Early in the 2025 season, the Baltimore Ravens’ defense was on track to be one of the worst defensive units in NFL history. After their Week 7 bye, they constructed a turnaround reminiscent of last year’s. However, in their Week 14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, they took a significant step back.
Despite Pittsburgh being hot-and-cold and struggling to maintain an identity on offense this year, they found the spark they have been searching for under quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Their 27-point output was not anything crazy, but it was the way they tore apart Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr’s group.
While the defense locked things down in the fourth quarter, forcing three straight three-and-outs to keep the team in the game, their ineffectiveness for three quarters put Baltimore in a hole they could not climb out of. It was far from the only reason for the loss, but it certainly put Orr back under the coaching microscope.
Ravens’ defense struggles on Sunday
The Ravens’ defense reverted back to their old ways against the Steelers. Gone was the bend-don’t-break philosophy, and gone was the limitation of big plays. It was simply a messy afternoon. They let the opposing offense gash them for chunk gains, failed to get off the field on third downs, and, as they have nearly every week, could not pressure the quarterback.
Let’s start with the big play miscues. The Steelers have been one of the least accurate teams on passes 20+ yards downfield in 2025, but it was clear they had the Baltimore secondary’s number on Sunday. Cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins were on the losing end of some splash plays to wide receivers DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin III. Of course, these led to scoring drives and put the Ravens behind early.
Pittsburgh was also far too successful on third downs. They succeeded on six of their 14 third-down plays and converted on their lone fourth-down attempt. They also found the end zone on two of those third-down conversions.
Perhaps the most questionable decisions from Orr came with his pass-rush schemes. They gave Rodgers all the time in the world to throw, and tallied just one QB hit. What made it worse was the number of pass rush snaps the team’s leading sack-getter, rookie Mike Green, got. He had 20 pass-rush snaps, while the Steelers ran 36 passing plays.
Overall, Orr’s game plan clearly did not play out in Week 14. The defense’s rough showing was far from the only reason for the loss, and it was not the leading factor either. With an inconsistent offense, though, the defense was the unit the Ravens could fall back on. It was not this past weekend.