Despite the fact that their offense has been anything but efficient this season, Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh reiterated earlier this week that the team would be making no significant changes to the unit in an attempt to try to find a solution to their problems.
In Harbaugh’s defense, they don’t really have many options outside of those that they are already using. While the introduction of Alex Collins as the primary ball carrier is relatively new, it would be hard to argue that they have another running back on the roster who can do much better than he has.
After all, the Ravens are currently fielding an offensive line that has just one starter from last season. Both guards, Marshal Yanda and Alex Lewis, are on injured reserve, while right tackle Rick Wagner left in free agency, and center Jeremy Zuttah was not only traded away, but subsequently deemed not even worthy of a roster spot.
The interior of the Ravens’ offensive line is filled with a trio of career backups, so it’s no wonder that they have largely been dominated up the middle. Three of the Steelers’ four sacks on Sunday came up the middle, by way of example.
“We just have to keep working all those things that we do. We’re not going to change dramatically what we do”, Harbaugh told reporters about the state of their offense and what they plan to do to address their struggles.
“You can’t panic and say, ‘OK, we’re going to do something different’. Within our offense, we have all the elements — different ways to attack people, different tempos, different types of three-, five- and seven-step passing game”, he went on. “We can move, we can boot, we can keep, we can play-action. We have all that. It’s how do we put it together in a way each week that gives our guys a chance to execute the best?”.
The Ravens got off to a 2-0 start to the season against the Browns and Bengals, who between them have a 1-7 record—the one victory between them coming on Sunday when the latter beat the former. They have since lost back-to-back games to the Jaguars in London and the Steelers in Baltimore, where Pittsburgh had not won since 2012.
Quarterback Joe Flacco, previously offering a defense of his unit’s struggles after the loss to the Jaguars, took a different approach in the wake of Sunday’s loss, telling reporters that he “sucked”, a sentiment that Harbaugh appreciated.
“That’s something we’ve just got to help him with”, Harbaugh said. “We’ll do that. I want to see him play well. I want to see him put up numbers and make plays. But it’s not just him. It’s the offense in totality that has to do that”.
