Baltimore Ravens: Factoring in the offensive line problems
The Baltimore Ravens offensive line has been part of the problem. Here is a look at what went wrong for the Ravens up front:
Without Marshal Yanda, Ronnie Stanley is the one rock the offensive line can count on. In fact, Stanley is showing why he is a player to build around. The Ravens offensive line hasn’t been the same since Yanda went down; though it hasn’t been great at any point of the season.
The offensive line could have been really strong. Imagine a starting line of Stanley, Alex Lewis, Ryan Jensen, Marshal Yanda and Austin Howard. That’s a really good starting five and bad circumstances took it away. The list of injuries (and one retirement) on the offensive line is insane. The Ravens lost these players for the year:
John Urschel (retired)
Alex Lewis
Nico Siragusa
Marshal Yanda (injured week 2)
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an answer. Ryan Jensen has been serviceable, however he has been inconsistent. When Jensen has struggled, the offensive line has fallen apart.
How much blame can you pin on the offensive line?
The purple and black have a long list of problems on the offensive side of the football. The offensive line isn’t the chief concern among them. The Ravens have a horrible offensive coordinator, whose imagination is nowhere to be found. The Ravens have a quarterback that is clearly overpaid for his sub-par play and they have little help for him in terms of pass catchers. If the offensive line was phenomenal, the offense would still be in deep trouble.
The Titans game was a really bad look for the offensive line. It simply didn’t make the blocks they needed to win the game. The running game had a pedestrian showing and the Ravens’ inability to pick up first downs on short yardage situations was largely due to the offensive line losing the battle. It’s still hard to go off about the line. The Ravens had Joe Flacco throw it 52 times, which plays against the Ravens’ strengths. On those 52 throws, Flacco had 261 yards and two picks. The offensive line isn’t responsible for the inefficiency of the quarterback.
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Putting it all together:
The game against Tennessee was kind of the whole thing in a nutshell. The offensive line has a fair amount of problems. The offense has bigger problems than an offensive line that lost a hall of fame worthy player in week two as well two other guards. That’s the problem. The Ravens injuries have made the offensive line their most understandable problem and other problems loom over it. The offensive line isn’t incredibly fun to watch but lay off Joe D’Alessandris and his players. When the circumstances are considered, the offensive line is exceeding expectations.