John Harbaugh says the Ravens need to improve their pass defense to reach their goals this season

Updated Oct. 9, 2024 6:11 p.m. ET

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OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Baltimore coach John Harbaugh thinks the Ravens need to do a better job with their pass defense to win the AFC North for a second consecutive season and make a meaningful playoff run.

Entering their Week 6 game against Washington, the Ravens have allowed 280.2 yards passing per game, ranked 31st among 32 NFL teams, ahead of only the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Last weekend, Baltimore allowed Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to throw for 392 yards with five touchdowns. The Ravens still managed to win 41-38 in overtime, thanks to a stellar performance by two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, but Harbaugh said the secondary made mistakes and could have been better positioned.

“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."

The Ravens announced Wednesday that they had hired veteran assistant Dean Pees as a senior adviser on defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s staff.

Next up is Washington rookie Jayden Daniels, who has completed a league-best 77.1% of his passes.

The Ravens have allowed 1,401 yards passing through their first five games. The cornerbacks and safeties have struggled to contain some of the league’s top wideouts and tight ends.

In the season opener, Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice caught seven passes for 103 yards, leading Kansas City to a 27-20 victory.

The following week, Raiders receiver Davante Adams ran loose in the secondary and finished with 110 yards on nine receptions with a touchdown. Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers also caught nine passes for 98 yards, and the Ravens squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a 26-23 loss.

Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson exploited the middle of the field and finished with six catches for 95 yards in Week 3. The Ravens escaped with a 28-25 victory after leading by 22 points in the second half.

Last weekend, Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins exploited the Ravens' coverage throughout the game. Chase had 10 catches for 193 yards with two touchdowns. Higgins had nine catches for 83 yards with two scores.

Baltimore's cornerbacks and safeties sometimes looked confused in coverage and had trouble finding the ball on long passing plays. The secondary got redemption when cornerback Marlon Humphrey intercepted Burrow late in the fourth quarter, setting up a tying field goal by Justin Tucker.

“Most of our problems is not structural, it's fundamental stuff,” All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton said. “We have to tackle. We have to get off blocks. We have to communicate. We've been saying this for five weeks now, so it's time to start actually doing it and not coming up here and just saying it.”

Baltimore's rush defense is ranked No. 1 in the NFL, allowing 60.4 yards a game. As a result, opposing teams have been forced to throw the ball. This has put extra pressure on the secondary.

Opponents have thrown 187 passes and ran the ball 99 times.

“Everything is part of it: the type of games we've been in, the type of quarterbacks we've played against, the passing games the receivers that we faced — all of that type of stuff,” Harbaugh said. “We just have to focus on us. It's not so much why. It's just what. Playing things really, really consistently — that's our goal.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

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