After the Baltimore Ravens conceded five sacks and struggled to run the ball against the Cleveland Browns in a Week 9 loss, it would have been easy to place blame on the offensive line. However, coach John Harbaugh stood up for his blockers.
"I feel like our offensive line blocked a lot better than the result might have shown in terms of number of yards," Harbaugh said, per The Baltimore Sun. "When you watch the tape, there are a lot of really good blocks going on there."
In defending new left tackle Eugene Monroe, left guard A.Q. Shipley, center Gino Gradkowski, right guard Marshal Yanda and right tackle Michael Oher, the Ravens coach pointed to breakdowns in communication, missed blocks by running backs and tight ends.
Essentially, for Harbaugh it was a group failure.
He also put several sacks squarely on the shoulders of Joe Flacco.
"The quarterbacks have got to get the ball out, and they've got to find ways to protect themselves with 'hot' throws and things like that, too," Harbaugh said. "Joe does a good job of that. To get to your question, yes, we need Joe to take fewer hits, and we're going to continue to chase that. We'll do that by getting the ball out quickly, continuing to work on our technique in pass protection and picking up blitzes."
Holding onto the ball is part of the reason why Flacco has struggled to regain the form we saw during his 2012 playoff run.
Given Harbaugh's comments, it's likely he's silently nodding while reading Gregg Rosenthal's most recent quarterback ratings -- we know he is an avid Around The League reader.
The "Around The League Podcast" recapped every Week 9 game. Click here to listen and subscribe.
