OK, hear me out . . . you’re probably laughing a bit right now, and I understand.

They rank 27th in total yards allowed and 30th in passing defense. They’ve left receivers completely uncovered for easy completions, whiffed on tackles and been outraced for long touchdowns. But outside of those big plays, Baltimore’s defense is significantly better than most people probably think.

Take a look at the number of big plays Baltimore has allowed, the total yards and the percentage of each game and the season as a whole.

Big plays allowed:

Passes Runs Week Opponent 20+ yds 40+ yds 10+ yds 20+ yds Big-play yards % of total net yards 1 Miami Dolphins 3 1 0 0 97 48.5% 2 Arizona Cardinals 7 2 0 0 230 65.9% 3 Kansas City Chiefs 4 1 4 2 249 49.5% 4 Cleveland Browns 3 2 5 1 293 55.3% Total 869 54.9%

Over four games, the Ravens have allowed 35 big plays out of the 224 total they’ve defended (11.6%), accounting for most of the yards they’ve given up this season. (A “big play” is defined here as a run of 10-plus yards or a pass play of 20 or more yards.) If the Ravens were to decrease their big-play yardage to just half of what it currently is, they’d have the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL (287 total yards-per-game).

Those big plays have typically been due to miscommunications in coverage and missed tackles. If Baltimore can clean those things up, they’d limit the number of big plays and therefore look significantly better than they do right now. And those lapses are absolutely things this defense can clean up when you diagnose why they’re happening.

The miscommunications and players being out of position have largely been due to how young and inexperienced this defense is. A lot got made of the losses the Ravens suffered in free agency this year, and it’s accurate to point the finger there for their woes now. Safety Eric Weddle, inside linebacker C.J. Mosley and outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Terrell Suggs all departed. Add a handful of key injuries like to cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young, and you have six of 11 starters missing from last year’s top-rated unit.

Fans expecting them to pick up where they left off with those types of offseason losses were deluding themselves. But that’s not to say they can’t improve and get significantly better than they are right now. And they don’t even need to do much outside of being patient.

Once Smith can return to practice, the secondary will get better. Once newcomers like safety Earl Thomas can fully take in the playbook and play off his experience and instincts rather than thinking first, the defense will get better. Changes at positions with lackluster play, like outside linebacker Tim Williams being cut, will give others a chance to step up, and the defense will improve. As the entire defense jells over the remainder of the season, it will naturally settle down and get better. When those things happen, we’ll see fewer of those large mistakes that create big plays.

There’s still a ton head coach John Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Don Martindale have to do to get this team back on track and there are some issues that can’t be resolved as easily or quickly. But Baltimore’s defense is playing well just about 90% of the time, they just need to tighten up the last bit. Fans should trust they’ll get there, and when they do, they’ll be far closer to the production we saw last year than what we’ve seen early this season.