Ravens DC Starting to Show Growth

Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr continues to improve each week.

Oct 9, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens linebacker Zachary Orr (54) celebrates his fumble recovery against the Washington Redskins at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Zach Orr was always going to have a ton of pressure on him in his first season as the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator. Not just because of the typical pressures on a first-year coordinator, especially one of the youngest in the league, but also because he replaced the highly-successful Mike Macdonald, who's now head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

There were definitely some growing pains at first. In his first three games in charge, Orr's defense allowed 26 points per game as the Ravens went an underwhelming 1-2. Perhaps the most-concerning part of the defense's performance was the inability to close out games, as it allowed 39 points in the fourth quarter.

In Sunday's win over the Buffalo Bills, though, Orr's defense put togther by far its best perfomrance of the season. Baltimore held Buffalo to just 236 total yards, slowing down an offense that had been rolling early in the season. The defense also held strong at the end of the game, not allowing a single point in the fourth quarter.

Orr's growth over the first few weeks of the season is clear to see, and head coach John Harbaugh couldn't be prouder of him.

"I think Zach really called the game really well," Harbaugh told reporters Monday. He kept them off balance. It was a nice mix of coverage [and] of different various kinds of pressures. It was a lot of pressures, but they were various types of pressures. There were four-man blitzes; there were five-man type of pressures; there were different coverages and different coverage rotations behind the blitzes, and he called them at the right time. You don't want to have an offense have a beat on necessarily where you're going next.

Orr, 32, spent the past two years as the Ravens' inside linebackers coach, and did great work with Pro Bowlers Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen. Now, he's doing good work with the entire defense, and should only continue to grow.

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