After watching the Baltimore Ravens offense slog to just six points (the Ravens scored 13 thanks to their defense), the sky seemed to be falling in Baltimore. The offensive line’s struggles were likely an aberration, but fans’ concerns about the receiving corps were seemingly confirmed after that group went for a combined 46 yards. I was even prepared to write a column about how the Ravens’ entire season hinges on Breshad Perriman lifting this receiving corps. After watching the coaches’ film, though, I can’t write that article. There is still hope in Baltimore.
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The fact is, receivers got open against the Broncos. Joe Flacco just didn’t have time to find them.
Take a look at sack number one, an eight-yard loss on third down.
That’s Marlon Brown wide open. Maybe he would have been stopped short of the first down, but regardless, if Flacco had time to get rid of the ball, he could have found an open Brown streaking across the middle on a crossing route.
Now take a look at sack number two.
That’s Steve Smith running open on an intermediate out route, one of the Ravens’ staple routes. Flacco never had time to find him.
Admittedly, there are legitimate limitations in that receiving corps. The failure to make anything happen after the catch on short passes allowed the Broncos defense to completely tee off on Flacco, knowing that he would either have to dump off a harmless short pass or take a sack. That’s a big reason Flacco only threw for 117 yards on 18 completions.
As for the consternation about the lack of a deep threat, Flacco never had enough time to prove that theory right or wrong. The one play he did have time, Flacco found Marlon Brown for a 22-yard back shoulder throw. Take a look.
There was never any doubt about where Flacco was going with the football when he noticed Marlon Brown at the bottom of the screen in single coverage. In that situation, a good quarterback can throw ANY receiver open with enough time. That’s exactly what Flacco did, uncorking possibly his favorite throw, a back shoulder deep ball.
Sure enough, Flacco threw an absolute dime, his best throw of the game, to Brown, resulting in the Ravens’ biggest play of the game. Notice below how open Brown was and how unharried Flacco looks.
With enough time, good things did happen against the Broncos. The usual routes (the deep outs, the crossing patterns and the go routes) worked for the most part. And the Ravens have a fun new toy that they didn’t take enough advantage of in his debut game.
That toy is Maxx Williams, who was only targeted twice, resulting in one catch for 15 yards. That catch came on a funky screen, though, and it showed that Williams can immediately make an impact with his ability after the catch.
The play started with Maxx Williams motioning into the backfield, setting up an offset I formation with two tight ends. (As an aside, the Ravens used a ton of multi-tight end sets in this game. Expect to see that a lot until the Ravens’ receiving corps gets going.) The call was a simple play-action screen in which the Ravens’ feigned a zone blocking look to the short side of the field while Williams ran against the grain into open space.
Flacco was pressured immediately, but he was able to loft a pass to the lanky Williams, who had plenty of space to operate.
Look at all that space for Williams. With all that room, Williams quickly turned up field, picked a good angle to avoid some defenders, than ran through a tackle at the end before running out of bounds for 15 yards.
We also saw Williams’ run after the catch ability on his game-defining first down against the New Orleans Saints in preseason. This is an area Williams excels, and as of this writing, Williams is possibly the most creative Raven target with the ball in space. The only other pass catcher in the running is Steve Smith, who had an atrocious game against Denver. Fortunately, Smith won’t have to deal with Aqib Talib and Chris Harris every game.
In sum, there is enough to build on. Two of the Ravens next three opponents struggle mightily against the pass (the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers), so there should be more opportunities through the air. With a little momentum, the Ravens passing game could be humming by the time Breshad Perriman joins the fold and completes would could yet be a decent receiving corps.
Plus, Joe Flacco probably won’t be pressured on 64 percent of his dropbacks again.
Shawn began his writing career with Bleacher Report as a Ravens featured columnist and Breaking News Team writer. He moved on to write for Yahoo! and work on the Ravens Central Radio podcast. Most recently, he was an Editor at the Baltimore Wire. Shawn is a 2013 graduate of the Catholic University of America.