Nothing about the last month of NFL football has instilled confidence in Ravens fans that their team will come anywhere close to earning a playoff berth. As if three painfully close losses to relatively competitive teams weren't enough, the Ravens gave away a halftime lead and ultimately found themselves soundly beaten by one of the worst teams in the NFL last Sunday.
Close losses to the Raiders, Redskins, and Giants could all have been narrow wins were it not for over-aggressive decision-making errors on the part of John Harbaugh, but that certainly didn't mean he was the sole reason they lost. Harbaugh, in fact, made zero such game-changing over-aggressive errors against the Jets, and the Ravens suffered their worst loss of the season.
If you had told me before the Jets game that Harbaugh would be restrained in his decisions, Mike Wallace would catch for 120 yards, and Joe Flacco would have over 200 passing yards in the first half of the game, I probably would have said that the Ravens would have blown out a 1-5 Jets team. Those statistics, however, fail to take into account a major fundamental issue with this Ravens team.
I spent much of this last week listening to sports radio callers talk about Joe Flacco simply not being that good. They insisted that he's always just been mediocre and that now it's simply showing up more because the team lacks tough, "alpha" playmakers such as Anquan Boldin to whom Joe could simply throw the ball up and trust Q would come down with it. I wrestled with this idea because it didn't quite make sense. Joe Flacco clearly isn't Drew Brees or Tom Brady. He doesn't have superb mobility or pinpoint accuracy on passes released 1.5 seconds after the snap of the ball. He has, however, shined brilliantly in many games for years. He has outplayed Brady on multiple occasions in the playoffs, and he's outplayed Ben Roethlisberger and won 7 of his last ten games against the Steelers. So what is it that's making him look so much worse now?
Joe had little offensive success with Marc Trestman as offensive coordinator, and, thus, the Ravens got rid of Trestman. Marty Mornhinweg stepped in and successfully reintroduced the element of the deep passing game, but the Ravens immediately dropped two straight games to teams without winning records. What then is the problem? It was easy to criticize Marc Trestman and John Harbaugh as they certainly deserved much of the blame for the first three losses, but last week's loss to the Jets has made it clear that, more than anything, a lack of quality personnel at key positions was mostly to blame for the Ravens' month-long skid. Injuries certainly had something to do with it, but it's the lack of depth behind injured starters that makes this team so incredibly disappointing.
Baltimore had an opportunity to sign a quality backup offensive tackle when they brought in Jake Long and appeared to have an agreement in place. Long ultimately declined the offer as the proposed contract contained clauses that would mean he'd receive nearly nothing if he suffered any sort of serious injury. I have spent all week wishing the Ravens would have offered him a reasonable amount of guaranteed money for a backup anyway. Ideally Long wouldn't have much opportunity to become injured as he'd only play when starting left tackle, Ronnie Stanley, was hurt. It was already a risky decision to leave two rookies charged with holding down the left side of the offensive line, but having no legitimate backup to the left tackle is a new level of irresponsible management.
I watched old highlights of great plays and drives by Flacco all this week and realized that nearly every one of them had something in common: quality pass protection. Watching the 2011 game-winning drive in Week 9 in Pittsburgh, I was reminded that Joe had 4 Pro Bowl linemen and Michael Oher giving him time to make good reads, set his feet, and deliver strikes to a receiving corps no better than the one the Ravens currently possess. Bryant McKinnie, Ben Grubbs, Matt Birk, Marshal Yanda, and Oher were all durable, physical, experienced, talented offensive linemen. I then took a look at the offensive line the Ravens fielded last Sunday against the Jets and realized that not only did it lack Pro Bowl-caliber talent, but it also featured little starting experience. Jeremy Zuttah is was the only player with more than just 2 full seasons under his belt. Alex Lewis was stuck at left tackle in Ronnie Stanley's absence. Lewis was only just getting his feet wet at guard before he was stuck in a position that he's simply not ready to play at the NFL level.
Beyond Lewis playing out of position, the Ravens offensive line for the last two weeks has simply been devoid of serious talent. Jeremy Zuttah has the most experience, but he was exposed against the Jets as New York blitzed linebackers right into both A-gaps at once to prey upon his weakness in pass protection and collapse the pocket right up the middle. Few things rattle Joe Flacco more than a pocket rapidly collapsing in his face. He has such little trust in this line's ability to keep him upright and give him time to set and throw that he ends up passing off his back foot almost exclusively. Joe was already stepping gingerly with his left leg less than a year following his ACL tear, but now he has been frequently running for his life and throwing ill-advised, hurried passes that fall either way off the mark or into the hands of defenders.
One of the most idiotic comments I heard repeated by fans on the radio was that the Ravens lost because they didn't attempt to run the football more. It's true that the Ravens ran the football only a handful of times in the second half of last week's game, but much of that had to do with the fact that they lost yards or rushed for no gain on each of those rushing attempts. The Ravens offensive linemen couldn't open up any sort of running lanes, and continuing unsuccessfully to run the ball would have done absolutely nothing to change ultimate outcome of the game. What was even more frustrating was the radio commentators buying into that point. I have certainly agreed in the past that the Ravens have had to establish the run to take pressure off of Flacco in order to open up the passing game, but last week's game was simply not one of those situations where either the run or pass was functioning.
The painful loss to the New York Jets was not about play-calling, and it was not about John Harbaugh. It was, instead, about a lack of quality offensive linemen. Only two starters, Marshal Yanda and Ronnie Stanley, sat out the game, but the Ravens offensive line appeared to have backup quality linemen across the board except maybe Rick Wagner. I would implore Ozzie Newsome to make a trade for a quality offensive lineman if I were ever given an audience with the man. I even heard that it was rumored the Ravens were shopping Kamar Aiken in order to negotiate some kind of a trade, but with the trade deadline only two days away, I'm not holding out much hope that a deal gets done.
It would be a tremendous mistake to bank on the idea of the Ravens front office bolstering the offensive line through a last minute trade considering they're working with just over $2 million in cap room. What the Ravens organization and coaching staff must instead do is hope that their offensive line can become and stay reasonably healthy. Beyond the health of the offensive line, the rest of the Ravens roster must make a valiant effort to return to health at key positions. The Ravens played without 5 Pro Bowlers and their 2016 first round pick last week...and it showed. Without Steve Smith Sr. there's little attitude and fire on offense. Without Marshal Yanda, there's little push up front to create running lanes, and without Suggs the Ravens struggled horribly to contain the Jets' ground attack. It's lucky for the Ravens that the rest of the AFC North division is also in a total tailspin as of late with major injuries to playmakers on each of the other three squads.
If the Ravens can't find a way to beat a Steelers team that may start a hobbled Big Ben or no Big Ben at all, this season is basically over. Despite a triumphant 3-0 start, this team has looked far more like the one that struggled valiantly through 2015 than the upgraded unit fans all hoped they'd be in 2016. No longer impeded by Marc Trestman's inferior play-calling and hopefully no longer stifled by John Harbaugh's self-proclaimed "aggressive" decision-making, the Ravens players have only themselves to blame if they fail going forward.
Despite the doom and gloom of 4 straight losses, there were some bright spots during the Jets game. Matt Judon made the first and second sack of his career, and Brandon Williams played out of his mind. Before he had taken any big hits, Joe Flacco actually looked on point with a masterful 53 yard bomb pass to Mike Wallace who had beaten two defenders deep. Joe put the ball right over top of Wallace and hit him in stride for the huge gain. Increasing the number of big plays such as that one will go a long way to turning this offense around, and getting healthy offensive linemen as well as Steve Smith Sr. back will help open things up even further for Wallace. The former Viking/ Dolphin/Steeler is actually on pace to have 1000+ receiving yards and 6-7 touchdowns this season, and he has proven an excellent stop-gap replacement for Torrey Smith while Breshad Perriman develops.
Ok, Baltimore, take a deep breath. The bye week offers Ravens fans a rare, stress-free opportunity to kick back and simply watch football, so with that, let's take a look at this week's picks!
WEEK 8 NFL PICKS
REDSKINS AT BENGALS- The Bengals haven't looked amazing this season, but the return of Tyler Eifert does a lot to open up their offense. Josh Norman won't be able to totally shut down arguably the most talented receiver in football, A.J. Green, but he should at least limit him to a certain degree. Ultimately the Bengals offense with a healthy Eifert is simply more than the Redskins defense will be able to handle on the road. I sure hope the Skins prove me wrong on this one though. BENGALS 31-24
CHIEFS AT COLTS- The Chiefs have been better than the Colts thus far, but the Colts will finally have their top 3 receivers back for the first time in weeks when they face the Chiefs in Indy this Sunday. The Chiefs are 1-2 on the road and the Colts are 2-1 at home. COLTS 28-17
RAIDERS AT BUCCANEERS- The Raiders have struggled at home this season...but who cares? They're going on the road where they're 4-0 thus far in 2016. The Buccaneers, on the other hand, have not won a single game in Tampa Bay this season, and they'll likely struggle to make this their first. RAIDERS 33-20
SEAHAWKS AT SAINTS- The Seahawks won't be able to stop the Saints with Kam Chancellor and Michael Bennett out. This will be a rare win for a disappointing Saints team. SAINTS 24-17
LIONS AT TEXANS- The Texans don't scare anyone and the Lions are finally finding a way to win games. LIONS 24-20
JETS AT BROWNS- I would make disparaging remarks about these teams had the Ravens not just lost to one of them. The Jets' rushing attack impressed me last week. At the very least they've won two games? JETS 21-16
PATRIOTS AT BILLS- With Brady back and LeSean McCoy out, this won't be anything like the last matchup between these two teams. The Patriots aren't flawless, but their balanced offense and strong defense will be more than able to handle the Bills without Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy. PATRIOTS 34-20
CARDINALS AT PANTHERS- The Panthers should get a rare home win against a Cardinal team that is missing too many wide receivers aside of Larry Fitzgerald. Don't get too excited though, Panthers fans. Your team is still awful. PANTHERS 21-13
CHARGERS AT BRONCOS- The Chargers already beat the Broncos, but now the Broncos will be playing without their starting running back, C.J. Anderson. Don't look now, but the Chargers are actually starting to look good after a rough stretch. CHARGERS 23-17
PACKERS AT FALCONS- Aaron Rodgers simply doesn't have the mojo this year required to go into Atlanta and beat Falcons. The Packers are often expected to be great, but this simply isn't their year. Matt Ryan, on the other hand, has been tearing it up even if his team has lost the last two incredible close games. FALCONS 33-21
EAGLES AT COWBOYS- This is absolutely the game of the week, and thankfully it's in primetime on Sunday night. The Cowboys have lost a single game this season...by a single point. The Eagles have had a strong 4-2 start, but they've struggled against decent teams when on the road. The Cowboys aren't simply a decent team--they're a dominant team that is just getting Dez Bryant back. This one should, nevertheless, be interesting. COWBOYS 31-27
VIKINGS AT BEARS- The Bears will struggle to move the football against this Vikings defense. VIKINGS 28-14
I know plenty of Ravens fans who are actually dreading the next Ravens game as they simply can't bear to watch their beloved team lose another game in a row. I have, at this point, no such fear. This is a team that, if healthy, can go toe to toe with solid teams, but like any other team, can't withstand a host of injuries. They have a chance to win a home game against another badly injured team after the bye week, and a win would mean they'd be tied for first place in the division before facing the winless browns at home on the following Thursday night. The Ravens have a real chance to emerge 5-4 after their next two games, and maybe by that time Mornhinweg will have figured out how to utilize all of the Ravens weapons and get the offense rolling. It's easy to abandon hope after 4 disappointing losses, but with the AFC North in total disarray, it's simply too early not to entertain the possibility that this organization can figure out how to get back on track. It's football season, ladies and gentlemen. Let's try to enjoy it.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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