The Baltimore Ravens have struggled to keep opposing offenses from making big plays, and head coach Jesse Minter knows it needs to be addressed. With the defense allowing explosive plays throughout the season, Minter took responsibility for the team's inability to consistently get the job done.
Minter has previously talked about being more aggressive defensively, but he also understands that putting pressure on opposing offenses can't come at the expense of giving up big plays. When asked how much the Ravens have moved away from their preferred defensive approach because of injuries and the team's offensive struggles, Minter explained why limiting explosive plays remains his biggest concern.
"I don't even know that that's a fair question. I mean,
it's a fair question, but to be fair to our players, we're trying to win every situation [and] every game. Every game's different. I think I have a core philosophy of what it takes to play good defense. There's times where that shows up. There's times where it doesn't. There's times where the game and the situation and what's going on on the other side of the ball maybe forces your hand to try to generate something, to generate plays. I probably take as much pride of not giving up explosives as any defensive coach in the league, and obviously that's not showing up. So, it's all lip service right now. That's really, to me, major concern No. 1 from a defensive standpoint is limiting the explosive plays."
Minter acknowledged that being too aggressive can leave the defense vulnerable, but he also pointed out that the Ravens can't keep allowing opponents to get behind the coverage. The defensive issues aren't the only concern. Baltimore has also struggled with pre-snap penalties, something that Minter knows has to change. When asked how the Ravens plan to clean up the penalties, particularly with the team leading the league with 24, Minter talked about accountability and eliminating excuses.
"I think there's just levels of accountability. 'Here's what's happened,' [and] not letting excuses and or different quarterbacks or whatever creep into our mentality whatsoever. I think sometimes when you have guys in and out of the lineup there's like this easy 'Oh well, we didn't have this or we didn't have that' and that's not the way we want to operate. I think we practice it a ton. You work [on] it. You hold them accountable and eventually you have to say, 'What's the next step?' So, we'll see what that looks like."
Jacksonville provided two costly examples of the problem. Trevor Lawrence connected with Nate Boerkircher for 52 yards early in the game and later found Parker Washington for a 50-yard touchdown. Those gains helped the Jaguars build control of a game in which Baltimore’s offense already had little margin for error.
Minter’s challenge is finding ways to create pressure without exposing the defense to more breakdowns downfield. Injuries and offensive struggles complicate that assignment, but they don’t remove the defense’s responsibility to limit explosive gains. Baltimore needs opponents to earn sustained drives rather than allowing a single play to undo an otherwise competitive possession.
This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Ravens' defensive reset starts with preventing explosive plays
