The one glaring weakness in the Baltimore Ravens' overall performance is their passing game. However, it's an area in which they can most certainly improve this offseason. While quarterback Joe Flacco's inconsistency is partly to blame for the team's struggles in the aerial game, it takes twoor in this case, more than twoto tango so, well, weakly. <\/p>\n
Flacco's been done few favors by his receiving corps. That's not a slight on their talentthey're a young group who are still building chemistry, and they didn't have much of a chance to do so in last year's lockout-truncated offseason. <\/p>\n
But this year, there's little excuse. All but one of the Ravens' receiving threats have more than one year of professional experience and more than one season'stime to get on the same page with Flacco.And though Flacco could use more weapons than he currently has, experience and increased chemistry will help to cure a lot of what ails the Ravens' passing offense. <\/p>\n
Though the NFL as a whole has become more pass-heavy, the Ravens have yet to catch up with the trend. It hasn't been a major issuethey have one of the best run games, and defenses in the league, which has helped them along to the playoffs in each of the last four yearsbut it's still one worth addressing. <\/p>\n
Last season, no Raven had more than 1,000 receiving yards. Anquan Boldin led the charge with 887, but at the same time caught only 57 of the 105 passes thrown his way (contrast this with running back Ray Rice catching 76 of his 104 targets and you can see the problem). <\/p>\n
Boldin is also the most senior member of the Ravens' receiving corps, having had the most time to build chemistry with Flacco. However, that chemistry is still lacking. There's also the issue of Boldin slowing some with age, causing him to struggle more at gaining separation from defenders in order to catch Flacco's passes. <\/p>\n
Further, Boldin cannot carry the weight of the entire Ravens' passing game. He needs the help of Torrey Smith, the team's ostensible No. 1 receiver, as well as greater contributions from Tandon Doss and LaQuan Williams, not to mention Tommy Streeter, the receiver the Ravens picked up in the sixth round of this year's draft and the veteran Jacoby Jones, who was signed to a two-year deal in early May. <\/p>\n
The problem with Doss, Williams and Streeter is that they all lack experience. <\/p>\n
Though both Williams and Doss were brought on last season, Doss didn't catch a single pass as he continued to rehab from a sports hernia surgery and Williams caught just four passes for 46 yards. Williams is now on the roster bubble after the drafting of Streeter. <\/p>\n
Baltimore addressed their issues with their receiving corps lacking overall experience by bringing veteran Jones into the mix. Though the addition has been met with mixed reviewsJones wasn't impressive last year with the Houston Texans when he was thrust into the No. 1 receiver spot while Andre Johnson battled injuriesJones will prove to be extremely valuable. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nChemistry, Experience are 2 Keys to an Improved Baltimore Ravens Receiving Corps<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"