Are the Ravens getting enough production from their pass rush?
OWINGS MILLS — The Ravens’ pass rush could use a boost to take the pressure off the beleaguered secondary.
Although the Ravens are tied with the Minnesota Vikings for fourth in the NFL with 24 sacks, the stats can be deceiving. The Ravens have given opposing quarterbacks too much time to throw the ball and it has been costly.
The Cleveland Browns were determined to beat the Ravens through the air in their Week 8 matchup. Entering the game, the Ravens had the worst passing defense in the league and that trend continued.
Cleveland quarterback Jameis Winston, who was making his first start since 2022, took advantage of a porous Ravens secondary and completed 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards with three touchdowns. He also completed a 38-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman with 59 seconds remaining to emerge with a 29-24 victory.
Winston had too much time to throw the ball because the Ravens had an 18.6 percent pressure rate against him, which is among the lowest in the league for Week 8.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the team needs to play better in all facets of the game, including the pass rush.
“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,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, there’s a lot of football left to be played. You’re not going to win every game. It was a tough situation coming in here. 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.”
Kyle Van Noy leads the Ravens with seven sacks, but teams are now focused on containing him. Odafe Oweh is second with 4 1/2 sacks, but he disappears at times and has trouble taking the quarterback down.
Nnamdi Madubuike had a breakout season with 13 sacks last year, but that production has dropped off. Madubuike has just two sacks this year but has three roughing-the-passer penalties and was flagged for a facemask infraction against the Raiders in Week 2.
“It’s frustrating for sure. We’re the Ravens,” Madubuike said. “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.”
The Ravens were expected to get a lift from a healthy David Ojabo, but he was a healthy scratch against the Browns. Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue got his first sack of the season after being signed as a free agent last month.
With the trade deadline on November 5th, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta could look to add another pass rusher. The Ravens could use the help.