John Harbaugh Offers Candid Critique of Ravens Unbalanced Offense
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens John Harbaugh didn't mince words when asked where the Ravens need to improve with their offense.
"We need to be better," Harbaugh said. "So, we need to protect better. We need to throw better. We need to catch better. We need to get open better. We need to do everything more efficiently. We need to improve what we’re doing, and the better you do that, then the more success you’ll have doing it."
Here's a look at the Ravens final regular-season rankings
Total Offense — No. 19 (363.1 yards per game)
Rush Offense — No. 1 (191.9)
Rush Attempts — No. 1 (555)
Pass Offense — No 32 (171.2)
Pass attempts — No. 32 (406)
Points Per Game — No. 7 (29.3)
While it's not all gloom and doom, Harbaugh acknowledged the team needs to find more balance.
"We want to build an offense that wins and scores points," he said. "In a lot of ways, we’ve done that. I think we’re a dominant running football team, and we’re a middle of the pack pass efficiency team. We’re a lot better than probably what people think we are, and the numbers will vouch for that. I’m not going to go through a bunch of different stats, but I have them here in front of me. [Defense-adjusted Value Over Average] and things like that, I think we’re pretty good, but we need to be more efficient."
The Ravens will look to boost the passing attack with the further development of the players on the current roster, through the draft and via free agency.
There are several dynamic wide receivers that are unrestricted free agents, including Allen Robinson, A.J. Green. T.Y. Hilton and Sammy Watkins.
The Ravens will be weighing all of their options. However, they are not going to stray too far from the formula that has helped put them in the postseason for three consecutive years.
"You could argue the best run offense in the history of football in the last two years – you could make that case," Harbaugh said. "So, let’s continue to grow that and build that, and then let’s build up our efficiency, whether it’s play-action passes, or drop back passes, or screen game, and all the different things that we can add to our repertoire there. So, we’ll be working on that very diligently.”
