Ravens Look To Sustain Red Zone Dominance vs. Chargers

The Baltimore Ravens' offense has dominated in the red zone throughout the season.

Nov 7, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) scores a two point conversion during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Amidst all the storylines to watch in Monday night's game between the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers, how each team fares in the red zone will be a crucial one.

Through 11 games, the Ravens have scored touchdowns on a league-best 77.8 percent of their red-zone possessions. For comparison, the next-closest team is the Cincinnati Bengals, who have scored touchdowns on 69.7 percent of their red-zone drives.

On the other side of the coin, L.A. has been very stingy on defense. The Chargers have allowed touchdowns on just 40.9 percent of its opponents' red-zone drives, the second-lowest rate in the league. The only team ahead of them are the Chicago Bears, and only barely at 40.6 percent.

It's a battle of strengths, and the team that prevails in the red zone will likely end up taking home the W.

"We're really good in the red zone because we're able to run the football, and then when we're not, we have the equalizer in Lamar [Jackson], and for us, we're lucky that way," Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Friday. "And for them, it's like, 'OK, why are you good in the red zone?' Because you stop people from running the ball, and it just becomes more and more difficult to throw it. We have our work cut out for us; they're really good."

For the Chargers, their strength in the red zone correlates to their ability to stop the run with a light box consistently. That allows them to comfortably drop more players into coverage, and gives them a strong run and pass defense in the red zone.

For the Ravens, their top priority is cleaning up their mistakes. They were very sloppy on offense in last Sunday's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and to turn things around against the league's top scoring defense, they need to play a much cleaner game.

"At the end of the day, we didn't play clean enough on the road, didn't start fast enough, and that's what happens," Monken said. "We did give ourselves a chance, but [we] didn't play good enough."

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