With Starters Healthy, Time for Offense to Step Up
At a time when the season could be slipping away from the Ravens, there are no more excuses for their offense and besieged quarterback Steve McNair.
The Ravens' offense expects to field its original starting lineup for the first time since the season opener. Lining up across from them are the Cincinnati Bengals, who have the NFL's 31st-ranked defense that is tied with the winless Miami Dolphins for most points allowed.
If McNair can't turn the offense around against the Bengals tomorrow at M&T Bank Stadium, how can the Ravens expect him to do it against anyone else?
"We just have to go out there mainly with the mind frame that everybody is against us right now," McNair said. "I think we as a whole, as a team, know we're all by ourselves. And that's a good thing, because once your back is against the wall, you have to come out fighting. That's what we're going to do [tomorrow]."
Ravens coach Brian Billick has never said that McNair's job is on the line tomorrow. But he never ruled out pulling him during the game either.
It now becomes a question of when -- or whether -- Billick decides a change is necessary. Losers of two straight games, the Ravens (4-4) are in third place in the AFC North and are about to head into the toughest part of their schedule after playing the last-place Bengals (2-6).
If McNair continues to struggle in the first half, could a sellout crowd of 71,000 see backup Kyle Boller in the second?
The last time Billick benched a starting quarterback during a game was midway through the 2000 Super Bowl season, when he replaced Tony Banks with Trent Dilfer.
"You do whatever you have to do to win the game," Billick said. "If you have an option at a position where you think you can do something, no matter what the position, sure. But I don't anticipate that happening. I think Steve's going to play well."
Read More: No more excuses for Ravens offense, McNair [Baltimore Sun]
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