Ravens' Offensive Line Proving to Be Lynchpin of Baltimore's Offensive Success

It's never an easy task for the Baltimore Ravens to travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. It's even more difficult when accompanied by the added pressure of a nationally televised game.

And when every team in the AFC North is above .500 and jockeying for position, that's a lot for the Ravens to overcome.

The entire weight of the moment fell upon the Ravens on Sunday night, and the result was an ugly, 43-23 loss that drops the Ravens into last place in the division with a 5-4 record.

The loss highlighted just how crucial the offensive line is to Baltimore's bottom line. When operating at peak form, it has helped the team to an eighth-ranked 128.4 rushing yards per game and kept Joe Flacco protected to the tune of the quarterback taking just nine sacks headed into Week 9.

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

But when the line fails, nothing good happens. The line's failure, particularly on the left side, contributed to the Ravens' loss on Sunday night.

If this trend continues, the playoffs may be out of Baltimore's reach. This game needs to be an outlier for the line rather than a sign of what is to come.

Left guard Kelechi Osemele and left tackle Eugene Monroe—who both returned last week after missing time with injuries—were abused repeatedly by Steelers right outside linebacker James Harrison and right defensive end Brett Keisel.

Keisel's job was to occupy blockers and pass protectors, while Harrison slipped by to bring pressure. Harrison ended the night with two sacks and four additional quarterback hits.

Flacco was also sacked once each by linebackers Lawrence Timmons and Arthur Moats, and took 10 total hits.

While Flacco did complete 66.7 percent of his 45 attempts and ended the day with 303 passing yards, most of those yards were of the dink-and-dunk variety. Running back Justin Forsett was his most productive target with five catches for 67 yards.

Flacco threw two touchdowns—one to receiver Torrey Smith and another to tight end Crockett Gilmore—but those were opportunities he had to fight for.

Flacco was under duress on nearly every dropback, something unfamiliar to him this year. He could only hope to make quicker throws and for his receivers to earn yards after the catch, which didn't happen frequently enough.

The Steelers also did a good job of stuffing the Ravens' usually productive run game, allowing just 63 total yards on 18 rushes, with Forsett leading the team with 38 yards on nine carries.

Pittsburgh's defense came away with six tackles for a loss.

The pressure getting to Flacco so regularly is very out of character for the line this year. Flacco was sacked only once and hit three additional times last week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Flacco has been the 13th-most accurate quarterback under pressure through his first eight games. Most importantly, he had been sacked on only 10.3 percent of his 293 dropbacks. When only his pass attempts are factored in, Pro-Football-Reference.com indicates that sack percentage drops to 3.1 percent on 279 throws.

On Sunday, Pittsburgh's pressure had Flacco hearing footsteps, forcing him into hurried throws. Until the defense softened in the fourth quarter, Flacco was seemingly getting hit on every throw.

This fact wasn't lost on head coach John Harbaugh, who told reporters after the game that the Steelers did "a great job of rushing the passer."

Harbaugh also noted that they didn't manage the Steelers' blitzes.

Sunday night's offensive line had more in common with its 2013 version than the one we've seen over the previous eight games. Last year, the Ravens ended 8-8 because the line could not generate running lanes or protect Flacco.

The Ravens aren't yet in danger of finishing 8-8 this season or finding themselves outside of the AFC playoff picture. They are still above .500, despite being last in the North for now.

Cincinnati Bengals	5-2-1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6-3
Cleveland Browns	5-3
Baltimore Ravens	5-4

But there are tough defenses ahead—all seven of their remaining opponents have at least 15 sacks and four rank in the top half of the league in rushing yards allowed.

Therefore, what happened on Sunday night needs to be a one-week hiccup and not an indication that the Ravens' line is drifting back to what it was a season ago.

The Ravens are only as good as their offensive line. This was the lesson taught in their first eight games this season and, unfortunately, the lesson taught to them by the Steelers in Week 9.