Anyone who watched last week’s game between the reigning world champion Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos saw how little this year’s Ravens team mirrors the team that lifted the Lombardi trophy last year in New Orleans.
Obviously, the Ravens were dealt a blow this offseason when seven starters — most notably linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed — either retired or left town for more lucrative contracts. But the most critical loss to the Ravens roster appears to be star receiver Anquan Boldin, who is now with the San Francisco 49ers.
Boldin, the Ravens’ only big-bodied receiver on the outside a season ago, was an enormous loss for a team whose receiving corps were already thin in talent. The Ravens missed Boldin in the redzone mightily, where he won many a jump ball for his quarterback Joe Flacco.
Against Denver, with no jump ball threat to fall back on, Flacco struggled to fit his throws into tight windows. To be fair, his pass to Dallas Clark in the waning minutes of the first half, which would’ve given the Ravens a 21-14 lead, was perfect. Clark just dropped it.
It was because of this mass exodus the Ravens were pounded 49-27 at Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Why? Because the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed and the offense struggled to move the ball on a Broncos defense whose best player, Von Miller, was suspended.
When return specialist-turned-receiver Jacoby Jones left the game with a sprained knee, the Ravens were forced to play rookie Marlon Brown, who performed admirably and even caught a touchdown in garbage time.
What’s concerning is Brown, an untested rookie seeing his first action in an NFL uniform, was the first receiver off the bench. If Jones is out for an extended period of time, the Ravens will have to depend on a receiving corps of Torrey Smith, Brandon Stokley, Dallas Clark and Brown. That isn’t exactly a group of big game playmakers, even with Smith, who’s a legitimate No. 1 option for Flacco. Not that Jones was anything special himself, but without him, the Ravens will have to hope that Flacco is able to gain rapport with his replacements. Otherwise, the Ravens will struggle to score points all year long.
The offense had its struggles. But it’s the other side of the ball that needs to improve dramatically in order for the Ravens to return to the playoffs.
The offense showed last night that they won’t score enough for the team to win many shootouts, meaning the defense will have to be better than they were in Denver. Although, in the interest of fairness, the unit was facing arguably the AFC’s best team on the road with one of the most prolific passers in NFL history throwing to some of the best receiving corps in the league.
Having said that, the Ravens rebuilt secondary missed a ton of tackles and had several defensive breakdowns while the defensive line was unable to put much pressure on Broncos’ quarterback Payton Manning.
Manning was able to sit in the pocket and pick apart the defense to the tune of 462 yards and seven touchdowns, which tied the record for most touchdown passes in a game in NFL history. If the Ravens can’t put pressure on the opposing quarterback, their shaky secondary will be torched just as they were by the Broncos.
To me, the Ravens would be wise to retool their defensive backfield by looking to the future, namely rookie safety Matt Elam and linebacker Arthur Brown. There’s no reason to keep your defensive backs of the future on the sideline. I say you let them get their feet wet in game action now so they gain experience and perfect their craft right away.
What we do need to remember, though, is that this was just the first of 16 games for the Ravens. As Terrell Suggs said after the game, there’s no reason for Ravens fans to panic. The offense will see a steady dose of Flacco to Smith, but if they want to move the ball down the field, they need a second wide receiver to step up. That need would become even heavier if Jones is out for any length of time.
In addition, they need running backs Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce to step up and contribute more than 58 yards rushing. The defense needs a more consistent pass rush so their shoddy secondary can be protected until they improve enough to get stops. Until those things happen, the Ravens will be nothing more than an above average team fighting for their playoff lives.