John Harbaugh Defends Ravens Struggling Safety

The Baltimore Ravens big-name safety has been under fire recently.

Oct 9, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Marcus Williams (32) before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

There's no way around it, the Baltimore Ravens' defense, espeically the secondary, nearly cost them the game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had one of the best games of his career as he completed 30 of 39 passes for 392 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. Wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins went off as well, combining for 276 yards and four touchdowns on 19 receptions. Save for a late interception by Marlon Humphrey, there's very few positives to take away from this performance.

Everyone in the secondary deserves a share of the blame, but one player in particular has been under heavy fire. Safety Marcus Williams was one of several defenders Chase raced past on his 70-yard touchdown, and with a 43.2 grade from Pro Football Focus on the season, he ranks 121st out of 132 safeties. Going back further, Williams, whose greatest strength is his ball hawking ability, has just one interception since the start of last season.

Despite his recent play, Williams still has the full support of the Ravens' coaching staff.

"Marcus is working hard. He's doing a good job," head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Monday. "He's making a lot of good tackles, a lot of physical play in there, and I think he's on the verge of really breaking out. Some balls are going to come his way. He's moving really well. I fully expect him to come up with some big plays for us very soon."

Williams is in the third season of a five-year, $70 million contract he signed in 2022. The former New Orleans Saints safety dealt with injuries over his first two seasons in Baltimore, and his third season is off to a disappointing start.

To be clear, though, the entire pass defense needs to step up, not just Williams.

"There were probably five or six plays in the passing game, from a coverage standpoint, that we're just way better than that," Harbaugh said. "We're way better to play some of those things the way that we played them. Our guys are going to watch it on tape, I'm sure they already have, and they're going to say the same thing, they're going to say, 'That's something that we have to do better.'

"We're still striving for consistency; we're still fighting for consistency. And you're going against a really efficient and talented offense, but it's still up to us to play our defense consistently the way we want to play it."

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