Man, it’s been a while! The last time I wrote, people were still excited about the Ravens’ offense and what they could bring to the table. Now? Not so much. The biggest question is why. What is causing this projected fire powering football war vessel to short circuit and deservedly take the blame for some of the woes this season.

Don’t get me wrong, the Baltimore Ravens are still a good team. In fact, I would go as far as to say that they are the best team in the AFC North. There are reasons beyond control that could have contributed to last week’s deflation against Pittsburgh. With that being said, there are reasons that are well within control that led to the demise of the Ravens’ lead. We all know that- we sat through the game, heads in our hands, some of us probably crying (manly crying, of course), some others probably yelling and throwing things at the TV. What it all comes down to is a combination of things that were the culprit.

But this isn’t about just Sunday night’s loss. While that was a tough pill to swallow- John Harbaugh said in his press conference that it was the hardest loss he has faced as the Ravens’ head coach- on paper it doesn’t mean any more or any less than the loss to the Bengals during week two. Sometimes this rivalry can get so intense that it is difficult to remember that when the pride and the trash talk is put aside, they are still one of many teams played each year.

With that being said, the Steelers game did feature some of the problems that have been troubling Baltimore all season long. For starters, the offense looked stagnant again. Cam Cameron has developed this habit of obtaining a lead and sitting on it. For a man that has been around the league long enough, you would think that he should understand that no lead, no matter how large, is safe. Vanilla play calling in the NFL will come back to haunt you. Baltimore has seen that happen four times this year- they have lost leads to Cincinnati, New England, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Is that not enough evidence for Cameron to wake him up?

With so much of the blame being dealt out to Cameron, some of it does have to fall on the shoulders of the players. Flacco has been a quarterback in the NFL for almost three years. He’s his share of bumps in the road but, for the most part, he has been a successful offensive leader. He has gotten the Ravens into the playoffs in his first two seasons and barring any major collapse, he will take them to the post season this year as well.

But what about the other stuff? What about winning the big games? What about fixing the mistakes that he seems to make every week? I know I’m not the only one that is concerned with his habit of throwing high to receivers, forcing them to jump and extend for the ball, leaving them exposed for bone crushing hits by the defense. A lot can be said for his accuracy in general- while it was a tougher pass than it looked initially, what about his 4^th and 2 pass attempt to tight end Ed Dickson at the end of the game against Pittsburgh on Sunday?

Flacco also has had a problem reading the defense. Throughout the game on Sunday, not once did he call an audible to pick up a blitz. While it didn’t bite him in the rear for most of the game, it did when everything was on the line and fuzzball Polamalu got through without being touched, forced the fumble, and started the downward spiral for the Ravens. Being able to read defenses is a huge deal in the NFL. It is what separates the great quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady from the rest. With some work, one would hope that Flacco could learn how to do this.

This week, Cam Cameron said that the main focus of practice will be on getting the run game moving again. With that, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Ray Rice’s presence in the offensive scheme is the biggest factor when getting the passing game to work. If Baltimore can force opposing defenses to stack the box, it will work wonders for the likes of Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason, Donte Stallworth and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

So what happens next? The Ravens fly to Houston to play the Texans on Monday Night Football. The schedule gods are working for Baltimore it seems- Houston is having issues of its own. The Texans have one of the worst pass defenses in the league. The Ravens should have a golden opportunity to get their offense back on track. So let’s cross our fingers and hope that everything goes well!