5 Things The Baltimore Ravens Need To Improve Over Bye Week

The Ravens make it to the bye week with a solid 5-2 record, coming off arguably the hardest stretch of the season. Thus far, the Ravens are a difficult team to read, as they have had many promising and many concerning plays.

Baltimore entered this year with high aspirations, hoping to be Super Bowl bound. Here are five big things the Ravens need to fix during the bye week, if they want to get to the Super Bowl.

1. Tackling

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PITTSBURGH - JANUARY 18: Wide receiver Santonio Holmes #10 of the Pittsburgh Steelers is tackeled by cornerback Fabian Washington #31 of the Baltimore Ravens as he dives forward to put the ball over the goal line in what would be ruled as an incomplete p

As the season has progressed, the Ravens' tackling has regressed. The tackling has gotten more atrocious every week, and that has lead to big offensive gains for other teams.

The game against the Buffalo Bills is the perfect example, as Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb got burned consistently and missed many easy tackles.

Whether it was fatigue, or just plain misjudging, the Ravens need to go back to the basics and work on the fundamentals of tackling. Hopefully, a week of rest and practice will rejuvenate the Ravens, and the tackling issues will be fixed. This is the NFL, they have to know how to tackle.

2. Pass Rush

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BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 24: Terrell Suggs #55 of the Baltimore Ravens defends against Demetrius Bell #77 of the Buffalo Bills at M&T Bank Stadium on October 24, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens defeated the Bills 37-34. (Photo by Larry French/Gett

The pass rush for the Ravens has been almost non-existent up to this point. Terrell Suggs leads the team with four sacks, but considering his big paycheck, he is not playing as well as he should be. Haloti Ngata appears to be the only consistent solid pass rusher the Ravens have, and he is a monster. Ngata has been ripping apart offensive lines thus far this year. But, the pass rush has been awful besides him.

The Ravens had hoped Sergio Kindle was going to be a big help in the pass rush, but then he had his unfortunate accident. Paul Kruger and Terrence Cody had high expectations this year as well, and neither of them are playing up to the hype. Kelly Gregg has been solid in run defense, but not a big help in the pass rush. Some of this may be attributed to the play calling (see reason No. 3), as other teams are picking up the Ravens' blitzes and burning the one on ones in the secondary. 

Look for the Ravens to change up the schemes a little bit over the bye week, and dial up some new blitz packages. I am a believer in Greg Mattison, and I think he will be able to come up with some creative blitzes. But, if the Ravens want a consistently good pass rush, players like Suggs, Cody and Kruger have to step up.

There are reports that the Ravens are interested in ex-Maryland and ex-Charger Shawne Merriman. His production has fallen off the last few years, but he could definitely be a spark and an upgrade to this pass rush. Merriman is not what he used to be, but he can still be a dominant pass rushing linebacker, and Merriman next to Ray Lewis would be quite the scene.

3. Playcalling

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BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 10: Quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn of the Baltimore Ravens coaches against the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium on October 10, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland. Players wore pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Raven

The playcalling this year has been erratic.

Fans have seen wonderful play calls, like the flea flicker against the Bills, and have seen horrible calls. I am a believer in Cam Cameron, and think he can call a good game. However, this year his playcalling has been suspect to say the least.

He has gone pass happy thus far, basically eliminating Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, and Le'Ron McClain from the gameplan. He decides to pass when the Ravens should run, and decides to run when the Ravens should pass.

This is a Ravens' offense that has countless dangerous weapons on their team, and, if coached correctly, has the potential to be the best offense in the NFL. But, first the Ravens' offense needs to find their identity.

A balance of pass and run plays would seem to be the best option, considering Ray Rice and Anquan Boldin. Also, Cam has been calling pass plays on a lot of third and shorts. Why? Why not run the ball with Pro Bowler Ray Rice, or the big and powerful Pro Bowler Le'Ron McClain?

The Ravens need to figure out their offensive identity, and work on better gameplanning if they want to be successful here on out.

4. Joe Flacco's Consistency

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BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 24: Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens passes against the Buffalo Bills at M&T Bank Stadium on October 24, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Bills lead the Ravens at the half 24-20. (Photo by Larry French/Getty Images)

Joe Flacco's year has been hard to judge.

He began with a very pedestrian start in New York, but the fans and media gave him the benefit of the doubt considering the Jets' top-ranked defense. However, the next week he went out and threw four interceptions in a loss to the Bengals. To his credit, Flacco seems to have turned his season around, having a solid game vs. the Browns, then leading a great comeback against the Steelers.

When people look back on this year, most will point to the comeback win in Pittsburgh as the turning point of the season for Flacco.

Flacco's numbers have improved significantly, and he has been pretty solid. However, Flacco is a very erratic and streaky passer. Flacco seems to thrive when he completes the first pass, and gets in a rhythm. He will then complete like 10 passes in a row, then go cold. Flacco needs to become a consistently good quarterback for Baltimore to win the Super Bowl.

There is a huge difference in Flacco's play when he is confident as opposed to when he is timid. When he is confident, Flacco goes through his progressions well, doesn't stare down receivers, feels the pocket and steps into his throws. When he plays like this, Flacco can be an elite quarterback, and be one of the best in the NFL.

However, sometimes he will get rattled, and start throwing off his back foot, and staring down receivers and not going through his progressions. Teams dominate him when he does this. Joe "Cool" has a great, calm demeanor that is necessary of elite quarterbacks, he just has to remain confident. He has all the weapons he needs to score 30-plus points a game. 

On a side note, anyone see his new Jersey Shore haircut? Lookin' fly, Joe Cool, lookin' fly.

5. Run Game

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BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 10: Ray Rice #27 of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates a touchdown against the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium on October 10, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland. Players wore pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Raven

The Ravens' rush offense has been disappointing thus far into the season.

After a breakout year last year, Ray Rice only has a very pedestrian 523 yards, which is 10th in the NFL. For most running backs, this is not horrible. However, it is disappointing for a running back like Ray Rice, who exploded for more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage last year, en route to a Pro Bowl season.

Rice has a 4.0 yards per carry average, which is last among the top 10 running backs in the NFL (ranked by total yards). Some of it can be attributed to the decrease in running plays so far this year, but even so, Rice is not running as well. He only has two touchdowns so far this year, putting him 23rd in the NFL.

The Ravens have everything necessary for Rice to have monster games, so what's going wrong? Baltimore also has Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain, who are both capable of running the ball well. If the Ravens want to win, they need to get their run game back on track. Not only would that help the run offense, but a good run offense opens up the pass defense.