[Baltimore Sun] Mike Preston: Ravens’ poor secondary could derail Super Bowl dreams | COMMENTARY
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CLEVELAND — The Ravens brought Dean Pees back as an adviser to help young defensive coordinator Zach Orr.
Here’s a suggestion: At this point, coach John Harbaugh should invite some of the previous defensive coordinators to return, such as Greg Mattison, Rex Ryan, Don “Wink” Martindale and Chuck Pagano.
Shoot, fly in former Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis if he can get out of his contract with Las Vegas as the Raiders’ assistant head coach. These are desperate times for Baltimore.
The Ravens got beat, 29-24, Sunday by Cleveland and were lit up by quarterback Jameis Winston, who completed 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards with three touchdowns and finished with a passer rating of 115.3.
Yes, that Winston.
The last time Winston was a full-time starter, he threw for 5,109 yards with 33 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions for Tampa Bay in 2019. Worse yet, he was filling in for the injured Deshaun Watson, who ruptured his Achilles tendon last week, so Winston was making his first start of the season.
There has been a cloud hovering over Cleveland this week after fans booed Watson while he laid on the field injured, and there were recent reports about fans being angry with the threat of team owners possibly moving the team from downtown Huntington Bank Field to a new domed arena in the suburbs.
So, either the Ravens were going to get a reborn Browns team or one in a pitiful mental state. They got Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft by Tampa Bay who spent four seasons in New Orleans before coming to the Browns at the start of this season, and they shouldn’t lose to him.
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He can still play, but let’s not get carried away. The 30-year-old journeyman is on the tail end of a 10-year career, but he carved the Ravens into near submission. This was embarrassing. Where do I begin? I’m not worried about that, as it’s the ending that is more of a concern.
“It’s frustrating for sure,” Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike said. “We’re the Ravens. We pride ourselves on defense, and obviously, everybody is referring to how great we were last year and just comparing it to this year, it’s just not the same … But hey, we’re just going to go back to practice [and] just fix those little things. That’s where it starts, and that’s where it can transfer to the game [from] so we can win these games.
“This is a game we should have won, and we didn’t, so it’s very frustrating. And I know a lot of guys feel the same way I feel. But, we have an opponent coming into our house [next week], and that’s the next thing we’re going to focus on.”
The Ravens simply can’t cover in the secondary. They aren’t even close. It’s not a physical problem, because the Ravens aren’t just getting beat in one-on-one situations. They aren’t even in the vicinity, especially in the middle of the field. Receiver Elijah Moore had eight catches for 85 yards while fellow wideout Cedric Tillman finished with seven receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Jerry Jeudy and tight end David Njoku combined for 10 catches for 140 yards and a score.
This was just plain ugly.
The Ravens’ secondary dropped multiple would-be interceptions in their 29-24 loss to the Browns. (Jason Miller/Getty)
The worst part was Tillman’s 38-yard touchdown pass over the middle from Winston with 59 seconds remaining to win the game as he ran by safety Eddie Jackson. The Ravens blitzed to no avail.
Nearly three years ago, Harbaugh didn’t offer Martindale a contract because he said the Ravens were too predictable as far as blitzing and leaving the team vulnerable in “zero coverage.”
There were no excuses Sunday, because the Ravens have too many holes. Cornerback Brandon Stephens can’t cover one-on-one and can’t find the ball — a reason more teams are starting to pick on him. The only real press corner the Ravens have is rookie Nate Wiggins, and he missed Sunday’s game because of a shoulder injury and illness.
The rest of this crew are just fill-ins, but they still should only be a step or two behind receivers, not lightyears.
They can’t catch either. Safety Eddie Jackson had three passes in his hands Sunday and couldn’t make an interception. Winston overthrew Moore with 1:08 remaining, which should have sealed the win for the Ravens if safety Kyle Hamilton had held onto the ball. But Hamilton bobbled the ball, and it fell to the turf. The next play, Tillman scored.
“[I] just have to come down with it. [I] just have to continue to work on it [and] see the ball through,” Jackson said. “It’s like a funk right now. Like I said, there’s no big theory behind it, [I] just have to catch the ball. It sounds crazy, but I just have to come up with them.”
Ravens defensive back Eddie Jackson struggled against the Browns, losing track of receivers and dropping potential interceptions. (Sue Ogrocki/AP)
I’ve tried to be quiet for the last couple of weeks watching Orr and this secondary. In fact, I’ve advised patience. But now, bring all the former coordinators back. Heck, throw a party and have a reunion.
But let’s not focus just on the secondary. Winston sat in the pocket and delivered quick, short passes both on the inside and the outside. The Ravens had virtually no pass rush and Winston was sacked only twice. He was hurried just seven times. The Ravens got little pressure from inside, especially Madubuike, and even less from outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, who combined for five tackles but zero sacks.
“We weren’t able to do that in this game,” Harbaugh said of the lack of pass rush. “We’ll definitely break it all down. We’ll break every aspect of it down. When we sit there and watch the film, everybody will look at everything that they can do better and everything we did, and we’ll try to continue to keep improving. I mean, there’s a lot of football left to be played. You’re not going to win every game.”
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Middle linebacker Roquan Smith finished with eight tackles, but hasn’t made an impactful play since the season opener against Kansas City. It’s great the Ravens have this wonderful and top-ranked offense, but on Sunday there was a glimpse of what might happen if quarterback Lamar Jackson doesn’t bring his A-game.
“It was a tough situation coming in here,” Harbaugh said. “I think our guys handled all of that pretty well — we operated pretty well. We didn’t do enough; we didn’t make the plays; we didn’t make the calls that we need to make to win the game, and that’s really what it boils down to.”
The Ravens had no running game, even with Derrick Henry, who had 11 carries for 73 yards. His long run of 39 yards came in the first half. Without the play-action passing game and run-pass options, the Ravens struggle being effective. Jackson tried to bring the Ravens back with late-game heroics, but that wasn’t enough.
Not even he could overcome the Ravens’ problems in the secondary. Right now, it’s the difference between being a possible Super Bowl contender to one that needs its quarterback to put on a Superman cape every week.
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.
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