Let me just vent for a second here.....Yes I know we won

[ccbird]

First, Flacco didn't play well. Period. That said the gameplan was stupid and ambitious to be throwing on that team that much. Look at the numbers coming into this game. The Jets were 6th in passing defense, their QB rating against was the lowest in the league, they were tied for the league lead in Int(5) and Tds thrown against them(2). They have the best CB in the league and arguably the best pass defense in the league.

On the other hand, their rushing defense was 31st, their YPR was 28th and they've tied for the most rushing TDs allowed.


You wanna know why the criticism of Cameron and Harbaugh is valid. You wanna know why I say they don't put us in the best position to win games, this is it. Especially, once you get up 20 points and still refuse to run the ball. It's just plain stupid.


People are going to point fingers at Joe and question his ability again after this game and again, he's far from blameless. He played poorly but his coach did not put him in the optimal position to succeed. You wanna know why Qbs get better after Cameron leaves. Tonight is your exhibit A.

[Remember The Alomar]

Yup. Pretty accurate.

[Sports Guy]

Yup...Kept saying this during the game.

At the end, they finally decided to run it down their throats but where was that earlier in the game?

They came into this game with a terrible offensive game plan...Just goes to show how much better the Ravens are than the Jets. Their offense plays mediocre, ST weren't good and they dominated them anyway.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Just to play devil's advocate -- the Cam Cameron we're used to is extremely conservative and likes to run run run. We've also heard reports from Miller on this very site that play-calling has fallen more in Joe's hands.

Is it possible that Flacco was forcing the issue and trying to throw and that Cameron finally nixed it towards the end of the game and started running the ball?

Not saying this is true, but isn't it a possibility?

[ccbird]

Just to play devil's advocate -- the Cam Cameron we're used to is extremely conservative and likes to run run run. We've also heard reports from Miller on this very site that play-calling has fallen more in Joe's hands.

Is it possible that Flacco was forcing the issue and trying to throw and that Cameron finally nixed it towards the end of the game and started running the ball?

Not saying this is true, but isn't it a possibility?

I'm sure Flacco had a lot of input and as I said in the other thread it did seem like we caught them off balance in the first quarter coming out passing as much as we did. That said, you have to balance it out. Especially, once you're up 20 points and the other teams offense can't move the ball a lick. Cameron is still the one calling the plays. He just can't allow this team to be as unbalanced as we were at the point Flacco was picked off and the momentum swung in the 2nd quarter. You could just feel that Flacco and the playcalling were getting overly aggressive against a great pass defense. I said as much in the game thread before the Int. If we would have never threw another pass after we got up 20 we would have won the game. That Jets offense had no chance of putting up 20 points on us. The only chance they had was us helping them. Harbaugh says at half he didn;t want to go into a shell but that's exactly what you do when their defense and ST is the only chance they have to win down 20 points. It just amazes me how little of a feel Harbaugh and Cameron have for the game and how it should be managed.

[DuffMan]

I don't care who was calling the plays last night, absolutely no reason to be throwing the ball that much with the big lead. Ground and pound.

[MikeAD]

The way the offense came out, thank God our Defense played the way it did. Would have been an ugly game otherwise.

[Miller192]

I agree the gameplan was poor. The Ravens are giving Joe the ability to dictate the gameplan and this is what he wanted. If you're looking to blame, it falls on Joe.

Some days it going to work better than others. That's a pretty good defense last night.

[Hank Scorpio]

I agree the gameplan was poor. The Ravens are giving Joe the ability to dictate the gameplan and this is what he wanted. If you're looking to blame, it falls on Joe.

Some days it going to work better than others. That's a pretty good defense last night.

100% right.

Last night was my favorite home game of the last decade. ;)

[primetime]

Great points by the OP, agree 100%.

Piggybacking on those points, another flaw in the gameplan/game calling, when you have 1 WR with any sort of experience, that makes trying to chuck the ball all over the yard vs the Jets an even worse idea.

Early on, the Jets had Revis on Smith. Once they adjusted to our successful passing in the 1st qtr, Revis shadowed Boldin and he was taken out of the game.

It was a good idea to attack the middle of the field but between some shaky throws by Flacco and Dickson dropping a few balls, we lost any momentum we had in the passing game. I hope Dickson can work on making tough catches, maybe it's a lack of concentration.

When the Jets started bringing overload pressure, I was surprised we didn't try to screen them. We had a successful screen to Pitta and a poor attempt to get a screen to Leach. I love Leach and all but I'm not sure why we try to force feed him the ball 4-6 times every game. Leach should be a last resort only on passing plays, not the primary read.

I think the bye week will be really good for the offense. We've had a couple of really good offensive games but we have to remember that the offense is still a work in progress. We have so much new personnel that we're just going to need some time to gel. Hopefully Grubbs and Evans get healthy, then we can go on a nice run after the bye.

[Tony-OH]

First, Flacco didn't play well. Period. That said the gameplan was stupid and ambitious to be throwing on that team that much. Look at the numbers coming into this game. The Jets were 6th in passing defense, their QB rating against was the lowest in the league, they were tied for the league lead in Int(5) and Tds thrown against them(2). They have the best CB in the league and arguably the best pass defense in the league.

On the other hand, their rushing defense was 31st, their YPR was 28th and they've tied for the most rushing TDs allowed.


You wanna know why the criticism of Cameron and Harbaugh is valid. You wanna know why I say they don't put us in the best position to win games, this is it. Especially, once you get up 20 points and still refuse to run the ball. It's just plain stupid.


People are going to point fingers at Joe and question his ability again after this game and again, he's far from blameless. He played poorly but his coach did not put him in the optimal position to succeed. You wanna know why Qbs get better after Cameron leaves. Tonight is your exhibit A.

You know you won't get any arguments from me. Even my 20-year old daughter and sitting next to me on the couch going, "Why are they passing now?" I'd like to know who said something to Cam Cameron to start running the damn ball because he's too egotistical to figure it out for himself. This is where Harbaugh's lack of experience on offense really hurts him. I don't think he's willing to step up and tell Cam to do anything, so you got Cam over there trying to throw the ball around with a QB who was off his game against a defense that's tough against the pass while up 20 points.

Sometimes I miss Billick, and Lord knows how hard I was on Billick when it came to to his offense, but Billick would have certainly had Cam running the ball when up 27-7 thanks to the defense. Harbaugh said he didn't want the team to go "in a shell." Apparently he thinks establishing your running game is "going into a shell." No one wanted the Ravens to start running three times straight ahead and punting the ball, but the Ravens showed they can get some first downs and run the clock when they had to. They just should have started to do that when up 27-7 with a defense that wasn't going to allow the Jets to comes back.

[Tony-OH]

I agree the gameplan was poor. The Ravens are giving Joe the ability to dictate the gameplan and this is what he wanted. If you're looking to blame, it falls on Joe.

Some days it going to work better than others. That's a pretty good defense last night.

I disagree unless Joe was going rogue last night. There is a time to let Joe make adjustments and there are times when you tell Joe we're going to start running the ball with an occasional pass. If he was checking off runs into passes when they were up 27-7, then he is not very intelligent.

[MikeAD]

You know you won't get any arguments from me. Even my 20-year old daughter and sitting next to me on the couch going, "Why are they passing now?" I'd like to know who said something to Cam Cameron to start running the damn ball because he's too egotistical to figure it out for himself. This is where Harbaugh's lack of experience on offense really hurts him. I don't think he's willing to step up and tell Cam to do anything, so you got Cam over there trying to throw the ball around with a QB who was off his game against a defense that's tough against the pass while up 20 points.

Sometimes I miss Billick, and Lord knows how hard I was on Billick when it came to to his offense, but Billick would have certainly had Cam running the ball when up 27-7 thanks to the defense. Harbaugh said he didn't want the team to go "in a shell." Apparently he thinks establishing your running game is "going into a shell." No one wanted the Ravens to start running three times straight ahead and punting the ball, but the Ravens showed they can get some first downs and run the clock when they had to. They just should have started to do that when up 27-7 with a defense that wasn't going to allow the Jets to comes back.

We threw it 15 times in the first quarter, man. 15 times. There was no play but drop back, throw it as hard as you can. Flacco made some great plays when the pocket fell apart but we should have just ran the ball in between those passes..

AGH, it was frustrating, not because I thought the team was playing horrible, but we are way better than what we showed last night. If the scheme had any sort of method behind it, that game is a 37-10 thumping and we move along to next week. Of course we won, which is great, but we can't do that against the premier teams. Green Bay would have made us look silly last night.

[flashjordnk]

I disagree unless Joe was going rogue last night. There is a time to let Joe make adjustments and there are times when you tell Joe we're going to start running the ball with an occasional pass. If he was checking off runs into passes when they were up 27-7, then he is not very intelligent.

I said this last week and people called me stupid, and I'll say it again here. Cameron I think, if what Miller is saying is true, is helping Joe learn a lesson. One I think he needs to learn, which is the game plan you WANT to execute isn't always going to work. I think Joe had a part in calling passing plays at the end of the STL game, and I think he had a big part in what we were trying to do against the Jets. If Joe's going to learn, he needs to take some lumps and learn to control the game a bit better.

That being said, this role should not have been reserved for this long for Joe. These "learning" moments should have come in past years and to some degree Joe has got a little rebellion in him, to prove to Cameron it will work when sometimes it won't. We need to get outside our egos (not to get all 'Any Given Sunday'), but they are going to win as a team or lose as a team, or they one guy be Harbaugh, Cameron, Flacco need to do a better job of working together. This is just getting to be kind of sad.

[NewMarketSean]

We all know Joe wants to pass, and he tried to last night but it wasn't working. The Jets have a great pass D and we just couldn't get any separation from their DB's. That falls at Joe's feet, IMO, not Cameron's.

At least the Ravens adjusted and ran the ball in the second half, which is something we ragged on them about in the past. So whether that was Joe's call or Cam's (probably Cam's or Harbaugh's), they deserve a lot of credit for doing that.

The way I see it is the Ravens have 2 weeks to find an identity and then implement it. I know Joe wants to pass, but we have a great running game. How about we just try to be more balanced moving forward?

[flashjordnk]

At least the Ravens adjusted and ran the ball in the second half, which is something we ragged on them about in the past.

This is what I find amusing. When they adjust, it's like they didn't tweak the plan, they altered the plan, lol. I mean at that part of the game where we ran it like, 140 times in a row or what felt like that many, that's a good time to mix in some play action no?

I do like the idea of a scripted game plan, and then seeing what the defense is giving you and adjusting the plan accordingly. And I think no matter what's happening in the game, there has to be some running plays mixed in there to keep pass defenses off balance or thinking about the run a little bit.

The really good teams do this on offense. Green Bay is known for scripting their first 15 plays, and then working from there. Maybe we already do this...but if we do, I'd question what we did coming out yesterday.

[NewMarketSean]

This is what I find amusing. When they adjust, it's like they didn't tweak the plan, they altered the plan, lol. I mean at that part of the game where we ran it like, 140 times in a row or what felt like that many, that's a good time to mix in some play action no?

I do like the idea of a scripted game plan, and then seeing what the defense is giving you and adjusting the plan accordingly. And I think no matter what's happening in the game, there has to be some running plays mixed in there to keep pass defenses off balance or thinking about the run a little bit.

The really good teams do this on offense. Green Bay is known for scripting their first 15 plays, and then working from there. Maybe we already do this...but if we do, I'd question what we did coming out yesterday.

It sounds like you just won't be happy about what they did last night. They could have mixed in some PA pass but why? They were moving the ball on the ground and killing the clock, thankfully, since the first half lasted forever, and I wanted to get some sleep before work today. We were up, what, 17 pts by then? At that point just stick with what works.

[flashjordnk]

It sounds like you just won't be happy about what they did last night.

It's not always about this game, or what's going on right now. I don't think a team should ever pass 14 straight times, and I don't think a team should ever run 14 straight times. No matter the situation, and unless you're reeling off a 7+ YPC, it's really not worth it.

If you were happy about anything the offense did last night. You weren't watching the same game as me. I cannot be happy about ANYTHING the Ravens did last night on offense. Rice had a great block out of the backfield. It was nice to see Torrey Smith running deep. And...and...and....that's it. The blocking wasn't very good, the pass protection looked miserable, the receivers didn't get separation, and the Ravens did nothing to stop the Jets from getting up on receivers in man to man press and shutting them down. And let me tell you, Lee Evans is not our solution to beating the press. Or Joe not being able to read zone blitzes.

Our defense cannot and will not score 21 points a game. And if you're content to watch a team run it 14 times in a row against a team that gave up (shame on the Jets and Rex Ryan btw, after the Webb TD, I really felt like they waved the white flag) and be happy with that fine. But that's a team that loses in the Wild Card or Divsional round of the playoffs if you ask me. And unless we're making progress to win the Super Bowl, as a fan, I refuse to be satisfied with that.

Great game by the defense. I looooooved everything they did last night.

[NewMarketSean]

It's not always about this game, or what's going on right now. I don't think a team should ever pass 14 straight times, and I don't think a team should ever run 14 straight times. No matter the situation, and unless you're reeling off a 7+ YPC, it's really not worth it.

If you were happy about anything the offense did last night. You weren't watching the same game as me. I cannot be happy about ANYTHING the Ravens did last night on offense. Rice had a great block out of the backfield. It was nice to see Torrey Smith running deep. And...and...and....that's it. The blocking wasn't very good, the pass protection looked miserable, the receivers didn't get separation, and the Ravens did nothing to stop the Jets from getting up on receivers in man to man press and shutting them down. And let me tell you, Lee Evans is not our solution to beating the press. Or Joe not being able to read zone blitzes.

Our defense cannot and will not score 21 points a game. And if you're content to watch a team run it 14 times in a row against a team that gave up (shame on the Jets and Rex Ryan btw, after the Webb TD, I really felt like they waved the white flag) and be happy with that fine. But that's a team that loses in the Wild Card or Divsional round of the playoffs if you ask me. And unless we're making progress to win the Super Bowl, as a fan, I refuse to be satisfied with that.

Great game by the defense. I looooooved everything they did last night.

They adjusted. That is the biggest thing to take away from that game. Of course they played like crap on offense for the most part, and Flacco had a terrible game. But they now have 2 weeks to find an identity and work on getting better.

Like you said, they won the game. And no, the defense isn't going to score 21 pts a game, but the Ravens defense has been capable of performing like they did last night for the better part of 12 years. This is nothing new.

[flashjordnk]

They adjusted. That is the biggest thing to take away from that game. Of course they played like crap on offense for the most part, and Flacco had a terrible game. But they now have 2 weeks to find an identity and work on getting better.

Like you said, they won the game. And no, the defense isn't going to score 21 pts a game, but the Ravens defense has been capable of performing like they did last night for the better part of 12 years. This is nothing new.

I refuse to call that an 'adjustment'. It's not a gameplan adjustment to run the ball over and over and over again. That's a concession that if we don't pick up the third down running, we know Sanchez will throw us another TD so we'll just stop trying.

Adjustments are finding holes in the opposing teams and then exploiting them. The Ravens didn't exploit anything on the Jets. They just ran it over and over and over again. For a 3.1 YPC average. With a lost fumble.

If that's the progress that makes Ravens fans happy, we're in a sad state of affairs if you ask me.

[Tony-OH]

We all know Joe wants to pass, and he tried to last night but it wasn't working. The Jets have a great pass D and we just couldn't get any separation from their DB's. That falls at Joe's feet, IMO, not Cameron's.

At least the Ravens adjusted and ran the ball in the second half, which is something we ragged on them about in the past. So whether that was Joe's call or Cam's (probably Cam's or Harbaugh's), they deserve a lot of credit for doing that.

The way I see it is the Ravens have 2 weeks to find an identity and then implement it. I know Joe wants to pass, but we have a great running game. How about we just try to be more balanced moving forward?

I think "finding an identity" is overblown by the media. The Ravens have shown that they can throw the ball when a defense is not good against the pass and can run the ball when the defense is not good against the run, but what they need to show us is that they can identify when a game plan is not working and adjust. Honestly, the Ravens could have had a big offensive day in the 1st qtr if Joe wasn't off his game. He overthrew and behind Smith and was off target on several other throws that were there. That's when Cam should have altered the game plan a bit. The defense was given him a lead and Rice was running and catching the ball well, so it was time to start establishing the run, screen, and short passing game. Instead, Joe was still chucking it down field.

I just want to see a coaching staff that can adjust mid quarter to what is happening and not keep banging their collective heads again the same wall. Joe is better then he was last night, but the coaching staff didn't make the proper adjustments due to that fact IMHO.

[Tony-OH]

I refuse to call that an 'adjustment'. It's not a gameplan adjustment to run the ball over and over and over again. That's a concession that if we don't pick up the third down running, we know Sanchez will throw us another TD so we'll just stop trying.

Adjustments are finding holes in the opposing teams and then exploiting them. The Ravens didn't exploit anything on the Jets. They just ran it over and over and over again. For a 3.1 YPC average. With a lost fumble.

If that's the progress that makes Ravens fans happy, we're in a sad state of affairs if you ask me.

I like offense and especially a passing offense as much as the next guy, but when you given a lead like the one we had and we have a defense just dominating their offense, it was time to go back to the three yards and a cloud of dust, even if it is boring.

[Sports Guy]

This is what I find amusing. When they adjust, it's like they didn't tweak the plan, they altered the plan, lol. I mean at that part of the game where we ran it like, 140 times in a row or what felt like that many, that's a good time to mix in some play action no?
I do like the idea of a scripted game plan, and then seeing what the defense is giving you and adjusting the plan accordingly. And I think no matter what's happening in the game, there has to be some running plays mixed in there to keep pass defenses off balance or thinking about the run a little bit.

The really good teams do this on offense. Green Bay is known for scripting their first 15 plays, and then working from there. Maybe we already do this...but if we do, I'd question what we did coming out yesterday.They should have faked that handoff to the right and had Joe run a naked bootleg.

That play was there all day and he may have had a 50 yard TD run.

I kept saying it...Its like, i can see this from section 544, can't the coaches!!!

[Sports Guy]

I like offense and especially a passing offense as much as the next guy, but when you given a lead like the one we had and we have a defense just dominating their offense, it was time to go back to the three yards and a cloud of dust, even if it is boring.Yep...Again, just like the Rams game, why are you having Joe take a bunch of unneccassary hits?

I know we had 40 rushes last night and that's great but most of them came late. They should have had 50 rushes last night.

I like that Joe wants to do more but all the coaches have to do is sit him down and say look, we will pass it a lot but we are already up 20 and the only way we lose this game is if we make too many mistakes. Let's just bring in the reigns of the passing game some for the rest of THIS game and pound it out with the run more than we originally planned to do.

[Miller192]

I disagree unless Joe was going rogue last night. There is a time to let Joe make adjustments and there are times when you tell Joe we're going to start running the ball with an occasional pass. If he was checking off runs into passes when they were up 27-7, then he is not very intelligent.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. When the Ravens install their offense they tend to stick with it. Joe wants to throw the ball more so that's what the came up with.

I think it's all a work in progress. You just can't do it all and the Ravens are figuring it out.

[Hooded Viper]

Completely ugly game and I agree with most on this thread but I will say, as I am sure you all will, this team is good. They dominated the crap out of the Jets and they were not nearly playing as well as they can. It is a damn good team that can dominate someone while not playing their 'A' game on Offense and Special Teams. Let's get everyone healthy and start to drop the hammer the rest of the season!

[Tony-OH]

I don't necessarily disagree with you. When the Ravens install their offense they tend to stick with it. Joe wants to throw the ball more so that's what the came up with.

I think it's all a work in progress. You just can't do it all and the Ravens are figuring it out.

I guess it just sounds too rigid to me. The original passing game was working, but it was not being executed very well by Joe. Saying that, once a defense give you that lead it's time to adjust a bit and reign in the high-risk throws. At the end of the year, the only thing we are going to remember is whether the Ravens won the Super Bowl or not. No one but Flacco and his agent are going to be caring the numbers of yards or TDs.

[Tony-OH]

Completely ugly game and I agree with most on this thread but I will say, as I am sure you all will, this team is good. They dominated the crap out of the Jets and they were not nearly playing as well as they can. It is a damn good team that can dominate someone while not playing their 'A' game on Offense and Special Teams. Let's get everyone healthy and start to drop the hammer the rest of the season!

Yeah, don't mistake my concerns for anything other than what they are, concerns. This team is set up to do special things if the coaching doesn't shoot it's own foot because of their ego's

[ccbird]

I'm happy that Flacco is getting more input and he should. He's a very good QB but we all know he isn't Manning, Brady or Rodgers. I'm not even sure those guys pick apart this Jets defense through the air like we were trying to do last night. Brady did it at home in the reg season last year but the Jets got him in the Meadowlands earlier in the year and the playoffs. They also got Manning in last years playoffs. Ultimately, Cameron is still calling the plays. As mentioned in this thread, what we did initially to start the game did have the Jets on their heels. Joe hit on some nice throws and he missed Torrey a few times, and had a few dropped passes. That said, the Jets made an adjustment and you could see that we needed to adjust ourselves. The two back to back drives in the second quarter you could just feel that we were getting overaggressive passing and the Jets were closing in on making a big play defensively. Like I said earlier, it's just a feel for the game. I just don't think Cameron or Harbaugh has that feel for the game. When you make a comment like you don't want to go into a shell, when given the situation thats exactly what you should have done, it tells me you don't have a feel for the game. The bottom line is winning the game. Harbaugh is too concered with trying to beat every team by 20 points. As Tony said earlier, Billick had his faults, but the one thing he had was a feel for the game.

[Hooded Viper]

Yeah, don't mistake my concerns for anything other than what they are, concerns. This team is set up to do special things if the coaching doesn't shoot it's own foot because of their ego's

No not at all. I agree that Joe played poorly and we threw the ball way too often. I have many of the same concerns.

[Slappy]

Don't disagree, but I swear some posters on here get so upset during a blowout victory it's comical.

[The Rick]

Don't disagree, but I swear some posters on here get so upset during a blowout victory it's comical.

It's because the bigger picture for the Ravens is to be a Super Bowl contender, and despite our 3-1 record, we're not playing well enough to be comfortable saying we're a SB contender at this juncture.

I'm just enjoying the ride though. I refuse to let high expectations ruin the joy ride of another great season for our Ravens. As an O's fan, I'll never take for granted how lucky we are.

[NewMarketSean]

Even Super Bowl winning teams have hiccup games. Shoot, the Ravens went 5 games without scoring a TD the year they won the SB!

I think it's just that fans want to win every game and win every game in blowout fashion. The league's implemented a lot of stuff to create more scoring and it's having an effect on fans. If the offense doesn't score 35 pts and win by two TD's, you stink.

[The Rick]

Even Super Bowl winning teams have hiccup games. Shoot, the Ravens went 5 games without scoring a TD the year they won the SB!

I think it's just that fans want to win every game and win every game in blowout fashion. The league's implemented a lot of stuff to create more scoring and it's having an effect on fans. If the offense doesn't score 35 pts and win by two TD's, you stink.

Meh, I don't know. I mean I get what you're saying, but the bottom line is Flacco has not shown he can have 3-4 consecutive quality games that we'll need in January/February to win a Super Bowl.

[NewMarketSean]

Meh, I don't know. I mean I get what you're saying, but the bottom line is Flacco has not shown he can have 3-4 consecutive quality games that we'll need in January/February to win a Super Bowl.

He's put together 7-10 game stretches of very good performances in each of his first 3 years. There's no denying he turns in a stinker a couple of times a year, though.

[The Rick]

He's put together 7-10 game stretches of very good performances in each of his first 3 years. There's no denying he turns in a stinker a couple of times a year, though.

Yes, but he has not proven, at this point, that he can put up 3-4 quality games against Pittsburgh/New England/San Diego and then whoever we would face in the Super Bowl: Green Bay being the most likely team at this point. I just don't see it. He could develop into that, but as of now I don't see that happening, IMHO.

[NewMarketSean]

Yes, but he has not proven, at this point, that he can put up 3-4 quality games against Pittsburgh/New England/San Diego and then whoever we would face in the Super Bowl: Green Bay being the most likely team at this point. I just don't see it. He could develop into that, but as of now I don't see that happening, IMHO.

Peyton Manning - 2006 Postseason (the year they won it all)

KC
268 yards
1 TD
3 INT

@ BAL
170 yards
0 TD
2 INT

NE
349 yards
1 TD
1 INT

CHI
247 yards
1 TD
1 INT

Go look at Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger's postseason numbers. They've turned in some mediocre-poor games in the postseason during SB winning seasons. Postseason QB's don't have to turn in 3-4 awesome games in a row to win the SB. They have to limit mistakes and make plays when needed. Flacco is capable of doing that and we have the defense to pick up the slack when needed.

[The Rick]

Peyton Manning - 2006 Postseason (the year they won it all)

KC
268 yards
1 TD
3 INT

@ BAL
170 yards
0 TD
2 INT

NE
349 yards
1 TD
1 INT

CHI
247 yards
1 TD
1 INT

Go look at Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger's postseason numbers. They've turned in some mediocre-poor games in the postseason during SB winning seasons. Postseason QB's don't have to turn in 3-4 awesome games in a row to win the SB. They have to limit mistakes and make plays when needed. Flacco is capable of doing that and we have the defense to pick up the slack when needed.

I hope you're right, but Joe hasn't done too well in the playoffs. He's had just 1 playoff game with a QB Rating north of 90 (115 in the KC game last year), and he had a decent game with an 85 QB Rating in Tennessee his rookie year. But he's young and still on the upward curve, IMO, so I can definitely see it happening, I'm just not confident that it will. Please don't mistake this for me not being a Flacco believer, I definitely am.

[RHall31]

Peyton Manning - 2006 Postseason (the year they won it all)

KC
268 yards
1 TD
3 INT

@ BAL
170 yards
0 TD
2 INT

NE
349 yards
1 TD
1 INT

CHI
247 yards
1 TD
1 INT

Go look at Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger's postseason numbers. They've turned in some mediocre-poor games in the postseason during SB winning seasons. Postseason QB's don't have to turn in 3-4 awesome games in a row to win the SB. They have to limit mistakes and make plays when needed. Flacco is capable of doing that and we have the defense to pick up the slack when needed.

Those QB's have also had outstanding games against good defenses when it counts. Pitt, NE, GB have all been capapble of dominating postseason games
through the air if needed.


I agree with Flacco. The Ravens need to develop a passing game that will hold hold up in the playoffs. By that I mean a passing game that can carry the team if necessary, not just compliment our running game and defense.

There are going to be some growing pains.

[Mashed Potatoes]

I recall many fans espousing upset at the Ravens conservative crawl-into-a-shell play-calling upon reaching a comfortable league last season. Now this season I see fans upset at the Ravens reckless play-calling upon reaching a comfortable lead.

I'm not saying anyone specifically here on the OH has been a flip-flopper, just pointing out the general hypocrisy/reactionary/hindsight is 20/20 nature of sports fandom. I think we often overlook player execution as the crucial variable that determines a play's outcome more than the play's design.

[The Rick]

I recall many fans espousing upset at the Ravens conservative crawl-into-a-shell play-calling upon reaching a comfortable league last season. Now this season I see fans upset at the Ravens reckless play-calling upon reaching a comfortable lead.

I'm not saying anyone specifically here on the OH has been a flip-flopper, just pointing out the general hypocrisy/reactionary/hindsight is 20/20 nature of sports fandom. I think we often overlook player execution as the crucial variable that determines a play's outcome more than the play's design.

Great post.

I find this to be much more so the truth in football because of the week (or two weeks in this case) between games.

I do think the game plan needs to be somewhere in between (last year's ultra conservative in the 2nd half of the season vs. this year's air it out offense), but at the end of the day the most important thing is player execution.

[ccbird]

I recall many fans espousing upset at the Ravens conservative crawl-into-a-shell play-calling upon reaching a comfortable league last season. Now this season I see fans upset at the Ravens reckless play-calling upon reaching a comfortable lead.

I'm not saying anyone specifically here on the OH has been a flip-flopper, just pointing out the general hypocrisy/reactionary/hindsight is 20/20 nature of sports fandom. I think we often overlook player execution as the crucial variable that determines a play's outcome more than the play's design.

Obviously, execution is crucial. But this is just having a feel for the game. Most of the times your going to have to make adjustments during the game based on the flow of the game and game situation. There are times in a game where you do go very conservative, there are obviously other times in a game where you have to be very aggressive and high risk. It's a constantly evolving process throughout the game. I just care about winning. Bottom line. If that means throwing the ball 40 times so be it. If that means running the ball 40 times so be it. You have to adapt not only throughout the game but throughout the season. Opposing teams are always studying and watching film. Teams start to catch up with you if you can't adapt. Last night was a case of not changing gears when we should have and you could feel, or at least I could feel Flacco and the offense being too aggressive and predictable during the 2nd quarter.

[Sports Guy]

I recall many fans espousing upset at the Ravens conservative crawl-into-a-shell play-calling upon reaching a comfortable league last season. Now this season I see fans upset at the Ravens reckless play-calling upon reaching a comfortable lead.

I'm not saying anyone specifically here on the OH has been a flip-flopper, just pointing out the general hypocrisy/reactionary/hindsight is 20/20 nature of sports fandom. I think we often overlook player execution as the crucial variable that determines a play's outcome more than the play's design.This is true. The Ravens are now giving the fans what so many wanted.

The problem is, when the game is hand and you just need to eat clock and not have your QB take a bunch of hits, you then alter that game plan.

[NewMarketSean]

Fans will always complain that the Ravens didn't do X, whether it's run or pass. Whether it's on message boards or radio talk shows. This is just a fact.

We saw what happened in the Lions/Cowboys game yesterday when you keep calling passes with a big lead...you run the risk of throwing picks and letting a blowout become a close game. You give life to a team that was dead. It almost happened Sunday night, too.

I don't give a flying F how we win ball games. 2000 was awesome even when we were winning games 15-10 by kicking 5 FG's. 2008 was awesome when we pounded the ball down the throat of opposing defenses in the 4th Q. I just want to freaking win and I don't care how it's done. Flacco does need to play better and the offense needs to gel this bye week. I hope to see us become a more balanced offense from now on.

[Miller192]

Fans will always complain that the Ravens didn't do X, whether it's run or pass. Whether it's on message boards or radio talk shows. This is just a fact.

We saw what happened in the Lions/Cowboys game yesterday when you keep calling passes with a big lead...you run the risk of throwing picks and letting a blowout become a close game. You give life to a team that was dead. It almost happened Sunday night, too.

I don't give a flying F how we win ball games. 2000 was awesome even when we were winning games 15-10 by kicking 5 FG's. 2008 was awesome when we pounded the ball down the throat of opposing defenses in the 4th Q. I just want to freaking win and I don't care how it's done. Flacco does need to play better and the offense needs to gel this bye week. I hope to see us become a more balanced offense from now on.

Exactly. We can all point to things that need to happen to play better.

There's just so many variables in the NFL that you just can't get too caught up in a team's weaknesses or strengths. They're examples of teams like the Chargers who do everything right but win enough games.

[xKHx]

People get this conviction in them that this coach doesn't do what they want them to so in turn he is a bad coach. All I can say is look at the win loss record. Game planning is hard to do if you think you can do better go coach high school and get back to me and tell me what you are doing because it's hard. You can come up with the most brilliant schemes but they go awry when just one player acts out of character and steps up. You sometimes have to stick with the plan because the line of thinking is we are playing this right such and such is open we just got to get the ball out in time or you need to make the right read. Joe was just off that day so it made the play calling look bad. If he was on his game we would have been up by 50 points in the second half! It was only 3 drives they really messed up on by forcing the issue then they crammed the ball down their throats. Its not a light switch to just change up formations and make adjustments. Then people blame Harbaugh ohh that is his fault because he didn't step in after that third series. Well yes he did after halftime that was all Harbs basically. The right call too if your up and their offense is not doing anything and your qb is off just run the ball. Don't make a bad play action call, because Joe was confused after that first quarter.