Baltimore Ravens stuck in limbo after Harbaugh’s season-ending presser

On Thursday, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh held his season-ending press conference. After listening to Harbs talk for 40 minutes, the Ravens appear to be in a limbo…

This past weekend, the Baltimore Ravens suffered a soul-crushing defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals and got eliminated from postseason contention. It marked the fourth time in five seasons that Harbaugh’s Ravens failed to reach the playoffs. Ever since the Ravens left M&T Bank Stadium for the final time on Sunday night, Ravens fans eagerly waited to see what the next step was. Dean Pees quickly retired, leaving a defensive coordinator vacancy open. Fans also clamored for the head of offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, and a large number of fans held hopes of Harbaugh’s dismissal too.

Earlier this week, the Ravens announced a Thursday morning season-ending press conference with Harbaugh. The 2018 State of the Ravens press conference is still in the works, but Thursday gave Ravens fans their first chance to hear Harbaugh speak since Sunday evening.

Harbaugh spoke for nearly 40 minutes on Thursday. Many tough questions got thrown his way, ranging from Mornhinweg, Flacco, busted draft picks, and the empty seats. Despite the recent shortcomings of the team and the franchise, the head coach seemed pretty confident that the Ravens can quickly turn things around. He also seemed offended that the Ravens’ method of doing things is being questioned.

That’s the concerning part.

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Mornhinweg returning again…

For the second offseason in a row, Ravens fans desperately want offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg out of town, and for the second year in a row that does not appear to be on the table. When asked about Mornhinweg’s status, Harbaugh said that Marty will return for his second full season as Baltimore’s offensive coordinator. Harbaugh expressed confidence in his coordinators to improve their units over the offseason.

Since the beginning of the 2012 season, Joe Flacco has worked with five different offensive coordinators. While keeping Mornhinweg is good from a consistency standpoint, this is a unit that was at the bottom of the league until their bye week. In the second half of the season, the Ravens’ offense faced several mediocre defenses against backup quarterbacks. Just the other night with the season on the line, the offense came out and picked up two first downs in the first half. That’s unacceptable and reflects poorly on both Harbaugh and Mornhinweg.

Another thing to consider is there is no guarantee that offensive assistant Greg Roman returns next season, according to NFL‘s Ian Rapoport. Roman’s one-year commitment to the Ravens is over, and he will possibly look around for another job, particularly as an offensive coordinator. Roman helped the Ravens’ rushing attack improve from 28’th to 11’th in the NFL. The Ravens’ offense was much more balanced in 2017. Baltimore ran the ball 44% of the time in 2017, opposed to 35% in 2016.

Mornhinweg is notorious for abandoning the run. Flacco does not perform well when asked to throw 40+ times in a game. Therefore, if the Ravens are going to roll with Mornhinweg again, they should do everything in their power to keep Roman, but that is far from a lock.

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Will Ravens actually get some real playmakers this offseason?

When asked about the lack of playmakers on offense again this season, Harbaugh sounded like a broken record. He said that the Ravens will look to add playmakers on offense this offseason in the draft and free agency. He even admitted that the entire NFL knows that the Ravens are in need of game-changing players, mainly on offense.

How many times has Harbs, Ozzie, or Steve Bisciotti said that the Ravens need to do a better job of giving Flacco weapons? Follow-up question: How many times have the Ravens said that and not done nearly enough? Jeremy Maclin failed to eclipse 450 reception yards in an injury-riddled season. Mike Wallace is a solid #2 receiver but does not force a defense to change their game around him. Benjamin Watson, while a great player on and off the field, is 36-years-old. Alex Collins was not even on the roster at the beginning of the regular season.

You see the pattern? The Ravens have clearly not invested enough into skill positions on the offensive side of the ball. While injuries on the offensive line hurt and Flacco has certainly regressed, the refusal to equip a franchise quarterback with sufficient weapons needs to change if the Ravens want to return to the playoffs.

For many offseasons now, the Ravens have expressed their need for more playmakers. Whether they change their roster strategy or change the personnel making decisions in the draft, the time for attaining playmakers is now, no questions asked.

Ravens seem naive to the empty seat dilemma

Perhaps the scariest part of Harbaugh’s meeting with the media was that the head coach did not seem to be too concerned with the number of empty seats at M&T Bank Stadium this season. A number of factors are going into this issue, and the entire NFL is dealing with similar situations all throughout the league.

When asked about the absent fans, Harbaugh cited Ravens fans as one of the most passionate and caring fanbases in the NFL. While that lip service may work on a small number of people, it fails to address the real problem of fans not showing up. Yes, the protests certainly caused some to stay away, but the biggest problem leading to this for the Ravens is the product on the field. Harbaugh failing to recognize the on-field product and its relation to the decreasing amount of fans coming to games is very disappointing and quite frankly angering.

The bottom line

It’s scary how similar this press conference sounded to the ones we’ve heard the past few years. In the NFL, missing the playoffs four of five seasons would be more than enough to clean house. A complete overhaul may not be the solution, but not changing a thing is not going to work either. It’s clear that what the Ravens have done since winning Super Bowl 47 is not yielding success, and it is unsettling that the Ravens do not seem pressured to change some things.

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Again, we have yet to hear from Ozzie Newsome and Steve Bisciotti on the still to be scheduled State of the Ravens press conference. While it is not yet known how Bisciotti and Newsome feel about another lost season, the Ravens appear to be stuck in a state of limbo with no big changes on the horizon.