BLOG: An Unacceptable Performance By The Ravens
So much for rising to the occasion on Monday Night Football.
The Baltimore Ravens were supposed to show a national television audience that they were one of the best teams in NFL by spanking the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead, they set offensive football back 50 years in getting beat by a club that had lost five games in a row.
Joe Flacco, who I have defended many times, had another rough outing as he was unable to get into a rythm and put points on the board. I will not say that Flacco has reached his ceiling, but he is not playing as well as he did last season.
He has to play better. And soon.
The offensive line has been terrible in pass protection all year and Monday night wasn't any different. After playing well against the Steelers in the season opener, this group has regressed. Flacco continues to get pummeled each game.
They have to play better. I don't know if they can.
What is the deal with the play calling? How does a team with Ray Rice and Ricky Williams rush for only 34 yards?
Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron needs to do a better job a getting a tempo going. How about finding an indentity?
The defense played well enough to win for Baltimore even though they made some mistakes which extended drives for Jacksonville.
But this one is on the Ravens' offense. They were flat, uninspired and ineffective.
Super Bowl caliber teams are supposed to clobber inferior opponents. Not get shutout for 58 minutes.
This was a bad loss for Baltimore.
It was an unacceptable performance by a team that is expected to be better than that.
BH
