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Ravens offense: Is it Marty Mornhinweg’s time to shine?

By Chris Schisler

MIAMI - SEPTEMBER 8: Marty Mornhinweg Head Coach of the Detroit Lions keeps an eye on his team against the Miami Dolphins on September 8, 2002 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. The Dolphins defeated the Lions 49-21. (Photo By Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)
MIAMI - SEPTEMBER 8: Marty Mornhinweg Head Coach of the Detroit Lions keeps an eye on his team against the Miami Dolphins on September 8, 2002 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. The Dolphins defeated the Lions 49-21. (Photo By Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images) /
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Marty Mornhinweg has to turn things around for the Ravens offense. He finally has a fair chance to do that:

Marty Mornhinweg hasn’t been a good offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, but to be fair he hasn’t had a ton of talent to work with. The Ravens best wide receiver in his tenure was Steve Smith Sr. and he retired after 2016. In 2017, Mike Wallace was the Ravens best receiver as Breshad Perriman convinced all of us on his bust status and Jeremy Maclin seemingly was nowhere to be found when the Ravens needed a big play.

Joe Flacco has had a rough time at the quarterback position, and Ravens fans will argue all day that he hasn’t had enough help around him. If that argument is going to work in favor of Flacco, then it must be applied to Mornhinweg as well. Mornhinweg has to know something, he’s been on an NFL coaching staff for the last 23 years. He had success under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles and this is his fourth stint as an offensive coordinator. He keeps getting jobs in the “Not For Long” NFL.

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A Vision for a better offense:

The Ravens faithful were frustrated when Mornhinweg was kept on at the end of the 2017 season. John Harbaugh is often criticized for being too loyal to his coaching staff and public opinion went at in regards to him standing by Mornhinweg. Maybe there was a reason the Ravens head coach was so adamant about keeping their offensive coordinator. Maybe, the Ravens have a vision for a better offense and they just needed time to build it.

Drafting Lamar Jackson is a sure sign that the Ravens want to change directions moving forward. Flacco and Jackson are about as different as Deadpool and Deathstroke. Deadpool and Deathstroke are both comic book assassins, but one is hilarious and the other is no-nonsense and all about the job. My point is that Flacco and Jackson are both quarterbacks, however that’s about the only thing they have in common.

Mornhinweg worked with Michael Vick when he was with the Eagles. It’s not like he needs a stationary pocket passer who dunks it down almost automatically. Mornhinweg was working with the tools he had.

The Bottom Line:

Now with more options open to him, a better offense could actually happen. With a better group of pass catchers, check downs may not be as big of a staple in the offense. The offense could become more aggressive and could yield bigger results.

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Other than Crabtree and Marshal Yanda the bulk of the Ravens starters on the offense are young. Alex Collins, Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews could be the core trio in the Ravens new look offense. If Mornhinweg and Harbaugh had a plan for something exciting on offense down the road Mornhinweg could turn things around in a big way. He just needs to get one good year out of Flacco, with an improved overall offense. After that it can be the Lamar Jackson show. If Jackson is the next Mike Vick, than maybe, just maybe Mornhinweg is the right offensive coordinator for the Ravens.

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