Baltimore coach John Harbaugh believes the Ravens must improve their pass defense to win the AFC North for a second straight season and make a strong playoff push.
As they head into their Week 6 game against Washington, the Ravens are allowing 280.2 passing yards per game, placing them 31st out of 32 NFL teams, just ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Last weekend, they allowed Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to throw for 392 yards and five touchdowns. Despite this, the Ravens won 41-38 in overtime, thanks to a great performance from two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. However, Harbaugh noted that the secondary made errors and could have positioned themselves better.
“We had tight coverage where they made the catches,” Harbaugh said. “But I also believe that we compounded the yardage because we didn’t play things as well as we needed to play them.
Probably five or six plays in the passing game from a coverage standpoint that we’re just way better than that.”
On Wednesday, the Ravens announced they hired experienced assistant Dean Pees as a senior adviser on defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s staff.
Next, they will face Washington rookie Jayden Daniels, who has the best completion rate in the league at 77.1%.
So far, the Ravens have given up 1,401 passing yards through their first five games. The cornerbacks and safeties have had difficulty covering some of the league’s best wide receivers and tight ends.
In the season opener, Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice caught seven passes for 103 yards, helping Kansas City win 27-20.
The following week, Raiders receiver Davante Adams dominated the secondary with 110 yards on nine receptions and a touchdown. Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers also caught nine passes for 98 yards, and the Ravens blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, losing 26-23.
In Week 3, Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson took advantage of the middle of the field with six catches for 95 yards. The Ravens narrowly won 28-25 after leading by 22 points in the second half.
Last weekend, Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins took advantage of the Ravens’ coverage throughout the game. Chase had 10 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns, while Higgins had nine catches for 83 yards and two scores.
At times, Baltimore’s cornerbacks and safeties seemed confused in their coverage and struggled to locate the ball on long passes.
The secondary did get a chance for redemption when cornerback Marlon Humphrey intercepted Burrow late in the fourth quarter, leading to a tying field goal by Justin Tucker.
