Wilson: Ravens' offense slumbering in first half

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- It has been six games since veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason leapt into the air to grab an acrobatic touchdown catch against the New England Patriots.

And that Oct.4 game at Gillette Stadium marks the last time that the Baltimore Ravens have scored a touchdown in the first quarter, an alarming trend that has puzzled and frustrated the players and coaching staff.

It has been a major contributing factor toward the Ravens losing four of the past six games. During that span, the slow starts have become a systemic problem with just 23 first-half points.

To not score in the first half against a one-win Cleveland Browns team with the last-ranked defense during Monday night’s 16-0 win may have been the low point for a stumbling offense.

"We've been talking about it and talking about it," offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said. "We're well aware of it and there is no magic wand you can put on it. It's just everybody collectively, coaches, starting with me.

"The start of that game, I got two plays in late and that kind of got us off-kilter, so I didn't help the situation. I need to do a better job and then we all collectively just said at halftime, 'Here's what we're going to do.’"

Over the past two weeks, the Ravens (5-4) have been shut out in the first half.

And penalties have compounded quarterback Joe Flacco appearing to be out of sync with his receivers and the offensive line faltering in pass protection.

Being tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for the fourth-most penalties in the league with 67 has been a big issue.

“Penalties, point blank," Mason said. "I guess it’s an old cliché, you shoot yourself in the foot, but we done shot ourselves in the foot a bunch of times. I’m surprised we still have got one. We can’t continue to say, ‘They’re correctible, they’re correctible,’ and not correct them.

"That’s like saying when a child grows up, as he’s growing up and he’s always getting in trouble and you figure, ‘I’ll straighten him out, I’ll straighten him out.’ Well, when he gets 15 to 16, you can’t straighten it out because he’s set in his ways."

The Ravens have gone 4-1 this season when they've scored first.

"We’ve got a good record when we score on our first drive," Mason said. "So, we’ve got to make sure we buckle down and pay attention to the little things and make sure we get off on a good start, especially this week.”

Plus, the Ravens have only produced two plays over 20 yards in the past two games.

That included Mason's 41-yard reception from Flacco against the Browns' suspect secondary.

At the beginning of the season, the Ravens generated a lot of big plays.

"You learn over time that you do all the detailed things and big things usually happen," Cameron said. "We just have to tie up all the loose ends."

The Ravens have also been struggling on third downs lately with just 5-of-24 converted over the past two weeks.

"We pride ourselves on converting third downs, and that’s what we stress in the offseason, two-a-days, and all that other stuff,” Mason said. “We know what we have to do on first and second down, but the critical down is third down to keep the drive going and to keep our defense off the field.

“If you look at the stats and whatnot throughout the NFL, if you convert at least two or three third downs, you put your team in the position to score points. So, that’s what we have to do. We’ve got to get back to getting it to third-and-manageable and converting on third down.”

Against the Browns, Flacco threw a season-low 18 passes. He completed 13 of them for 155 yards and no touchdowns.

“I don’t think we did too bad," Flacco said. "We just didn’t throw for a great amount of yards or anything like that. We just need to continue to grow as an offense and continue to get better each week.

"And I think there are going to be some weeks where you have a couple of yards and there are going to be some weeks where you have big games, and we just need to go out there and do whatever we can to win."

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