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NY Times: 2011 Baltimore Ravens Season Preview




The Fifth Down - The New York Times N.F.L. Blog

August 27, 2011, 6:00 AM

2011 Baltimore Ravens Season Preview By ANDY BENOIT

Andy Benoit is previewing all 32 N.F.L. teams. Next up: The Ravens.

Baltimore Ravens

It has been over 10 years and the Baltimore Ravens still haven’t changed. Not that we necessarily thought they should or would. But when Steve Bisciotti assumed ownership from Art Modell, there was perhaps an inkling that this defense-only organization would become a little more balanced.

That inkling became a full-fledged expectation in 2008, when General Manager Ozzie Newsome invested a first-round pick in quarterback Joe Flacco and a second-rounder in versatile running back Ray Rice. That same year, the new coach John Harbaugh hired Cam Cameron to run his offense. Cameron had made a name for himself orchestrating San Diego’s high-flying attack from ’02-’06. The assumption was this would all shift the franchise toward a more balanced philosophy.

But here we are three years later and still yet to see that shift. It’s still middling offense, stingy defense in Baltimore. Statistically, this Raven offense has been better than those that preceded it – but not by much. And it’s gotten considerably more conservative. The ’08 Ravens ranked first in the N.F.L. in rushing attempts. The ’09 Ravens ranked seventh and the ’10 Ravens sixth. Consequently, those three teams all ranked somewhere between 24th and 30th in pass attempts.

Read the entire article here:

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/2011-baltimore-ravens-season-preview/

The opinions posted here are those of the writer of this article. They are in no way official comments from the team, the editors of this site or SB Nation as a whole, and should not be misconstrued as such.

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