Baltimore Ravens defense looks pretty good, but can get better in one area

Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees came into this season on the hot seat from the media and fans locally, but he has done an impressive job in general with the way this unit has performed. If not for the Ravens defense, the team could very well be 0-5 at this point so Pees deserves a lot of credit for that.

The Ravens defense currently ranks in the top seven among all teams in the following areas:

• Yards allowed per game 266.8 (tied for 2nd)
• Rushing yards allowed per game 76.0 (ranked 4th)
• Passing yards allowed per game 190.8 (ranked 5th)
• Points allowed per game 17.6 (ranked 7th)
• Interceptions 6 (tied for 5th the Ravens had 6 total all of last season)

All of these rankings are what the Ravens are used to seeing from this unit for most of the last 20 years. However, there is one area that the defense needs to get better at and it is red zone defense. The Ravens defense currently ranks 29th in the NFL in touchdown red zone defense at 77.8 percent.

The Ravens offense and special teams have put the Ravens defense in vulnerable positions by setting up the opposing offense with great field position there is no doubt about that. But it is also up to the Ravens defense to stop the bleeding and hold the opposing offense to three points at the most.

With Ravens inside linebacker C.J. Mosley likely to miss extended time due to a hamstring injury he suffered in week 5, young inside linebackers such as Zachary Orr and Kamalei Correa are going to have to pick up where Mosley left off.

The Ravens over the last two seasons have played in 21 games and 19 of them have been decided by eight points or less. That is not a fluke at this point and these close games mean that literally every drive could decide the result regardless of which unit is on the field for the Ravens.

If the Ravens defense can held its opponents to field goals in the red zone even on just one drive, that could be the difference in terms of wins and losses.