Harbaugh pinpoints offensive issues

By now, the Ravens have put their thrilling, stressful, traumatic (take your pick of adjectives) win over the Texans behind them.

With the defending Super Bowl champion Saints coming to town and the Ravens having a short week to prepare for that game, they've moved on from Monday night's 34-28 win in Houston, and are focusing on a dangerous New Orleans team.

But there are still a number of questions coming out of the Monday nighter which need to be answered.

Perhaps at the top of the list is this one: What went wrong on the offensive side of the ball after halftime?

The Ravens' offense looked nearly unstoppable in the first two quarters Monday night, putting up 21 points and 182 total yards. Baltimore went 6-of-9 on third downs and moved the chains 14 times in the first half.

In the second half, that same offense suddenly looked lost. The Ravens went scoreless after halftime, managed just 71 yards, and had only five first downs in 33 minutes of play (including overtime).

On his WBAL Radio show last night, head coach John Harbaugh blamed the offensive struggles largely on miscues which cost the offense yardage and forced it to work in third-and-long situations.

"We just did not give ourselves a chance. It was a sack, it was a false start or something like that, the penalties that put you behind schedule," Harbaugh said. "And that's the thing, to me, that's been our Achilles heel on offense all year. That's why we haven't been consistent all year, because I think you can see what we're capable of doing when we stay on schedule and we don't shoot ourselves in the foot.

"But, when we shoot ourselves in the foot and get into those long-yardage situations - we've overcome them plenty of times - but we're one of the lower first-down offenses in the league, and we've got to get past that here this month. We've just got to find a way to do it."

The Ravens only had four true possessions after halftime (another came when they ran just one play at the end of regulation). On each of their first two drives after the break, Joe Flacco was sacked for a big loss on a second down play, leaving the Ravens in a third-and-very long situation. The Ravens' QB was also sacked on third down on Baltimore's only possession in overtime, forcing a punt.

Those issues, especially late in games, have been a problem all season long.

Some will question the Ravens' fourth quarter play calling in the Texans game (although I won't), but Harbaugh doesn't believe that the struggles in the second half boiled down to any type of run-versus-pass issue.

"We just have to execute better," Harbaugh said. "We have to convert in [the] four-minute. We have to get first downs and stay on the field. We don't need to put our defense back on the field against an offense like that in those situations. If running the ball in those situations is the answer, then that's what we've got to do. Throwing and catching the ball is certainly an answer, protecting the quarterback, those things are critically important."

Harbaugh wasn't exclusive in his criticism of the Ravens' offense; he also pointed out that because the Baltimore defense got ripped apart and gave up long scoring drive after long scoring drive, Flacco and company had limited time to try and make something happen.

The Ravens had possession for less than three minutes in the third quarter Monday night, and only had 19 offensive snaps in the half overall.

"We couldn't get off the field on defense either, so those two things kind of go hand-in-hand," Harbaugh said. "We had a big lead, therefore they're going for it on fourth downs and doing those kinds of things, and with that offense, it made it tough for us to get off the field.

"And then it kind of compounded the fact that we do a three-and-out and then put our defense right back on the field, and they were tired. They were basically winded a little bit, so they couldn't get off again, and then you basically don't have any opportunities."

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