Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton knows the key to the team’s success is having “cohesion” on all sides of the ball.
The Ravens are 8-5 through the first 13 games of the season and it’s been the definition of an up-and-down campaign for the team. A year after clinching the best record in the NFL with a 13-4 mark, the Ravens started out the year 0-2 before rallying off five straight wins. However, they’ve since come back down to earth, going 3-3 over their past six games.
Uncharacteristically, the Ravens’ defense has not been one of their strong suits, ranking 24th in the NFL by allowing 24.5 points per game. Meanwhile, the offense has been absolutely dominant, averaging 29.5 points per game (third-best mark in the NFL) while ranking first in total yardage and yards per rush attempt.
Hamilton unsurprisingly says that in order for the Ravens to reach their goal of winning a Super Bowl, they have to start playing well on both sides of the ball.
“I think it’s the cohesion as a unit as a whole,” says Hamilton in a one-on-one interview. “We’ve had games this year where the offense played great and the defense has not been great and they bailed us out of those games where they just outscored every team. We’ve given up a good amount of points. I think just putting it all together, us having a good game and the offense having a good game.”
The Ravens once again failed to do that in their recent 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13. While the defensive unit allowed 24 points, the score is a little bit misleading considering they held Philadelphia to just 14 points before the fourth quarter and just 252 total yards for the game — their second-lowest offensive output of the season.
However, the offense failed to produce, scoring just 12 points before posting a touchdown with three seconds remaining in the game.
Baltimore’s 19 points were their lowest points scored of the season outside of a 16-point output in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11.
“It’s not just against the Steelers, I think we’re going to beat most teams if we have that,” says Hamilton of the offense and defense putting up a complete game. “It’s about maintaining that, achieving that going into the playoffs.”
Kyle Hamilton On Why Games Against Steelers Are Physical and Low Scoring
Despite the recent setback, the Ravens are still in prime position to make it to the playoffs. Baltimore is currently in the sixth spot in the AFC playoff picture and has a 96% chance of making it to the playoffs. The team on the outside-looking-in, the Indianapolis Colts, has a 6-7 record.
While the Ravens will likely make it into the playoffs, they face an uphill battle in winning the AFC North. The Steelers lead the division with a 9-3 record and a slightly better division mark — 2-1 record to the Ravens’ 2-2 record — heading into Week 14. The Ravens obviously still have a chance at winning the division with a Week 16 rematch looming in Baltimore, but it’s going to take a win and some extra help to repeat as division champs.
“It’s a rivalry game, both teams are juiced up, it’s a physical division, it’s going to be mostly cold weather games from here on out,” says Hamilton of why the team’s games against the Steelers tend to be low scoring. “It’s truly a tough, gritty sport and this is the peak of it, AFC North football. The talent on each and every one of these teams, they’re never going to give up or say a game is over, no matter who they are or what their record is. And that goes with us included. It’s always going to be a dog fight and those are probably the most fun games to play.”
The defense has shown better play over the past three weeks, allowing just an average of just 280.0 yards per game, the fourth-best mark in the league. Compare that to their season average of 347.6 yards per game — 24th-best mark in the league — and one can see that the defensive unit is getting better at the right time before the playoffs start.
It’s worth noting the defensive unit has done this against three star quarterback-driven teams in the Eagles, Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers.
“I think early in the year, and even through the middle a little bit, we’ve had some communication problems,” says Hamilton of why the defense had struggled. “I don’t think it’s people not knowing what to do. It’s just not being loud and vocal. Once all the people aren’t on the same page, there’s gonna be some holes in the defense. That’s something that’s an easy fix.”
Hamilton, who currently ranks second on the team with 88 tackles, says the defensive unit is on the “right trajectory.”
“I think we’ve also kind of had to look at ourselves in the mirror this season, confront each other on certain things that we thought we were doing wrong, and coaches included, and it was a group effort,” says Hamilton. “I think that we’ve improved a lot and are just on the right trajectory going forward.”
The Ravens have obviously come up short in their quest to win a Super Bowl since Hamilton entered the league in 2022. They lost in the AFC Championship Game to their rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, despite hosting the game at home and finishing the regular season as the best team in the NFL last season.
With that being said, Lamar Jackson is following up his second MVP award with another outstanding season, ranking among the top quarterbacks in the league with 29 touchdowns and 3,290 passing yards, the second-best marks in the league.
Jackson is one of the favorites for the NFL MVP one again. If he wins his third MVP award, he would do so by the age of 28, the youngest in league history.
“I think he’s done a good job this year just extending plays and receivers getting open and keep working throughout the play and finding them down the field to make plays,” says Hamilton of Jackson’s play this season. “They look for big plays and I think that’s something that he does at a very high level.”
The Ravens are going to need Jackson to continue to play at an elite level if they want a chance at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since the 2012 season.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” says Hamilton of winning the Super Bowl. “I think everyone has that on their mind from the start of OTAs to now through the end of the year. It’s good to have one goal in mind. Everyone understands what the task at hand is and what to do to achieve it.”
Hamilton On Partnering With USAA For ‘My Cause My Cleats’ Campaign
Hamilton is speaking on behalf of his partnership with USAA and Our Military Kids, who he’s partnering with for the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” campaign. As part of the campaign, Hamilton wore specially-designed cleats during the team’s game against the Eagles that echo the theme of military.
The 23-year-old explains why military and the armed forces were his pick for the campaign, detailing that his grandfather was in the military when he met his grandmother while stationed in South Korea.
“I know it’s a vast, vast, giant range of people in the military, but I think their sacrifices they make on a daily basis, especially abroad, is something that shouldn’t go overlooked,” says Hamilton. “I’m trying to do my part to just kind of highlight that. I feel like it’s something that Americans can do a little better job of just appreciating and highlighting these people. It’s fun to show my appreciation for them.”
