ExtremeRavens Posted September 26 Posted September 26 If the Ravens don’t improve their run defense, they won’t go deep into the postseason. It’s really that simple. The Detroit Lions showed that Monday night in their 38-30 win against Baltimore. With a dominant running game that produced 224 yards on 38 carries, the Lions had a seven-minute advantage in time of possession and kept quarterback Lamar Jackson and his high-powered offense off the field. Detroit also had touchdown drives of 67, 98, 60, 96 and 70 yards. The 98-yard march at the end of the first quarter lasted more than 10 minutes. Ouch. It was tough to watch, and even more painful for the Ravens’ defensive line and inside linebackers. Not since John Harbaugh became the coach in 2008 has a Ravens team been so dominated on both sides of the ball. “There’s a lot of really simple things that we didn’t do very well at times,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll have the same play, really against the same defense, two different times, and one time it’s no gain, because we’re pretty much exactly where we’re supposed to be, and another time we’re not where we’re supposed to be. Part of it is just trying to do too much sometimes. Sometimes we try to do more than our job, and that’s not really required. “Playing with a little more calmness and belief in the whole structure and the 10 guys around you, and then also tackling in the back end; that’s the other thing. Those runs, they shouldn’t go to what they did. Those runs should be tackled [after] 8 to 10 yards if they break through the line, and we’re focusing on that as well.” The Ravens play Kansas City on Sunday and Chiefs coach Andy Reid has to be looking at the Ravens’ past three games and licking his chops. Kansas City’s offensive line isn’t as powerful as Detroit’s, but the Chiefs have a featured running back in Isiah Pacheco and Kansas City is averaging 108.7 rushing yards per game. So, let’s be honest: Pacheco and backup Kareem Hunt will test the Ravens, who are ranked No. 30 in run defense allowing 149 yards per game. That’s an absurd amount. You can’t win in the NFL like that. Actually, you can’t win in recreation, Pop Warner, high school, semi-pro or the Canadian Football League in that fashion. In football, first down is the most important of them all, so the Ravens might want to stack the line of scrimmage and also swallow a bunch of mean pills. Why not add safety Kyle Hamilton or nickel back Marlon Humphrey in the box? At least try something. Almost anything. Ravens nose tackle John Jenkins pushes past Josh Tupou during practice. Baltimore added Tupou to the practice squad this week to bolster its defensive line. (Surya Vaidy/Staff) The Ravens tried several different combinations against the Lions, but they weren’t the Browns. Cleveland does a good job of loading up with six players near the line of scrimmage, but it also has mobile linebackers and two strong cornerbacks in Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II. The Ravens have Nate Wiggins at cornerback and … well, Nate Wiggins. What’s really missing is a defensive end with a strong motor like Myles Garrett or Aidan Hutchinson, players who are relentless in pursuit while chasing down runners to the other side of the field. The Ravens have been missing end Nnamdi Madubuike, who has been out for the past two weeks with a neck injury, but please don’t mistake him for Reggie White or Mean Joe Greene, two tackles who could devour offensive linemen and ball carriers at the same time in the middle of the field. Even with Madubuike in the lineup, the Ravens allowed a lot of rushing yards. They gave up 147 in the 27-25 playoff loss to the Bills last January. Besides Detroit, even Cleveland rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries in a 41-17 loss to Baltimore. One of Harbaugh’s strengths is his ability to rally his team after a tough loss. There is probably some doubt around The Castle as well about second-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) But maybe both Orr and Harbaugh need to challenge the players. It isn’t always about schemes, but being more physical. Tackle Travis Jones is playing for a new contract extension but had only one tackle against the Lions. Outside linebackers Tavius Robinson and Odafe Oweh combined for five, but a lot of those were off the line of scrimmage. Where was middle linebacker Roquan Smith? A week ago, he had 15 tackles against the Browns’ weak offensive line. He had seven versus Detroit, but he was a no-show. If you look back at some of the best defenses in NFL history, they all had great middle linebackers like Mike Singletary with the 1985 Chicago Bears or Ray Lewis with the 2000 Ravens. Even though the NFL has become a pass-happy league, the middle linebacker still has to be able to shock and shed. It’s old school, but still appropriate. Smith didn’t do either against Detroit. It’s true that the Ravens don’t have a dominant pass rusher, but stopping the run is a priority because it sets up the play-action and deep passing game. If you don’t believe that, ask Jackson, who was sacked seven times by the Lions while halfback Derrick Henry rushed only 12 times for 50 yards. Jackson and this offense have to be on the field as much as possible. You do that by not allowing 4.9 yards a carry. You do that by not allowing 447 rushing yards in three games and holding the opposition to second- and third-and-long as much as possible. These defensive players talked in the offseason about forcing turnovers and returning this franchise to its glory years when the Ravens had perhaps the best defense ever in 2000. “It’s a combination of us not doing our jobs,” Orr said. “We got to play better, I got to coach better. It wasn’t one particular person, one particular group, it was guys with a mis-step or a slow step in certain areas, on certain plays. “But what has happened has happened. Are we frustrated? Yes, but what are we going to do about it?” It starts with shutting down the run, something this group has failed to do since the end of last season. 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.