The Ravens’ defense spent too much of Sunday stuck on the field, and the damage showed up exactly where it hurts most: third down and fourth down.
Baltimore failed to get off the field on nine such snaps, a number that sat at the center of another collapse for a team now working under new management across the coaching staff. That was especially hard to swallow given the investment on defense, the familiarity on that side of the ball, and the presence of Jesse Minter as an established play caller. Against the Saints, it simply wasn’t enough.
New Orleans made Baltimore pay in a game that should have tilted the other way. The Ravens jumped ahead 14-3, the Saints lost left tackle midway through the contest, and they had no real pretense of leaning on the run.
Baltimore was a 10-point favorite. Still, the Saints kept finding answers in the passing game, including on downs that were supposed to end possessions.
Of the 15 third downs New Orleans faced, eight needed five yards or more. Even so, the Saints converted third-and-13 twice, along with a third-and-8 and a third-and-7. Those plays helped New Orleans own the ball for more than 12 minutes in the fourth quarter and finish off a 16-play touchdown drive.
Overall, the Saints went 9 of 16 on third down or fourth down.
That kind of breakdown is exactly what Baltimore has to clean up before heading into a very different test against the Cowboys in Brazil on Sunday. The field conditions there add another layer of difficulty, and Dallas brings a much more explosive passing game than the Saints did. Last week, it was obvious the ball was going to Chris Olave in every clutch moment, and Baltimore never found a way to stop it.
Dallas presents a different kind of problem. The Cowboys have two of the top three most productive receivers on balls traveling 20 yards or more in the air since 2020 - CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens - and they also have a legitimate move tight end who can stress a defense all over the field.
The Cowboys also gave Minter’s defense problems with the Chargers last season. And Baltimore’s new safety pairing has already been tested by challenges that were far less dangerous on paper.
Kyle Hamilton didn’t sugarcoat what went wrong.
“There are obviously some plays that you want back,” Hamilton said, “and I think probably third down. That is the most disheartening, I would say. I think we pretty much dominated on first and second down for most of the game and got into what we wanted to on third down, but it just goes back to fundamentals, tackling, communicating, and those things show up every single week.
“So, you can't let off the gas in one area and expect it to just kind of flip a switch during a game. So, that is something that coaches have harped on since the game ended and that we will emphasize throughout the week in practice, but I would say third down, getting off the field, is huge just mentally, physically.
“You extend drives, and they are rotating people in and out, so they have fresh bodies, but you have to earn the right to rush the passer on third down, which I think we did, but we just did not execute."
Dallas figures to stress Baltimore in a different way than its first two opponents. The Cowboys are built to strike fast, not grind out long possessions, and they may be more inclined to go for it on fourth down.
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