At this point, it almost feels like a scripted same old same old for the Ravens. The highly paid defense fails to perform up to a level of expectation, the offense flounders and falls flat with all the excuses in the world, and the other team who has clear cut weaknesses coming into the game all of a sudden has zero weaknesses and looks like a Super Bowl favorite. Really, please, at this point, for my sake, name a more iconic duo than the Ravens and disappointment?
Just to do a quick recap of the Vikings game, the Ravens made the Vikings, who had one of the worst offensive lines coming into the season, an injury to their star rookie running back, and a secondary with clear weaknesses outside of Rhodes and Smith, look like the best team in the league… with Case Keenum at quarterback. I shudder to think of what would be the result if Sam Bradford had played. It would probably be another week one showing vs the Saints for Bradford.
The Ravens run defense was supposed to return to form against the Vikings with the return of Brandon Williams, but the Vikings all of a sudden crafted a run blocking scheme to perfection that frequently sprung Latavius Murray to the THIRD, not just second, level without being touched on more than a handful of runs. Lardarius Webb reminded us again why he was moved from playing slot cornerback at the NFL level as he was replaced by Jaylen Hill at the end of the game after Webb was beaten soundly like a drum by Jairus Wright and Adam Thielen. On the bright side, Jimmy Smith and Brandon Carr continue to look extremely impressive.
Offensively, Joe Flacco was missing Jeremy Maclin, Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams, Terrence West, and Chris Matthews for the start of the game. Mike Wallace would later leave in the first quarter after a brutal illegal blow to the head put him in the concussion protocol. How would Flacco respond with his top three receivers being Griff Whalen, Michael Campanaro, and Chris Moore? The exact same way that he always has- a conservative based passing attack and shoddy accuracy down the field. The only real difference is that Flacco actually took shots down the field and it helped to open up the passing game in the fourth quarter and even led to a late garbage time touchdown. Imagine that, Joe and Marty- if you take shots down the field and do not use a one yard pass to the covered tight end as your first read, you can begin to attack all levels of the defense. Crazy, right? The running game did about exactly what we would expect and as predicted against this Vikings front seven. Also, as predicted, the Vikings pass rush got going with 5 sacks and 11 pressures on just 39 drop-backs from Flacco. Yikes. Not a good look when you allow your quarterback to be hit or pressured on more than one third of his pass attempts.
Did I miss anything? No? Good, let us move on then.
At this point, is really is fair to wonder if anything will change for the Ravens and their 3-4 record. Hell, it is totally fair to wonder how the Ravens even got here to 3-4 at all and are not just sitting at 0-7. The first two games of the regular season feel like eons ago compared to the level of play that we have seen from the Ravens from week 3 on and will likely continue to see from the Ravens from week eight on. How does a team that utterly dominated its first two opponents defensively collapse so hard? How does a former Super Bowl winning quarterback regress this far to the point that he is no longer recognizable as the layer who hoisted a Lombardi? How is it that the Ravens can miss the playoffs in three of the last four years and potentially four of the last five years and not have monumental changes on the horizon?
There really is something to be said about a team that looks no different with our without its starters, offensively or defensively. Is this all just a scheme issue? Offensively, these same problems have persisted under Marc Trestman and Marty Mornhinweg and there is little reason to believe that they would actually change drastically under Greg Roman with the current personnel all the way around the team offensively.
Defensively, how is it that so many teams can just come in and craft a perfect game plan for the Ravens defense? The Jaguars were able to effectively dominate the Ravens defense with lots of counters and mis-directions, the Steelers just put the ball into the hands of their play makers on the edges of the Ravens defense where they were weak, and the Vikings showed the ability to block down on the Ravens defensive line and use boot legs and roll outs on designed runs to trick an over aggressive defense into chasing where the ball was not. Why are there three different game plans by an opposing offense with essentially three results that add up the same? Are the Ravens just not a disciplined defense? It sure did not look like it in any of these three games when the Ravens could not set an edge or stop over pursuing plays that were simply not there.
The question becomes what will generate any sort of consistency in the offense and what will get this defense to play up to the level of their talent? Offensively, is firing yet another coordinator actually going to provide the necessary spark? Sure, it may provide a short-term fix as teams scramble to figure out how a new offensive coordinator will use the personnel of the Ravens to his advantage, but what happens when there is several weeks of tape available and defenses adjust? We have seen this same story unfold many times in recent memory- the offense falls into a hole of conservative, predictable play that will not win a football game. Do the Ravens need to draft another quarterback if they get a top 5 pick? This draft class looks like the real deal similar to 2004 with Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, and Sam Darnold all sitting at the top. Look no further than Kansas City where Alex Smith looks like a totally different quarterback now that the Chiefs have drafted his replacement in Patrick Mahomes. Would a fresh, young quarterback motivate Flacco back to his old-self, or even new heights? Hell, it might even be wise to draft a quarterback and Flacco’s cap hits become non-detrimental to the team in two years if the Ravens wanted to move on. Why not milk two more great years out of Flacco and have Josh Rosen learn the ropes of the NFL similar to Aaron Rodgers behind Brett Favre?
Defensively, at this point, it is incredibly hard to actually pinpoint an issue. On one hand, the Ravens have all the talent in the world amongst Brandon Carr, Jimmy Smith, and Marlon Humphrey and the trio is showing up in a major way and absolutely abusing opposing quarterbacks who dare to throw to the outside. On the other hand, the pass rush has not netted a single sack in two weeks and the front seven as a whole have been instrumental in allowing 170 yards per game over the last five games. Is it really as simple as firing Dean Pees? Would the Ravens really benefit from a more aggressive defensive minded coach to take over the defense? Teryl Austin was a huge asset to the Ravens defense as a secondary coach after Chuck Pagano left and he would have vastly more talent to work with back in Baltimore than in Detroit. Would Matt Patricia be a viable answer? He is not an aggressive coordinator, per se, but he seems to know how to exploit match ups and weaknesses on opposing offenses and seemingly always puts his defense in a good position. The Ravens have routinely funneled in draft capital to the defense and the same issues persist year after year. What will it take to change this?
At this point, it is fair to wonder if John Harbaugh is the coach next season if the Baltimore Ravens suffer another losing record. That would be a losing record in two of the past three seasons with 2016 ending right at .500 and the Ravens will have missed the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. Why would you keep a head coach around with those type of results? Because he won a Super Bowl six years ago? Sometimes it is best to move on from a perceived great coach because he just is not doing it for your team anymore. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles and Andy Reid. Reid was incredibly good at getting his team to the playoffs and even got his team to the Super Bowl. He was widely considered one of the best coaches in the entire league and a top tier talent evaluator as he had a large hand in the draft for the Eagles. However, two seasons in a row where he missed the playoffs and a losing record to end and Reid was shown the door. Sure, Reid was immediately snapped up and the Chiefs have been one of the best teams in the league since, but the Eagles are seemingly very happy with Doug Pederson and have found their franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz. With a win tonight against the Washington Redskins, the Eagles would likely solidify themselves as the best team in the NFC, even without Andy Reid coaching them.
At this point, I do not have an answer for what would fix this team. I do not think that a quick and easy fix is possible at this point and I am not sure that keeping Harbaugh and Flacco are viable options for the future of the Baltimore Ravens. For me, I would do everything I could to take Josh Rosen, draft an offensive line around him, and have Rosen sit behind Flacco as he learned the NFL and as the offensive line developed. With Ryan Jensen, Ronnie Stanley, and Alex Lewis on the roster, there are pieces in place for a strong offensive line. Defensively, I would find a more aggressive coordinator who keeps it simple. We know that Jimmy Smith, Marlon Humphrey, and Brandon Carr are capable of lining up across from their man and flat out playing on any given Sunday. We know CJ Mosley and Brandon Williams can anchor a front seven. Why not find a coordinator who runs a one gap scheme and is willing to put faith into the secondary by having them man up with the receiver across from them and break their will with strong press coverage that suffocates?
I may be entirely wrong in what I want and it may blow up in my face if I were allowed to have my way. All I do know at this point is that I am tired of the same old same old and just want change.
Just to do a quick recap of the Vikings game, the Ravens made the Vikings, who had one of the worst offensive lines coming into the season, an injury to their star rookie running back, and a secondary with clear weaknesses outside of Rhodes and Smith, look like the best team in the league… with Case Keenum at quarterback. I shudder to think of what would be the result if Sam Bradford had played. It would probably be another week one showing vs the Saints for Bradford.
The Ravens run defense was supposed to return to form against the Vikings with the return of Brandon Williams, but the Vikings all of a sudden crafted a run blocking scheme to perfection that frequently sprung Latavius Murray to the THIRD, not just second, level without being touched on more than a handful of runs. Lardarius Webb reminded us again why he was moved from playing slot cornerback at the NFL level as he was replaced by Jaylen Hill at the end of the game after Webb was beaten soundly like a drum by Jairus Wright and Adam Thielen. On the bright side, Jimmy Smith and Brandon Carr continue to look extremely impressive.
Offensively, Joe Flacco was missing Jeremy Maclin, Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams, Terrence West, and Chris Matthews for the start of the game. Mike Wallace would later leave in the first quarter after a brutal illegal blow to the head put him in the concussion protocol. How would Flacco respond with his top three receivers being Griff Whalen, Michael Campanaro, and Chris Moore? The exact same way that he always has- a conservative based passing attack and shoddy accuracy down the field. The only real difference is that Flacco actually took shots down the field and it helped to open up the passing game in the fourth quarter and even led to a late garbage time touchdown. Imagine that, Joe and Marty- if you take shots down the field and do not use a one yard pass to the covered tight end as your first read, you can begin to attack all levels of the defense. Crazy, right? The running game did about exactly what we would expect and as predicted against this Vikings front seven. Also, as predicted, the Vikings pass rush got going with 5 sacks and 11 pressures on just 39 drop-backs from Flacco. Yikes. Not a good look when you allow your quarterback to be hit or pressured on more than one third of his pass attempts.
Did I miss anything? No? Good, let us move on then.
At this point, is really is fair to wonder if anything will change for the Ravens and their 3-4 record. Hell, it is totally fair to wonder how the Ravens even got here to 3-4 at all and are not just sitting at 0-7. The first two games of the regular season feel like eons ago compared to the level of play that we have seen from the Ravens from week 3 on and will likely continue to see from the Ravens from week eight on. How does a team that utterly dominated its first two opponents defensively collapse so hard? How does a former Super Bowl winning quarterback regress this far to the point that he is no longer recognizable as the layer who hoisted a Lombardi? How is it that the Ravens can miss the playoffs in three of the last four years and potentially four of the last five years and not have monumental changes on the horizon?
There really is something to be said about a team that looks no different with our without its starters, offensively or defensively. Is this all just a scheme issue? Offensively, these same problems have persisted under Marc Trestman and Marty Mornhinweg and there is little reason to believe that they would actually change drastically under Greg Roman with the current personnel all the way around the team offensively.
Defensively, how is it that so many teams can just come in and craft a perfect game plan for the Ravens defense? The Jaguars were able to effectively dominate the Ravens defense with lots of counters and mis-directions, the Steelers just put the ball into the hands of their play makers on the edges of the Ravens defense where they were weak, and the Vikings showed the ability to block down on the Ravens defensive line and use boot legs and roll outs on designed runs to trick an over aggressive defense into chasing where the ball was not. Why are there three different game plans by an opposing offense with essentially three results that add up the same? Are the Ravens just not a disciplined defense? It sure did not look like it in any of these three games when the Ravens could not set an edge or stop over pursuing plays that were simply not there.
The question becomes what will generate any sort of consistency in the offense and what will get this defense to play up to the level of their talent? Offensively, is firing yet another coordinator actually going to provide the necessary spark? Sure, it may provide a short-term fix as teams scramble to figure out how a new offensive coordinator will use the personnel of the Ravens to his advantage, but what happens when there is several weeks of tape available and defenses adjust? We have seen this same story unfold many times in recent memory- the offense falls into a hole of conservative, predictable play that will not win a football game. Do the Ravens need to draft another quarterback if they get a top 5 pick? This draft class looks like the real deal similar to 2004 with Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, and Sam Darnold all sitting at the top. Look no further than Kansas City where Alex Smith looks like a totally different quarterback now that the Chiefs have drafted his replacement in Patrick Mahomes. Would a fresh, young quarterback motivate Flacco back to his old-self, or even new heights? Hell, it might even be wise to draft a quarterback and Flacco’s cap hits become non-detrimental to the team in two years if the Ravens wanted to move on. Why not milk two more great years out of Flacco and have Josh Rosen learn the ropes of the NFL similar to Aaron Rodgers behind Brett Favre?
Defensively, at this point, it is incredibly hard to actually pinpoint an issue. On one hand, the Ravens have all the talent in the world amongst Brandon Carr, Jimmy Smith, and Marlon Humphrey and the trio is showing up in a major way and absolutely abusing opposing quarterbacks who dare to throw to the outside. On the other hand, the pass rush has not netted a single sack in two weeks and the front seven as a whole have been instrumental in allowing 170 yards per game over the last five games. Is it really as simple as firing Dean Pees? Would the Ravens really benefit from a more aggressive defensive minded coach to take over the defense? Teryl Austin was a huge asset to the Ravens defense as a secondary coach after Chuck Pagano left and he would have vastly more talent to work with back in Baltimore than in Detroit. Would Matt Patricia be a viable answer? He is not an aggressive coordinator, per se, but he seems to know how to exploit match ups and weaknesses on opposing offenses and seemingly always puts his defense in a good position. The Ravens have routinely funneled in draft capital to the defense and the same issues persist year after year. What will it take to change this?
At this point, it is fair to wonder if John Harbaugh is the coach next season if the Baltimore Ravens suffer another losing record. That would be a losing record in two of the past three seasons with 2016 ending right at .500 and the Ravens will have missed the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. Why would you keep a head coach around with those type of results? Because he won a Super Bowl six years ago? Sometimes it is best to move on from a perceived great coach because he just is not doing it for your team anymore. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles and Andy Reid. Reid was incredibly good at getting his team to the playoffs and even got his team to the Super Bowl. He was widely considered one of the best coaches in the entire league and a top tier talent evaluator as he had a large hand in the draft for the Eagles. However, two seasons in a row where he missed the playoffs and a losing record to end and Reid was shown the door. Sure, Reid was immediately snapped up and the Chiefs have been one of the best teams in the league since, but the Eagles are seemingly very happy with Doug Pederson and have found their franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz. With a win tonight against the Washington Redskins, the Eagles would likely solidify themselves as the best team in the NFC, even without Andy Reid coaching them.
At this point, I do not have an answer for what would fix this team. I do not think that a quick and easy fix is possible at this point and I am not sure that keeping Harbaugh and Flacco are viable options for the future of the Baltimore Ravens. For me, I would do everything I could to take Josh Rosen, draft an offensive line around him, and have Rosen sit behind Flacco as he learned the NFL and as the offensive line developed. With Ryan Jensen, Ronnie Stanley, and Alex Lewis on the roster, there are pieces in place for a strong offensive line. Defensively, I would find a more aggressive coordinator who keeps it simple. We know that Jimmy Smith, Marlon Humphrey, and Brandon Carr are capable of lining up across from their man and flat out playing on any given Sunday. We know CJ Mosley and Brandon Williams can anchor a front seven. Why not find a coordinator who runs a one gap scheme and is willing to put faith into the secondary by having them man up with the receiver across from them and break their will with strong press coverage that suffocates?
I may be entirely wrong in what I want and it may blow up in my face if I were allowed to have my way. All I do know at this point is that I am tired of the same old same old and just want change.
