After the Ravens land in Kansas City, Todd Monken wants their offense to take off.
Entering Year 2 with Monken as their offensive coordinator, the Ravens will finally unveil their much-anticipated 2024 offense against the Chiefs in Thursday night's season opener.
The schematic and personnel changes since last season will be intriguing to watch. The Ravens didn't have two-time rushing champion Derrick Henry when they lost to Kansas City in January's AFC Championship game. Mark Andrews was just a shell of himself in that 17-10 defeat, playing his first game since returning from ankle surgery.
Henry and Lamar Jackson present a thunder and lightning combo in the same backfield that can stress a defense in so many ways. With Andrews now healthy, he and Isaiah Likely will be on the field together more often as a tag team at tight end, while Zay Flowers remains a dangerous threat at wide receiver and Rashod Bateman seems poised to have his best season.
The expectations are high, but so is the pressure to perform, and Monken is embracing both.
"They assigned you to run the Baltimore Ravens' offense, and you want to do a great job," Monken said. "You want everybody to feel like they made the right decision. So, when it's not good enough, and it's your job, it's freaking hard.
"I have a dream job. It's been everything I could ask for – the organization, the coaches, the opportunity we have to maximize the talent we have. It's a great situation, where you've got talented guys and a connection from top of the organization to the bottom. Now we've just got to go do it."
During the second half of the 2023 regular season, the Ravens were prolific offensively and Jackson was named the league's MVP for the second time. The Ravens finished sixth in total offense (370.4 yards per game) and fourth in scoring (28.4 points per game), but from Weeks 7 through Week 17, the Ravens scored at least 30 points in eight of 10 games and averaged 34 points per game.
However, facing the Chiefs again has rekindled talk among about last year's AFC Championship game, when Ravens' running backs carried the ball just six times and Baltimore's offense scored just three points after the first quarter in a heartbreaking 17-10 loss.
Monken won't be thinking about that game when he puts on his headset Thursday night. But when the offense sputters, nobody feels worse than Monken, a proven coach from a coaching family who has a long history of success as a coordinator.
"I'm human," Monken said. "Like anybody, you want to perform at the highest level. When that doesn't show itself, you're frustrated. You're disappointed. Because you put a lot into it for the players, for the organization, There's no getting around it. There's frustration and disappointment. You move on, but trust me, you never forget. You don't forget the great games either. When you sign up to do this, that's part of it."
Year 2 was magical for Monken as Georgia's offensive coordinator, when the Bulldogs won the first of back-to-back national championships, then averaged 40.7 points per game during his final season dominating SEC defenses. Will the same happen this year?
So far, Year 2 in Baltimore is off to a good start this summer for Monken. He hasn't had to do as much teaching during practices. The returning players are now familiar with his system and Jackson is making pre-snap adjustments like second nature.
"Having a whole offseason with the same words, same schemes, is important," said Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum. "Coming back with the same coordinator is huge. You understand why he does things in certain situations. It's important for everyone to have that understanding – the offensive linemen, the skill guys, everybody. We have that now."
What Monken hopes to see in 2024 is an offense that has more answers to blitz packages, makes fewer mistakes, and moves the ball with more consistency. He expects more consistent displays of his six main principles – don't turn it over, be explosive, score touchdowns in the red zone, be good on third down, don't have lost yardage plays, and have an athletic quarterback who can make off-schedule plays.
"It's always easier in Year 2," Monken said. "With your system, you can build off what you did. I feel a lot more comfortable today than I did last year going into Week 1 for a number of reasons. Once you make a decision to go a certain way, whether it's system, verbiage, players, once you enter the season it's really hard to redirect too far from that. But you get into the offseason and really look at what we did systematically and how we do it with Lamar being a big part of it. We're much further ahead, which is exciting."
Having Henry has the lead running back excites the entire locker room. He's a proven commodity, a two-time rushing champion who can dominate a game and force opponents to change their defensive strategy. Now he's in the backfield with Jackson, a two-time MVP quarterback who's also the premier running threat at his position.
"Just seeing Derrick on the practice field, we have a sense of why he's been the best running back in the league for quite some time," Linderbaum said. "The whole team's excited. As linemen, we're excited for the responsibility of blocking for him."
Monken feels responsible for making all of it work. He's driven, diligent and confident, constantly thinking about the next play, the next series and the next game.
"I'm better today than I was yesterday," Monken said. "I'm better this year than I was last year. I'm better now than I was at Georgia. I was better at Georgia than I was before. You try to continue to evolve. You try to stay ahead of the curve as best you can. How you present it to the players, what your players are best at, how you streamline things so they understand it.
"I left a great job and walked into another great situation. The players had bought into the culture before I ever came here. They believe in the Baltimore Ravens and what that stands for. I've tried to be genuine, be myself, but I know my job is to maximize their skillsets and score a lot of freaking points. The results have to show up."
That's what Monken wants to see in 2024 starting Thursday night – results, plenty of points, and a victory to start the season. Monken's gameplan is ready, and now it's time to start dialing it up.
"I feel good about where we're at," Monken said. "We'll see, but it's time to go play."
