Coming off a historic 2023 campaign in which their defense finished ranked first in sacks, takeaways and fewest points allowed, expectations were still high for the Baltimore Ravens on that side of the ball coming into this season.
Even after having multiple starters, key role players and coaches depart in the offseason with defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald being chief among them, they were still expected to field a fierce unit even if it wasn’t as dominant as last year’s. Through the first eight games, that has been anything but the case as the Ravens rank 25th in total defense, 26th in points allowed and dead last in pass defense with a gaudy average of 291.