Ravens Are One of League's Top-Scoring Teams Despite Challenges

Baltimore needs to upgrade passing attacks.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Despite some challenges with their passing attack, the Ravens have been one of the NFL's top-scoring teams over the past two seasons.

In 2019, Baltimore ranked No. 1 with 33.2 yards per game and 531 total points. Last season, the Ravens ranked seventh with 29.3 points per game and 468 points.

The running attack has paved the way for most of that success.

In 2019, the Ravens broke the single-season record with 3,296 rushing yards, eclipsing the previous mark of 3,165 yards set by the New England Patriots in 1978. Baltimore also became the first team in NFL history to average 206.0 rushing yards and 201.6 net passing yards per game.

The Ravens finished 2020 with the NFL’s No. 1 rushing attack (191.9 ypg) for the second-straight season. Baltimore’s 3,071 rushing yards stand as the third most in a 16-game NFL season. 

The Ravens has rushed for 100+ yards in 39-straight games, marking the second-longest streak in pro football history.

Last season, Baltimore also registered an NFL-best six games with at least 200 rushing yards, including a franchise-record 404-yard output in Week 17’s victory at Cincinnati. Baltimore's 24 rushing touchdowns ranked third in the NFL and set a new single-season franchise record. 

However, the passing attack was not nearly as effective.

The Ravens ranked last in the NFL averaging 171.2 yards passing per game last season. Baltimore also attempted the least passes in the league with 406.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was selected by the Ravens with the 32nd overall pick in the 2018 draft, has gone 30-7 as the starter in the regular season. He has thrown for 7,085 yards with 68 touchdowns and 18 interceptions over his young career. Jackson is also the only quarterback in NFL history to run for over 1,000 yards in two seasons and has 2,906 yards rushing and 19 scores overall.

Coach John Harbaugh is looking to build a more balanced attack for the upcoming season. If so, more scoring records could fall. 

"We’ve spent the last two and a half years or so building, probably, one of the most creative run games in the history of the National Football League, to be honest with you," Harbaugh said. "I don’t want to overdramatize it, but it’d be pretty hard to argue against that. And probably the most successful. So, we’re certainly very happy about that, and now we want to bring that pass game along as well. It’s hard to do everything at once.

"There are a lot of factors involved, and certainly personnel, to your point, is one of them. Certainly, execution, precision [and] reps. We didn’t have the reps last year in the offseason that we’re going to hopefully get this year."