Maybe it was more about the overall pass-protect scheme of the Ravens in Philly, and not so much about the Offensive Line (pointing a finger at the Ravens’ running backs and the enthusiastic release of their tight ends on pass routes)… but Joe Flacco took some hits last Sunday.
Obviously the OL will be the first to take the blame. Veteran center Matt Birk got pushed around a bit by the Eagles’ defensive rush. So did rookie RT Keleshi Osemele. Ramon Harewood got blown away on a few blitz rushes… And Michael Oher got blind-sided by Trent Cole and Brandon Graham on a few plays…
Quarterback Joe Flacco spent much of the second half in Sunday’s 24-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles under duress. He was hit, pressured and sacked, which contributed to the struggles in moving the football and putting up points. “Joe got hit a few times more than I would want him to get hit, but that’s a pretty good pass rush team,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said after the game.
The pressure on Flacco primarily came through right tackle Kelechi Osemele and left guard Ramon Harewood, according to the statistical website Pro Football Focus.
Osemele allowed one quarterback hit and four quarterback hurries, while Harewood allowed two QB hits and two hurries – a total of nine pressures.
By comparison, Harewood and Osemele combined to allow just three total pressures in the season opener against Cincinnati.
The Ravens finished the day allowing Flacco to get sacked twice, hit six times and hurried nine times. He dropped back to pass 49 times in the game, meaning that 35 percent of his throws came while he was under pressure. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was under pressure on 28 percent of his throws, according to Pro Football Focus.
“At times there were one-on-one matchups that got us a little bit in the second half, especially that were pretty good players rushing against some younger guys,” Harbaugh said during Monday’s press conference. “That is going to be part of the learning process for some of those guys.”
The Ravens decided to go with Osemele and Harewood – both young, athletic linemen – in the starting lineup this season to match the new up-tempo offense. Sunday’s game was just the second NFL contest for both of them, and they had the difficult task of defending an Eagles’ front regarded as one of the best in the NFL.
“We’re not going to just step in there and be lights out,” Pro Bowl right guard Marshal Yanda said about the line. “There are going to be some mistakes. We have some young guys in there, and I can remember when I was a young guy, I made mistakes. It happens, you know. We’re behind Ramon and KO and everybody.”
Despite some struggles on Sunday, Harbaugh said that the group played “pretty well” overall and Yanda emphasized that they are still confident in their younger pieces. The focus now is to correct the mistakes for this week’s game against New England.
“It’s a thing where we’ll keep working to get it corrected and we’ll keep moving forward,” Yanda said. “It’s Week 2, nobody is panicking.”
Of course the Ravens’ die-hard fans take issue with that statement of confidence by Yanda. Baltimore’s football fans are quickly becoming the next-best version of Philly’s own brand-name boo-birds…
Here’s a sample of cynicism by Raven Maniac, one of Baltimore’s most outspoken critics on the Ravens’ NFL website:
“Our OL problems are on John Harbaugh. He is the one who, despite repeatedly saying the best 5 would start, decided to shake up the OL and insert the two young guys this article is focusing on. I said before the season started, and I’m still saying, that our best OL has McKinnie at LT, Williams at LG, Birk at C, Yanda at RG, and Oher at RT. The only question about that is maybe, just maybe, KO might have earned consideration at the LG spot. All we heard all preseason was that we were a SB contender and that the best 5 would start on the OL. It’s going to take time for these young lineman to learn the ropes and develop their obvious potential into consistent play worthy of a spot on the starting line of a SB contending NFL team. Harbaugh is stubborn, has McKinnie in his doghouse, and may be hurting our chances to be the best we can be. McKinnie is a better LT than Michael Oher right now. Fix the OL, fire Cam Cameron, go back to the no-huddle, and our offense improves.”
Wow… that’s saying a lot!
Welp, the Ravens will adjust and certainly have their hands full with the Patriots coming into town on Sunday Night. Hard to say whats going through the coaches’ heads sometimes, but you figured they planned on running the so called hurry-up against Philly and wanted their best- conditioned and quickest guys on the OL….(which by the way worked beautifully against the Bengals in Week 1)…
Look for more screens, quick outs, and short dumps which involve the running backs and tight ends against the Patriots. I think then you will see an automatic improvement in the OL play and the overall protection of Joe Flacco in the pocket.
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