The downfall of the Ravens

Coming into the season, the Ravens were widely regarded as a heavy Super Bowl contender. They have superstar players on each side of the ball, the coaches were well respected around the league, besides Zach Orr, and fans had high expectations after last year’s disappointing loss in the playoffs.

It wasn’t because they weren’t good enough or because the coaching was bad; it was just unlucky turnovers. Yes, you can’t allow that to happen in a playoff game, but they had every right to be there and, honestly, should have made it farther.

This year, though, one of the many problems the Ravens faced was their offensive consistency. The whole team never played well. It was always some who would play well, and others not so much. This played a big factor in the team never really having momentum. They never really connected. This led the team to never live up to its full potential.

The coaching was also very questionable. Not saying this season failed due to the coaching. Not at all; it’s not like they are the ones actually playing. But it seemed they moved away from plays that made the Ravens the scary, dominant team they have been in the past. In late-game games, they relied heavily on passing. Lamar is a good quarterback, actually, he’s great. But they needed to switch it up more because our offensive line was not good.

Lamar had no time to throw the ball, so they needed to add some motion and designed quarterback runs. And please, for the love of all that’s holy, can they get some help on the o-line in free agency or the draft? It was very bad, and in my opinion, it was probably the main reason.

A reason our offense wasn’t as efficient or effective as last year is that the other teams didn’t have to treat Lamar as a threat. Whether it was an injury or other problems that were holding him back from being the same dual-threat quarterback that we had seen in the past, he was what made this offense work.

Derrick Henry still put up impressive numbers for his age, considering the poor performance of the offensive line. But when teams don’t have to focus on Lamar on the running plays, it allows the defense to primarily target Henry instead of the possibility that Lamar keeps it and runs.

Enough about the offense, let’s dive into the defense. This defense was looking to step up and be the usual Baltimore bullies. Many fans were excited to see Jaire Alexander play as a Raven, and the rookie Malaki Starks to have an impact for them. Well, Malaki did his job very well, especially for playing almost every snap as a rookie. They put him in a hard spot, but he answers back and looks very promising in the future.

Now, Jaire, on the other hand, yeah, he’s not even with the team anymore. They do say cornerbacks only have a select number of years in their prime, and Jaire’s time is up. He looked slow, lazy, and was missing tackles. For the two games he played in, it was enough that the Ravens decided to move on.

Defensively, Fox ranked them 24th out of all teams. That’s not good and definitely not what Baltimore’s defense looks like. The major problem for this team was the failure to pressure the quarterback. Our defensive line was just as bad as our offensive line.

Nnamdi Madubuike was the guy for this front. With him gone, no one stepped up. Rookie Mike Green didn’t have a tremendous impact like we thought he would. Kyle Van Noy is old and probably looking to retire soon. And of course, when we trade Odafe Oweh to the Chargers, he actually plays well.

We will have to see what we do in the offseason if we hire a big name or if the new coaching staff fixes this issue, but I’m curious to know why we could adjust and put some pressure on.

In the end, the Ravens didn’t fall short because they lacked talent; they never played to their full potential. The inconsistency on offense, a poor O and D line, and a defense that couldn’t hold teams all prevented them from reaching their true potential. With a couple of fixes, the coaching, getting Lamar ready each game, and supporting the lines, this team can make a quick turnaround and become dominant next year.

Nick Gardiner is a member of the Multimedia Journalism class.

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Nicholas Gardiner

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