The Ravens have spent a lot to fix a pass rush problem that just won’t go away, and three weeks into the season, the results still look too familiar.
Nnamdi Madubuike was back Sunday, making his return for the first time in over a year after a neck injury and playing 45 snaps. The Ravens also handed Trey Hendrickson $60M for two years in an effort to patch a long-running issue under general manager Eric DeCosta.
They even drafted Zion Young in the second round. On paper, the pieces are there.
On the field, the pressure still hasn’t matched the investment.
That’s been especially glaring late in games. Baltimore’s fourth-quarter defense has been a mess, and the numbers back it up: the Ravens are 27th in fourth-quarter pressure rate at 26.3% and 24th in fourth-quarter sack rate.
They’ve allowed quarterbacks to pick them apart when it matters most, and that has shown up in two straight games in which 11-point leads vanished. Lamar Jackson rescued them Sunday in a win, but the defense put them in that spot in the first place.
“We are chasing getting everybody onto the same page,” Minter said Monday. “That starts with me, I would say, and just the plan and our processes of how we get to everything, how we operate … I always look at myself first, and it is my job: I was brought here to help put these guys in a position to play really good defense.
“I do think we have the guys to do it. It is early. We are going through a few pains right now that I think will hopefully help us in the long run.”
The early returns, though, have been rough. Baltimore has just six sacks, with only 10 teams owning fewer.
Hendrickson has one sack on 80 pass-rush reps, along with three pressures on 30 fourth-quarter reps. The hand injury may be part of the story, but the Ravens did not pay him to be merely present.
They brought him in to finish plays.
The bigger concern is that the overall pressure numbers still aren’t where they need to be. Baltimore’s 5.4% sack rate is only a slight improvement over last year’s 4.6%, and the 35.6% pressure rate ranks 19th in the league, down from 31.7% last season. That’s not the jump this roster was supposed to make.
Minter has resisted leaning heavily on blitzes, but he has used them more than he did with the Chargers, and the results have been strong. Baltimore is blitzing 25% of the time, and when it sends five or more rushers, the pressure rate jumps to 51.2%, which ranks in the top five in the NFL. The sack rate also more than doubles when the Ravens blitz, climbing to 11.9%.
If Madubuike doesn’t help turn this front around against weaker opponents in the coming weeks, Minter may have to keep leaning into that approach.
DeCosta’s offseason story line had been that the previous staff was holding this roster back. Right now, that argument looks shaky.
Kyle Hamilton put it plainly Sunday night: the problem is the players, and he’s right. DeCosta has been the constant here, and the blame and credit both sit with him.
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Ravens Suddenly Have A Marlon Humphrey Concern They Can't Ignore
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The latest reminder came against the Cowboys in Week 3, when Humphrey was targeted often and gave up six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. For a player who has built his reputation on slowing down opposing passing games, the bigger concern is the trend line: 15 completions allowed, 215 yards surrendered and a passer rating against that has already climbed past his previous career low point. Baltimore does not need this to become a lingering issue, but it is clearly one the Ravens have to keep watching closely. [Read more 🡒]