John Harbaugh couldn’t duck questions about how the Baltimore Ravens can continue with Zach Orr as defensive coordinator after Week 5’s 44-10 defeat to the Houston Texans, and the head coach has already decided the future of his under-fire play-caller.
Harbaugh watched the Ravens defense get pushed all over the field for the umpteenth time this season, but he’s not ready to change his coordinator.
When asked about making changes to the defensive staff, starting with the man with the headset, Harbaugh told reporters, “You try to do the most productive things, and I do not think that that’s the answer. We got to go to work, is what we need to do. We need to stick together is what we need to do, and we need to find ourselves. It has to do with coaches and players together,” per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
That’s a bold show of faith in Orr, a second-year coordinator presiding over the worst defense in the NFL. A unit getting run over on the ground and shredded through the air, with the Texans amassing 417 yards and five touchdowns at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, October 5.
The numbers were depressingly familiar for the Ravens, who were beaten up defensively entering the game. Yet, missing multiple Pro Bowlers through injury can’t completely excuse a worrying rot that’s set in on the side of the ball traditionally a franchise strength.
Ravens Have Issues Everywhere Defensively
Nothing is working for the Ravens on defense. Not when the pass rush is barely bothering quarterbacks, a trend that continued against the Texans, even after the return of veteran edge-rusher Kyle Van Noy.
The latter fielded a difficult post-game question about whether or not players are responding to what Harbaugh and Orr are telling them. Van Noy’s weak-sounding flip-flop of an answer, relayed by Ravens Vault co-host Sarah Ellison, is deeply concerning: “Uhm … you know … that’s probably a question that’s above my pay grade. That’s a Harbaugh and Z.O. question to be honest. I think their messaging is … fine. We got to be the group to take that and go out do the simple things right. The fundamentals. Easy, basic, stuff.”
There’s equivocation in this response, likely because Van Noy knows there’s too much for the Ravens to fix. Coaching, schemes and technique are all failing the Ravens, particularly against the run, after the Texans easily stomped their way to 5.1 yards per carry.
Harbaugh was content to defend Orr, but the coach was blunt when he acknowledged, “This run defense, it’s just not OK. … We haven’t really fixed that all year yet,” per The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer.
Stuffing the run has long been a staple for the Ravens, but this season’s unit is soft. Particularly without injured two-time Pro-Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike.
His season-long absence is one of many robbing Orr of his best and most versatile playmakers.
Injuries are Zach Orr’s Biggest Problem
Orr has shown his inexperience designing pressure packages and making worthy in-game adjustments, but his biggest challenge remains overcoming an injury list that’s the stuff of nightmares.
One look at the Ravens’ defensive starters against the Texans, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, revealed the extent of the problem.
Having undrafted free agents Keyon Martin and Reuben Lowery replace two All-Pros, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Kyle Hamilton, was always going to be a tough ask. So was being without middle linebacker Roquan Smith, the on-field signal-caller for this defense.
There’s only so much coaching can do to cover up for the Ravens being without this much talent. Even so, Orr still needs to do a better job of helping the players he has available get the basics right, as well as equip them with more creative blitz concepts.
It’s a sizeable to-do list, but Harbaugh at least sounds prepared to give the 33-year-old DC more time to get things right.
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