Have the Baltimore Ravens Cured Their Offensive Woes?

Derek Lofland from Fantasy Football Maniaxs

This is an offense that has not disappointed. No one expected them to do well in 2008, and they are not giving us a false sense of hope in the preseason.

The Ravens managed 13 first-half points against the Patriots. Since then, the Patriots' defense has been shredded. The Ravens followed that up with seven first-half points against the Vikings. Then they had three first-half points against the potent defense of the Rams.

Joe Flacco has a 66.3 QB rating in the preseason. Kyle Boller has a 51.8. Troy Smith has a 46.8. Compare that to the 115.6 QB rating of Brett Ratliff, 92.3 rating of Aaron Rodgers, or 82.5 rating of Brady Quinn.

The preseason is supposed to be a chance for young quarterbacks to succeed against vanilla defenses. The Ravens are struggling to score any points with their first team. Their quarterbacks are struggling to put up good numbers in preseason action. That doesn’t bode well for the regular season, when they'll play both the NFC East and AFC South.

Ravens fans will argue that McGahee isn’t playing right now, and that he will help this offense. That is a valid argument. There are just so many tough defenses on the schedule and a lack of playmakers that are going to help these young guys put up big numbers.

It’s a vicious circle. The skill players aren’t good enough to overcome average quarterback play, and the quarterbacks aren’t good enough to overcome average skill-position play.

Derrick Mason, Todd Heap, and Willis McGahee are good players, but they aren’t game changers. None of those guys should be featured offensive weapons. The result is going to be a long year for the offense in Baltimore.