Baltimore Ravens offense needs to lead the entire team

Baltimore Ravens offense no longer has an excuse not to perform. The Ravens front office has made Joe Flacco the highest paid player in NFL history for the second time in three years and the Ravens invested a first round draft pick on a wide receiver in Brehsad Perriman and an offensive tackle in Ronnie Stanley each of the last two years respectively. The Ravens also invested money in giving left tackle Eugene Monroe a five year deal worth 37.5 million dollars during the 2014 offseason.

I could talk about the Ravens giving tight end Dennis Pitta a 30 million dollar contract in recent years, the Ravens investing a lot of time and depth at the tight end position drafting Maxx Williams in the second round, Crockett Gillmore in the third round and Nick Boyle in the fifth round. This isn't even counting Steve Smith Sr., Kamar Aiken, Mike Wallace, Justin Forsett and Buck Allen at the skill positions. In terms of average salary for the 2016 season, five of the top seven players on the Ravens roster are from the offensive side of the ball.

The Ravens offense has run out of excuses going forward. I don't want to hear about injuries, I don't want to hear about players needing to get on the same page, I don't want to hear about players still adjusting to the playbook and I don't want to hear about how the Ravens offense just came out flat during games.

Enough is enough. After all of these years seeing the Ravens offense under perform, the days of giving this unit a pass is over. The Ravens have made it pretty clear at this point that the Ravens will go as far as its offense will take the organization. And this is Flacco's team now and it has pretty much been that way since Ray Lewis and Ed Reed left after 2012. So whether or not Flacco is 100 percent healthy by the time 2016 season starts, the pressure is on him and the rest of the offense to perform. I like Flacco I think he is a top 10 quarterback for sure, but he needs to raise his overall level of play.

Every offseason it seems like in recent years we tend to hear about how the Ravens offense is clicking in practice only for it to be inconsistent at best when the real games start. Well, no more of that. No more starting off slow on offense to begin games in the first quarter. No more starting off slow on the road in the regular season.

If the Ravens offense does not live up to its talent level on offense, it would show that the amount of time and investment that members in the front office like general manager Ozzie Newsome and assistant general manager Eric DeCosta put in would amount to almost nothing. Regardless of what happens this season, the Ravens front office should be focused on adding more depth on the defensive side of the ball going forward.