Raven Country

Marlon Humphrey Slams Ravens Defense After Bengals Game

The Baltimore Ravens' defense once again struggled.

Jon Alfano

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) runs after a catch as Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith (0) defends in the first quarter of the NFL game at M&T Banks Stadium in Baltimore on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) runs after a catch as Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith (0) defends in the first quarter of the NFL game at M&T Banks Stadium in Baltimore on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase has tormented the Baltimore Ravens since he entered the league in 2021, and Thursday night was no different.

Chase was pretty much unstoppable against Baltimore, catching 11 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns. His first two touchdowns were long plays on the first plays of the drives, while the third one gave the Bengals a chance to go for two and the win with under a minute left.

Now with the season series complete, Chase caught 20 passes for 457 yards and five touchdowns in the two games against Baltimore, unprecedented numbers against a single opponent. He's also made the defensive backs look silly on several occasions this season.

Chase is undoubtedly a great player, but the Ravens know they can do a better job containing him. After the game, star cornerback Marlon Humphrey voiced his frustration on not only the defense's inability to contain Chase, but the unit's overall struggles this season.

"I'm tired of that dude. [Chase] is just different," Humphrey said. "It's not even so much about the route he runs – whatever. It's just, [when] he gets the ball in his hands, if you don't tackle him soon, it can get really ugly. He's a good player. You never really can count the Bengals out when he's on their team. I think he had like 200, like over 250 [receiving yards], which is rough, which is rough.

"These wins are getting harder to enjoy based off of what we're doing in the pass defense. I feel like when I was a rookie – first-year guy, second-year guy – the vets I looked up to [and] the standard that was there and the pass defense ... We've really lost that standard, and I feel like that falls on me. We're going to keep chasing at it. We're going to keep working at it, because I'm not really satisfied with what I've built in this secondary [and] where it's gone."

The Bengals were without their excellent No. 2 receiver in Tee Higgins, and as such, Joe Burrow targeted Chase a whopping 17 times on the night. It didn't matter what the Ravens' defense did, Chase just tore them apart all night long.

"We doubled him a bunch of times. Those plays we didn't, we were in zone coverage there," head coach John Harbaugh said. "He should have been covered. Those plays shouldn't have happened. There's no doubt about it. Those are not tough plays. Those are basic routes that should be covered in the coverages that we're in, so that's not the standard."

Baltimore's pass defense was already by far the worst in the league, and after allowing Burrow to throw for 426 yards and four touchdowns, its numbers only got worse. No matter how good everything else is, the defense being that bad against the pass is not a recipe for winning football.

"I just don't think [with us] playing like this [that] we can go far," Humphrey said. "It's cool winning; it's great we're winning, but I want to go far; I want to go to the end. The way we're playing ... Something has got to change. We've just got to play better. I've got to play better; we've all got to play better. We've got to play as a unit, and we're just not doing that. [There's] really nothing really more to say."

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

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