OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The firing of offensive coordinator Marc Trestman served as another bold reminder this season of coach John Harbaugh's long-standing mantra.
Justin Forsett, the team's leading rusher the past two seasons, was cut Tuesday after averaging 3.2 yards per carry. Shareece Wright, who was given $5 million guaranteed in March, was benched as the starting cornerback Sunday after allowing five touchdowns in his past three games.
Now, Trestman is out just five games into the season. This isn't like the Buffalo Bills, who got rid of Greg Roman after a 0-2 start. The Baltimore Ravens are 3-2 and one game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. Some coaches might have given Trestman more time or waited until the bye in a couple weeks. But Harbaugh is not like most coaches.
This is only the second time in the past five seasons that an offensive coordinator has been fired by a winning team during the season, and Harbaugh has been the coach who made the change both times. In 2012, Harbaugh dismissed Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator when Baltimore was 9-4. The move helped propel the Ravens to the Super Bowl.
"My obligations are to the team, the organization and the fans to be the very best team we can be," Harbaugh said in a statement.
Harbaugh is aggressive in every way he manages the Ravens, from going for it on fourth down to calling fake field goals. Sometimes, he's off the mark. But every time, he's driven by the desire to win.
When Harbaugh has seen enough and when players have lost confidence in the play-caller, he has proven that he will make the necessary decision, no matter the circumstances. The Ravens were one of seven AFC teams with a winning record, but that still didn't remove the fact that there was an obvious disconnect with Trestman.
Running the ball has been the Ravens' signature under Harbaugh. Under Trestman, Baltimore averaged 24 rushing attempts, the fifth-fewest since the start of 2015. The Ravens want to throw the ball deep with strong-armed quarterback Joe Flacco. This season, Flacco has completed four passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air, which ranked 24th in the NFL. This was simply a bad fit from the start.
Trestman got a pass last season with the offensive struggles because of all the injuries, especially when Flacco missed the last six games. This season, the offense was filled with potential after the addition of wide receiver Mike Wallace, the return of tight end Dennis Pitta and wide receiver Breshad Perriman and the drafting of left tackle Ronnie Stanley.
A week ago, Harbaugh declared the offense was capable of being an "excellent" one. But it was apparent that wasn't going to happen with Trestman's lack of feel when it came to calling plays.
The offense was holding back the Ravens. Their defense ranks No. 3 in the NFL, and their offense is No. 23. Two weeks ago, the Ravens couldn't get into field-goal range for the winning kick against the Oakland Raiders, the NFL's worst defense at the time. Last Sunday, Baltimore managed a field goal on its final 12 drives against the Washington Redskins, the league's fourth-worst defense.
Finding a way to score 20 points became a struggle. The Ravens failed to eclipse that mark in 13 of 21 games under Trestman (62 percent). Getting first downs soon became a trial. Baltimore didn't convert on its final 11 third downs last Sunday.
"I’ve stood up here for nine years and said we’re going to be aggressive," Harbaugh said after Sunday's 16-10 loss to the Redskins.
Harbaugh was answering a question about a fake field goal, but he could have easily been addressing his mindset since taking over the Ravens in 2008. Time will tell whether Marty Mornhinweg is the right offensive coordinator for the Ravens. But Harbaugh knew Trestman was the wrong one. That's why there was no reason to wait to make a move. It was time to be aggressive once again.
Source: http://www.espn.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/30727/firing-marc-trestman-underscores-john-harbaughs-aggressive-mindset
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