Ravens must feed off the energy their backup safeties are bringing

The Baltimore Ravens lack energy and leadership. Anyone who watched their disastrous second half in the Week 7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals saw that. The defense looked dead — the starting unit needs someone to reignite them when spirits are down.

Safeties K’Von Wallace and Keondre Jackson have the energy to do that. Both saw an increased workload last Sunday, with Jackson taking 21 reps and Wallace 17. They made plays, too. And more importantly, they can make emphatic plays.

In his press conference on Wednesday, Jesse Minter spoke about what the backup safety duo brings to the table.

“I thought [K’Von] and Keondre both came in and played with a spirited energy,” Minter said. “I think when you watch the film, it shows … The juice that they bring, and the energy; they’re flying around, making tackles. I thought both those guys handled themselves well with the opportunity presented.”

That’s how you get more snaps, and that’s how you can breathe life back into this defense. Baltimore needs more of that, and their teammates can feed off it.

Baltimore Ravens’ defense should take a page out of K’Von Wallace and Keondre Jackson’s book

K’Von Wallace and Keondre Jackson play like their hair is on fire. As Jesse Minter said, they both fly to the football.

Wallace showcased it in Week 7 with this statement-making tackle that amped up the rest of the team on a big third-down stop.

That clearly had an effect on a dominant first half, where the Ravens held the Bengals to 59 first-half yards.

As for Jackson, he’s made high-effort plays like that his entire career. You see it all the time on special teams.

The common denominator isn’t just the effort; it’s energy after making the play. That stuff is contagious.

The rest of the defense doesn’t show that consistently, and it causes them to grow stagnant too often.

When Baltimore’s defense gives up points and misses tackles, it all comes in bunches. The phrase ‘when it rains, it pours’ couldn’t be more true for this unit. On Sunday, everything came in a torrential downpour.

The Ravens squandered their 13-point lead just over 10 minutes into the second half, and it didn’t even take 25 minutes for the Bengals to hang 35 on the board. Five drives into the second half, five quick touchdowns. Joe Burrow and company made it look way too easy.

The biggest issue was the missed tackles. Once again, Baltimore had lots of those. It hurt to watch.

And their tackling was actually tremendous in the first half. They shut Cincinnati out through the first two quarters, but then halftime came. The defense finished with 11 missed tackles and four in the fourth quarter alone.

You can see how tired and defeated they look, especially Marlon Humphrey. The veteran cornerback and one of the longest-tenured Ravens can be seen on his knees, giving up on the play twice after missing tackles.

If the rest of the group starts playing with the passion of Wallace and Jackson, maybe things turn a corner. Those two have seen limited action, but they fit the motto of ‘Play like a Raven.’ They can’t be the only ones.

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