If the hardest thing in the NFL is stopping the Ravens’ historically good offense, the second hardest might be explaining the Ravens’ routinely perplexing defense. Especially this month. Especially with what happened Nov. 7.

That night, in the Ravens’ 35-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals — an offense missing standout left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and wide receiver Tee Higgins — they allowed 470 yards of total offense and committed six defensive penalties for 51 yards, sufficient enough carnage for cornerback Marlon Humhprey to lament afterward: “We’ve really lost that standard.”

Yet the Ravens’ defense will head into December and Sunday’s showdown with the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles (9-2) with … a November to be proud of? Incredibly, yes. Over those four games, the Ravens’ much-maligned unit looked as prepared for playoff football as it has all season.

In wins against the Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos — the NFL’s sixth-, 13th- and 19th-ranked offenses, respectively, according to FTN’s opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics — and a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers (22nd), the Ravens measured out as an upper-tier defense. Eighth in yards per play allowed (5.0), according to TruMedia. Sixth in success rate (a measure of how often plays led to positive expected points added for the defense). Eleventh in EPA per play. Not quite elite, but good enough to wonder whether the Ravens might have turned a corner.

“Yes, I’ll say that,” outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said Wednesday. “I feel like we’re doing a real good job of communicating, doing the little things well, holding on to details and just following the plan for that week.”

What’s working for the 8-4 Ravens and first-year coordinator Zach Orr? Here are three positive trends.

Run defense remains elite

In Week 8, at the end of October, the Ravens lost Michael Pierce to a calf injury that would sideline him for all of November, as well as defensive lineman Brent Urban to a concussion that knocked him out of Week 9 and Week 10. (Pierce could return from injured reserve as soon as Sunday’s game, coach John Harbaugh said Wednesday.) Travis Jones, maybe the team’s top interior run stuffer, has been limited by an ankle injury all November. All-Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith, one of the NFL’s leading tacklers, missed the Ravens’ win Monday over the Chargers with a hamstring injury.

And still the Ravens’ elite run defense persevered. The team entered November having allowed an NFL-best 3.2 yards per carry on designed runs. This month, the Ravens allowed just 3.5 yards per carry.

Overall, their run defense is eighth in FTN’s efficiency rankings and, according to TruMedia, fifth in run stuff rate (the percentage of runs going for 0 or negative yards), third in success rate and second in first-down-conversion rate.

The Ravens’ toughest test will come Sunday. The Eagles have the NFL’s third-best rushing offense, according to FTN, powered by quarterback Jalen Hurts (456 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns), running back Saquon Barkley (an NFL-high 1,392 rushing yards) and an elite offensive line (ranked No. 3 in the NFL by Pro Football Focus).

“It’s a challenge for us, a challenge for our run defense ... because they do it with their offensive line, they do it with their back, they also do it with their scheme — which the quarterback is a part of, too — and they can throw off the runs,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “So there’s a lot going on there.”

Sacks are coming, and so are pressures

Over the Ravens’ first two months, they racked up a lot of sacks without a lot of disruption. Through Week 8, they were fourth in quarterback takedowns (24) but 27th in pressure rate (29%), according to TruMedia, a discrepancy largely explained by the sheer number of drop-backs that opposing quarterbacks took in blowouts.

In November, the Ravens are second in sacks (15) and fifth in pressure rate (37.7%). And they’re not beating up entirely on sad-sack offensive lines, either. The Broncos have the NFL’s second-best overall pass blocking grade this season, according to PFF. The Chargers rank 13th. The Bengals are 24th, though quarterback Joe Burrow’s quick trigger can make him tough to pressure. The Steelers are 26th.

The Ravens did not get home especially quickly this month — they’re 17th in average pressure time and 30th in average sack time, according to TruMedia — but they didn’t need to, either. They blitzed quarterbacks at one of the league’s lowest rates in November (18.7% of drop-backs), preferring to have a numbers advantage in the back end and trusting All-Pro defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike (five sacks) and Oweh (career-high eight sacks) to finish off plays.

“I believe I’m a big pulse on the defensive line,” Madubuike said after his three-sack showing against Cincinnati. “I’m a leader on the defensive line, and it starts with me and just my attitude and my focus. I feel like guys feed off of me, and I take the initiative just to stay focused and [have] high energy just to get back there. It’s one thing to say it and it’s one thing to do it, so I try to do both and just encourage my teammates to do it as well. It’s what we’re going to do.”

Sacks tend to be drive-enders, but pressures matter, too. When pressured, opposing quarterbacks have completed just 54.2% of their passes for three touchdowns and three interceptions against the Ravens this season. Passers have averaged just 0.01 EPA per pressured drop-back against Orr’s defense — comparable to the overall efficiency of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Joe Flacco — but a devastating 0.48 EPA per unpressured drop-back — comparable to Jackson’s overall efficiency in the Week 10 win over the Bengals (290 passing yards and four touchdowns).

Sunday’s game could be bountiful for the Ravens’ pass rush. Despite the Eagles’ well-regarded offensive line, Hurts’ sack rate (9.2%) and pressure rate (41.6%) are among the league’s worst.

Explosive plays are less explosive

The Ravens’ defense still has an explosive-play problem. They allowed a run of at least 12 yards or a completion of at least 16 yards on 11.6% of their plays in November — a slight improvement from their first two months (12.9%, fourth worst in the NFL), but still just the league’s 19th-best rate since Week 9.

But if there is a silver lining to that recent form, it’s that opponents’ explosive passing plays were less explosive. Over the Ravens’ first eight weeks, opponents averaged nearly five 20-plus-yard completions per game (39 total). Over the past four weeks? Less than three per game (11 total). Over the past two weeks, their first with cornerback Tre’Davious White in the rotation and Ar’Darius Washington starting next to Kyle Hamilton at safety? Less than two per game (three total).

Monday’s win might’ve been the Ravens’ most impressive showing yet. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert had racked up 16 completions of at least 20 yards over his past three games. He left the prime-time loss with a handful of explosive passes, but none longer than 19 yards.

“I think it’s just not making mental mistakes,” Hamilton said Wednesday. “That stuff really puts us behind. We’ll be having good drives, people will be in good positions; it’s just a mental mistake here or there, and they’ll end up with a touchdown. So [we’ve had] less of those, and [I’m] not saying that we’ve completely gotten rid of them, but less and less as we go on is good for us.”

Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, who’s third in the NFL in receiving yards per game (90.9), will test the Ravens’ soundness on short, intermediate and deep routes Sunday. With him on the field this season, Philadelphia has an explosive-pass-play rate of 19.2%.

“There was a couple of times [against the Chargers] where guys got loose on some man coverage stuff,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “We played a lot of man, and they were running a lot of man beaters. That’s something we definitely have to work on, because we’ll see that from these guys [Philadelphia] as well, but I was happy with the way the guys played.”