OTL: No Chip Blocks, No Double-Teams…and Still No Pressure

Another week of practices in the books, and it looks more and more likely that the Ravens will be 1-5 after they will probably take a loss to the Rams on Sunday.

Though one big reason is that we still won’t have Lamar Jackson, even with him, at this point, I just can’t see any path to a win.

That doesn’t mean there wasn’t good news on the injury front, as two players returned to practice:

https://twitter.com/jeffzrebiec/status/1976342188687753582

Getting Marlo and Ricard back is going to really help the Ravens. I don’t believe Marlo has been fully healthy all season, which led to his poor start. Getting Ricard back is also going to be huge for what Todd Monken can do, though I do think some fans overrate how much difference the fullback will actually make. The horrible guard play will improve just because Ricard is out there.

However, it seems like Monken’s play calling is missing something this year, and on certain plays, we’ve felt Ricard’s absence.

I wouldn’t expect Ricard or Humphrey back this week, but getting them back after the bye will tell us a lot of what we need to know about this team. Is it a schematic issue, or can everything be explained away by injuries?

Getting off the injury report, this week has seen some turnover with the Ravens as they flipped Odafe Oweh to the Chargers. Trading him really highlights just how bad the pass rush is this year. They have not been good, and Zach Orr has got to figure this out, for the sake of his Job.

https://twitter.com/jeffzrebiec/status/1976366957642576194

Orr has got to be more aggressive scheming pressure. Find new ways to use certain players now that Oweh is gone. Make Trenton Simpson more of an Edge rusher and start Jay Higgins over him at ILB, and blitz more with the safeties you have now. For the love of all that is good in this world, just please figure this out, Zach. While Nnamdi Madubuike‘s absence is huge, it doesn’t excuse things like this:

Per NFL Pro- The Ravens edge rushers have faced a chip block on just 5.4% of their combined pass rushes this season, the lowest rate in the NFL by far. No other defense has had their edge rushers chip blocked at a sub-10% rate.

— Tim Barbalace (@TimBarbalace) October 9, 2025

Odafe Oweh, Tavius Robinson and Mike Green are getting doubled teamed less than 20% of the time and not winning.

Simply hasn’t been good enough. With a lack of interior push they need to win inside more to get QB’s off their spot if they’re going to play soft mofo zone. Disrupt… https://t.co/LEPPmta9Pu

— Spencer Schultz (@ravens4dummies) October 9, 2025

No chip blocks, no double teams…and still no pressure on quarterbacks. Just completely ridiculous and unacceptable.

You can cut it any way you want, but the truth is, this is how offensive coordinators see the Ravens defense under Zach Orr: barbecue chicken. They see easy completions over the middle with his soft zone coverages and Pee Wee pass rush, so that any quarterback can sit back and make a sandwich while dicing them up.

Honestly, if this doesn’t get fixed this week, Orr might be out of a job. I know Jeff Zrebiec said on his weekly podcast, which he does with fellow RSR writer Cole Jackson, that he didn’t get the sense that Orr was going to be fired, but something has to happen if this can’t improve this week.

So, please, Zach Orr, try something different to get pressure.

Whatever this team is doing isn’t working, and it might cost Orr his job if he can’t get this right on Sunday.

The post OTL: No Chip Blocks, No Double-Teams…and Still No Pressure appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/10/10/out-to-lunch/ravens-pass-rush-2/