Marty Mornhinweg revives the Baltimore Ravens deep passing game

On the first third down of his tenure as offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, Marty Mornhinweg played to the strength of his personnel. Quarterback Joe Flacco found Breshad Perriman deep down the middle of the field and the young receiver went up between two defenders to come down with the reception.

Flacco’s deep ball was unleashed early and often. After several more long passes downfield, he hit Mike Wallace streaking down the right sideline for a 70-yard pass near the end of the third quarter.

Later, the Ravens went on to draw a 42-yard defensive pass interference call against Mike Wallace and a 30-yard DPI against Breshad Perriman, both on deep passes to the right side. With Steve Smith sidelined, Flacco attempted 48 passes and six different Ravens caught at least three passes.

Under Mornhinweg, the Ravens offense managed ten passing first downs, seven rushing first downs and went 5-for-18 on third down. They averaged 3.8 yards per rush, 5.9 yards per pass and did not turn the ball over. The Ravens won the time of possession battle 35 minutes to 25.

The offensive line, starting three backups and one player out of position, allowed pressure on almost 40% of all drop backs and two sacks. They also incurred entirely too many penalties that put the Ravens behind the sticks often.

Unfortunately, the Ravens posted a 40% red zone efficiency rate, and were unable to score enough to overcome their own porous pass defense. The offense had an opportunity to pull out a win, even while lacking urgency on the final drive, but Flacco was unable to find the game winning play at the end.

After the change at coordinator from Marc Trestman to Mornhinweg, the Ravens offense showed signs of life. Hopefully their best pass blockers and receiver will return from injury next week. And more time with Marty will help Joe turn close losses into respectable wins.