The Baltimore Ravens lost a primetime shootout for the second time in three games, and head coach John Harbaugh made it clear he is far from happy with the performance of his defense.
Baltimore dropped to 1-2 on Monday with a 38-30 home loss to the Detroit Lions, that defeat coming just two weeks after the Ravens squandered a 15-point lead in their season opener, going down 41-40 to the Buffalo Bills.
Two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes despite being sacked seven times, while Derrick Henry ran for a score, though his display was marred by a third fumble in as many games, yet the Ravens were undone as their defense had little answer for the Detroit offense.
The key disparity came on the ground, with the Lions gashing Baltimore for 224 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Baltimore finished with just 85 rushing yards.
Detroit succeeded in dominating a Ravens defensive front missing two-time Pro Bowler Nnamdi Madubuike because of a neck injury.
Yet Harbaugh was in no mood to offer any kind of excuse for his defense's struggles.
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Harbaugh blasts bad run defense
"There’s nobody in that locker room that thinks that’s good enough," Harbaugh said after the game.
"That’s disappointing. That’s bad run defense, and that’s not who we are. It cannot be who we are. It’s not going to be acceptable, and it has to be better."
His sentiments were echoed by All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, who rejected the absence of Madubuike, and that of linebacker Kyle Van Noy (hamstring), as justification for the Ravens' issues stopping the run.
"No excuses can be made at this point," Hamilton said. "If it's not one thing, it's another. We just have to patch everything up right now.
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"[We] can't just take it for granted. Our run defense, it's been pretty good the whole time I've been here, but when a team runs a ball like that, it just demoralises you more than passing the ball. They're challenging you mentally and physically, so it's on us as a defense just to put that fire out ASAP, and we didn't do that."
"Shame on us if we need a Pro Bowl guy to play good defense. I think we have a plethora of guys who have accolades, but there are teams in the league that don't have that and play good defense."
The Ravens desperately need to turn their defensive fortunes around, as they face a blockbuster Week 4 clash with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
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