ClutchPoints
Arguably no team has underwhelmed more early in the 2025 season than the Baltimore Ravens, who began the year as Super Bowl Contenders but enter their Week 8 matchup with the Chicago Bears with a mere 1-5 record. Injuries have played a factor, but the Ravens are still just 1-3 with Lamar Jackson in the lineup.
People can point to Jackson’s injury all they want, but Baltimore has not looked like the team fans expected it to be in any facet of the game. The Ravens’ defense was one of the stingiest units in 2024, but it has been one of the league’s worst through six games.
As of their Week 6 bye, the Ravens allow the most points per game in the league and the third-most total yards per game. They also rank in the bottom three in touchdowns allowed, red zone defense, defensive sack rate and passing yards allowed.
The Ravens’ schedule has certainly not made it easy on them. Baltimore has already played the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams. A contending team should win at least two of those games, but they are not nearly as bad as their record suggests.
If they are to turn their season around, the Ravens have to get the job done in Week 8 against the Bears. Coming out of its bye week, the team expects Jackson back in the lineup, but the must-win matchup is winnable either way.
The Ravens have hit multiple franchise lows amid their 1-5 start, and now face a streaking Bears team that enters Week 8 riding a four-game win streak. Regardless, they enter the matchup as the betting favorite and will prove to be the better team after an additional week of preparation.
Getting Lamar Jackson back will not solve all the Ravens’ issues. Baltimore needs to improve defensively if it wants any hope of righting the ship, and its Week 8 matchup with the Bears provides the perfect opportunity.
Credit to Ben Johnson for his work with Caleb Williams, but this is still one of the most run-dominant teams in the league. The Bears run the ball at the fifth-highest rate in the league, shades of Johnson’s time running the Detroit Lions’ offense over the last three seasons.
On paper, running the ball has worked against the Ravens so far. Baltimore is allowing 134.3 rushing yards per game, the seventh-most in the league. They have particularly gone downhill after losing Nnamdi Madubuike and Broderick Washington, who both remain on injured reserve.
But while the Ravens have been atrocious against the run in 2025, they were elite in that area in 2024. They allowed the fewest rushing yards and fewest yards per attempt last season, holding opponents to just 3.6 yards per carry.
With most of the same personnel still on the team, some positive regression is to be expected. Teams do not just inexplicably swing to opposite ends...
