3 Biggest Mistakes Ravens Rookie Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle Made in Week 2

It takes a lot to blow a 10-point lead at home in the NFL but give the Ravens credit – they continue to perfect the art and have now done so 10 times since Lamar Jackson’s became their full-season starter in 2019.

Most teams haven’t managed to pull that off on even five occasions in that span, (I guess Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has a superpower afterall, and he can’t cry to his billionaire boss about John Harbaugh undermining his brilliant roster after Sunday’s debacle). And imagine doing it all those times over all those years despite having a dominant run game, with Jackson a unique gravitational force in that regard, and first ballot back Derrick Henry here and available for basically every game since 2024 .

Seems impossible … yet it just keeps happening.

Rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle was lauded with “genius” accolades from his players this offseason, but there was always going to be a learning curve for a 30-year-old who had never called plays before. And the first time things got real and adversity hit this offense, Doyle’s inexperience enveloped him. He was hardly alone, with DeCosta wanting a younger and cheaper (and imminently controllable staff) after outlasting Harbaugh, and so this is what you get.

Rookie head coach Jesse Minter’s defense, with a slew of players familiar with the system and philosophies from Minter’s coaching roots in Baltimore, is most to blame, and that side of the ball always had to lead the Ravens to a fast start if there was to be one. With the injuries befalling a already-suspect offense line, Doyle’s job got even tougher, and several of his decisions ended up making that task exponentially more difficult.

Before we dissect it, keep in mind this offense managed to score three points in the second half, gaining just 84 yards on 25 plays (3.4 yards/play, impossibly), and ran nine plays for 46 yards in the fourth quarter, a lot of if Jackson scrambling with the Saints knowing they just had to defend the endzone up, 24-17. Doyle’s fingerprints are all over it:

Stole King Henry’s Thrown

The Ravens had a chance to exert their will in the second half on a warm enough day, with the Saints defense playing an overtime game the week before. Henry was a force on the first time drives, touching the ball nine times for 49 yards and keying the first touchdown drive … He got his hands on the ball 10 more times the rest of the game.

On a day when they had no receivers who could consistently win downfield and with the offensive line getting mangled in pass protection and the roster short on blocking tight ends, screen passes to Henry and volume with Henry were what was required. Doyle leaned into Justice Hill early in the first drive of the second half, after Henry had a prolonged break, and never really got Henry into a lather again.

Doyle opted for a pass on third-and-one from the 37 rather than get heavy and try to pick up that yard and then punted (if you do that, you’d better be prepared to try Henry on fourth down) a week after the Lions laid a blueprint for softening up New Orleans defense with 27 under center runs from back Jahmyr Gibbs, Henry had just 10 such carries in this game.

Got Too Cute In 11 Personnel

Young coordinators make a name for themselves throwing the football and changing the identity of teams … It’s also how they quickly become head coaches. And we told you Doyle would make a point to transform the NFL offense that least utilized three-receiver sets since 2019 (40%) to above-average usage (66-ish %). And we advocated for it Week 1, when Zay Flowers and Ja’Kobi Lane were healthy.

Sunday, forcing 11 personnel would be so obviously silly with both out, and every indicator pointed to heavy personnel. And Doyle blew it, in epic fashion. He preferred chucking balls downfield to special teams guys like Chris Moore and LaJohntay Wester in the second half in born-to-lose, three-wide sets with Rashod Bateman (Jackson completes just 60% of his career passes to him with a brutal 15-10 TD-INT ratio). It went predictably, ending with a pick on a target to Bateman:

Lamar Passing in 11 Personnel: 10/17, 90 yds, 0-1, 48.7 rating.

But of course, Jackson had more dropacks in that doomed formation than the heavy stuff that was actually working, and helped out this broken offensive line.

Not Enough Help

Doyle was top three in the NFL in Week 1 using an extra tackle on seven snaps. He needed it more than that Sunday, yet went to it just once (had to run all that 11!). Ronnie Stanley never looked healthy enough to play left tackle and Carson Vinson was overwhelmed when he finally replaced him and didn’t get nearly enough help from the coaches.

Because while the OL was getting beaten into submission, Doyle also decided this was a good time to keep “Joker” blocking tight end Durham Smythe off the field. Smythe played 40 snaps Week 1 but just 31 on Sunday … and a grand total of 1 in the second half. That’s coaching malpractice.

The Ravens had a +7.80 offensive Expected Points Added with Smythe on the field and -2.97 EPA without, but hey, let’s pretend Moore and Wester are going to win this game running routes. Mark Andrews is a shell of what he used to be – running, catching or blocking – and throwing into 11 as much he did without Smythe at least being the tight end on the field was quite a choice.

Lamar w/2+ TE: 11/14, 145 yds, 1-0, 133.6 rating.

Saints coordinator Brandon Staley, who has a strong history vs this QB, began running some twist games up front and deploying his linebackers to attack Jackson in the second half and Doyle didn’t respond with bigger personnel or combat it with the screen game (where Henry showed up early)

Moore played as many reps as Smythe and Wester played only two less. That’s a fail. That’s coaching.

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