For most of their franchise history, the Baltimore Ravens have been known for having an elite defense. This year is very different.
Through the first four games of the season, the Ravens have had one of the worst defenses in the NFL, giving up a league-high 133 points. In Sunday’s 37-20 loss in Kansas City, a Chiefs offense that had been struggling this year beat up Baltimore for the most points the Chiefs have scored in any game this season as well as the most yards and first downs the Chiefs have gained in any game this season.
Injuries have been a major challenge for the Ravens’ defense. Four starters were already out before the game started on Sunday, and then linebacker Roquan Smith, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and cornerback Nate Wiggins were all injured during the game. But coach John Harbaugh said afterward that’s no excuse.
“You’ve got to find a way to win anyway,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve never made excuses for those kinds of things, and the guys who are up there are going to play well, and we’ve got to find ways for the guys who are in there to execute.”
Despite it all, the Ravens remain the betting favorites to win the AFC North. They’re still likely going to be playing meaningful football in January. But if they’re going to win in January and, they hope, in February, the Ravens need to get their defense fixed.
The Ravens fell to 1-3 with Sunday’s 37-20 loss to the Chiefs and that’s a rare place for the franchise to find itself.
It’s the third time in their history that they’ve opened a season with that record and they failed to make the playoffs the other two times that it happened. The loss would have been bad enough on its own, but the Ravens also saw five players, including quarterback Lamar Jackson, leave with injuries that further depleted a roster that was already missing several key players.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh acknowledged that the start to the year is cause for concern, but he also tried to put the team’s losses to the Bills, Lions and Chiefs in a broader context when asked about how worried he is.
“I’m concerned, but I’m not overwhelmed by it,” Harbaugh said, via a transcript from the team. “We’ve played — the three losses are against probably three of the top teams in the league, for sure. That’s just the hand we’ve been dealt, but it doesn’t really matter. We have to win the next game. And then once you win the next game, then you have a chance to start stacking some wins. And that’s what we’ve got to do, big picture-wise. But small picture-wise, we have to do a great job of putting together a great gameplan and a great practice and then a great game.”
The Ravens have home games against the Texans and Rams before a bye in Week 7, so they have a chance to do just what Harbaugh said they need to do in order to put things back on track. The injury situation will factor into their chances of doing that, so updates on Monday and throughout the week will be of great interest in Baltimore.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson left Sunday’s 37-20 loss to the Chiefs in the third quarter with a hamstring injury and there is expected to be more clarity about his status on Monday.
A league source tells PFT that Jackson felt a “grab” in his hamstring and the injury was described as a strain. Jackson is set for further evaluation back in Baltimore on Monday.
Head coach John Harbaugh did not have an update about the severity of the injury — or any of the others that Ravens players suffered in the loss — and declined to answer a question about whether Jackson would have remained in the game if it were closer.
The Ravens host the Texans in Week 5 in a matchup of teams that didn’t expect to be 1-3 after winning their respective divisions last year.
The Ravens came into Sunday’s road game against the Chiefs with several key players out due to injury and the hits kept on coming during the 37-20 loss.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson left the game with a hamstring injury in the third quarter and his departure came after left tackle Ronnie Stanley, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, and linebacker Roquan Smith were ruled out. Cornerback Nate Wiggins was later carted off with an elbow injury and head coach John Harbaugh said after the game that full updates on their condition will have to wait.
“I don’t have any updates on the seriousness,” Harbaugh said, via Jeff Darlington of ESPN. “It doesn’t look like it’s season ending by any stretch for any of those guys.”
Jackson left the game with the Ravens down 30-13 in the third quarter, but remained on the bench without medical personnel around him. That led to speculation that the score played a role in the decision to pull him, but Harbaugh did not answer a question about whether the quarterback would have kept playing in a closer game.
The sluggishness of the Chiefs offense was a major talking point over the first three weeks of the season, but the return of wide receiver Xavier Worthy and a visit from the beleaguered Ravens defense gave them some life in Week 4.
Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes and the Chiefs posted a season-high 380 yards of offense in a 37-20 home win. The victory lifts the Chiefs to 2-2 ahead of next week’s Monday night road game against the 3-1 Jaguars.
Mahomes’ second touchdown pass was the 250th of his career. He reached that mark faster than any other quarterback in league history and he’s now 27th in league history with 252 total touchdown passes.
Worthy did not have one of the touchdowns, but he did have five catches for 83 yards and two carries for 38 yards in a welcome return to the lineup.
The Ravens will need some similar returns if they’re going to dig themselves out of the 1-3 hole they’re in after four games. They pulled quarterback Lamar Jackson with a hamstring injury in the third quarter and they also saw cornerback Marlon Humphrey, linebacker Roquan Smith, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, and cornerback Nate Wiggins leave during the game. They were already without linebacker Kyle Van Noy and three defensive linemen — Travis Jones, Nnamdi Madubuike, and Broderick Washington — so things have gotten thin for a Ravens team that has allowed the most points in franchise history to this point in the season.
Jackson remained on the bench after coming out of the game and did not have medical personnel around him on the bench, so the fact that the Chiefs were up three scores may have played a role in the decision to pull Jackson. His status and the status of the other injured players will still be something to keep an eye on as the Ravens head into a Week 5 game against the Texans.
