For the second straight season, the Ravens are doing things the hard way defensively.
Monday night's loss to the Detroit Lions left Baltimore ranked last in the NFL in total defense, and giving up 224 yards rushing to Detroit felt like a punch in the mouth.
In 2024, the Ravens got off the canvas. They regrouped defensively and finished 12-5 to win the AFC North for the second straight season after major struggles in September and October.
How will the defense respond in 2025, starting with Sunday's pivotal game against the Kansas City Chiefs? All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton fully expects the Ravens to become the defensive team they expected to be, despite being unsure why they've faltered early again.
"I feel like we've given ourselves the hardest path these past couple years, but we ended up in a good spot last year," Hamilton said. "I feel like if we get it corrected even sooner this year, we'll be in a better spot."
There's plenty of room for improvement. The Ravens rank 31st against the pass, 31st in points allowed, and 30th against the run. Only two teams have fewer sacks than Baltimore (three), and six teams have fewer takeaways (two).
Coaches and players have a myriad of issues to address. Kyle Van Noy, who led the Ravens in sacks last season, did not play against the Lions, and his availability for Week 4 is uncertain. The Ravens' top defensive tackle, Nnamdi Madubuike, will miss his second straight game (neck), meaning others must pick up the slack. Fellow starting defensive tackles Travis Jones (knee) and Broderick Washington Jr. (ankle) are banged up.
Whether they call more run blitzes or load up the box, the Ravens can't afford to get gashed on the ground like they were against Detroit.
"We've got to play better. We've got to coach better," Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr said. "It wasn't just one particular person, one particular group.
"Do we like it? No. Are we frustrated about it? Yes. But it's about what we do going forward. Are we going to sulk, let it get you down and lay in it? Or are you going to pick yourself up and figure it out? We're going to figure it out."
The Ravens didn't sack Jared Goff on Monday night, and Patrick Mahomes is a difficult quarterback to contain even when he's pressured. The Ravens may blitz more on Sunday, but unless their defense improves, the Chiefs won't face many obvious passing situations that can make blitzing more effective.
"You always want to be creative with blitzes and disguises," Orr said. "[But] you look at the second half [against Detroit], we weren't in third-and-long a lot. It's tough living in third-and-short, third-and-medium."
The Lions converted seven of 14 third downs Monday night and all three of their fourth downs. Sometimes the Lions avoided third down altogether, like when David Montgomery exploded on a 72-yard run. Even when Baltimore's defense was put in great field position, Detroit had a 98-yard touchdown drive in the first half and a 96-yard touchdown drive in the second half.
The Ravens have reviewed the film, assessed the damage, and they believe the necessary adjustments have been made. Orr said Madubuike's absence is not an excuse for Baltimore's run defense to be porous.
"Beeks is one of the best D-tackles in the National Football League," Orr said. "I definitely don't want to minimize that. You're not going to be able to replace him, but I feel confident in the group that we have."
Most of the core players on defense were with the Ravens last season, which could help them weather the early storm.
Hamilton believes the Ravens have too much talent and are too well-coached not to gel defensively. The outcome of their season may depend on how quickly that happens, but the Ravens aren't panicking.
"The sky's not falling," Hamilton said. "We're not where we want to be, but it's a long year. There's 14 more games. Hopefully, we're looking back on our 1-2 start and we're like, 'I can't believe everybody was making such a big deal about it.'
"It comes down to the simplest stuff you learn in Little League football – tackling, getting off blocks. It's not a certain defense you can put somebody in to make a tackle. It's a matter of us doing it."
