Getty J.K. Dobbins defended his coaches after the Ravens were beaten by the Browns.
J.K. Dobbins isn’t about to blame head coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman for the Baltimore Ravens losing 13-3 to the Cleveland Browns in Week 15.
Dobbins helped the Ravens rush for nearly 200 yards, something that should be a formula for winning any NFL game. The Ravens still managed to lose, though, largely because Roman and Harbaugh took the ball away from productive backs like Dobbins and Edwards in key moments.
Naturally, Dobbins and the rest of the offense are frustrated, but he refused to put the blame on the men on the sidelines, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley: “It’s not on the coaches. It’s on us.”
Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins said the offense is frustrated after scoring two TDs in past three games. “It’s not on the coaches. It’s on us,” Dobbins said.
While Dobbins is being a good company man, his defense of his coaches isn’t likely to be supported by many fans. Not when Roman let a backup quarterback throw the ball 30 times.
Not when being unable to translate all of those rushing yards into more points summed up the growing problems with the Ravens’ anaemic offense.
Roman Deserted Run When it Mattered Most
Roman is known for his run-heavy philosophy, but he chose to abandon those roots, despite calling plays for Tyler Huntley while Lamar Jackson remains on the shelf with a knee injury.
Huntley averaged just 4.6 yards per attempt. That’s not a formula for success for any passing game.
In the process, the Ravens wasted two runners averaging well over seven yards per carry. Gus Edwards averaged 7.9 yards a rush en route to gaining 55 yards on six attempts, while J.K. Dobbins amassed 125 yards on 13 rushes, averaging 9.6 a carry.
Dobbins, in particular, had no trouble ripping off long gains against the Browns, like on this 37-yard burst in the third quarter:
There goes @jkdobbins22!
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Runs like these were common for the Ravens on the night, yet the overall statistics are misleading. Yes, the Ravens dominated on the ground, but their dominance came more from big plays than a steady commitment to handing the ball off to Dobbins and Co.
The Ravens ran the ball 28 times at FirstEnergy Stadium and ignored red-hot Dobbins in clutch situations that favored the run. Like when they faced 4th-and-1 in the opening quarter.
Although his number wasn’t called, Dobbins wasn’t about to blame Roman and the coaching staff, per Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Sun:
J.K. Dobbins said he wanted the ball on the fourth-and-1 call in the first quarter, but he’s not mad.
“Whatever the coaches call, we’ve got to make it work.”
Dobbins is right to keep the onus on those on the field to ultimately determine success or failure for the Ravens, it’s tough to defend Roman’s curious approach in Cleveland. An approach that left the Ravens tasting defeat from what should have been a safe, winning position.
Disjointed Offense Wasted Winnable Game
The Ravens found out the hard way how dominance on the ground doesn’t always equal success. Roman’s disjointed play calling led to his offense matching an unwanted mark last set by the then-St. Louis Rams nearly a decade ago, per according to Hensley, citing ESPN Stats & Info:
The Ravens had 0 touchdowns Saturday but rushed for 198 yards.
That’s the most rushing yards by a team who scored no touchdowns since the 2013 Rams, per @ESPNStatsInfo.
While there was near perfect symmetry in the run-pass balance, the ground game was working, so why abandon it? Erratic play calling contributed to the Ravens getting so little from all of their yards on the ground. So did two botched field-goal attempts, three failed fourth-down tries, an interception and a lost fumble.
Making so many mistakes is a recipe for losing football, no matter how productive one phase of your offense is during a game. It’s also a sure way to build frustration, with guard Kevin Zeitler summing up the mood to Shaffer after this sobering defeat:
Kevin Zeitler: “We shouldn’t be rushing for 200 yards and getting three points.”
Frustration is understandable, since the Ravens have scored less than 17 points in four of their last five games. Winning three of those games put the growing struggles of Roman’s offense into the background, but the problems won’t stay hidden for long if the Ravens let more games like Week 15’s defeat slip through their grasp.