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Mike Preston: Ravens' glaring weakness is still a major problem

Mike Preston, The Baltimore Sun on

Published in Football

BALTIMORE — The Ravens were successful in almost every phase in beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 28-14, in Saturday night’s AFC wild-card game, but pass coverage in the secondary is still a primary concern.

Pittsburgh had touchdowns passes of 30 and 36 yards in the third quarter to pull within two scores with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson completed 20 of 29 passes for 270 yards and finished with a passer rating of 121.3.

That’s disturbing.

“Their offense came in the second half, and they made some plays,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “They hit us on three third downs. They found the weakness in the coverage, and we didn’t play it quite perfectly. We have to chase perfection and play those things a little better.

“But they made those plays, and then, I mean, those throws up the sideline, they were just great throws and great catches. Those were well-covered plays, and they made them. That’s a really good football team, and it’s a really good win for us.”

Pittsburgh has lost five games in a row, so the Steelers aren’t a really good team. Lost among the euphoria of the Ravens’ offensive line beating down a talented Steelers front five and both quarterback Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry running wild was the fact that the Ravens’ coverage got exposed again.

It wasn’t as bad as it was earlier in the season, but the Steelers aren’t exactly the Cincinnati Bengals, either. Wilson is no Joe Burrow and George Pickens isn’t in the same class with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

The next two matchups might include quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.

On Saturday night, it was amazing that Pittsburgh didn’t go after cornerbacks Brandon Stephens or Tre’Davious White early in the game. Those two, and to a degree rookie Nate Wiggins, have struggled all season, but Pickens had only one catch for 8 yards in the first half.

You’d figure the Steelers would get Pickens involved early in the game, but that didn’t happen until they trailed, 21-0, at the half. That’s when Pittsburgh went into attack mode and Van Jefferson beat Stephens over the top for the 30-yard touchdown pass. About five minutes later, Pickens beat Wiggins for a long touchdown. It wasn’t so much that they got beat, but watching safety Kyle Hamilton lifting up his hands as if to quietly ask, “How can Stephens get beat like this again and again?”

 

Stephens often has great position, but never turns around to locate the ball. With White, he is 29 and near the end of his career. The Ravens didn’t acquire him until early November, so they knew what they were getting and hoping for the best. As for Wiggins, he’ll become a good cornerback but is still too handsy, which means he hasn’t made the adjustment yet from college to the NFL.

The Ravens have made improvements on the back end since the beginning of the season, but they couldn’t have gotten worse. They made moves by putting Hamilton deeper in coverage rather than near the line of scrimmage and starting fellow safety Ar’Darius Washington over Marcus Williams.

Overall, though, the Ravens were still ranked No. 31 in pass defense, allowing nearly 245 yards per game. They really haven’t played a good passing team in more than a month with a schedule that has included Pittsburgh twice, the Los Angeles Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, Houston Texans and Cleveland. Even Browns quarterback Bailey Zappe started targeting Stephens last week.

The schedule will get tougher against Allen and Bills receivers Amari Cooper and Khalil Shakir, as well as Mahomes and his receivers Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Travis Kelce. Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s game plan always focuses on matchups.

Maybe it’s nitpicking, but the Ravens need to improve in two areas right now: They need to find a punt returner who can handle the ball and get better in coverage. They’ll be fine if their next opponent is Buffalo, because the Ravens’ running game will help neutralize Allen.

But if Kansas City advances, the Chiefs could cause problems in an area that is still a major concern.

It might not get better until next season.

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©2025 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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