Ravens Welcome Much-Needed Veteran Back on Defense

The Baltimore Ravens' defense is bad. Even compared to some of the NFL's less-coordinated teams, they're one of the best at allowing opposing offenses to thrive, making this current group look particularly soft compared to the high standard that the winning franchise has set over the years.

One man returning to the unit won't save the defense from their slew of fundamental errors and tendency to let themselves get rolled over, like they did in last week's 44-10 loss to the otherwise-underwhelming Houston Texans, but further support certainly won't hurt the Ravens' odds of salvaging their season and reigniting their playoff hopes. That's what Kyle Van Noy represented in his Week 5 reappearance.

The veteran edge rusher was sorely missed since departing the field midway through the Ravens' Week 2 win over the Cleveland Browns, their most recent victory to date. Suddenly losing the team's most recent sack leader with 12.5 a season ago left a linebacker room that was sorely lacking in similar firepower, with the weakened pass-rush only further contributing to Baltimore's systematic defensive shortcomings.

Van Noy made his presence known in his homecoming in notching his first sack on the season, a big tackle on Texans quarterback CJ Stroud early in the second quarter before the one-score lead ballooned. He seemed like just the juice that the unit required, but his lone efforts weren't enough.