The Baltimore Ravens are a lot of things. One thing they are not is a high-flying offense. In fact, they rank literally dead last in pass attempts on the season at just 165, and 31st in passing yards with 1067. Their 10 touchdown passes does rank 19th, but Lamar Jackson is not on the same pace as last season when he led the NFL with 36 passing touchdowns.
While they are still scoring, of course, and running the ball well—and they have the top-ranked scoring defense, which always helps—not even the Ravens can deny that there is something that has been lacking in their passing game, something that signing Dez Bryant to the practice squad is not going to cure.
“We just have to continue to do it”, Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews said. “it’s not as bad as everyone thinks it is, and it’s not as great as it was maybe last year, but we’re right there. We’re getting there. I know everyone has a lot of trust in each other. We’re all working super hard, so this last half of the season is going to be really big for us, and I’m confident in our ability to throw the ball, as well as run the ball”.
Jackson threw for over 200 yards in each of the first two games of the season, but has been held under that mark since then. He only threw for 97 yards in their lone loss of the season to the Kansas City Chiefs, and he is averaging 7.0 yards per attempt, whereas last year he averaged 7.8.
“Everyone’s working hard, like I said before. There’s not one guy doing anything wrong”, Andrews added about the passing game woes. “There’s a bunch of plays I could throw up by myself that I need to make that I didn’t make. So, it’s going to start hitting. It’s going to start working. Like I said, really the only thing that matters is winning, and we’re doing that, and we’re playing good ball. So, there’s a lot of positives looking forward, and we’re going to build off those”.
The third-year man has been responsible for a lot of their passing offense, catching 20 passes for 243 yards and five touchdowns. He is the only player on the team with more than two touchdown receptions over the first six games.
Second-year wide receiver Marquise Brown leads the Ravens with 26 receptions, which he has taken for 376 yards, but he has only gotten into the end zone once so far. Tight end Nick Boyle, who never scored a touchdown before his fifth year in 2019, is the lone player other than Andrews with more than one touchdown reception, and he has two, so seven of their 10 touchdown passes have gone to the tight end position, and another went to fullback Patrick Ricard.
