Sunday Night Spotlight: Ravens’ Red Zone Woes Meet a Banged-Up Patriots Defense in Crucial AFC Clash
Sunday Night Football is serving up a fascinating matchup between two teams that, on paper, are struggling in the same place - the red zone - but for very different reasons. The New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens are each limping into Week 16 with playoff implications on the line, and the outcome may hinge on who can finally flip the script inside the 20.
Let’s start with the numbers that jump off the page: Baltimore ranks 31st in red zone offense. New England?
Dead last in red zone defense. Something’s got to give.
Patriots’ Defense Facing a War of Attrition
If the Patriots are going to keep Lamar Jackson and the Ravens from breaking out of their red zone funk, they’ll have to do it without some of their most important defensive pieces. The injury report heading into Sunday night reads like a laundry list of key contributors either missing or playing through pain.
Cornerbacks Carlton Davis III (hip) and Marcus Jones (knee), edge rusher Harold Landry (knee), and interior disruptor Christian Barmore (knee) are all listed as questionable. Linebacker Robert Spillane, the team’s leading tackler with 97 on the year, is officially out with an ankle injury. And defensive tackle Milton Williams remains on injured reserve, still recovering from the ankle injury he suffered in Week 11.
Williams’ absence has been especially damaging. Through the first 11 weeks of the season, New England’s run defense was the best in the league.
Since he went down? They’ve dropped to 23rd.
That’s a steep fall at a bad time, especially with Baltimore bringing the league’s third-best rushing attack into this matchup.
It’s not just the run defense that’s taken a hit. In the three games without Williams, the Patriots have allowed touchdowns on a staggering 85.71% of opponents’ red zone trips - the second-worst mark in the NFL over that span. Add in Spillane’s absence, and the cracks in this defense are widening.
Last week’s collapse against Buffalo was a case study in how thin this unit is without its core. The Patriots gave up an 83% red zone touchdown rate to the Bills and couldn’t get off the field on third down - a category they’ve otherwise excelled in all season. Without Spillane, the middle of the field was wide open, and Buffalo took full advantage.
Lamar and the Ravens: Searching for Red Zone Rhythm
Baltimore’s red zone struggles aren’t about injuries - they’re about execution. Lamar Jackson, who lit up the league with 41 touchdown passes last season, hasn’t looked the same since coming back from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for three games earlier this year. The explosiveness, the timing - it’s all been just a tick off.
And when that timing’s off in the red zone, drives stall. Over the last three games, the Ravens have scored touchdowns on just 33% of their red zone trips, the third-worst mark in the league. That’s a brutal stat for a team trying to claw its way into the postseason.
But there’s still a pulse in Baltimore. After a 1-5 start, the Ravens have quietly worked their way back into the playoff conversation. Their 24-0 shutout of the Bengals last week was a statement win, and now they sit just one game behind the Steelers in the AFC North.
This game is a chance for Jackson and the Ravens to seize momentum and prove they can finish drives when it matters most. And they couldn’t ask for a better opportunity than facing the NFL’s worst red zone defense - one that’s missing key personnel and reeling from recent performances.
The Matchup to Watch
This isn’t just a battle of two struggling red zone units - it’s a test of resilience. Can the Patriots’ patchwork defense hold up under the pressure of a Ravens team desperate to convert red zone trips into points? Can Lamar Jackson find his rhythm and reestablish himself as the dynamic threat he was a year ago?
If New England wants to play spoiler, they’ll need someone to step up in Spillane’s absence, clog the middle, and force Baltimore into field goals instead of touchdowns. If Baltimore wants to keep their playoff hopes alive, they’ll need to do what they haven’t done consistently all year - finish.
Sunday night’s game might not feature two juggernauts, but it’s got all the makings of a gritty, high-stakes chess match. And in the red zone, where every inch matters, the margin for error will be razor-thin.