After giving up 334 yards to Jameis Winston and the Cleveland Browns, the Ravens remain last in the NFL in pass defense and in search of answers.
The Ravens made some personnel changes in Sunday's game, and Head Coach John Harbaugh did not rule out making more changes in the quest to improve.
"We're going to continue to turn over every stone with our defense and with every other part of our team, too, to get as good as we can get it over the course of a long season," Harbaugh said.
The most drastic change against Cleveland came at safety. Marcus Williams, a three-year starter in Baltimore, didn't play and watched from the sideline. Eddie Jackson played every snap at safety, while Ar'Darius Washington saw significant time (64%) in three-safety looks.
Harbaugh did not reveal the plan for Week 9 against the Denver Broncos (5-3), but expressed confidence in Williams if called upon.
"I'm not going to try and get into too much about who's going to play and who's not going to play," Harbaugh said. "I'll just reiterate what I said before. Marcus is a heck of a player. I have the utmost confidence in him as a player, as a person, as a pro. He's a great person. He plays hard, practices hard, does everything at the highest level. I anticipate him playing great football for us all season and very soon.
"I don't really think I have anything else to say about that. There's a lot of things going on all the time. A lot of it is kind of our business – it belongs in house – it's between us, and it's not something that we need to tell everybody everything about."
Squandering potential interceptions remains one of the Ravens' main issues. They dropped three against the Browns, and Baltimore's defense leads the league with eight drops.
The biggest blown opportunity was Kyle Hamilton's drop late in the fourth quarter that could have sealed the win with Baltimore protecting a one-point lead. On the very next play, Winston connected with Cedric Tillman for the decisive 38-yard touchdown catch.
"It's no secret. Those are huge plays," Harbaugh said. "Those plays are going to get made. That's low-hanging fruit the way I see it going forward, where you can make a huge difference in your play. How many fewer plays you have to play? How many fewer scoring opportunities (would) they have? The difference in points.
"It's massive making those plays. We'll work hard at it, and we'll continue to work even harder at it. I'm very confident that we're going to do it going forward, but I'd like to see it happen real soon."
Illness Prevented Nate Wiggins From Playing in Cleveland
Rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins did not play against the Browns due to illness, according to Harbaugh. Wiggins was ruled out on Saturday and did not make the trip.
"There was an illness issue. I don't think I'm allowed to really disclose it, but he's doing okay, hope to see him in practice this week," Harbaugh said.
Part of the Ravens' struggles in pass defense Sunday were because Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey (knee) didn't play. Getting them back on the field against the Broncos would be part of the solution.
Poor Decisions on Kickoff Returns Proved Costly
On two occasions, Chris Collier returned kickoffs against the Browns from one yard deep in the end zone. Both times, Collier failed to reach the 30-yard line, where the Ravens would have received the ball on a touchback. One also was compounded by a penalty that backed Baltimore up to the 9-yard line.
Harbaugh would have preferred Collier not to return either kick.
"Not that we can't have a green light, but we haven't had a green light this year," Harbaugh said. "It doesn't make sense to us if they're going to give us the ball at the 30-yard line. The way the angles work, it's really tough to block this new style when the ball's kicked in the end zone. I do think they lose sense of where they're at sometimes, especially a young guy."
Tylan Wallace also made a judgment error on a punt return, making a fair catch at Baltimore's 6-yard line.
"I love Tylan. But he lost track of where he was going back and catching that punt," Harbaugh said. "He'll be back out there and he'll learn from that. That hurt our offense. Field position was a problem."
The Ravens Prefer Not to Use Lamar Jackson on Quarterback Sneaks
Lamar Jackson is asked to do many things, but the Ravens are not looking to add quarterback sneaks to his plate.
The Ravens have been efficient in the red zone, but they were stopped on fourth-and-1 on their opening drive against the Browns when Derrick Henry was stuffed for no gain on a direct snap from center.
Baltimore tried to run a sneak later in the game on third-and-1 with tight end Charlie Kolar under center, but he was flagged for a false start.
Asking Jackson to barrel into the defensive line on a sneak is still not high on Baltimore's list of options.
"Nobody gives up more than Lamar, in terms of doing everything he can to win the game," Harbaugh said. "We feel like if we're going to run a sneak, we can do it with somebody else. You got a bigger body in there doing it, we'll take that off Lamar. That's really our thinking on it."
Harbaugh said Jackson has the option to audible into a sneak if he sees a pre-snap look that he likes.
"He can tap sneak an open gap if he wants," Harbaugh said.
