Jameis Winston look like an All-Pro player. — Ed Helinski Ed, Cleveland had struggled to sustain drives all season and the Ravens were without cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins. The defensive strategy was very sound and fair because few believed the Browns could mount long scoring drives. It really didn’t make a difference, because when the Ravens brought pressure from the back end late in the game, they still got burned and gave up big plays. That happens when a team is down two starting defensive backs, but there are no excuses for the four dropped interceptions, including the one by Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton that should have secured the win at the end of the game. That’s the area where the Ravens need the most improvement, not just pointing fingers at the soft coverage. Does John Harbaugh have an excuse for everything? Offense slow to start again, Derrick Henry only got 11 carries against Cleveland. Defense has been bad all season and being down your two “top” cover guys made it worse. Yet Harbaugh seems unfazed or worried about anything. Just gives his same bland, robotic response during press conferences. Should the Ravens either miss the playoffs or get knocked out early, is his job safe? — John Holmes John, I think if the Ravens miss the playoffs or get knocked out early, there will be concerns about Harbaugh’s job status. He has a two-time MVP at quarterback in Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have invested a lot of money getting Jackson more talent on offense. Defensively, the team has invested in quality players such as lineman Nnamdi Madubuike and middle linebacker Roquan Smith. I believe the Ravens had the best team in the NFL last season, but the best quarterback and defense belonged to Kansas City. As for Harbaugh’s responses after games, what do you expect him to say? They are in the middle of the season, so he isn’t going to come out and openly criticize assistant coaches or players. The Ravens are 5-3, not 3-5. There is still a lot of football left to be played. As for Henry’s touches in the game, go back and look at the film and see how many times the Browns outnumbered the Ravens around the line of scrimmage. Some plays should have been changed, and they weren’t for whatever reason. Again, Cleveland’s defensive line dominated the Ravens up front. I was just curious with the issues in the secondary. Will they try to insert rookie T.J. Tampa at some point? I didn’t know how his development was coming along or what was noticed about him in the offseason. — Justin Curbeam I’m only concerned about one rookie playing in the secondary at this point, and that’s Wiggins. I believe that Humphrey and Wiggins would have made a difference in the Cleveland game and would have given the Ravens the win. As for Tampa, he was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury last week and also missed time during training camp after having sports hernia surgery. We’ll worry about him next season, not in 2024. The Ravens have already brought in Dean Pees as an adviser to try and assist Zach Orr, but so far we haven’t seen any noticeable impact on the field from that. Orr stands on the sideline to call games. Do you see the Ravens moving him up to the booth to try and see if that helps with things? Or do they leave that up to coordinators to do as they see fit? — Paul in Orlando, Florida It’s usually a decision made by the coordinator, or in this case, Orr. It might be a suggestion, but Pees is already up in the booth as an observer and chipping in some advice. How many coaches or voices do you need at once? Talking with other coaches from around the league, most of them like Orr and expect him to do well in time. The question is, how much time is enough? He’ll probably be in charge at least until the 2024 season is over. After last season, it was a given that the Ravens would lose Mike Macdonald as defensive coordinator. After Macdonald left, Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson were hired by the Dolphins and Titans, respectively. Do you think that the Ravens were too slow to choose their DC, or was Orr always going to be the guy? — Michael in Annapolis From those involved inside and outside the interviewing process, they all expected Orr to be named the defensive coordinator. I don’t know about Wilson’s situation, but Weaver left the Ravens to become the coordinator in Miami after Orr was promoted. Why so many deep dropbacks for Lamar against Cleveland’s pass rush and not more quick strikes? Why didn’t Justice Hill get more targets? — Kevin Grodnitzky, @weightlossRD on X Kevin, I was surprised by Hill’s lack of overall production, but again that Cleveland defense was well coached by coordinator Jim Schwartz, the former University of Maryland and Ravens assistant. I’m not so sure the Ravens had Jackson drop back deeper than usual, but he was under a lot of duress. The pressure had him leaving the pocket much sooner than expected. Again, let’s give credit where credit is due. Schwartz, who played at Mount Saint Joseph, had his guys ready to play. Have a question for Mike Preston? Email sports@baltsun.com with “Ravens mailbag” in the subject line and it could be answered in The Baltimore Sun. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.