Lack of Offense Gets Brian Billick Fired in Baltimore

"Defense wins Championship," is an old football adage, to which someone should add the small disclaimer, "Average to good Offense" still required. Don't believe me, ask Brian Billick the recently fired former coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

Billick, who was once though of as an "offensive genius" football coach, never got the Raven's Offense on track in Baltimore. Though he did manage to win a Super Bowl with the franchise, it came in a season in which the Raven's Defense set an all-time NFL record for fewest points allowed (165 points in 2000). It was also the Defense that would continue to bail out Billick through out the decade as he alternated winning seasons with losing ones. It was a trademark that resurfaced this season when the Raven's finished a dismal 5-11 after going 13-3 the previous year.

Throughout the course of his tenure, Billick tried over and over to duplicate the offensive magic he had brought with him to his coaching stints at Utah State (1986-1988), and later at Minnesota (1992-1998), where as Offensive Coordinator of the Vikings, he helped set an NFL record for most points in a season (556).

Yet that magical touch eluded him in Baltimore where he never could develop a top-flight quarterback to guide the team. Kyle Boller, the team's first round pick in 2003 never seemed to be the answer. Through 53 games with the team Boller's QB rating languished near the 70 point range, and he managed to throw only one more touchdown than interception. If Boller was average, so too was Steve McNair, the former Tennessee Titan who Billick brought on board in 2006 to take over the reigns at quarterback. Though McNair lead the team to a 13-3 finish in 2006, his overall performance was only slightly better than Boller's.