The Next Step of the Offense

**The Excellector** · 01-22-2020, 08:33 PM

This offense was great this season. It was dominant. It was efficient. Greg Roman did a very good job with it overall and Lamar Jackson made everything go.

However, there are two clear issues with it that will need to be worked on, going forward. This passing offense can be very efficient........as long as the rush offense is dominant. That is where a lot of the spacing comes from and why we saw so many open guys this season. However, on its own, it diminishes in quality a great deal. Connected to that, this is not a team that is able to throw itself out of a hole.

However, with the way this passing offense was talked up during the season, you would think that it could stand on its own just fine. Efficiency numbers and QB stats were plastered all over the place. If anyone dared to say that Lamar had issues throwing toward the boundary, it seemed like a bar fight was ready to break out.

Personally, I have always felt that Lamar’s ability as a passer was extremely high. So, there was hardly any disagreement there.

I guess my issue is this: We have Marquise Brown, who we hope will be fully healthy next season. We will have Andrews and Hurst. We have this QB that everyone says is a great passer. He does go through his reads very well for a guy his age. His feel for the game is glaring in a good way. His passing has undeniably improved from year one to year two.

So, why don’t we want to throw more going forward? Why does it feel like fans and quite a few posters just want slight increases in how much we throw. Firstly, why do we want to trap Lamar, with all of his immense passing potential, in this Greg Roman ideology. Secondly, how do we honestly expect him to reach his full potential as a passer, in this ideology?

Do some believe that we can play the same way we did this year, get into a playoff game, fall behind again and suddenly become Kansas City, just because we made a slight upgrade over Seth Roberts? Is that all we think it takes? Like, ‘This all looks great on paper and it should just work when we need it to work’.

That’s not how Kansas City developed their passing offense. That’s now how New England developed their passing offense in 2007. That’s not how the Saints developed their passing offense.

I’m not saying we have to throw 700 times, but what’s the point of even trying to upgrade the skilled position players if the offense is just going to be 450-460 passing attempts? You wouldn’t be getting the most out of those guys anyway.

Hey, maybe I’m wrong. I’m sure I’ll get flamed. It is what it is. I know how to use the ignore feature when necessary.

It just feels like it’s one thing to hear Baltimore fans admire a team like Kansas City. Its another to actually be supportive of seeing the passing offense head in that direction, with the work and changes that would have to take place for it to properly evolve in that manner.

It’s been the same way for twenty years. We could complete ten straight passes, and fans are like, “We’re still gonna need to establish the run at some point”. After that tenth pass, we can try a run and no one will bat an eyelid.

We could run the ball effectively ten straight times and it’s “YEAH, RAM IT DOWN THEIR THROAT”. I mean you would think the city’s ready to have an orgasm.

After that tenth run, we could even try to throw it and it’s....... “RUN THE BALLLLLLLLLL!!!!”, followed by the expletives of your choice.

That’s Baltimore football culture and has been for God knows how long. Listen, if that’s what you want, that’s fine, but if you watch a Kansas City and want what they have, there are growing pains and a lot of work that comes with that. It doesn’t just happen because you continue to underutilize your second TE in the passing offense and replace Roberts with, oh, I don’t know, whose the latest slightly above average WR flavor of the month?

Now, if you believe that Roman and Harbaugh are absolutely down for the offense taking those steps forward in the coming years, then I’ll try to share in your hopefulness. There’s just this “We need to get back to Ravens football!” thing, from the organization to the coaches to the fans, that, unless your defense is delivering swashbuckling a Stone Cold Stunners, there are going to be limits come playoff time.

**Ortizer** · 01-22-2020, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by The Excellector

This offense was great this season. It was dominant. It was efficient. Greg Roman did a very good job with it overall and Lamar Jackson made everything go.

However, there are two clear issues with it that will need to be worked on, going forward. This passing offense can be very efficient........as long as the rush offense is dominant. That is where a lot of the spacing comes from and why we saw so many open guys this season. However, on its own, it diminishes in quality a great deal. Connected to that, this is not a team that is able to throw itself out of a hole.

However, with the way this passing offense was talked up during the season, you would think that it could stand on its own just fine. Efficiency numbers and QB stats were plastered all over the place. If anyone dared to say that Lamar had issues throwing toward the boundary, it seemed like a bar fight was ready to break out.

Personally, I have always felt that Lamar’s ability as a passer was extremely high. So, there was hardly any disagreement there.

I guess my issue is this: We have Marquise Brown, who we hope will be fully healthy next season. We will have Andrews and Hurst. We have this QB that everyone says is a great passer. He does go through his reads very well for a guy his age. His feel for the game is glaring in a good way. His passing has undeniably improved from year one to year two.

So, why don’t we want to throw more going forward? Why does it feel like fans and quite a few posters just want slight increases in how much we throw. Firstly, why do we want to trap Lamar, with all of his immense passing potential, in this Greg Roman ideology. Secondly, how do we honestly expect him to reach his full potential as a passer, in this ideology?

Do some believe that we can play the same way we did this year, get into a playoff game, fall behind again and suddenly become Kansas City, just because we made a slight upgrade over Seth Roberts? Is that all we think it takes? Like, ‘This all looks great on paper and it should just work when we need it to work’.

That’s not how Kansas City developed their passing offense. That’s now how New England developed their passing offense in 2007. That’s not how the Saints developed their passing offense.

I’m not saying we have to throw 700 times, but what’s the point of even trying to upgrade the skilled position players if the offense is just going to be 450-460 passing attempts? You wouldn’t be getting the most out of those guys anyway.

Hey, maybe I’m wrong. I’m sure I’ll get flamed. It is what it is. I know how to use the ignore feature when necessary.

It just feels like it’s one thing to hear Baltimore fans admire a team like Kansas City. Its another to actually be supportive of seeing the passing offense head in that direction, with the work and changes that would have to take place for it to properly evolve in that manner.

It’s been the same way for twenty years. We could complete ten straight passes, and fans are like, “We’re still gonna need to establish the run at some point”. After that tenth pass, we can try a run and no one will bat an eyelid.

We could run the ball effectively ten straight times and it’s “YEAH, RAM IT DOWN THEIR THROAT”. I mean you would think the city’s ready to have an orgasm.

After that tenth run, we could even try to throw it and it’s....... “RUN THE BALLLLLLLLLL!!!!”, followed by the expletives of your choice.

That’s Baltimore football culture and has been for God knows how long. Listen, if that’s what you want, that’s fine, but if you watch a Kansas City and want what they have, there are growing pains and a lot of work that comes with that. It doesn’t just happen because you continue to underutilize your second TE in the passing offense and replace Roberts with, oh, I don’t know, whose the latest slightly above average WR flavor of the month?

Now, if you believe that Roman and Harbaugh are absolutely down for the offense taking those steps forward in the coming years, then I’ll try to share in your hopefulness. There’s just this “We need to get back to Ravens football!” thing, from the organization to the coaches to the fans, that, unless your defense is delivering swashbuckling a Stone Cold Stunners, there are going to be limits come playoff time.

I could accept the 15 yards for LJ Fort delivering a stunner

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**Julius486** · 01-22-2020, 10:24 PM

If we invest another 1st/2nd round talent into the WRs corps (or a big time free agent), I would expect passing attempts to go up quite a bit. If not, probably only a marginal increase. I don't see us running Lamar as much, so I think naturally passing numbers will go up from that

**tnsmith90** · 01-22-2020, 10:39 PM

Here's the thing; we don't want to get away from what worked. This was arguably the greatest rushing offense of all time. Why would we go away from that? The one time we did, we got crushed...in the playoffs no less.

We can't forget who we are in the process of trying to become more. A marginal increase in pass attempts, and a marginal decrease in designed QB runs would be ideal.

If we improve the run D, upgrade our receiving talent, and Harbaugh learns that his team is built for a more conservative approach, we have as good a shot as any team at winning it all next year.

**The Excellector** · 01-22-2020, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by BHSU

According to Super Moderator Mista T, bring in Antonio Brown!!!! He apologized after all!

Lol. Well, I’m not down with Brown, but I get what T is saying.

**The Excellector** · 01-22-2020, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by Ortizer

I could accept the 15 yards for LJ Fort delivering a stunner

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

Lol. Stone Cold! Stone Cold!

**PTORaven** · 01-22-2020, 10:45 PM

if you rewatch the season chronologically, there was (or it felt like there was) way more passing in the first few games, especially on passes to WRs. i believe this is what Roman had actually pictured for the season, but then when the ground game took off and the passing game to WRs sputtered a bit they shifted the balance to what was working at the time. i'm personally expecting to see the offensive playcalling resemble the Miami and Arizona games next season. what i think they need to do this is the best FA route runner that money can buy. possibly even a trade.

**The Excellector** · 01-22-2020, 10:50 PM

Lol. I don’t mean any harm by the thread or anything like that. I’m just saying if we want what we currently have to stay in place, that fine. With a few minor tweaks, and a lot of help in that defensive front seven, there’s a chance it could work. But don’t go that route and think the passing offense is gonna make significant strides forward, or the QB running it, compared to his ceiling. Just acknowledge that you just want Lamar Jackson to be a 25-30 guy, in an offense predicated on the run and that you feel that’s the best he can be. That’s the best situation for him, even at his ceiling.

**The Excellector** · 01-22-2020, 10:52 PM

Personally, I think that Lamar has potential as a passer that would notch him one step below Mahomes, but I don’t think this current scheme and approach will get him there. Nor this coaching staff, but that’s another story I guess.

**Mmcclend** · 01-22-2020, 11:33 PM

We better take that next step or we won’t be getting over that KC hump anytime soon. We were 14-2 and didn’t even get to the KC hump. Smh.

**Desert Raven** · 01-23-2020, 12:59 AM

The QB threw more touchdowns than anyone and we’re still talking about needing a receiver. When the Pats had Gronk and Hernandez and were killing teams with it in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Wes Welker in his early 30’s was really their biggest technically receiver weapon. To me it looks the Ravens can make something work with Hurst/Andrews/Hollywood, then you have your smaller role Snead types and too soon to give up on Boykin.

The more I think about it the more I don’t know if bringing in another receiver is what moves the needle. I’d go extremely heavy on addressing the defense instead of going after AJ Green or whoever else who won’t be the solution. Obviously I’m speaking of anyone less than a bonafide proven superstar receiver. Now, not three years ago. Roman has players to work with they don’t need to chase a receiver to bring in when he could start by really getting Hurst involved as a pass catcher. None of them are the caliber of Gronk obviously, but Hurst/Andrews could easily combine for 50+ catches each like Gronk/Hernandez. Welker went off, had well over 100 catches. Have some vision and incorporate Hollywood into the offense as a major contributor.

They’re going to have to switch it up. If they try and go into next season with the same idea as this season it’s hard to think they’ll be as successful. They’ll have evolve in the passing game, they don’t have a choice. Any move at receiver would have to be mind blowingly big, and if not there is really no point.

**StalkRavenMad** · 01-23-2020, 01:24 AM

I think they will still utilize the run to set up the pass. The run is what Lamar does best and the run is what strikes fear in every DC in the NFL. With that said I think you will see a bit more passing not a whole lot though.

If you look at the Tennessee game most of those plays work if the receivers hold on to the ball. Thy pass to Andrews was a pass they hit on at least 20 times in the regular season. The pass that hit Seth in the hands was a Touchdown. I dont think they need to overhaul the offense. I do think they are going to need new wrinkles because evey DC in the league is looking at ways to limit the offense. I dont think the answer is to throw the ball 35-40 times a game. To me the ideal ratio is 55-45 run. The run is what the team is built to do. The run will set up everything else. The issue with Tennessee game was we didnt catch the ball. We want to put it on the receiver but we had TEs, wrs, and RBs dropping the ball. We picked the wrong game to not be efficient in our passing game.