The Ravens defense earns comparisons to the legendary 2000 team

Leaving Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels on the ground 11 yards behind the line of scrimmage, Ravens defensive tackles Travis Jones and Nnamdi Madubuike collided in celebration.

At this point, Madubuike thought they would both be fired. Instead, the credit went to Jones, giving him his first of the season, an equally celebratory moment in Madubuike’s mind.

“I’m really proud of him,” Madubuike said after a 30-23 win at the Ravens on Sunday. “I had that mindset, even on the sideline, the whole game, like, ‘Man, I don’t know why the offense is out there!’ I’m ready to go! I’m ready to go right now!’ He was hungry the whole game.”

While Jones wanted to be on the field at all times, the Ravens offense put on an impressive showing, especially on the ground. But the performance of the defense stopping The race was certainly as good, or better. The Ravens are in a rare position. The offense leads the league in rushing yards, while the defense has allowed the fewest in the league.

The last performance of the defense was against a formidable opponent. In three of their first five games, the Commanders rushed for more than 200 yards. They were averaging 178.4 yards per game.

Against the Ravens, they finished with 52.

Of course, their best running back, Brian Robinson Jr., was sidelined. But 52 yards is in line with what the Ravens have allowed all season. They entered the game allowing 60.4 yards per game, which is now down to 59.

This is the second-best performance by a Ravens defense through the first six games in team history (in 2000, they allowed 304 rushing yards through the first six games, for an average of 50.7 ), and are in the top five of all teams since 2000.

According to TruMedia, the Ravens’ run defense leads the league in three categories: completion percentage, yards per carry allowed (3.0) and explosive run percentage (12 or more yards) allowed (2.6%). They are second in rushing yards allowed (354) only because the Minnesota Vikings (336) have a bye this week. The Ravens also rank third in yards before contact allowed per carry (0.93) and fourth in rushing yards (25).

“That’s what we pride ourselves on, stopping the run and then getting to the passer,” nose tackle Michael Pierce said.

“That was a point of emphasis for the offseason,” Pierce added. “We didn’t do as well as we would have liked to have done last year, for whatever reason.”

Despite having arguably the best defense in the league last season, they gave up the 14th-most rushing yards (1,860) and 24th-most yards per carry (4.5).

“So, I’m glad to see we’ve fixed it,” Pierce said.

There is a strong correlation between the growth of the career defense and the personal growth of Jones.

“This is our initial nose guard; that’s the heart and soul of our defense, right up the middle,” Pierce said.

Jones is entering his third year, which is usually when you find out if a defensive lineman has power, according to former Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell. As a rookie, Jones had just one sack, two quarterback hits and three hurries. The following season, he stepped up with 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hits and 19 hurries. PFF graded him at 61.7 in his first season and 68.1 in his second.

This year, he has recorded one sack, two quarterback hits and seven hurries in six games. He has a grade of 77.3, his highest marks in the run game each week. Heading into Sunday, his 12.9 percent sack rate ranked fourth among NFL interior linemen. (A stop is a tackle that constitutes a “failure” for the offense).

Things are clicking for the young lineman, Madubuike said, and there’s no limit to how good he could be. Outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said Jones has been relentless on every play. Even if you’re not recording stats, you’re doing something to affect the game. It’s making everyone else’s life easier.

“He’s being dominant there,” Oweh added. “Like, you see somebody that big moving that fast, like, there’s nowhere to run. It’s just good because he forces a lot on the perimeter, where guys like me and KV (Kyle Van Noy) go. David (Ojabo) is there out and makes plays too. So he’s helping a lot of guys.”