*FAN SUBMISSION by Brad Kroner of Baltimore. Follow him on Twitter @bradkroner.*
Following a disappointing week 17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, many are pointing fingers at the 120 million dollar man, Joe Flacco. While he certainly deserves some blame for the anemic offensive performance, he can’t take full accountability for the loss. His receivers should share the blame.
Flacco threw 50 passes, completing 30. Those 30 completions were good for only 192 yards and one touchdown. Of those 30 completions, third year wide receiver and fan favorite Torrey Smith caught three for 27 yards. Jacoby Jones, the savior of the Ravens’ 2012 season, only managed one catch for 11 yards. Marlon Brown, an undrafted rookie wide receiver, recorded five catches for 30 yards and the only Raven touchdown of the day.
Flacco’s top three receivers accounted for just nine of his 30 completions. They accounted for a mere 68 yards, less than half of Flacco’s total yardage. Brown, the youngest and most inexperienced of the trio, caught more passes than Jones and Smith did. He also had nearly half the yardage by himself. Tight end Dennis Pitta alone almost eclipsed their combined numbers, as he accumulated 63 yards on eight catches.
Courtesy: Baltimore Sun
These wide receivers need to produce much more than a third of the passing yardage. No offense can be successful when the top three receivers combine for such pedestrian numbers. Smith and Jones were out-produced by an undrafted rookie. As veteran receivers, there is no excuse for their performance.
Perhaps Flacco and the offense struggled because nobody was open. A quarterback can’t get much done when his receivers are covered so tightly.
Running back Ray Rice caught seven for 35 yards. Rice is undoubtedly a great receiving back, but he shouldn’t finish a game with more catches than the top two wide receivers combined. Bernard Pierce, who is not so highly regarded as a receiving back, made four catches for 18 yards. They caught more passes than the receivers.
If Flacco checks down so many passes to his backs, one could deduce that his options are limited. Flacco makes his living on deep balls and lightning strike passes. Surely, Flacco wouldn’t throw a check down if there was a better option down the field.
The Ravens desperately need improvement at the wide receiver position.
Baltimore’s front office must address the wide receiver position in the off-season. Ozzie Newsome, typically brilliant when it comes to assembling rosters, may have made a mistake in trading veteran Anquan Boldin. While the cap room provided resources to bolster the defense, the move set the offense back. Newsome gambled on the development of younger receivers and lost.
Hopefully, Newsome will get his franchise quarterback some weapons to win more games next season. This offense lacked firepower in 2013, and they need to reload for 2014.
