The Ravens need more of their playmakers stepping up the way Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. stepped up for the Giants on Sunday.
Consider that Beckham had 211 yards receiving in the second half Sunday. He scored on a huge 75-yard touchdown play in the third quarter, then took a slant pass over the middle for a 66-yard game-winning touchdown.
Ravens wide receiver Breshad Perriman has 172 yards receiving the entire season.
The Ravens began the season optimistic they had more than enough playmakers to have a dynamic offense, even after tight end Ben Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in training camp. Yet, six weeks into the season, Marc Trestman has already been fired as offensive coordinator.
The Ravens rank 21st in total offense, and 20th in scoring.
With Steve Smith Sr. sidelined with a sore ankle in Sunday’s 27-23 loss to the Giants, the Ravens didn’t find a go-to-guy, or guys, to take over the game. The Giants did. That guy was Beckham.
Once Ravens’ cornerback Jimmy Smith left Sunday’s game with a concussion, Beckham was a mismatch for every other defender. And the Ravens are going to see more dynamic playmakers like that this season, like Antonio Brown of the Steelers, A. J. Green of the Bengals, and tight end Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots.
The Ravens have already been burned by wide receiver Michael Crabtree of the Raiders, who had three touchdown catches against Baltimore in Week 4.
Maybe the Ravens will evolve into a more dynamic offensive team with Marty Morhinweg as offensive coordinator. There were two big plays Sunday that gave Ravens’ fans more hope – a 70-yard completion to Mike Wallace and a 41-yard completion to Perriman.
But right now, instead of being an offensive team that strikes fear in the opponent, the Ravens commit too many penalties. They struggle to score touchdowns in the red zone. They have difficult converting on fourth down in key situations.
Do the Ravens have enough playmakers to become the offensive team they expected to be? They have 11 games to find out.
But if the Ravens miss the playoffs for the third time in four years, they need to take another hard look at their roster, to figure out why they struggle to produce the kind of big plays that are being made against them.
