Marty Mornhinweg deserves some credit for Ravens 2-0 start
The Baltimore Ravens are 2-0 and Marty Mornhinweg is playing a large role in their success:
Marty Mornhinweg was a hot button issue for the Baltimore Ravens all offseason long. John Harbaugh decided to keep Mornhinweg on as the offensive coordinator, much to the chagrin of the Ravens’ fanbase. Fans have to give credit where it is due.
The purple and black came into the season with a rusty and unpracticed Joe Flacco under center and a shuffled up offensive line. The offense still needs to make progress, but Mornhinweg has exceeded the low expectations for his offense.
The most important thing the Ravens are doing is committing to the run game. In back to back weeks the Ravens have used a group effort at the running back position to gain over 100 rushing yards. Mornhinweg has eased Flacco back into the swing of things. In the first game, Flacco only had 17 passing attempts. The offense remained balanced in the second game. Flacco’s throwing attempts doubled, but the offense still had 31 rushing attempts.
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Calling it perfectly:
Greg Roman has made a huge impact, and that is seen in how different the running game looks. The blocking scheme fits both the offensive linemen and the ball carriers. Roman constructed the ground game but Mornhinweg deserves the credit for sticking with it. Mornhinweg is calling the plays and he’s doing a nearly flawless job.
One element that Mornhinweg brought to the offense was the bootleg passing game. This is something Flacco has always been good at. It was a staple of the offense in the 2014 season, when Gary Kubiak took the offense to new heights. This is a big reason why Ben Watson emerged as the go to weapon in this offense. Watson had eight receptions for 91 yards in the week 2 game.
Getting Watson involved was the only way Mornhinweg could get more out of the passing game. This has not been a good start to the season for Breshad Perriman or Mike Wallace. Until Watson got involved in the action, Jeremy Maclin was the only player Flacco showed confidence throwing the football to.
New Look Coordinator:
It looks like Mornhinweg is a brand new play-caller but it could just be that he is finally allowed to do his thing. He took over for Marc Trestman, and he had to work with Trestman’s offense the rest of the 2016 season. He could change tendency, but he couldn’t install a brand new offense. Mornhinweg had to work with what he had as the team prepared for a game each week. This year he got the chance to install his offensive philosophy in training camp.
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The Ravens offense isn’t a finished product. Mornhinweg came into the season limited because of Flacco’s situation, and an offense that got little work in the preseason. With that in mind he is doing a fantastic job. He’s sticking to the running game and he is sticking to Flacco’s comfort zone. Basically he is doing everything fans have been asking for in the past couple of seasons.