Ravens scouting report: Lamar Jackson excels while defense struggles

Sunday, noon at M&T Bank Stadium (Ch. 9, KFAN-FM 100.3)

ABOUT THE RAVENS

• The Ravens (5-2) are coming off a bye week after a 41-17 loss at home to the Bengals. Baltimore's defense allowed 520 yards — a career-high 416 passing for Joe Burrow — while missing tackles and getting beat in coverage. Only four other defenses have missed more tackles than the Ravens, according to Pro Football Reference.

• Defensive linemen Calais Campbell, Justin Houston and Odafe Oweh lead a pass rush that has struggled to sack quarterbacks despite blitzing at one of the highest rates leaguewide. Coverage has seemingly been an issue, especially after Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase put up 201 yards while often defended by cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

• Receiver Marquise Brown and tight end Mark Andrews are the Ravens' top weapons for quarterback Lamar Jackson. They've been targeted on nearly half of Jackson's passes this season, which has been rough for the former NFL MVP as a thrower.

• Former Vikings running back Latavius Murray leads a committee behind Jackson in a unique NFL rushing attack. Murray has missed practice time with an ankle injury, putting Devonta Freeman in front with Le'Veon Bell and Ty'Son Williams. Starter J.K. Dobbins and backup Gus Edwards suffered season-ending injuries this summer.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT | QB Lamar Jackson

• In his fourth season, Jackson has maintained his ridiculously athletic standard as the leader of Baltimore's unique option-based rushing attack. He leads all non-running backs with 19 broken tackles while averaging 6.3 yards per run (his career average is 6.1), per Pro Football Focus.

• While Jackson has led game-winning drives against the Chiefs, Lions and Colts (thanks, in part, to a 66-yard field goal from kicker Justin Tucker vs. Detroit), his passing numbers are down. Jackson has one start with more than one passing touchdown in seven games. He is among the league's most-sacked passers, including five sacks by Cincinnati.

• Jackson on the Ravens offense ranking 23rd on third downs: "I'm glad we had that bye week. Now we can fix that, because I didn't know we were that bad on third down. Hopefully, we can make it a positive this go-around."

• Vikings coordinator Andre Patterson on Jackson in the option offense: "They actually use him as a running back, so it makes it difficult. You have to be on point with who has the dive, who has the quarterback. Now, they make it even more difficult because they pull linemen too … to create extra gaps."

COACH SPEAK | John Harbaugh

• In his 14th season as Ravens head coach, Harbaugh is the fourth-longest-tenured NFL coach behind New England's Bill Belichick, New Orleans' Sean Payton and Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin. His teams have a 134-81 (.623) regular season record and are 11-8 in the playoffs with one Super Bowl championship.

• The Ravens have just one losing season under Harbaugh, a former Eagles special teams coordinator who was named AP NFL Coach of the Year in 2019. Coordinator Greg Roman, who also orchestrated running quarterback attacks in San Francisco and Buffalo, has reinvented Baltimore's offense around Jackson since 2019.

• Harbaugh's Ravens are 10-3 off bye weeks in his tenure: "It was a new way of approaching it, the way we practiced and stuff. I thought it was pretty effective. We had a couple shorter practices with the guys that hadn't been playing; it was really good. Other guys got rested up. So it seems like every year, you kind of [adjust] it."

• Harbaugh on the snowy 2013 Vikings-Ravens finish when five touchdowns were scored in the final couple of minutes: "I remember getting the lead with like two minutes left and thinking it was OK. Then, all of a sudden, the field looked like an ice rink. Our guys are sliding around, we couldn't tackle. … Five [times] teams won that day, but we won the last time, and that's the one that counted."