The Baltimore Ravens have put together a 6-3 record through 10 weeks of the 2021 season despite a brutal amount of injuries. They currently lead the AFC North, and will look to continue playing to their strengths over the remainder of the year.
However, like every team, Baltimore has a few weaknesses that they need to shore up in order to play the best football possible. Brett Sobleski of Bleacher Report identified each NFL team’s biggest weakness, and for the Ravens he chose their passing defense. When explaining his decision, Sobleski mentioned multiple games where Baltimore’s pass defense surrendered far too many yards.
“Baltimore surrendered more than 400 passing yards to Las Vegas and Cincinnati, plus 290 passing yards to a Miami team that has failed to reach 200 five different times this season. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa entered partway through the third quarter and went 8-of-13 for 158 yards.”
Sobleski also mentions the loss of a star cornerback that has potentially contributed to the secondary’s struggles.
“The Ravens cannot expect to rely on late-game heroics and win consistently. That’s going to be a problem, though, against teams that can move the ball through the air. The Ravens lost star cornerback Marcus Peters to a torn ACL before the season and rank 29th in yards per attempt allowed and last in passing yards per game surrendered.”
The Ravens rank in the bottom five of the league in passing yards given up (2,550) and net yards per attempt given up (7.3). Despite having talent such as Marlon Humphrey, Anthony Averett, Chuck Clark and more, the passing defense just hasn’t been able to put it together. Injuries to Peters and DeShon Elliott have had massive impacts, but the team will have to improve in that area if they want to make a deep playoff run.