The Ravens allowed five sacks against the Browns last weekend and saw their running backs run 18 times for 30 yards, a pair of developments that would seem to point to troubles on the offensive line.
Coach John Harbaugh doesn’t see things quite that way, however. Harbaugh said Tuesday that a review of the tape found “a lot of really good blocks” by the linemen and that the blame for the failures in both phases of the offense should be spread over several positions. Quarterback Joe Flacco was among those that Harbaugh pointed to as needing to do a better job.
“The quarterbacks have got to get the ball out, and they’ve got to find ways to protect themselves with ‘hot’ throws and things like that, too,” Harbaugh said, via the Baltimore Sun. “Joe does a good job of that. To get to your question, yes, we need Joe to take fewer hits, and we’re going to continue to chase that. We’ll do that by getting the ball out quickly, continuing to work on our technique in pass protection, and picking up blitzes.”
Harbaugh’s definitely right about the problems with the Ravens offense going beyond the offensive line, but there’s not much solace to be found in saying that everyone has been playing poorly. The issues with the Ravens offense appear to be so deeply rooted that fixing them will take schematic and personnel changes that are difficult to pull off in the middle of a season.