ExtremeRavens Posted yesterday at 11:30 AM Posted yesterday at 11:30 AM The Ravens have gone from the precipice of the abyss and staring into the void to suddenly being within reach. If the playoffs began today, Baltimore would still be on the outside looking in. So would the three-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. Alas, seven games remain, and a playoff spot as well as a third straight AFC North title now seem possible, the latter being something that would net at least a home wild-card game in January. The goal coming into the year, of course, was a Super Bowl title. But the NFL is about adjustments, and that goes for expectations, too. Starting a season 1-5 doesn’t afford many other options. Baltimore has rattled off four straight wins to get back to .500 and is just a game back of the division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers, providing more than a glint of optimism, though no one’s making reservations for Santa Clara, California, in February yet. “Our heads are just above water,” coach John Harbaugh said Sunday evening in Cleveland following a 23-16 victory. “We’re just above water; we’re breathing. We’re not even out of the water.” So, now what? Here’s a look at what’s been good, what hasn’t, what’s ahead and more with just under two months remaining in the regular season: Defense continues to turn pages Over its first five games, Baltimore allowed a staggering 35.4 points and 408.8 yards per game. Over its most recent five, those numbers have been slashed dramatically to 14.8 and 299.4, respectively. The biggest reasons: Safety Kyle Hamilton being deployed in myriad positions near the line of scrimmage, players returning from injuries and the quality of quarterbacks they have faced. Hamilton’s influence as a position-less do-it-all defender has been well-documented, and his stat line Sunday — six tackles, including three for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a quarterback hit — was just the latest example of his abilities. “He made it really hard on the running backs, just to block him, and then his length, too. [He’s] batting balls down and those kinds of things,” Harbaugh said. “He was just impactful — he always is — but he was super impactful the whole game, pretty much in every way you can be impactful.” It’s worth remembering, too, that the Ravens at one point had to start five rookies on defense — including three undrafted free agents — amid the slide and were also without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson for part of one game and all of the next three because of a hamstring injury. Then there are the quarterbacks they’ve faced. The first six games featured a murderers’ row of reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Josh Allen, former Raven Joe Flacco, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, C.J. Stroud and Matthew Stafford. Over the past four, the drop-off has been considerable, with Caleb Williams, Tua Tagovailoa, J.J. McCarthy and Dillon Gabriel/Shedeur Sanders. Now comes another former Raven, Tyrod Taylor, who will start for the lowly 2-8 New York Jets on Sunday in Baltimore over the benched Justin Fields. Still, you can only beat who you play, and the defense has handled its opponents. Only two teams — the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers — have fewer sacks, and the Ravens’ pressure rate is also near the bottom of the league, but Baltimore has been more aggressive and forced more turnovers of late with 10 over the past five games. If nothing else, that has provided a jolt of confidence to a unit that was playing scared to make a mistake earlier in the season. Red zone struggles One area the Ravens still haven’t figured out is how to be better in the red zone. After scoring touchdowns 74.2% of the time from the opponent’s 20-yard line and in to rank first in 2024, they have been inexplicably abysmal this season, finding pay dirt just 47.2% of the time to rank 28th. Some of that could understandably be attributed to being without Jackson for a few games, but they haven’t been much better since his return, scoring a touchdown on six of 12 red zone trips in three games. Over the past two, they’ve been even worse, converting just three of nine opportunities, which included having to settle for field goals on two first-and-goal opportunities from inside the Browns’ 10-yard line on Sunday. What gives? It could be several things, from predictability to an offensive line that is struggling to move people to perhaps Jackson not being quite as dangerous with his legs as he once was to defenses being able to hone in on Derrick Henry more effectively because of all of the above. Whatever the reasons, it has become a point of emphasis. “Some plays could have been executed better. Some plays, they did a great job of defending,” Harbaugh said of Cleveland. “But bigger picture, that’s an important part of the field for us. We want to score touchdowns down there, and you at least want to protect the three as well.” Injury updates Ravens rookie cornerback Keyon Martin isn’t sure what play he suffered the injury on, but he knew after the adrenaline of Sunday’s victory had faded that there was a problem. Martin, 24, felt a “sharp pain” in his chest, so out of an abundance of caution, he spent the night in a Cleveland hospital for a series of tests and scans while the team flew back to Baltimore. The results came back negative and it turned out to be a deep chest bruise, according to his agent Marcell Owens, who added that the undrafted free agent out of Louisiana is recovering and doing much better. Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, shown intercepting a pass against the Vikings, is expected to return soon from his finger injury. (Abbie Parr/AP) Martin, who has been a regular on special teams, played 18 defensive snaps (32.7%) against the Browns while helping fill the void for injured cornerback Marlon Humphrey, and finished with a pass breakup and his first career sack. How much time Martin misses, if any, remains to be seen, but Humphrey, who had a pin inserted in a dislocated finger on his left hand, should be back this week, Harbaugh said. Other players who could soon be back include outside linebackers Tavius Robinson and Adisa Isaac, as well as safety Ar’Darius Washington. Robinson, who broke his foot in Week 6 against the Los Angeles Rams, and Isaac, who dislocated his elbow in the preseason, have been slated for a mid-to-late November return, though neither has returned to practice yet. Washington, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon in May, worked out on a side field for the first time last week and is on a similar timeline. Having all of them back for the last few games of the regular season would provide a boost of much-needed depth, particularly if they make the playoffs. Taking advantage of the schedule — for now At least part of Baltimore’s turnaround can no doubt be attributed to what has been a softer schedule. The Ravens’ first six opponents — the Buffalo Bills, Browns, Detroit Lions, Chiefs, Houston Texans and Rams — have combined for 33 wins and 27 losses this season. Their past four opponents — the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings and Browns — have just 15 wins and 24 losses between them. Taking advantage of the next four games will also be critical. Ravens coach John Harbaugh speaks during Monday's news conference. Harbaugh's team has benefited from a soft schedule in recent weeks after a challenging stretch to open the season. (Surya Vaidy/Staff) After the Jets, the Ravens play the 3-7 Bengals at home on Thanksgiving, followed by a trip to Pittsburgh 10 days later to face the Steelers. Then they’ll play at Cincinnati, where they could be facing Joe Burrow, who returned to practice last week and opened his 21-day window to return from a turf toe injury that has kept him sidelined since Week 2. It’s possible that Burrow could return for the Thanksgiving night tilt in Baltimore, but it’s more likely he’ll do so the following week against the Bills. Whenever he comes back, things only get tougher for the Ravens after their trip to Cincinnati, with a home game against the 9-2 New England Patriots followed by road games against the Green Bay Packers and the Steelers. Put another way, as hot as they’ve been over the past month, there is little margin for error over the next seven weeks. Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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