The Baltimore Ravens are having trouble in the secondary. Here are three big things to think about:
1. Injuries aren’t the only problem
The Ravens have some injury issues that are obviously going to affect them. Not having Jimmy Smith is a problem. Tavon Young‘s preseason injury is problematic as well. That doesn’t mean the Ravens woes in the secondary are forgivable. You can’t just write this off because they are playing shorthanded. The Ravens have gotten some horrible play from their cornerbacks not named Marlon Humphrey.
Brandon Carr has had two bad games in a row. The Ravens gave up 349 yards to Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. Carr had multiple plays where he got beat badly down the field. The Chiefs didn’t have a problem attacking Carr either. The Cardinals game was worse, yet neither game was up to his typical standards. The selling point for the Ravens secondary before the season was that they had three starting cornerbacks even without Tavon Young. The Ravens were supposed to be okay without Smith because Carr and Humphrey were two very dependable cornerbacks. Carr has had some ups and downs with the Ravens, yet this is his worst two game stretch.
Anthony Averett had to step up into a larger role because of the two injuries in the defensive backfield. He’s look mostly awful. The game plan against the Ravens is fairly simple right now. First, throw the football all day long to take advantage of their thinned out cornerback group. Secondly attack Averett. Maurice Canady is another defensive back opponents can torture. In both zone and man coverage the cornerback play has been disappointing. Much of the Ravens Flock is desperate for a move to be made by Eric DeCosta. It doesn’t look like that is happening so the cornerback position just needs to step up.