Stephen A. Smith destroys Baltimore Ravens with honest rant, ‘they are every bit as…’

The Ravens’ loss to the Lions highlighted yet another dismal defensive display, and Stephen A. has had enough

When the Baltimore Ravens surged to a 15-point lead late in their Week 1 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, their season appeared to be off to a great start. However, they somehow allowed that lead to dissolve in a matter of minutes, and ended up 1-0 to start the year.

Things cooled on the Ravens when they beat up on the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, but that offense has not yet proven to be a threat to any team they’ve faced this season.

When Baltimore came up against Detroit on Monday Night Football in Week 3, they were exposed once again.

The Ravens allowed 38 points against the Lions while Jared Goff completed 20 of 28 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown.

The defense showed a complete inability to stop the run between the tackles. David Montgomery took 12 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns, while Jahymr Gibbs added another 67 yards and two scores of his own.

Opposition teams don’t fear their defense the way they’re supposed to right now, and that could be a major problem.

In their defense, the Ravens were missing a couple of key defensive players, including defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and pass rusher Kyle Van Noy. However, they’re still not performing at the standard they should be, and Stephen A. Smith believes they need to be called out on it.

This week on First Take, he said:

“How do you get that bad, defensively? How do you lose a 15-point lead with five minutes left in the fourth quarter in the opener? How are you giving up all of these points? How are you ranking that way?”

The Ravens are allowing 32 points per game so far this season, which ranks 31st in the NFL through the first three weeks. They’re also allowing 14 20+ yard plays per game, which is tied for 30th, while struggling to apply pressure up front, and lacking coverage downfield.

Stephen A. continued: “Defensively, they can’t stop anybody right now. There’s a discussion about the Dallas Cowboys; they have no defense right now. How do we leave out the Ravens? There’s a legitimate argument right now that they’re every bit as bad defensively as we’re saying about the Dallas Cowboys.”

Marcus Spears defended John Harbaugh by saying he has nothing to do with fumbles and dropped passes in the playoffs, when the team is in a position to win.

Ball security is a problem this season too, but Stephen A. claimed he wasn’t worried about Derrick Henry fumbling the football, as that will quickly get ironed out.

The problem is that the Ravens are struggling to get off the field on defense, which is leading to a lot of shootouts, and the franchise are not currently winning those shootouts.

Ravens now face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4, in what is being dubbed a ‘get right’ game for Patrick Mahomes

The Baltimore Ravens have a very important game this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs, and their offense has been extremely inconsistent so far this season.

The Chiefs are dealing with their slowest start in the Patrick Mahomes era, and are flailing offensively without their top two wide receivers.

If the Baltimore Ravens look just as bad against this version of the Chiefs, these conversations about their defense and head coach John Harbaugh are going to steal the front pages.

They cannot allow Mahomes and his offense to use this game as a launchpad. If they do, the noise is going to be deafening. Both teams are 1-2 right now, and the outcome of the game could prove to be a crucial factor in the playoff rankings at the end of the season.