Installing Jim Caldwell as the offensive coordinator didn’t have the desired effect for the Ravens last weekend.
They were shut out in the first half of their 34-17 loss to the Broncos and things took a turn for the worse in the running game. There’s some dark irony there for the Ravens since one of the chief complaints about Cam Cameron’s offense was that he didn’t make enough use of running back Ray Rice.
The Ravens tried running the ball on first down often in the first half of the game, but found little success. They finished the half with 41 yards on 14 carries, a sharp downturn from their output against the Redskins in Week 14 and a sign that Cameron wasn’t the only problem with the team’s offense this season.
“We need to run the ball better,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, via the Baltimore Sun. “We need to be able to run the ball against the front, any front, and that’s something that we have to do a better job with.”
They’ll need better play from the offensive line to get it. Injuries and age have left the Ravens lacking up front and that shortcoming has hurt them in all phases of the offense. Regardless of who is calling the plays and how the Ravens finish the season, they need to upgrade the line to realize the kind of offensive success they’ve been looking for all this season.