No reason to expect improvement in Ravens offense; we have never seen consistency

Year after year we continue to tell ourselves that the Baltimore Ravens will have an offense that is efficient and can carry its own weight. We tell ourselves that we won’t have to worry about a single penalty killing a potential scoring drive and we won’t have to worry about an offense having consecutive three and outs on a consistent basis. Everyone who follows this team has said that to themselves at one point or another. But I and others who follow the Ravens have learned to have a wait and see approach.

The issues with the Ravens offense ultimately will be pointed at Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and the revolving door that seems to be the number of coaches at the offensive coordinator position. But the issues the Ravens have had on offense have occurred longer than Flacco and Harbaugh have been in Baltimore. The constant struggle to be efficient on offense has occurred ever since the Ravens arrived in Baltimore since 1996.

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and assistant general manager Eric DeCosta are two of the best GM’s in the NFL. So many teams have tried to take DeCosta away from Baltimore but he loves staying here. Newsome, who is already a hall of fame tight end, is more than likely on his way to making the pro football hall of fame once again as a general manager. Newsome has produced hall of fame caliber talent such as Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs may be on his way to Canton, Ohio in his own right.

Newsome as a GM has two Super Bowl rings to his credit with the Ravens as the team has been one of the models for consistency in the NFL since 2000. The Ravens have the fifth most wins in the NFL since 2000 (including playoffs) at 172 thanks in large part to Newsome. The Ravens also have the second most playoff wins in the NFL since 2000 with 15. Only the New England Patriots have more playoff wins and they have 23.

With all of the success the Ravens have had over the years, the offense has always been a constant problem. It goes deeper than just pointing fingers and Flacco and Harbaugh for the struggles. The Ravens had these issues when Brian Billick was here too and he eventually got fired because of it. It safe to say after 21 seasons that there is something missing in the way the Ravens front office approaches the offensive side of the ball.

The Ravens have had such an inconsistent offense over the years that it almost feels like the oxygen in Baltimore doesn’t allow the Ravens offense to move the ball. It also almost feels like it goes against the law for the Ravens to have an elite offense or at least one that doesn’t shoot itself in the foot on a consistent basis. I don’t know why the Ravens have had these issues finding success on offense and it may be a situation where the team may need to seek an adviser outside of the organization to give quality feedback.

But in the present, Flacco can talk about how offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg didn’t have the opportunity to mold the offense into his own last season like he alluded to recently. It is wait and see mode from here on out. Enough talking from the Ravens about how good this offense should be and actually go out on the field and prove it.