Is Practice the Root of the Problem for the Ravens’ Offense?

Despite being a jealous douche most of the time, Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun occasionally makes a good point. And points don’t usually get better than this.

On the Ravens’ Insider blog, Preston opined that the defense practicing full force against the offense rarely gives the quarterbacks time to go through their reads and make good throws. Given that the Ravens are annually among the NFL’s best defensive units, could it be possible that all these years of offensive futility have been a direct results of their defensive intensity?

Think about it. No one takes a play off when Ray Lewis is on the field, or so goes the local lore. How can you develop a young quarterback when the defense is challenged on every play to yield zero yards? To anyone?

And they all blamed it on Kyle Boller.

Neither Boller, Troy Smith or Joe Flacco have looked particularly impressive during camp, aside from a few flashes of brilliance. It may be particularly hard on the offense this season, as the defense has even more to prove after last year’s 5-11 campaign.

There are those that will say opponents won’t take plays off during the season, so why should coaches and teammates? That may be true, but there aren’t many teams that pride themselves or throw themselves at an offense like the Baltimore Ravens, and if they don’t ease up on the throttle, it may mean another year of sputtering for a patchwork offense.