Baltimore Ravens fans and fantasy football owners in general received some great news on Monday when John Harbaugh fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. His play-calling was one of the most inept I have seen in the National Football League in quite some time.
It has been reported that the straw that broke the camel's back was when Ray Rice, one of the top running backs in the NFL, didn't touch the ball a single time in the fourth quarter of Baltimore's Week 13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
How does that even happen?
After all, the Ravens are 17-2 when Rice touches the ball at least 20 times since 2010 and 15-10 when he doesn't. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to come to a conclusion that he should play a vital role in their offense. Earlier this season I wrote an article that focused on Cameron's inability to call a decent game on offense. Look for that here for some more statistics.
Meanwhile, former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell will replace Cameron as Baltimore's offensive coordinator for the final three games of the regular season and the playoffs. While it might be foolish to believe that Caldwell will immediately go to a more run-orientated offense after coaching Peyton Manning for nine seasons in Indianapolis, at least he has to understand that Joe Flacco is no Manning. That's the primary issue that I had with Cameron. He seems to think that Flacco is an elite quarterback when in fact he probably isn't even in the top 20 of the NFL in that category.
Additionally, you can expect words to come down from the top that Baltimore wants Rice to play a more vital role in the offense. I wouldn't be surprised to see him tally 30 touches against the Denver Broncos next week. This could be a huge fantasy coup for those of us who are still alive in the postseason and own Rice. In fact, it could decide league championships moving forward, especially against a 22nd ranked New York Giants rush defense in Week 16 (the championship week in most standard leagues).
I am not entirely too sure about the long-term effects of this firing. We are going to have to take a wait and see approach when drawing a conclusion about Caldwell. There are absolutely no guarantees that he will remain in this role after the 2012 season. Some conjecture on Monday concluded that soon-to-be-fired San Diego Chargers' head coach Norv Turner would fill the Ravens offensive coordinator role well next year. I don't see him as much of an upgrade in regards to being able to get Rice the ball.
When all is said and done, Baltimore's offense is only going to be successful with less of an onus placed on the marginal Flacco and more of a role for Rice. Until that happens, neither fans of the Ravens or those who own Rice will be happy.
As someone that owns Rice in two of my three leagues (all currently in the midst of the playoffs) I am sure happy he won't be calling plays for the next two weeks. Let's now see if it translates to wins for the Ravens.