Why Did The Ravens Defense Fall Apart Against Cincinnati

In the first half, the Baltimore Ravens were able to shut down the Bengals’ vaunted passing attack and jump out to a 13-0 lead. That lead went up in smoke less than eleven minutes into the third quarter, as Cincinnati began moving up and down the field at will. The reasons for such a horrid collapse are plentiful, from missed tackles to coverage breakdowns to a lack of pressure on Burrow that left the secondary in uncomfortable positions.

One Problem Led To The Next

The first big problem was the lack of pressure that Baltimore generated. In the first half, the Bengals struggled to give Burrow enough time to throw, as the Ravens tallied up ten pressures; however, in the second half, the Bengals quarterback had plenty of time to carve the Ravens’ secondary to ribbons, only being pressured four times.

Baltimore tends to be a defense that frequently loads up the secondary with defensive backs rather than relying exclusively on heavy blitz packages. This strategy backfired on Sunday, as the Ravens struggled to pressure Burrow consistently while their secondary struggled to contain Cincinnati’s receivers.

An example came in the third quarter with 6:33 remaining. Baltimore sent five rushers, with Kyle Hamilton coming down as the extra rusher. However, the blitz was picked up, as Drew Sample blocked Hamilton and gave Burrow enough time to hit Tee Higgins downfield for a 19-yard gain and a new set of downs.

K’Von Wallace was a few beats late to get to Higgins on that play; it was one of many plays where the Ravens’ secondary was bent out of shape by a Bengals receiver. Baltimore spent most of the day playing in a soft zone coverage, giving dangerous threats like Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase plenty of cushion, but there were some plays where their route running got them open anyway. This was the case on one of the biggest plays of the game. In the fourth quarter, with 12:52 left, Burrow dropped back and evaded Trenton Simpson, as he was a free rusher who was not picked up. Once Burrow escaped Simpson, he found Higgins downfield for a 44-yard gain. Higgins had created separation with a sharp outside break after initially faking like he was going to run an inside route through the middle of the field; he was also able to shed the tackle attempt by Humphrey to pick up additional yardage.

This was not the only case of Ravens players missing tackles either. In the second half, Baltimore whiffed on ten tackles, according to Ken McKusick of Filmstudy Baltimore, allowing Cincinnati the chance to pick up additional yardage and extend drives. The worst example of this sloppiness might be a 30-yard pickup by Chase that could have been a stuffed play instead. With about nine minutes left in the fourth, Burrow found Chase on a snag route that should have been stopped for a short gain due to Humphrey and Malaki Starks being in the area. Instead, Chase evaded both tackle attempts and ran upfield before being pushed out of bounds by Keondre Jackson.

Baltimore had one problem compound into another on Sunday. Their inability to pressure Burrow put additional stress on the secondary, as Higgins and Chase were given opportunities to get open downfield. To make matters worse, missed open-field tackles turned relatively harmless completions into massive gains. Every area of the defense seemed to collapse, and considering that the matchup will not get easier next week, as they have to play Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore needs to clean up these sloppy errors while developing a game plan that allows them to generate pressure without compromising their coverage.