“I couldn’t find it. Maybe that was appropriate,” Harbaugh said with a smile. “There you go. I couldn’t find it either.”
Winning for the seventh time in eight weeks allowed Harbaugh to enjoy a brief levity, but the Ravens have a serious problem. Chase repeatedly eluded Ravens defenders to produce 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns to become the latest to tear apart this once-proud secondary. Baltimore’s passing defense ranks last in the NFL, allowing 294.9 yards per game.
Here’s the challenge for quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens: No team has ever won the Super Bowl with the league’s worst pass defense.
The frustration of being the team’s weak link has grown over the last week for the defense. Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey called Jackson’s defense “little brothers” because he’s the one leading the team.
“It’s getting harder to enjoy wins because of what we’re doing in pass defense,” Humphrey said. “You know, I feel like when I was a rookie, freshman guy, sophomore guy, that’s how I admired the standard that was there. In pass defense, we’ve really lost that standard.”
This marks the most passing yards allowed by the Ravens through the first 10 weeks of a season since 2000. It’s unlike a Baltimore defense that had allowed the fourth-fewest passing yards (221.2) since Harbaugh’s first season in 2008 until the 2023 season.
On Thursday night, Baltimore allowed Joe Burrow to throw for 428 yards and four touchdowns even though the Bengals were without their No. 2 wide receiver, Tee Higgins, and their top pass blocker, left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
Chase scored touchdowns of 67 and 70 yards, both of which occurred when All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton was offside. Hamilton is not expected to miss a significant amount of time with a sprained ankle, according to Harbaugh. But giving up big plays has been a problem all season. The Ravens have allowed 47 completions of 20 or more yards, the worst in the NFL.
“We have to be a lot better,” Harbaugh said. “We also have to take pressure off our offense. We have to do that on the defensive end.”
The pressure has been mounting for Jackson and the Baltimore offense to score on every drive. When the Ravens score 25 points or more, they are 7-0. When held under 25 points, Baltimore is 0-3.
The problem for Baltimore is that it is one of the most unbalanced teams in the NFL. Through Thursday night’s game, the Ravens ranked No. 1 in offense (440.2 yards per game) and 27th in defense (367.9). The only other team that ranks in the top 10 in offense and bottom 10 in defense is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Something has to change,” Humphrey said. “We just have to play better. I have to play better; we all have to play better. We have to play as a unit, and we’re just not going to do that. [There’s] There’s really nothing more to say. We have to keep working. We have to bring practice to the game.
“[We had] a great week of practice…what’s missing there from how we practice to how we play in the game? It has become clear that it is something. I think everyone has to look in the mirror and ask themselves: ‘Why don’t you play like you practice something?'”
Despite its struggles in pass defense, Baltimore has allowed the fewest rushing yards per game in the league (73). The biggest change on defense this offseason was Zach Orr replacing Mike Macdonald as defensive coordinator. Macdonald left to become the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, which led to Orr becoming a first-year playcaller.
But last week, Humphrey defended Orr, saying the blame falls on the players. This is essentially the same secondary (Humphrey and Brandon Stephens at cornerback and Hamilton and Marcus Williams at safeties) that finished No. 6 in pass defense last season.
Stephens and Williams have had great difficulty in coverage. This season, teams have averaged 19.8 yards per completion against Williams and 14.4 per completion against Stephens.
“The frustration really comes from a lack of just doing your job,” Humphrey said. “It would be different if we didn’t have the guys. It would be different if we were confused. It’s just simple. We’re just not playing like we’re practicing… We have to get it done.” it was fixed. It’s week 10.”
