Already half way through the season, the Ravens have not been able to showcase their acquisition that arrived courtesy of what has been described as “the best trade of the offseason.” After the Ravens spent a 4th round pick on him, Lee Evans has only two catches for 45 yards.
After sitting out for almost seven weeks, Evans has returned to the practice field and has participated for the past three days. Listed as “doubtful” on the injury report, even if Evans misses his seventh straight game, he should be back to 100% health when the Ravens take on the Bengals next Sunday.
The Ravens offense has struggled to find their identity and the inconsistent play has been their glaring weakness. Luckily for the Ravens, they do have the No. 2 ranked defense in the league at their disposal, without them, this team would most likely have a .500 record.
Torrey Smith’s touchdown grab to cap off a 92-yard come-from-behind victory with :08 left, was the biggest boost of confidence in the short careers of Flacco and Smith.
Hopefully the win in Pittsburgh last Sunday was the turning point for this team and their all around effort. It may sound crazy but Lee Evans’ injury may be the best thing that could have happened to this team. It hasn’t hurt them because the two losses the Ravens had didn’t depend on the play of the wide outs, it was a game planning mistake.
While Evans was nursing his ankle injury, Anquan Boldin has emerged as the number-one receiver the Ravens have been hoping for. Over the past four games, Boldin leads all NFL wide receivers in yards (405) and catches (26) and is also posting an average of over 15 yards per catch. The torch for the role of Joe Flacco’s safety blanket has now been passed to Boldin since Derrick Mason’s departure this offseason.
Even if half of the balls he’s thrown are dropped, Torrey Smith has emerged as a legitimate downfield threat. The whole country saw his game winning grab in Pittsburgh and heard about his record setting
quarter in St. Louis; the rookie out of Maryland (before they had ugly uniforms) has gained the respect of opposing defensive coordinators.
Smith has been forced into a starting role with Evans’ injury and has learned to play through the growing pains. The fact that Flacco came right back with another deep pass at the end of the Pittsburgh game
shows that he has the confidence of his quarterback and team; that speaks volumes.
The comfort level of Joe Flacco in the pocket will improve as well. Adding a healthy Ben Grubbs back into the offensive line and finally implementing the shotgun formation into Cam Cameron’s playbook, Joe
hasn’t been roughed up as much in the pocket and will have time to hit his deep threats downfield.
Perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of Lee Evans’ return will be Rice, Pitta and Dickson. Even though Rice has had a reduction in total yards the past few weeks, he should see more open grass in front of him as
the speedy wide outs stretch the field. If Rice is the target of Joe Flacco’s check down passes, he will have more opportunities to make the big plays he’s known for.
Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson have seen an increase in their catches over the past weeks; both tight ends have been viable third down options. The same reason Ray Rice should see more of an open field in
front of him will also stand for Pitta and Dickson. It’s been a welcomed sign to see the investment the Ravens made by drafting back-to-back tight ends actually pay off.
In weeks two through eight, the critics have been hard on the Ravens offense; it seems that victories over the Steelers cure everything. Fans should expect to see a different look to this team within the
next few weeks, not only because of the confidence builder they had in Pittsburgh but also with many important healthy components in their offense coming back.
I sure would hope to see more side-arm uppercut celebrations coming from No. 5 and we can thank Lee Evans when it happens.
