Predictable play calling…Zone Blocking Scheme…Lack of identity…Poor clock management…Poor offensive line play…Ray Rice’s struggles.
When it comes to the Ravens’ 30th-ranked offense, all of those factors apply. But the biggest problem isn’t any of those things.
All teams – even ones with great offenses – have problems. Whether it’s lack of talent at certain spots or some schematic deficiency, nobody is 100 percent set. The good offenses have enough talent to hide those deficiencies and thrive despite them. When that doesn’t occur we tend to overanalyze every detail instead of getting to the root of the problem.
The biggest reason for the offensive struggles is the way teams have defended the Ravens. Teams have played an aggressive style of defense with a ton of cover one and various blitzing, even versus the Ravens shotgun, sugar huddle offense. Teams do this when they don’t respect the weapons you possess.
When you have weapons teams fear the plays practically script themselves. Dynamic weapons create more conservative looks from defenses. Once you establish success in different aspects (personnel, etc.) it allows you to now call tendency-breaking plays for even more success (i.e. Peyton Manning’s TD run or Julius Thomas’ TE screen for a TD in Week 5 this season). 14 points in one week off subtle adjustments would be a welcome sight in the Charm city.
Well, Denver can do those things because they have weapons that scare defenses all over the field.
Where are the Ravens’ weapons that defenses have to game plan and account for?
Here’s a hint – there are none! The closest thing they have is Torrey Smith – take him away and watch the Ravens sputter. Which is exactly what opponents have been doing.
The Ravens’ current depth chart consists of five reserve receivers. The one player of the group with the upside to develop into a productive third receiver is a rookie who’s had injury issues this season.
The tight end position currently offers next to nothing from a blocking standpoint while being asked to outperform their actual talent level in the passing game.
The running game has its obvious warts since “run game coordinator” Juan Castillo took over. Ray Rice’s inability to make people miss in space doesn’t help matters. A safety out of the box and more concerned with the receiver opposite Smith could go a long way to remedy that.
How can these issues be resolved? Well, by taking the same approach as last offseason – just on the opposite side of the ball.
The Ravens will be challenged once again from a cap standpoint. Most of the available funds will likely be allocated to trying to retain Eugene Monroe, Dennis Pitta, Daryl Smith and so on. This means the Ravens will have to do the heavy lifting of improving the offense through the draft. WR, TE, C and possibly RT and RB are all needs to varying degrees, but need to be seriously addressed to get back into title contention.
Until this happens, fans and prognosticators will continue to nick pick at different details of what the Ravens do offensively. They’ll be right, and it still won’t matter. Anything less than the attention the defense received last offseason being paid to the offense this offseason would be a disservice to the club and its fans. And the stuck-in-the-mud-offense (and surrounding talk) will continue.
