After an underwhelming outing in Cleveland, the Ravens’ defense was clearly in need of an edge.

With days to go until the NFL trade deadline, outsiders (including myself) spent the week looking at what Baltimore’s front office needs to add to the roster. But, in all that time, the defense has been thinking hard about how it can grow from within.

At the team hotel Saturday night, the defense met to talk about how to reclaim its swagger. In a meeting led by Roquan Smith, the players determined that not only would they finally come down with one of those interceptions they’ve been dropping but that they’d celebrate snapping the cold streak in the end zone.

It took the defense just two snaps before Ar’Darius Washington wrapped his hands around a deflected pass. As planned, the unit ran to the end zone. For second-year linebacker Trenton Simpson, it was a sign.

“I’d just say we had swagger today,” he said. “Everybody celebrated. You saw, when Ar’Darius got the interception, everybody was excited. So this was a team win and, as a defense, I feel like everyone just coming together and being excited for each other allows it to be more contagious.”

The Ravens’ best path to improving a substandard pass defense is still trading for help before Tuesday’s deadline. But Baltimore’s defense is not waiting for reinforcements. Its Sunday performance in a 41-10 win over Denver was far from perfect but undeniably a step up as the Ravens finished with four sacks, seven passes defended and one interception while knocking around rookie Bo Nix.

The improvement was markedly internal. A week after the pass rush got almost nowhere against Cleveland’s Jameis Winston, second-year edge Tavius Robinson wrapped up two sacks. Simpson had a strong game in pass coverage and got his own sack of Nix in the fourth quarter as the Broncos neared the end zone.

As a unit, the Ravens showed impressive resilience, making four fourth-down stops and not allowing a touchdown on three of four Denver red-zone possessions. In the second half, the Broncos didn’t score, not even in garbage time.

“That’s the mentality we play with,” Robinson said. “We don’t ever want to let them run the ball in the end zone. So, if we have a yard, we’re gonna do everything we can to stop them at that point.”

Maybe toying with a rookie quarterback on a rebuilding Denver squad doesn’t feel like a great achievement for a defense that still had wobbly moments. In the second quarter, Nix made plays, highlighted by a pass completion against Marcus Williams in close coverage.

On a key conversion, Smith was nearly juked out of his cleats by Nix pump faking on the run. Smith hasn’t been close to his All-Pro level this season, and he acknowledged how ugly that particular snap was for him after the game.

“It’s tough, but at the end of the day, I watch film and I’ve seen him do it on film,” Smith said. “So that’s a horrible mistake by me and I should’ve never done that.”

Part of the Ravens’ issues stem from Smith, Williams and others not living up to the roles they’ve carved out in past seasons, to say nothing of the contracts they’ve signed in past offseasons. The defense needs them to do their part to reach greater heights.

On the other hand, big plays by Simpson and Robinson help shape a vision of what this defense could be.

Simpson hasn’t played nearly the same number of snaps as Smith this year, but Pro Football Focus has rated him the better ’backer in coverage. Taking over the sizable shoes of Patrick Queen, he’s had to grow.

“I think it means a lot, just the commitment to myself, to my teammates to studying more film, asking questions, and just going in every day attacking the day and being a true professional and practicing the right way,” he said. “Being more focused, studying more on my own and just going out there and being relentless and giving it everything I got.”

Similarly, Robinson has been one of Baltimore’s better run defenders on the edge, but he had not factored into the pass rush much before Sunday’s game. In a game when the Ravens got better at pressuring Nix as the afternoon went on, coach John Harbaugh called Robinson’s second sack “massive” for the defense.

Whoever Baltimore adds at the deadline, the probability is there’s no miracle fix for its issues. Simpson and Robinson are the spearhead of young players who must step up if the Ravens are to reach their potential.

Sunday’s game offered a peek at that. Smith was especially effusive talking about Simpson, of whom he said he’s “very proud” of how far he’s come.

“I know he busted his ass day in and day out, and so I know he’s just gonna continue to keep getting better,” Smith said. “And, when he continues to get better, as a defense we’ll continue to rise as well.”