<p id="story-body">more in link Tight end Todd Heap could be returning from a strained hamstring this week, tackle Jonathan Ogden has continued to make progress with his sore left foot and quarterback Steve McNair has avoided tweaking his groin injury. But when it comes to evaluating the health of the Ravens' offense, it goes beyond bumps and bruises. The Ravens have no offensive touchdowns in their past 13 series, a span of 88 plays.</p> <p id="story-body2">They have five offensive touchdowns this season, tied for the third-lowest total in the NFL. And dating to last season, they have been held without an offensive touchdown in three of their past seven games (including playoffs). After months of pumping up this offense as a fleet-footed one, the Ravens have continually pulled up lame where it counts the most - around the goal line. "Countless hours are being put on it in terms of evaluation and what can we do," coach Brian Billick said at yesterday's news conference. "This team is playing pretty well. That's the one thing [the lack of touchdowns] where we have left ourselves vulnerable. We have moved the ball well, but we have to come up with touchdowns instead of field goals." The frustrating part is that the Ravens are 11th in total offense (346.2 yards per game) but rank 21st in scoring offense (17.6 points). Those statistics point to a lack of direction. The Ravens rely more on the pass this season, but they don't stretch defenses downfield. They have had consistent success with running back Willis McGahee, but they seem hesitant to give him the ball repeatedly. Until the Ravens find an identity, they probably won't find the end zone with regularity. "It's always disappointment when you don't get in the end zone," McGahee said. "We got to work on that. We got to get more consistent. We always drive down there, but we never finish." Here are other possible explanations for the Ravens' touchdown-challenged offense:</p> <div class="story-subhead">No more spark with Billick</div> <p id="story-body">When Billick fired Jim Fassel as offensive coordinator nearly a year ago, the Ravens played with a renewed sense of urgency. In Billick's first nine games as the play-caller, the Ravens scored 22 touchdowns. That same level of enthusiasm and production is gone these days. In Billick's past seven games calling the shots, the Ravens have scored five offensive touchdowns. When Billick took over the offense, players talked about how they became more aggressive with the game plans. Now, it seems as if the Ravens' favorite play is the pass route that falls 1 yard short of the first down.</p> <div class="story-subhead">No big plays with McNair</div> <p id="story-body">One big change from past seasons has been the Ravens' shift to a pass-first approach. McNair is fourth in the NFL in average pass attempts per game (39.2), and the Ravens have put the ball squarely in his hands whether they were trailing in Cleveland or leading in San Francisco. But the Ravens appear content to be an efficient passing attack instead of an electric one. McNair ranks 26th in average yards per pass attempt (5.9), which underlines the fact that the Ravens don't look downfield often.</p>
Bench McNair in favor or Boller. Run the ball more and once we get Ogden back in the lineup, we will be fine.</p>
Biggest problem is not running the ball enough and the play calling. Especially, in the redzone. I mean, no matter who the QB is, it would make more sense for us to run McGahee (4.5 ypc this season) more and keep the pressure offthem by not throwing so many damn times.Billick's coaching has been terrible this season.</p> </p>
