ExtremeRavens Posted October 2 Posted October 2 Thursday was Chuck Pagano’s birthday, meaning the Ravens’ senior secondary coach was called on to impart some piece of wisdom during a team meeting. It’s a longstanding tradition under coach John Harbaugh. Pagano used it as an opportunity to address what has been a dismal 1-3 start for a team ravaged by injuries, now facing an impasse. “Hey, we’re not in the position that we want to be in,” Pagano told the team, according to defensive coordinator Zach Orr. “But this is a test. And in life, you’re going to get tested. You’re either going to step up or turn it down.” Such is the message for a Ravens team in dire need of a win Sunday against the Houston Texans. But also for Orr, specifically, who’s fighting to save his job with a defense missing a swath of starters. This week, in particular, feels like a herculean task. Orr used his Thursday news conference to wax about how his defense needs to “take it up a notch.” They’re at the bottom of the league by most metrics, not tackling like Orr expected and failing to force turnovers in the way that he hoped. They “haven’t been playing good football,” he said, and the overwhelming message in the room is that it’s now or never. “I know it sounds good, me saying it up here,” Orr said, “but we got to go do it on Sunday.” That now or never message — more specifically, Orr told his players, “adversity causes some men to break and some to break records” — feels like Herb Brooks in “Miracle,” lighting a fire under overmatched backups. It’s times like this when Orr would lean on Baltimore’s All-Pro game wreckers to patch up the defense. There’s a chance only a few of them — or none — play. Linebacker Roquan Smith (hamstring), cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf) and safety Kyle Hamilton (groin) have all missed practice time, while defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike was shut down for the season because of a neck injury. That’s a lot of firepower missing from a defense that already struggles to keep teams off schedule. According to Sports Info Solutions, opposing teams have a 43% third-down success rate against the Ravens, which is in the sixth percentile of all teams since 2016. Outside linebacker Tavius Robinson, one of the defensive line’s few remaining regulars, said, “I think everything is very correctable.” It’s easy to look at the long road ahead and wonder how this team pulls itself up. They can’t afford to think that way. They’re 1-3. Since 1990, when the league expanded to six playoff teams per conference, 35 teams have made the postseason after a 1-3 start. Only 12 did it after a 1-4 start. “With the injuries,” Hamilton said, the thinking can only be, “‘What’s my job this week based on who’s in [and] who’s out?’ I think if we shift our philosophy a little bit — I’m not saying we are doing it completely wrong — but there can be a better focus on being where your feet are.” If none of those guys can play this weekend, who wears the green dot? Who is called on to communicate at all three levels and ensure the defense is in proper position? Usually it’s Smith. Hamilton has historically been next in line. If not, Orr said that he feels comfortable handing it to someone who has done it before. He said so without including names. Perhaps it will be rookie linebacker Teddye Buchanan, who has yet to play every defensive snap in a game this season but wore it during the preseason, or Trenton Simpson, the third-string linebacker who lost his starting job Week 1. Rookie first-round draft pick Malaki Starks might be not make geographical sense lining up as a deep safety. “Obviously, we got a lot of young guys who are gonna go out there and play football for us,” Orr said. “We work the mess out of the rookies, within the rules, and we tell them it’s for a reason like this. You never know when you might have to be out there.” As the second-year coordinator pointed out, everyone in the building has at one point said, publicly or privately, “I’m that dude.” What they lack in experience, they make up for in confidence. And they’re the ones in charge of slapping a Band-Aid on this season from hell. Orr used to play linebacker in the NFL. He knows what it’s like to face the cameras when things aren’t going well. And put blinders up to the public perception of a team against the ropes. Orr didn’t duck from the problems at hand. “We’ve got to get teams into more third-and-long situations,” he said. “I think we have to hit people harder,” he said. “Let’s start knocking the ball loose.” Most of their issues “start up front in the trenches,” he said. Orr knows that there’s a spotlight on him to get this defense corrected. It will linger until either the Ravens start winning again or if the defense at least climbs back from last in the league, à la the 2024 group after the bye week. Orr’s one-year track record shows that he can start (very) slow and turn things around. This situation is much tougher than last year. Scanning the injury report, it feels nearly impossible heading into a must-win game against a slow-start Texans offense. Harbaugh already gave his vote of confidence in Orr’s ability to right the ship when pressed on the topic earlier this week. But last year, Dean Pees joined the staff in an advisory role. This year, Pagano’s head coaching experience has come in handy as another sounding board amidst adversity. Orr isn’t trying to do this alone. He knows what’s at stake. “I personally do not care how it gets done or which way we do it — I care about the end result,” he said. “And whatever is going to help us go play dominant defense and help our team win games, I’m down for doing it.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com. View the full article Quote
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