John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens is in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
It’s actually an issue that dates back to Week 4 of the 2019 season. In a 40-25 home loss to the rival Cleveland Browns more than a year ago, the Baltimore Ravens defense not only allowed 530 yards of total offense, 193 of that came on the ground as running back Nick Chubb gouged Don Martindale’s unit for 165 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
There were also instances a season ago when John Harbaugh’s team struggled against the run. And it really came to the forefront in the AFC Divisional Playoff when Tennessee Titans’ workhorse Derrick Henry had his way with the team with the best record in the league a season ago. He ran over the Ravens in Baltimore for 195 yards in a convincing 28-12 victory.
This season, the club that finished with an NFL-best 14-2 mark a season ago has already lost more than twice as many games as they did all of last season. And the Ravens have now tumbled to third place in the AFC North behind the 11-1 Pittsburgh Steelers and the red-hot 9-3 Cleveland Browns.
And because Baltimore was swept by the Steelers this season, the club has already been eliminated from winning another division title. Harbaugh’s club takes a three-game losing streak into its Tuesday night clash with the Dallas Cowboys.
While it would be easy to point the figure at quarterback Lamar Jackson and his up-and-down year, it’s Martindale’s defense that hasn’t necessarily answered the bell this year. It’s really shown up as of late and once again, stopping the run has been a bit of an issue this year.
The Baltimore Ravens defense is a lesser unit than it was in 2019.
Last season, only four clubs in the league allowed fewer rushing yards per game than the Ravens (93.4 average). That number is up to 111.6 yards per outing during the team’s 6-5 start.
Five times this season, Baltimore defenders have allowed over 130 yards per game rushing and in the recent losses to the Titans and Patriots, Martindale’s group gave up exactly 173 yards on the ground in each setback.
Via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the team expects to have starting defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams for the Tuesday night tilt vs. the Cowboys. The former has missed the last three games and Williams was not around for the losses to the Titans and last week’s loss at Pittsburgh. Both have missed three contests this year for various reasons. And both will need to come up big against Dallas’ ground attack.
The Baltimore Ravens appear to be a team headed in the wrong direction. And the defense has to take its share of the blame for a disappointing season to date.