OTL: Mr. Fix It – Addressing the Ravens’ Problems

Any sports reporter you talk to will tell you that it’s much, much easier to report on a team when they’re winning. It’s not that there’s any lack of material, because boy, do we have some things to talk about based on how these first two games have gone…

If you attended every regular season and playoff game the Ravens have played since the beginning of 2022, you will have seen the Ravens lose 20% of those games when holding a two-possession lead in the second half.

ONE IN EVERY FIVE. https://t.co/Z0aP0LACI8 pic.twitter.com/M7OQyWU5US

— KMack Sports (@KMackSports) September 15, 2024

…but it sucks to dwell on the negative. Based on a two-game sample size largely being negative, I’m going to touch on the issues that we’ve seen, but I want to go a step at a time and address how the issues across the board are fixable, and what we should hope to see in each facet that could help the Ravens right the ship.

Offense

In terms of on-field execution, there’s probably no more concerning unit at the moment than Baltimore’s O-line.

If this doesn’t inspire o-line changes, what will? pic.twitter.com/P5DcCzIF26

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) September 16, 2024

Coaching staff knew out of the gates they were facing Jones & Crosby.

Their solution was to stay stubborn — for whatever reason — playing Faalele & Mekari. And at times not even giving them help.

And you can point to both losses largely at their feet. #Ravens #RavensFlock https://t.co/he0evGrmtW

— Dev Panchwagh (@devpanchwagh) September 16, 2024

Sunday’s game featured the O-line struggling to get a push for the second week in a row. Daniel Faalele looked pretty lost playing against Maxx Crosby, who picked on the young guard pretty much all day, and Pat Mekari continued to look uncomfortable in passing sets.

Through two weeks, RT Patrick Mekari has allowed the most pressures and hurries on the team, totaling 11 combined. pic.twitter.com/ikh9G9zjXb

— Ravens Nation ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) September 16, 2024

Derrick Henry was able to pick up some momentum later in the game, but he was stonewalled for a good portion of the early going. It wasn’t until later in the game when Henry began working toward the outside of the field that he began to hit a rhythm and have some success. Traditionally, the boundary lines are where Henry has been at his most dangerous throughout his career, and while I understand the temptation to run him up the gut at his size, the O-line play at the moment is just not conducive to it. So, what can be done to fix it?

If Todd Monken handed me the dry erase marker for the week, I’m leaning heavily into the idea of trap plays along the O-line. If blockers are already struggling to keep the pressure off, shift your protection to your strong side (please, to the LEFT, Todd) and run Henry toward the perimeter. Otherwise, the short connections for 5 to 10 yards on quick strikes can work if they engage the tight ends effectively, but I’m begging to see Rashod Bateman in that position. He’s been so viable as a shallow option, but he can’t develop any timing if he’s always running the deep route.

Defense

After Week 2 (with MNF still pending), the Ravens have the NFL’s best run defense and worst pass defense.

49.5 rushing yards per game allowed (1st), 2.7 YPC (1st)
257 passing YPG allowed (32nd), 8.6 yards per attempt (30th)

Not what anyone expected.

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) September 16, 2024

John Harbaugh said the secondary overall is “on track” but not consistent enough.

Ravens have allowed 75.8% of passes to be completed through the first two games.

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) September 16, 2024

Can’t say that we’ll need to call in Scoob and the Gang to figure out how to solve this mystery.

It’s great that the defense has been able to stand tall against the run in some big situations, but that number could be skewed based on how much room opposing teams are finding in the passing game. Davante Adams and Brock Bowers could do no wrong on Sunday, especially as the game continued, and in large part, I blame the defensive play-calling at the end of the game.

Since the start of last season, here’s the Ravens’ quarter-by-quarter point margin, per @TruMediaSports.

1st: +62
2nd: +80
3rd: +52
4th: -4

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) September 16, 2024

We’ll touch more on coaching in a minute, but this has to come down to better effort to play tighter coverage. The zone looks simply are not working when they leave a single member of the coverage in space against Davante Adams or Rashee Rice. When Nate Wiggins returns, hopefully it will help take some of the pressure off of Marlon Humphrey playing on the outside, but this secondary is too talented to be getting beaten up like this.

As the game progresses, the same predictable four-man rushes are falling flat in de-facto Prevent defense. Pressure needs to be maintained, especially when you see EDGEs like Oweh and Van Noy having games like they just had. I want to see this defense continue to slam on the gas pedal and send creative pressures when they need to, even if it means mixing in CB or safety blitzes. I know they have those play calls in their bag of tricks, but they need to start featuring them.

Special Teams

Stout not getting enough blame for my liking too. Buddy had a 24 yard punt

— Brian (@Bmore_Sports8) September 15, 2024

Don’t see Justin Tucker’s head hanging down often. He’s struggled from 50+ yards outs lately, and missed wide left from 56 on the latest attempt. pic.twitter.com/k8NVrIt5YW

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) September 15, 2024

I wish I was a little bit better versed in Special Teams ball to bring you a better breakdown of how to fix this unit. The best I can do, which isn’t super helpful, is to stop making Justin Tucker kick the ball from beyond 50 yards. Those are obviously not gimme kicks, even though Tucker has made them seem that way for so long, and he’s struggled with kicks at that range. Obviously, that doesn’t mean give up on the opportunity and punt instead, but clearly, if your kicker is out of rhythm from long-range, the team needs to do a better job of setting up opportunities, even if it means not going for paydirt on third and long and just taking what you can get.

As far as Stout goes, he’s done an ok job so far this year, but I just wish we hadn’t seen him as often as we have to begin the year. Perhaps this unit could have used the help of former Special Teams coach Jerry Rosburg after all, who they chose not to bring back in the offseason. I’m not panicking on this unit yet, but I will say that I’m concerned about them for the first time in about a decade.

Coaching

Here’s the big one.

John Harbaugh’s failed challenges are a HUGE reason why the Ravens lost in Week 2

They needed an extra timeout and didn’t have it

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) September 15, 2024

John Harbaugh made his thoughts on Ben Cleveland *very* clear:

“If Ben had earned the job at right guard, he would be the starting right guard. You look at the tape, and he didn’t beat out Daniel [Faalele] or anybody.

“I think Ben is a good player. I like Ben. I want Ben to… pic.twitter.com/uGykwSBnaY

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) September 16, 2024

Most losses with a 7+ point lead in 4th Quarter over last 4 seasons

Ravens 10
Bears 6
Colts 5
Seahawks 5
Titans 5 pic.twitter.com/6XdSeSqkgw

— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) September 15, 2024

At some point, you have to swallow your pride and recognize when things aren’t working. If your team has repeatedly run into the same issues over and over again, adjustment is necessary. In the short-term, this idea of experimenting with Daniel Faalele at guard over Ben Cleveland has to end. Harbaugh cited not being impressed by Cleveland in the preseason, but at this point, his gameday performances would have to be abysmal to not justify putting him in. You have a two-time MVP in the backfield who is under siege, with this team’s performance resting largely on his shoulders. There’s absolutely no reason that he should continue to take pressure off that side and not be able to get any kind of push up front.

In the long-term, there has to come a point when you admit that everything about how this team is coached in the fourth quarter needs to change. I touched on it up top, but the approach to the defensive scheme is obviously not working when you play not to lose instead of playing to win. Is aggressiveness going to bite you sometimes? Sure. Is it going to be any worse than getting carved up constantly and surrendering double-digit leads over and over again? I doubt it. More than that, though, it’s about embracing the identity of this team. The Ravens have had one of the top run games in the NFL for years now, and the blocking may be hampering the up-the-gut option, but there’s absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t be able to wear an opponent down and kill the clock the way the Ravens of old used to with the likes of Justin Forsett or Ray Rice. Those run games used to suffocate opponents by pounding the ball on 7 or 8-minute scoring drives, and it wasn’t about the points you came away with; it was about the time off the clock.

The coaching staff outsmarting themselves was exactly why they lost the AFC Championship. It’s time to stop trying to be something they’re not and embrace their strengths. If it’s working, ride it until the wheels fall off, because trying the same thing over and over again is worse than insanity at this point: it’s cutting off your nose to spite your face.

The post OTL: Mr. Fix It – Addressing the Ravens’ Problems appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/09/17/out-to-lunch/mr-fix-it-ravens/