Questionable Play Calling Leads To Marc Trestman Firing

EbonyBird.com’s Site Export Chris Schisler got his wish early Monday morning when the Baltimore Ravens fired offensive coordinator Marc Trestman. The firing came after a poor offensive output against a bad Redskins’ defense. ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news of Trestman’s firing.

Marty Mornhinweg replaces Marc Trestman as OC after joining the team as the quarterbacks’ coach last season. Mornhinweg becomes the fifth Ravens’ offensive coordinator five years. He held the OC position with the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Francisco 49ers.

Trestman needs to look no further than his questionable play calling. In Sundays loss against the Redskins, the Ravens drove down the field for 75 yards on nine plays. The drive consisted of five runs and four passes, a great balanced attack capped off with a Flacco touchdown pass to tight end Crockett Gillmore.

The rest of the game never achieved the same balance. Trestman called for Flacco to drop back to pass 47 more times (including three sacks and one six-yard scramble). This far outweighed the additional 17 running plays that he called. The Baltimore Ravens only scored three points after the opening drive.

The continued passing gets called into question more when you look at the weather conditions. Wind gusts nearing 30 MPH limited passing plays to short attempts. Even on the other side, Kirk Cousins struggled to hit on deep passes even with single coverage and open receivers. Wind gusts took away the deep ball, so running more made even more sense.

The Baltimore Ravens ran the ball 19 times (including Flacco’s scramble) for 119 yards. That is an average over six yards a carry. Terrance West, who started for the second straight week, led the team with 11 carries for 95 yards. They clearly ran the ball well, so why not stick with it.

Trestman’s trend for passing is based in historical consistency. As the OC of the Oakland Raiders in 2002, the Raiders ran the ball 38.8% of the time. The Raiders made it to the Super Bowl that year, but the following season, they went 5-11 and ran the ball 42.9% of the plays. The slight uptick resulted from starting quarterback Rich Gannon missing nine games due to injury.

Prior to Baltimore hiring him, Marc Trestman led the Chicago Bears as head coach for two years (2013-14). During that period, the Bears only rushed the ball 37.6% time. His offensive philosophy led Chicago to a 13-19 record; they went 10-6 in Lovie Smith’s final season before Trestman arrived.

Next: Baltimore Ravens Fire Marc Trestman

Under Gary Kubiak in 2014, the Ravens ran the ball significantly more (43.9%). The team made the playoffs after finishing 10-6. Since Trestman’s arrival, Baltimore’s record is 8-13, and they barely run the ball (35.4%). Trestman’s offense failed to find consistency because of the lack of a running game, and not because of player’s deficiencies. He failed to allow the team to run the ball and that has been his demise in every stop in the NFL.