Baltimore Ravens Offensive Weaknesses, Courtesy of Ed Reed

Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed spoke Monday on SiriusXM NFL Radio, according to Pro Football Talk, and he had some not-so-kind words to say about his quarterback and his offensive line. Reed was critical of Joe Flacco’s play against the Houston Texans this past Sunday in the divisional round of the playoffs, and also levied some criticism on the offensive line. Whether this has any effect in the locker room, only the Ravens will likely know. However, Reed did let some obvious cats out of the bag in broadcasting some weaknesses on the offensive side of the ball.

Here’s the useful parts of Reed’s criticism:

“I think Joe was kind of rattled a little bit by (Houston’s) defense. (The Texans) had a lot of guys in the box on him. And, I mean, they were getting to him. I think a couple times he needed to get rid of the ball. I don’t know how much of the play-calling … but it just didn’t look like he had a hold on the offense. … It was just kind of like (Baltimore’s coaches) was telling him to do, throw the ball or get it here, you know, get it to certain guys. And he can’t play like that.”

“[T]he offensive line gotta block better. You know, they gotta communicate better, gotta pick up blocks (and) Joe’s gotta get the ball out of his hand.”

So what are the weaknesses we can glean from what Ed Reed said?

• Joe Flacco can get rattled by pressure.
• Loading the box and bringing multiple pass rushers is effective, and he can get confused by multiple blitz packages.
• When mixing up coverages and blitz packages, Flacco will hold onto the ball, which could help the pass rush get sacks (he was sacked five time by Houston).
• The offensive line can have communication problems, which can be exploited by disguising blitzes.

These are all things the Patriots’ coaches have surely picked up on by watching tape. Whether Baltimore is able to improve upon or cover up these weaknesses on offense could be a deciding factor in Sunday’s AFC championship game.