When the Ravens lose, quarterback Joe Flacco is usually the first person at whom fans and pundits point their fingers. While his performance in Houston was less than stellar, is he entirely to blame for the Ravens offensive woes?
Flacco was responsible for both of the Ravens’ two turnovers in the form of interceptions. However, neither was caused by an errant throw or poor decision-making, but instead by the aptitude of the Texans defense to bat passes at the line of scrimmage.
This immediately raises doubt in the offensive line’s ability to protect their quarterback. Texans defenders were in Flacco’s face all day and gave him very little time to make decisions, let alone accurate passes. To be fair though, the Texans do have a plethora of effective pass rushers including Connor Barwin, Whitney Mercilus, and J.J. Watt.
The Ravens’ receivers didn’t help Flacco any either. Everyone from tight ends to receivers failed to gain separation from the Texans’ DBs and also dropped several catchable balls.
Don’t get me wrong – Flacco did play a terrible game, but I don’t think his poor performance was entirely his fault, as the entire offense lacked cohesion and failed to execute.
Luckily for the Ravens and Joe Flacco, they’ll have plenty of time to fix these issues before playing in Cleveland in two weeks.
