The Baltimore Ravens have a huge opportunity in front of them. Their defense is in a prime spot to bounce back against the Tennessee Titans in Week 4, and most importantly, it’s their interior defensive line that could feast. Tennessee’s guard room is looking more depleted by the day.
Four of Tennessee’s five offensive line starters are ready to play. The fifth, though? They're down to their third player at right guard. After losing both Fernando Carmona Jr. and Jackson Slater to serious injuries in Week 3, Atonio Mafi or Garrett Dellinger will be starting.
Mafi was a late roster claim ahead of Week 1, and Dellinger was on the practice squad before the slew of injuries. Dellinger is also questionable with an illness.
If Baltimore’s defensive front can actually show up on a drive-to-drive basis, they could finally feast in the way fans envisioned coming into 2026.
Baltimore Ravens’ defensive line must take advantage of Titans’ depleted right guard spot
At one guard spot, Tennessee is very good. Peter Skoronski has developed into one of the best guards in the NFL. On the opposite side, though, it’s a huge bullseye. Whether it’s Atonio Mafi or Garrett Dellinger, Baltimore’s defensive line should be seeing red when they line up across from them.
Mafi and Dellinger have appeared in just 24 games between them. Mafi is the only one with starts, with seven so far in his career.
Those haven’t been good starts either. In 2025 with the Las Vegas Raiders, Mafi logged a 52.1 overall grade, per Pro Football Focus. Those ugly showings saw him allow 5 pressures, 2 sacks, and 2 penalties.
If Baltimore can’t wreck the interior, it’d be extremely shocking. They have too much in the middle to put up a lackluster performance.
Nnamdi Madubuike is back in action and looked strong in his 2026 debut last week, and Calais Campbell led the team with 6 pressures against the Dallas Cowboys. Travis Jones also eats double teams for breakfast, so the opportunities should be right there for the taking.
The Ravens need to start bringing the pressure, too. Their inability to bring down the quarterback on a consistent basis over the last few years has produced an agonizing stretch that’s plagued their defense. You can’t win games, especially tight games, when you don’t bring down the opposing quarterback.
Their pass rush has been around average at best in 2026, but that’s been mostly due to Jesse Minter’s heavy blitz rate. Minter is blitzing at a 37.5% clip, which ranks sixth in the NFL. Clearly, that hasn’t worked enough.
The interior also has a bigger task on its hands in Week 4. Trey Hendrickson will be out, and while that heightens the pressure on Baltimore’s pass rush depth, it’s just as important for Madubuike, Campbell, and Jones to step up. If anything, they need to lead by example on Sunday.
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