Ravens coach John Harbaugh might be as proud of Ben Cleveland’s game ball as the offensive lineman.

The ball was awarded to Cleveland after he blocked a field goal in the final seconds of the first half in what was ultimately a 30-23 victory over the Commanders.

Harbaugh said he has told special teams coordinator Chris Horton they should get Cleveland out on the field goal blocking unit. His 6-foot-6, 360-pound frame provides a formidable obstacle to kickers.

“I’ve been suggesting that awhile now, to be honest with you,” Harbaugh said, holding his hands in the air.

According to Harbaugh, Cleveland approached Horton requesting to join the special teams unit about two weeks ago.

“When a guy wants to do something like that and wants to take the time and double down and help the team, man, you’re fired up about that,” Harbaugh said.

Week 5’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals was the first time he went out there with the unit. One week later, he batted down a field goal.

Coming into training camp and the preseason, Cleveland was in the running for one of the starting guard spots. However, Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele quickly pushed him down the depth chart. He practiced at backup center, as well, but he’s only seen limited game time since the season started. He played one offensive snap in Weeks 3, 4 and 6; and he played two offensive snaps in Week 5. Most of them have been as a sixth offensive lineman. But now he has a game ball thanks to his work with special teams.

Getting some kickoff reps

Harbaugh made his name as a special teams coordinator, and he’ll never step away from that phase of the game, even if he’s letting Horton do his thing.

Over the offseason, Harbaugh leaned into his special teams experience when he questioned the new kickoff rule proposal at the annual owners’ meetings. While the Ravens eventually voted in favor of the dynamic kickoff, Harbaugh was not shy about his reservations.

Six weeks in, Harbaugh said it’s been a little disappointing how often kickoffs still go for touchbacks.

In the season opener, a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens saw their opponents kick a touchback six times. They did not return the ball at all. In the next four games they had: two returns, two returns, no returns and two returns.

The Commanders kicked only two touchbacks compared to four playable balls.

“It’s nice to get some reps, finally,” Harbaugh said. “The disappointing thing about the play — and we’re part of it, too, because we kick a lot of touchbacks — is to get more kickoff returns, and there really aren’t.”

He said the Ravens’ reasons are that they have six or seven rookies out there on their coverage units, and they’re still learning. They’re doing well, but they can certainly get better.

Would Harbaugh like to see touchbacks placed at the 35- or 40-yard line to discourage them, like some have recommended?

“I would,” he said emphatically.

Derrick Henry is ‘one-of-a-kind’

Thinking back to the film he watched ahead of the 2016 NFL draft, Harbaugh remembered running back Derrick Henry sticking out.

“I just saw him on tape, like what a perfect fit for the Ravens. ... He just seemed so different. He just seemed like one-of-a-kind. And then playing against him, a lot of envious eyes watching him play for the Titans all those years,” Harbaugh said.

There wasn’t much conversation about drafting him in 2016, Harbaugh claimed, because they knew he would go too high.

The Ravens selected starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who was a Pro Bowler in 2019 but has dealt with injuries, at No. 6 overall that year. They then picked defensive end Kamalei Correa three spots ahead of where Henry eventually went to the Titans. Correa played five NFL seasons, two for the Ravens, before retiring, and he never turned into a regular starter.

Now, Harbaugh is the envied rather than the envious. Henry is averaging 117 yards per game in his first season as a Raven, helping Baltimore to a 4-2 record.

Defensive roller coaster

The Ravens run defense is historically good. The pass defense can’t claim the same.

The team’s secondary and pass rush haven’t been able to limit quarterbacks from finding their receivers for chunk plays in critical times.

From the stat sheet, the pass rush didn’t look like it did a great job getting to the quarterback Sunday. There were two early sacks and then not much else until Yannick Ngakoue took Jayden Daniels down near the end of the fourth quarter. The defense had Daniels scrambling with eight quarterback hurries, but the rookie quarterback is good on the move and the Ravens weren’t able to convert those into sacks.

However, Harbaugh explained the focus was to contain Daniels, which they did a good job of. He may have hit his receivers while on the run, but he only rushed for 22 yards. He said the unit was very disciplined.

“It played its best game, in a lot of ways, in this last game,” Harbaugh said. “Some of it was because of who we’re going against. Jayden Daniels is a real threat to get out of the pocket. I think he really only got out twice.”

Harbaugh also reiterated his confidence in his defensive backs despite the fact that they’re giving up over 275 passing yards a game.

“We’re very talented back there,” Harbaugh said. “I told the guys, last week we were the 29th-ranked pass defense by statistics in the league. I mean, are we going to play 29th the rest of the year? I mean that’s an opportunity because we know we’re far better than that.”