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The Baltimore Ravens are off to a solid start to the 2022-23 NFL season, posting a 2-2 record across their first four games. They've registered two victories despite allowing the third-most yards and ninth-most points in the NFL.
The road does not get any smoother for the Ravens, who will face the Cincinnati Bengals' high-powered offense in Week 5.
NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky recently appeared on an episode of NFL Live to discuss the Ravens' defensive struggles and explain why he believes they are going through an identity crisis.
"They no longer are the Ravens," he said. "The Ravens were founded in 1996 and very quickly over the last 26 years, they made it clear that their foundational kind of fingerprint or stamp was going to be defensive pressure. That's who they were. That's who they're going to be.
"They're awful at it right now. And it's shocking to see when they blitz teams, they are in the bottom, basically in everything ... Quarterbacks are getting almost 10 yards every time they throw when Baltimore pressures."
As Orlovsky pointed out, the Ravens have been unsuccessful when blitzing opposing quarterbacks and against opposing passing attacks in general. They currently rank last in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game and are the only team averaging more than 300 yards in that particular category. They also allowed the most passing yards during the 2021-22 NFL season as well.
They have been particularly unsuccessful this season when attempting to pressure opposing quarterbacks. They have recorded the 21st most sacks so far after finishing in 24th place in total sacks last season.
On blitzing plays, they enter Week 5 ranked 29th in yards per passing attempt and 22nd in completion percentage. This defensive ineffectiveness could potentially derail an entire season, but their offense, and more specifically Lamar Jackson, has continued to bail them out.
Lamar Jackson has been the Baltimore Ravens' savior this season
While the Ravens defense has been a major issue in the early stages of the 2022-23 NFL season, Lamar Jackson has been so dominant that he continues to the keep the team among the playoff contenders. They are right in the mix for the top record in the AFC, trailing only the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, and Miami Dolphins by one game.
Lamar Jackson has been dominant in both passing and rushing. He has thrown 11 touchdown passes entering Week 5, currently tied with Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff for the most in the NFL.
Jackson has also recorded 316 rushing yards, the most among quarterbacks and the ninth-most among all NFL players so far this season.
