Baltimore Ravens: 3 numbers that just don’t add up

[papasmurfbell]

http://ebonybird.com/2017/06/06/baltimore-ravens-3-numbers-just-dont-add/

 

 

The Baltimore Ravens offense is baffling. The numbers don’t add up. There is a serious problem with the blueprint for the 2017 team:

The Baltimore Ravens offense wasn’t very good last season. It was like watching a bad movie on a nonstop loop. Not only were the lines poorly written, but you knew what was coming before it happened. Every time the offense got going an holding penalty or a dropped pass slowed everything down again. Third downs consisted of passes short of the sticks and slow starts were typical. We begin our look at numbers that don’t add up with Joe Flacco’s inefficiency.

1. Joe Flacco doing it the hard way

To be honest, in many respects the statistics are inflated. Joe Flacco threw for over 4,000 yards for the first time in his career, but he didn’t do it efficiently. Of the 13 NFL quarterbacks who threw for over 4,000 yards only Drew Brees had more passing attempts than Flacco. Brees chucked it one more time than Flacco and he had 5,208 yards. Joe Flacco averaged 6.4 yards per pass. Eli Manning was the only other quarterback who threw for 4,000 yards who averaged less than seven yards per pass.

Joe Flacco ranked 18th in passing touchdowns. If you pass it 672 times and you only score 20 touchdowns, you’re doing it wrong. The Ravens passing game didn’t work. It literally was the most inefficient passing attack in the NFL. Yet they had Flacco throw it 672 times? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Flacco and company did everything the hard way.

2. Lack of offensive additions

The Baltimore Ravens lost Rick Wagner and gave away Jeremy Zuttah to move up in the sixth round. They lost Steve Smith Sr. and let Kamar Aiken leave. Now Dennis Pitta is done with his third hip fracture. Kyle Juszczyk went to the San Francisco 49ers. The Ravens lost six players on offense. They added two offensive linemen in the mid rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft. How does a team that lost six players from their struggling offense add nine players to their top 10 defense? Danny Woodhead is the only weapon Ozzie Newsome wants to add?

The players that the Ravens added to the offense are linemen. The Ravens may need to protect Joe Flacco, but doesn’t he need players to throw the football to? The Ravens lost their top receiver in Smith Sr. and now their top tight end is hurt. What does it take for a team that almost led the league in passing attempts to want to invest in wide receivers?

The Ravens seemingly set themselves up to go offense with their free agency push. They re-signed Brandon Williams and brought in Tony Jefferson and Brandon Carr. The Ravens went defense with their first four picks. This doesn’t make any sense. They lost six players for their offense and they added three (None of which are a wide receiver). That doesn’t add up.

3. What the Ravens are betting on:

The Ravens are betting on Breshad Perriman. The writing is on the wall and it couldn’t be clearer. I like Perriman. He has potential to be great. The problem is that so far all he has done is catch 33 passes. The Ravens are pinning their hopes on a player who has suffered two major injuries, missed his entire rookie year and I repeat, has only caught 33 passes. This doesn’t add up. Even if Perriman makes the bet pay off, it was an irresponsible risk to ignore the offense.

The Ravens are also betting on a very thin group of play-makers. Crockett Gillmore and Michael Campanaro are as injury prone as they come. Mike Wallace is 30 years old and just because Perriman stayed healthy last year, doesn’t mean we can stop worrying about him getting hurt. One injury could cripple the entire offense next season.

What the Ravens are doing just doesn’t make a lot of sense, at least not for the offense. A team that was pass happy in 2016 didn’t pass the ball well. On top of this, they didn’t add to their passing attack. To make matters worse, they added to the defense while the offense lost more than it gained. The Ravens may have a dominant defense. The offense may surprise us. The problem is the numbers just don’t add up. The Ravens thought process towards their offense is baffling no matter how you slice it.

 

[tsylvester]

Nothing new here, we have been talking about this since the first pick in the draft....Ponzy Schemer.

[oldno82]

Good article.

[papasmurfbell]

I agree we have talked about it. They just worded it well. Also unlike most national guys who don't really pay attn past the stars they are looking at the trenches and other spots.

[vmax]

To sum it up, what he's saying here is that last year the Ravens had more offensive talent on their roster and they were really bad.

Maybe he has this somewhere else in his article but what really doesn't add up it why did they keep Mornhinweg?

 

Other than Wagner, the drop off in talent between who they lost and who they have can't be much. It may even be an improvement, but not by much.

Joe's the key if any improvement is to happen. He has to ignore Mornhinweg and the shackles that he puts on this offense.

[varaven45]

Its not sounding like a lot of purple kool aid drinkers here.

[papasmurfbell]

To sum it up, what he's saying here is that last year the Ravens had more offensive talent on their roster and they were really bad.

Maybe he has this somewhere else in his article but what really doesn't add up it why did they keep Mornhinweg?

 

Other than Wagner, the drop off in talent between who they lost and who they have can't be much. It may even be an improvement, but not by much.

Joe's the key if any improvement is to happen. He has to ignore Mornhinweg and the shackles that he puts on this offense.

BC Harbs is a lousy coach.

 

So SSS is equal to Danny Woodhead?

 

So every OC h=other than Kubes has shackled Joe? Or Maybe none of them can get him to work hard.

[vmax]

[papasmurfbell]

Really? When he had no ring I was on him. The Ravens cn do much better.

[Tornado700]

Papa- if you really are a Raven fan, (many here doubt that you are) You should be pleasantly surprised this season.

[papasmurfbell]

Papa- if you really are a Raven fan, (many here doubt that you are) You should be pleasantly surprised this season.

Are you retarded? I think this issue has been hashed out a ton of times.