OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Before the Baltimore Ravens play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), the team took an extra day to move past their disastrous season-opening 41-40 loss at the Buffalo Bills. The Ravens understand, especially on defense, that they have something to prove after another fourth-quarter collapse.
Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey said Wednesday that coach John Harbaugh delivered a blunt message in the team meeting.
"He said we're just not mature enough as a team yet," Humphrey said. "It's very clear we've got great players on both sides of the ball, but defensively, we have to work on our maturity, too. It doesn't matter what our offense is doing. We have to go up there and win the game. Right now, our maturity level, sadly, when we get in those situations, it's just not enough."
When Baltimore led by 15 points with four minutes remaining Sunday, Humphrey remembers giving a look to middle linebacker Roquan Smith that signaled "Let's go win the game." Instead, for the fifth time in the last five seasons, Baltimore lost after leading by double digits in the fourth quarter.
The most frustrating part was Baltimore had the perfect calls for Bills quarterback Josh Allen and had gone over many of the scenarios all throughout training camp, according to Humphrey.
"That's why the loss hurt so bad," Humphrey said. "We knew exactly what they were going to do in a couple different situations, and all 11 guys couldn't get together. So, that maturity, we're still working on it, and we're looking to build on that maturity on Sunday."
Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who is in his 12th season, learned over his career that there's a 24-hour rule to either celebrate or vent over games. After Sunday's loss -- where Baltimore failed to hold a 15-point lead with four minutes remaining -- Van Noy believed it warranted 48 hours to get over.
Earlier this week, the Ravens defense had a dinner together. It had been planned before the season opener, but the players used the time together to move forward and focus on the Browns.
"I'm not going to go into details," Van Noy said, "but just know that we're doing everything we can to try to right the ship and get it going in a place where everybody's excited about it."
This rough start is not unusual for the Ravens defense. Last season, Baltimore gave up an average of an NFL-worst 284.5 yards passing through the first 11 weeks of the season. Then, in the final seven weeks, the Ravens allowed an average of 170 yards passing, which was the fewest in the league over that span.
Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr made it clear to the players this week that the team is not going to have "repeat offenders," according to Humphrey.
"It's not going to be a situation where somebody's been doing something wrong, and nothing gets said, or we think this, that and the third," Humphrey said. "We're not going to get into a situation similar to last year where we kind of mask over this and try to do this and protect this guy or protect that guy. The guys that do it right are going to play. It's really just that simple. I think we're just too talented of a team to continue to have those collapses."
The Ravens have shown the ability to bounce back. Since 2022, Baltimore is 12-2 (.857) following a loss. That's the second-best record in that span.
"You have to find a way to come back and play the next week and improve," Harbaugh said. "The opportunity of failure or disappointment is the opportunity that brings into sharp focus all of the things that you need to get better at because every single person is looking at every single thing that they didn't do as well as they wanted to do in their mind. We have accountable guys saying, 'That's on me. If I'd have made that play, if I'd have done that better, if I'd have made that decision,' Whatever it is -- for all of us -- that would've been the difference in the game."