After it worked last week, the Ravens plan to go to the no-huddle more frequently.
The team employed a hurry-up offense that exploded for 22 points in the second half of Thursday night's 28-7 victory over the Cleveland Browns, coach John Harbaugh said going no-huddle should be a staple of the offensive menu for the remainder of the season.
"You try to have as many tools as you can at your disposal, and that's something," Harbaugh said. "The no-huddle offense, there's different versions of no-huddle offenses that teams run. That's one of our versions. It's a little bit faster paced type of deal, not a lot of motion and calling plays and running them quickly. I like that. I've always been a fan of that. I think [quarterback Joe Flacco] likes it. That's certainly going to be something we're going to do from time to time and maybe more often than we have in the past."
Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg made the decision at halftime to loosen the reins on an offense that had recorded 14 first downs and 164 yards in the first half, but trailed 7-6 at intermission.
"Coach asked us if we should, and we said 'Yes," wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. said. "That is one of the things we try to do – adjusting and making it easier for Joe."
Flacco, who had thrown just one touchdown pass in the three games prior to Thursday's, tossed three in a span of 18 minutes, 20 seconds during the second half. He completed 13-of-17 passes for 163 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the half.
Flacco emphasized Thursday that the offense is capable of being just as productive when slowing the pace.
"There's ways to do that out of the huddle, too, and just hitting them with runs, hitting them with play-action, drop-back, screens, stuff like that, and today we just got into a little rhythm, two-minute wise," he said.