The Ravens are ranked No. 6 in overall defense through Week 2, yielding just 274.5 yards per game.
However, Baltimore's defense didn't perform like a top-10 unit during crunch time of Sunday's 24-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints. With the game on the line, the Saints scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter on two methodical touchdown drives that left Baltimore's defense deflated. It was the 15th time since 2019 that Baltimore lost a game in which it held a fourth-quarter lead. Head Coach Jesse Minter, who is the defensive play caller, knew the narrative of Baltimore squandering leads would be revisited following the loss to the Saints.
Players and coaches remain convinced that the 2026 Ravens will have a defense that closes out games in the clutch. But with 15 games still left in the regular season, the Saints game was evidence that Baltimore's defense remains a work in progress.
"I felt like guys start pressing a little bit, and you start trying to make plays, and you are searching for that big play in those key moments," Minter said.
"I think, honestly, we are all chasing things a little bit and really need to figure out what our identity is on defense, just from what we are trying to do. That is my job — to put the guys in the best position to be successful. I have a lot of confidence in the guys that we have."
Next up for the Ravens is their Week 3 International Series game against the Dallas Cowboys (1-1), which presents another serious challenge for Baltimore's defense. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott has completed 73.8% of his passes through two games and threw four touchdowns on Sunday against the Washington Commanders. If there are holes in a defense, Prescott typically finds them.
One anecdote for the Ravens could be the strong pass rush they've displayed. Baltimore sacked Saints quarterback Tyler Shough three times in Week 2, with Trey Hendrickson, Mike Green, and Tavius Robinson all getting takedowns.
But in the fourth quarter, the Saints went to a quick passing attack that kept Shough out of harm's way. The Ravens made coverage mistakes, missed tackles, and did not have a sack in the fourth quarter.
"It is rush and coverage together," Hendrickson said. "When we had good coverage, sometimes our rush was not there, and sometimes when our rush was good, the coverage was not there.
"Playing as a unit is something we need to figure out — what our 2026 Ravens identity is moving forward. You take it on the chin and move on."
Particularly galling to the Ravens were the missed tackles and coverage mistakes in key moments. On third-and-13 in the third quarter, a checkdown completion from Shough to tight end Juwan Johnson became a 25-yard gain that led to a Saints field goal. In the fourth quarter, a coverage mistake left Chris Olave wide open in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown catch. Second-year tight end Malaki Starks was in coverage on the touchdown.
Fellow safety Jaylinn Hawkins missed an opportunity for an early interception, was flagged for holding that gave the Saints a second crack at their game-tying two-point conversion, and missed a tackle on a critical third-and-8 checkdown (again to Johnson) on the Saints' game-winning touchdown drive. Starks and Hawkins were the Ravens' lowest-graded defenders in the game via Pro Football Focus.
"I have a lot of confidence in Malaki Starks, and so I am confident that he will bounce back and be the type of player that I know he can [be]," Minter said.
"I think defensively, we can be a whole lot better at the things that we have control over, like taking angles to the ball, tackling better and stapling people to the ground. We will always chase better scheme — that is my job and our defensive staff's job. But we also need to play in a way where we can tackle a checkdown on third-and-13. It is a combination of everybody."
Minter has an outstanding track record as a defensive play caller. The Ravens have standout defensive players at all three levels and hope Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) will return to the lineup, potentially even Sunday in Rio.
The Ravens don't believe they will struggle to close out games in 2026, or that their past will make it difficult to change the future.
"I don't put a ton of stock into all that," Minter said. "Obviously, we have a lot of players that have been here for a while, but I think this is our first real adversity as a group together. It is a chance for us to learn each other and how we handle adversity.
"That is what we will do. We will attack it, and we will own it. We are not into the blaming business of blaming a call or a player or this or that. We will own it together, and we will try to get better."
