It was easy to see that the Ravens needed to be better in pass coverage over the first nine games of the season and Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase elevated the issue to a crisis level last Thursday.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said at his Monday press conference that Chase was open “way too much, way too many times” on his way to catching 11 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns in the Ravens’ 35-34 win. Harbaugh acknowledged Chase’s talent, but said “it comes down to us” to make stops and that the last few days have been spent drilling down on ways to improve.
“We’ve got to play our coverages better in those situations — especially the deep middle and intermediate part of the field are the areas that have been a problem for us,” Harbaugh said, via the team’s website. “Just very inconsistent back there. That’s the No. 1 target that we have to be better at. That aspect of our pass coverage. We worked at it through the weekend and will continue to work at it. Everybody’s determined to get better, and we have a growth mindset. With a high sense of urgency to get better.”
The Ravens are allowing a league-worst 294.9 passing yards per game, which would be the most for any team over an entire season since the 2015 Giants allowed 298.9 yards per game and no team has won the Super Bowl while finishing last in the league in that metric. That explains the urgency and the need to get things fixed sooner rather than later.
