Ravens New Coaching Staff And Operation Suffering From Far Too Many Penalties

There was every reason to expect a sloppy operation from the Ravens offense.

It’s a brand new offense short on almost any players with previous ties to a brand new offensive coordinator who had never called plays before. It was a brand new offensive line, that doesn’t appear to be particularly good at anything but run blocking, and that never played together in the preseason. And lacks a center who had ever played the position in the league before.

They are not only changing the verbiage and concepts of the offense but the footwork and timing and the cadence and the tempo and toggling more under center than ever before in the Lamar Jackson era. And a year ago, when offensive coordinator Declan Doyle was on Ben Johnson’s staff, thar offensive install was marred by procedural problems well into November (as we explained in this space).

So if you are surprised to see the Ravens among the most penalized teams in the NFL this early on, you probably weren’t paying much attention as this was all being put together. Add in the face the head coach is a total rookie, too, and there is Ravens and Dolphins are the only two coaching staffs in the NFL with no prior head coaching experience, and this is al to be expected.

Baltimore enters Week 3 having committed 17 penalties, tied for the seventh-most in the NFL. They got away with a slew of rudimentary penalties at the offensive line of scrimmage in Week 1 that negated huge plays, but when you roll up 500 yards it’s easy forgotten. When you succumb to some of the same impulses and lack of focus and/or discipline in blowing the franchise’s 15 game since 2019 in which it held a double-digit lead, well, that tends to merit a little different response.

"I would say it is a major point of emphasis,” head coach Jesse Minter said. “Right now, we have too many — I would say — operational penalties on offense. To have the lazy excuse of, 'Well, it is a new offense, and we have all these new things, new players, new cadences' — that would be a lazy excuse.

“So, it is a major, major point of emphasis. We are not getting set sometimes when we are going quicker; so, a receiver is moving his feet, we are snapping the ball, and it goes from second-and-1 to first-and-15 — couple instances like that.”

Offensive Growing Pains

As Minter notes, there are no excuses for this stuff … But it’s also exactly what I expected and the fact that the preponderance of the infractions are on the offense is a reflection of how different things are on that side of the ball. This defense is “cousin” of past Ravens defenses, as hybrid defender Kyle Hamilton. The offense is not.

The Ravens have committed 12 penalties on offense, tied for the third-most in the NFL. They are in the bottom seven in the NFL in false starts and bottom 10 in holding. Their offensive penalty Expected Points Added is -7.97, 30th in the NFL, and there have been some clear communication and coordination issues within the interior of the offensive line.

Perhaps switching to a veteran center like Ethan Pocic, nearly 6000 reps in the NFL, when he’s deemed fit and ready enough coming off Achilles surgery would help. More practice reps can’t hurt. But injuries are also befalling that unit and expecting those five upfront to a true strength for this team from a procedural or protection standpoint also might just be folly. And playing on what will surely be a soft and sloppy field in Brazil Sunday will present its own challenges.

“It is a major point of emphasis,” Minter reiterated about the penalties, “and I think it is just your daily habits of how you operate that carry over, and need to carry you in those moments."

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" For Urgent Ravens Convos And Content:

Add us as a preferred source on Google