Ravens DC Has Quick Realization After First Game

Zach Orr enters his second game as the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator when they face the Las Vegas Raiders.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Zachary Orr (54) reacts after an interception in the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium. / Evan Habeeb-Imagn Images

It was trial by fire for Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr when they faced the Kansas City Chiefs in their season opener on Sept. 5

Beyond the heartbreaking 27-20 loss was a myriad of adjustments Orr had to make opposite Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes. While there were still positives to take away from the Ravens' performance, the adjustment to the speed of a regular season game proved difficult for Orr.

"It happens a lot faster in the regular season than the preseason, which I tried to anticipate, but as you said, you don't know until you know," Orr said. "Now I can kind of get a gauge of real regular season speed, and it's something that I've learned from and look forward to getting better this week coming up."

Among the issues for Baltimore on defense was with its substitutions. Problems with getting the right personnel on the field in the second half ultimately led to the Ravens calling timeouts.

By the time Lamar Jackson and the offense had the ball back for a potential game-tying or game-winning drive in the final two minutes, they were without any timeouts.

"I definitely feel like the substitution thing could definitely get cleaned up, because I look at it like we cost us two timeouts that we could've used towards the end of the game that our offense could have used," Orr said. "Like I said, it was a learning experience and something we learn from."

With the Chiefs' loss in the rearview mirror, there are a few lessons Orr has taken away from his first game as defensive coordinator. Among them is not to overcomplicate things and let the talented Baltimore defense play its game.

"Keep it simple," Orr said. "It felt like I tried to do too much in certain situations, and it caused us to play a little slow. We got great players here; [I need to] just allow them to go out there play fast [and] do their thing, and everything is going to be alright."

The Ravens will look to break into the win column on Sunday in their home opener at M&T Bank Stadium when they host the Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) at 1 p.m. ET.

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