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Rattled Ravens offense seeks a fresh start against Giants – Metro US
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Rattled Ravens offense seeks a fresh start against Giants

Rattled Ravens offense seeks a fresh start against Giants
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Joe Flacco admits to a certain level of surprise when Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Marc Trestman was fired earlier this week. It will be Marty Mornhinweg who will lead Flacco and the Ravens offense this week into MetLife Stadium for a game at the New York Giants.

The Ravens (3-2) are tied with the No. 22 offense in the league, with 338.8 yards per game in total offense and 18.8 points scored, both numbers down slightly from the year before. The good news for them is that they face a Giants team with a depleted secondary and a non-existent pass rush.

As for the release of Trestman, it seemingly came out of nowhere. The Ravens offense isn’t ghastly, just not terribly exciting and not significantly different than the past few seasons for the Ravens.

So to see Trestman, considered an innovative mind on offense, given the axe just five weeks into the season was a shock to many, including the team’s quarterback.

“Yeah, definitely, a little bit. I think there was a little bit of a feeling around, just after that game on Sunday, but yes, I was surprised,” Flacco said Wednesday on a conference call with the New York media.

“I think you are always surprised when you hear something like that in the middle of the season, plus we were 3-0 and obviously we have had two tough losses, so yeah, it was a little surprising.”

Of course injuries at wide receiver aren’t helping Flacco and the offense much either.

But Mornhinweg, who had a disastrous two seasons with the Jets as offensive coordinator starting in 2013, will seemingly have a smooth transition in some regards to the role. Having been the Ravens quarterback coach since last season, he knows the team’s personnel and the playbook, which shouldn’t change drastically.

But he’s always been a bit of a wild card as a play caller and in terms of temperament. But he knows the team and knows Flacco, all of which should help in matching up against a pretty bad Giants secondary.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said on Wednesday that the move wasn’t made to energize the team. He called Mornhinweg an “effective coordinator.”

“I’m not into all that philosophical, esoteric analysis of why you do something like that right now. To me, it doesn’t have any value and it’s a waste of energy for us,” Harbaugh said. “It’s good for you guys to do it. I think it is entertaining and it’s worth looking at, but I don’t really have the time or the inclination to delve into all of that.”