BLOG: Ravens Deja Vu?
The Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots represent the last eight Super Bowl champions. They are won Super Bowls with good defenses and offenses that did what needed to be done to win.
In the case of all except the Giants, the quarterback and his play is what got those respective teams into the a position to win a championship. Those teams knew that and they allowed their quarterbacks to do what needed to be done to get them in those positions.
The Baltimore Ravens really do not resemble any of those teams offensively and it is necessary for them to in order to elevate to that elite status. You have to have great quarterback play and your offense has to allow for it. The Ravens offense doesn't really lend itself to great quarterback play.
Some would argue that Cam Cameron doesn't trust Joe Flacco and this is the reason for not allowing Flacco to take over the offense. Some would argue that Cameron is a control freak and this is the reason, but whatever the reason, there's no way you can look at the Ravens offense and see what you see when watching the better teams in the league.
This is an offensive league now. I cringe when I hear comments such as, "We win with the running game and defense." No, you aren't winning because you rely so heavily on the running game and defense. Today's NFL is about simply outscoring your opponent.
No, I'm not saying forget about defense and for the wise guys in the audience, yes you've always wanted to score more than you opponents. That's not what I'm saying here.
The league has evolved into the old AFL all over again. The NFL wants to put a ton of points on the board. They've systematically put this in place. You aren't going to go out and just hold opponents to a few points and think you're going to win championships that way. Again, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens aren't walking through that door. We're beginning to sound like the uncle who's constantly talking about "back in his day" when talking about that team. It's great to have and remember, but you have to realize you aren't repeating that. You have to move with the times in order to do it again.
The Ravens slipped back into that conservative style offensive play last Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. They tried to run a lot of underneath routes and then when they stretched the field, they did it with a player in Lee Evans who's clearly hurt.
You cannot go four-wide and have Vonta Leach as lined up as a wide. That's not going to fool anyone. You have tight ends and a wide out who's inactive who can get that job done for you. You can't outsmart teams when they put more talent on the field to cover up your scheme.
Look at the teams the Ravens can't beat consistently. Those teams open things up and allow their quarterbacks to play football. Today's football. After last Sunday, you have to worry if it's "Here We Go Again..."
Rob Long
