Kyle Hamilton isn’t pretending the Ravens are owed a turnover-filled rebound just because Jesse Minter is now running the defense.
Baltimore has spent the last two seasons searching for the kind of momentum-swinging plays that once defined this unit, and Minter arrives with a reputation for exactly that. His Chargers defenses were especially good at interceptions, and the setup in Baltimore looks familiar enough to spark easy comparisons to what former coordinator Mike Macdonald built here before leaving. Hamilton called the two schemes “like cousins of sorts” on Tuesday, and the resemblance is obvious enough to invite bigger expectations.
But Hamilton’s message was clear: similarity doesn’t guarantee results.
“Takeaways are very flow of the game,” Hamilton explained. “You can’t really manufacture takeaways.
I think it’s got to be a mindset, and we’ve been emphasizing that a lot. I think in the past we played a lot of man (coverage) - not that it’s hard to get takeaways in man - but you don’t really have your eyes on the QB as much, if that makes sense.
“Mixing in some man with some zone and just allowing the DBs and LBs and everybody to be more aggressive to that sense and getting your hands on the ball … It’s something we’ve talked about a lot.”
That’s the part Baltimore is banking on. Minter’s defenses with the Chargers didn’t stand out for forcing fumbles, though the staff has continued hammering home the idea of punching the ball out whenever the chance is there.
It was enough to help undrafted linebacker Ethan Burke make the team. More importantly, Minter’s group was among the league’s best at interceptions per passing attempt, and that came from the way he mixed coverages, disguised looks and put defensive backs in position to see the play unfold.
That’s a major shift from what the Ravens had under Zach Orr, when a lack of pass rush forced more blitzing, more man coverage and more defensive backs left on islands. Orr had to survive with little safety help over the top. Minter, by contrast, makes that safety help a priority.
The contrast shows up in the numbers. Cover-0 went from 6.8% to 4.7%, Cover-1 from 23.8% to 8.2%, and man coverage from 30.3% to 14.4%.
Baltimore is also asking a lot from its pass rush, and a healthy Nnamdi Madubuike at defensive tackle would be a big part of making Minter’s pressure plan work without needing to send extra bodies all the time. Even then, there are questions. The Colts gave Minter’s base defense plenty of trouble in a game last year, which raises the possibility of seeing more man coverage Sunday and maybe even more of Hamilton as a blitz weapon than usual.
Still, Hamilton knows the buzz around a defense can get ahead of reality fast. He’s seen the preseason optimism before. The Ravens entered the last two years with Super Bowl expectations, and each time the defense helped drag them into losses they shouldn’t have had.
“It goes to show how much that stuff really doesn’t matter,” Hamilton said. “At the end of the day we can have everybody picking us to win it all, and then not do it … Multiple times in multiple years, we heard all the talk about ‘the Ravens are this,’ and ‘the Ravens are that,’ and it doesn’t really matter.”
What does matter now is the start. Baltimore has to avoid the kind of early-season stumble that has haunted John Harbaugh’s teams, beginning Sunday. Hamilton said, “I think the focus is to come out of the gates hot, and stay hot,” and with more change on offense than defense, takeaways could be especially valuable in helping set up good field position.
The Ravens have the ingredients to look different. Minter’s presence should help.
The roster around him is better than what Orr had to work with, health permitting. But Hamilton isn’t handing out credit before the games are played.
“There’s a balance of righting our wrongs,” Hamilton said, “and kind of just flushing it and it’s a whole new start … There’s a standard to be upheld, and we haven’t done a great job of holding the standard for whatever reasons … But now we really don’t have an excuse to go out there and put that stuff on tape. It’s a process and something I think we’ll get better at through the year.”
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