The Ravens are turning back the clock to spark their struggling defense.

Baltimore has hired its former defensive coordinator, Dean Pees, for a senior advisor role. Pees, 75, is a longtime NFL assistant who was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017, which included the organization’s last Super Bowl title in 2013.

“His football knowledge and his ability to put an eye on things and be a great sounding board for and backup for everybody is super good,” coach John Harbaugh said. “He can make us better, so I’m happy about that.”

At times this season, the Ravens’ defense couldn’t play much worse.

While Baltimore has won three straight following an 0-2 start, its defense is 26th in points allowed per game (25.2) and 19th in yards allowed (340.6). The Ravens’ pass defense in particular has struggled, ranking 30th in passing yards allowed per game (280.2) and 31st in completion percentage (67.2).

Last Sunday in a 41-38 come-from-behind overtime victory in Cincinnati, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 392 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes.

“We’re kind of confronting everything right now,” said safety Kyle Hamilton, who added he first met Pees on a pre-draft visit with the Atlanta Falcons in 2022 when Pees was Atlanta’s defensive coordinator. “There’s no egos. [Defensive coordinator Zach Orr] could’ve easily been like, ‘No I’m going to fix it in-house.’ To be humble enough to bring someone in who knows what they’re doing … he’s a great guy, knows ball so it’s good to have him here. It’s just another set of eyes. It’s not like he’s going to start calling the defense.”

Orr, who is in his first year as a defensive coordinator on any level after the Seattle Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald as its coach, knows Pees well, with the former linebacker having played for him in Baltimore before a neck condition cut his career short.

Defensive tackle Michael Pierce also spent two seasons playing under Pees and believes his addition can only help.

“He’s a wealth of knowledge,” Pierce said. “We’re hungry to get back to where we were last year. Obviously we had to start all the way over. We hit some bumps in the road.

“Statistics may say one thing, but we believe we’re closer than statistics may say.”

Also contributing to the Ravens’ step back after becoming the first team in NFL history to lead the league in sacks, takeaways and points allowed per game was the wave of players it lost in free agency as well as significant turnover among the coaching staff.

Outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney left for the Carolina Panthers and inside linebacker Patrick Queen the Pittsburgh Steelers, among other departures. Meanwhile, former defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson is now the defensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans and ex-defensive line coach Anthony Weaver is in the same role with the Miami Dolphins.

As for Pees, he has spent 18 years in the NFL, beginning as linebackers coach for the New England Patriots in 2004 and most recently as defensive coordinator of the the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent two seasons before retiring for a third time following the 2022 season.

He was also the head coach at Kent State from 1998 to 2003 and the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Miami University from 1983 to 1986 when Ravens coach John Harbaugh was a player there.

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.