Jets vs Ravens: Five Questions with Baltimore Beatdown

The New York Jets are on the road on Sunday for the 11th game of their 2025 campaign. They will be facing Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have struggled a bit this season. They come into this game with a 5-5 record, good for 2nd place in the AFC North, one game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens’ defense was uncharacteristically porous in the first five or so games this season, but they have since turned things around and are looking more like the tough Ravens defenses of years past. In addition, Lamar Jackson missed a few games with injuries, during which the Ravens struggled badly. Jackson is back, and the Ravens have won four straight games. With the Ravens rounding into shape and playing their best football of the season, this seems like a bad time for the Jets to be visiting them in Baltimore.

Previewing this matchup, Nikhil Mehta, Ryan Parish, site manager at Baltimore Beatdown, was kind enough to answer a few questions regarding the 2025 Baltimore Ravens.

1. The Ravens have had a long history of defensive excellence going back decades. However, this season the Ravens struggled badly on defense before turning it around over the last five or so games. What caused the early season defensive struggles, and why have the Ravens been successful in getting back on track on defense?

The early-season struggles can be attributed to three things: a tough stretch of opponents, the loss of DT Nnamdi Madubuike, and four-cornerback dime packages. Three of the Ravens’ first four games came against the Bills, the Lions, and the Chiefs; Madubuike went down in Week 2 and is still tied for the team lead in sacks; and Baltimore’s recent defenses were more successful with three-safety dime looks, but 2024 starter Ar’Darius Washington suffered a torn Achilles during the offseason. The Ravens have since played several softer opponents (including an especially easy post-bye stretch) and completely reworked their defense. Eric DeCosta traded for Alohi Gilman in October to move Kyle Hamilton into a hybrid Star/nickel, and deadline acquisition Dre’Mont Jones has already had an impact on the pass rush. Rookies like Malaki Starks and Teddye Buchanan have made some of the biggest plays of their young careers

2. Lamar Jackson seems to be running significantly less this year. Is that an intentional strategy to try to preserve his health for the long run, or is it just statistical noise? If he scales back his running, will the Ravens offense suffer at all?

The feeling is that Lamar Jackson just isn’t fully healthy. We saw him look his normal self in that fantastic week one clash with the Bills. But since, he doesn’t seem to look as explosive after he took a shot from Ed Oliver at the end of that game. Right now, it’s definitely impacting the offense. Jackson’s legs are an easy trigger to pull when the offense gets out of sync. But because of his health, it seems he and...