At about 7:53 p.m. Sunday, the side doors to the Ravens’ news conference room inside M&T Bank Stadium swung open, and coach John Harbaugh walked through.

It had been a long wait since the Ravens’ 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles went final, nearly 25 minutes, and it would be a long wait until the Ravens’ next game. Their Week 15 road trip to face the reeling New York Giants was 14 days away. The Ravens’ next real test — a Week 16 rematch against the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) — was 20 days away.

What’s in a bye week, especially one coming this late? And after a loss this tough? The Ravens (8-5) were still figuring that out Sunday night. The plan was to reunite at the team facility Monday, Harbaugh said, and stick to the team’s normal postgame routine: Rehabilitate injuries, break down film, meet with coaches. The usual.

“They won’t get tomorrow off, but they’ll get most of the week off,” Harbaugh said. “They need it, they’ve earned it, and we’ll come back on Monday ready to go, ready to go to work.”

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The Ravens have long been touted as a Super Bowl contender, but their 8-5 record points to an array of imperfections. They will enter their long-awaited break as not only the AFC North’s second-best team but also the AFC’s No. 2 wild-card team, a half-game behind the Los Angeles Chargers (8-4).

Not everything can be fixed over this bye. Some things might not be fixable at all. But here’s what could be atop Harbaugh’s to-do list.

Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce (58) has missed the last five games. (Kylie Cooper/The Baltimore Banner)

Get healthy and rest up

The 2024 Ravens have avoided the injury bug that’s infected them in recent years. Starters, in particular, have been largely spared.

On offense, former starting left guard Andrew Vorhees (ankle) missed a pair of early-season games. Isaiah Likely (hamstring) missed a win, and fellow tight end Mark Andrews took some time in getting up to speed after a training camp car crash. On defense, linebacker Malik Harrison (groin) missed a pair of games. Cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey (shoulder) and Nate Wiggins (knee) each missed a loss. Inside linebacker (hamstring) Roquan Smith missed a win. Outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy (hamstring/neck) was ruled out of Sunday’s game, his first absence all season.

Other than that, most of the damage has been done to Ravens reserves and special teams pieces. Defensive lineman Michael Pierce (calf) has missed the past five games, but should be activated off the injured reserve after the bye. Receiver-returner Deonte Harty (knee) has missed over half the season. Tight end Charlie Kolar (forearm) and cornerback Arthur Maulet (calf/knee) were added to injured reserve on Saturday but could be back by the end of the regular season.

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After 13 straight weeks with at least one game, a weekend without one should be good for the mind, body and soul.

“Just refresh and get our bodies right,” defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike said. “We started earlier than a lot of teams in the league and had the latest bye week in the league. Everybody’s a little banged up. If you’re not banged up, you haven’t played football. So we just have to get ready, see your family, do what you’ve got to do, and get right in the mind. We have a four-game stretch coming up and we have to win every game.”

Heading into the by week, Justin Tucker is 19-for-27 on field goals (70.4%, which would be a single-season career low). (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Banner)

Find a reliable kicker

The Ravens have one of the best kickers in NFL history. But Justin Tucker will enter the bye as one of the league’s worst kickers this season: 19-for-27 on field goals (70.4%, which would be a single-season career low) and 42-for-44 on extra points (95.5%, which would be another career low).

Almost all of his misfires have been consequential. On Sunday, a day in which Tucker could not convert from 47 yards or 53 yards, the Ravens lost by five points. (He missed an extra point, too.)

“As simply as I can put it, I missed the kicks, and I’ll leave it at that,” Tucker said. “I just left the points out there. I feel like I cost us this one, but it doesn’t really do anybody any good to dwell on it. The only thing that we can do — that I can do — is just continue to work, move forward, take it one kick at a time. I hate that I’ve had to have this same conversation over the course of this season, but that’s something that comes with the territory in this job description. The kicks are either good or they’re not, and today, I did not do a good enough job to help our team win the football game.”

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If the Ravens want to find a replacement — and Harbaugh said he was skeptical of that idea Sunday — their front office has two weeks to comb through practice squad rosters and bring in free agents for tryouts. Tucker might still be the Ravens’ best option. Might as well make him prove it.

“We’ve been working through it,” Harbaugh said. “You work through it with every single player. Every single thing, you fight to try to help guys to be successful. We’ll do that. If you’re asking me, ‘Are we going to move on from Justin Tucker?’ I’m not really planning on doing that right now; I don’t think that’d be wise. But he’ll tell you — he’ll be the first to tell you — he needs to make kicks, because he can. I just think if you look at Justin Tucker’s history, you’d have to say he’s capable of doing that. That’s something that he’s going to want to do, and we’re all going to want him to do it.”

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Diontae Johnson (18) catches a pass while warming up before a regular season game against the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, November 3, 2024.
In his month with the team, wide receiver Diontae Johnson has one catch on five targets for 6 yards. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)

Figure out Diontae Johnson’s role

This is contingent on Johnson having a job in Baltimore. And his future after Sunday’s loss, in which he didn’t play a single snap, was less clear than it’s ever been.

Asked about Johnson’s availability against Philadelphia, Harbaugh said he was “not really ready to comment on that right now. I will be — just don’t have enough information right now to talk about that.”

Perhaps there will be more clarity Monday, when Harbaugh is scheduled to address reporters again. Perhaps not.

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Expectations have certainly been lowered. In Johnson’s month with the team, the trade deadline acquisition has one catch on five targets for 6 yards. The insurance he was supposed to afford the Ravens on days like Sunday, when wide receiver Rashod Bateman was ineffective in the first half and left the game early in the second because of a sore knee, has not materialized. With Johnson active but not playing, wide receivers Tylan Wallace and Nelson Agholor were left to play a combined 79 offensive snaps, according to TruMedia.

“We want him out there,” quarterback Lamar Jackson said after going 23-for-36 for 237 yards and two touchdowns. “He’s a great receiver. We didn’t get him from the [Carolina] Panthers for nothing. I don’t think so.”

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) makes a successful toss to Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) as he is about to get hit in the 4th quarter. The Baltimore Ravens lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 24-19 at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, December 1.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) makes a successful toss to Derrick Henry as he is about to get hit in the fourth quarter against the Eagles. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Banner)

Develop (and maybe retool) the offensive line

This won’t be easy while the Ravens are away from the team facility, but the week off should at least give the team’s coaching staff the opportunity to reevaluate where the line stands. Can the group be coached better? Can it practice better? Are there easy fixes for the penalties that have undercut the offense? Is there a better combination than the starting five the Ravens have settled on?

The last question is the most salient one — and the answer probably the most frustrating to fans. Barring injury or a severe dip in performance by a starter, Ben Cleveland doesn’t seem close to a first-team job. Neither does Vorhees. This late in the season, offensive line continuity is an asset.

But the Ravens’ struggles Sunday could prompt a closer interrogation of their potential. According to TruMedia, the Eagles pressured Jackson on 56.8% of his drop-backs, the highest mark by any defense in Week 13 and the highest pressure rate the Ravens have allowed in any game this season. Three of Jackson’s four most pressured games this season have ended with losses.

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Even worse for Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Philadelphia blitzed just 13.6% of the time, ceding few easy-windows throws to Jackson.

“The whole goal is to just try to be efficient and stay ahead of the chains and just not have drives stall out, and I think there’s too [much] of that in the middle and towards the end of the game,” said center Tyler Linderbaum, who along with left guard Patrick Mekari and right guard Daniel Faalele struggled to keep the Eagles’ interior pass rush at bay. Defensive linemen Milton Williams and Jalen Carter combined for 16 pressures and a sack, according to PFF.

“Tough loss,” Linderbaum said. “Obviously, really wanted that one, but we just have to learn from it going into the bye week and just move on from it and learn from it.”

Sunday marked the third straight impressive performance for coordinator Zach Orr (center) and the Ravens defense. It was also the team’s second loss in that span. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)

Keep turning a corner on defense

No, the Eagles didn’t have field-stretching wide receiver DeVonta Smith healthy Sunday. Or ideal weather conditions for passing. Or a lights-out quarterback in Jalen Hurts.

But considering what Philadelphia had accomplished on offense since its Week 6 bye — the third-most yards per game and the third-most points per game — the Ravens’ defensive performance should by no means be dismissed. They allowed just 252 yards overall (4.7 per play), holding Hurts to 11-for-19 passing for 118 yards and a touchdown and running back Saquon Barkley to 107 yards (4.7 per carry) and a score.

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Since the Ravens’ stunning Week 8 loss to the Cleveland Browns, their defense has looked more and more like it was supposed to. In that five-game span, which includes the Ravens’ shootout win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the team ranks third in yards per play allowed (4.9), fifth in success rate and 10th in expected points added per play, according to TruMedia.

“It’s been fun to actually get three-and-outs,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “We had a plethora of those, I feel, today. The biggest thing after whatever game that was [Cincinnati], it was time to play Ravens defense, and ‘defense’ and ‘Ravens defense,’ there’s a big gap between that, and the message kind of became a little bit clear: ‘If you want to play ball, then we’ll get you out there, but if you don’t, you’re going to have to sit on the sidelines.’

“I think guys responded really well to what was being preached amongst the coaches, amongst the players, and we’re holding guys more accountable now. The brand [of defense] we were playing, it’s disrespectful to be in this Ravens uniform and play like that, and I feel like we’ve turned that corner. It’s not perfect, [and] I still think there are more corners to turn, but the mindset has really changed; the mindset has really, really changed, and that’s kind of where it starts.”

Progress is never linear, but the Ravens do not seem far from having a defense with few obvious weaknesses. Most of the work is, of course, in the secondary. Can cornerback Brandon Stephens return to his 2023 form and start consistently winning matchups against No. 1 wide receivers? Can Roquan Smith and his rotating cast of linebacker partners cover up the middle of the field more effectively? Can safety Marcus Williams, a healthy scratch on Sunday, snap out of his funk and help the defense in some meaningful way?

Sunday marked the Ravens’ third straight impressive defensive performance. It was also their second loss in that span. Sometimes good isn’t good enough — not when the Ravens’ special teams are misfiring and their offense is struggling.

“We just played our style of football, and I think that was simple,” Smith said. “It’s a long game. It’s not about what you do a couple drives into the game; it’s about what you do throughout the duration of the game, and we didn’t do it long enough. At the end of the day, they scored more points than us, and when you look at it like that, the team that scores the most points, that’s the team that wins.”