Ray Lewis on Billick's Play Calling

[longflyball]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet on the board. I presume everyone is busy satiating the obsession of a certain old troll.

Here's the article. (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.rayradio23oct23,0,1642155.story) And here's what Lewis said on 1300 last night:


"As far as decisions, you have to let Willis McGahee touch the ball on one of those plays."

"We knew he should have touched the ball when you have a fourth-and-one."

"Old-school football is old-school football. If there is a yard I need to get, there is a running back, a fullback and an offense that is meant to get that."

"You can't make oranges be peaches. It doesn't change. It will never change. That's what Billick has to ask himself, why we keep putting ourselves in those situations. In the Cincinnati game, that cost us with those same decisions."


Billick has admitted (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ordine/blog/2007/10/billick_admits_playcalling_err.html) that he should have run the ball:


"Second-and-one, I’m fine with. The third-and-one and fourth-and-one, I should have shoved up a dive, a sneak, or an off-tackle play. That was a bad call on my part. Where we needed to go for one yard, thinking we got to take some shots and figuring that I could get the first down. We go through that whole analysis and we look at it. Believe me, the head coach is going to have a long talk with the coordinator about that last call. We’ll put it down in the memory bank and see if we can do it better next time."

But, we all know it is still Kyle Boller's fault. If you don't, you don't know anything about football. :D

[The Wedge]

I briefly mentioned it in the "who should be fired" thread (I know it's not called that really). I heard that and was very surprised, even for Ray Lewis, to get that blunt about Billicks call.

And it's great that Billick owned up to it, but it's not like this is a first. He constantly outthinks himself like that.

[TGO]

I briefly mentioned it in the "who should be fired" thread (I know it's not called that really). I heard that and was very surprised, even for Ray Lewis, to get that blunt about Billicks call.

And it's great that Billick owned up to it, but it's not like this is a first. He constantly outthinks himself like that.

Truth. This is a big problem with his playcalling. He often doesn't even set it up the right way. If you want to throw on 2nd and 1, do it out of a bunched formation, maybe with play action. Definitely don't go shotgun.

[Tony-OH]

Back on subject: (BTW, the next time I see anyone trolling either way they are getting vacation from the board. I'm tired of it from both sides. Put Oldfan on ignore but the next time I see someone bait him or him changing the subject, vacations are on the way and they won't be for a day or two."

Now, I'm glad to see Ray speak out. I saw that Maese didn't like it and I have to say I disagree. This team is not going anywhere with Billick's offense and with his horrible play calling. He has no in game feel, never has, never will. Regardless of who is under center, we are going to continue to have a terrible redzone offense and we will continue to make ridiculous play calls. It's what Billick does.

Yes, I heard Billick admit he made some bad play calls, and that's the first step, but unless he has a complete epiphany, I don't see him changing his stripes and the Ravens have little no chance of even making the playoffs this year.

[Old#5fan]

Back on subject: (BTW, the next time I see anyone trolling either way they are getting vacation from the board. I'm tired of it from both sides. Put Oldfan on ignore but the next time I see someone bait him or him changing the subject, vacations are on the way and they won't be for a day or two."

Now, I'm glad to see Ray speak out. I saw that Maese didn't like it and I have to say I disagree. This team is not going anywhere with Billick's offense and with his horrible play calling. He has no in game feel, never has, never will. Regardless of who is under center, we are going to continue to have a terrible redzone offense and we will continue to make ridiculous play calls. It's what Billick does.

Yes, I heard Billick admit he made some bad play calls, and that's the first step, but unless he has a complete epiphany, I don't see him changing his stripes and the Ravens have little no chance of even making the playoffs this year.

Actually, I have to disagree. In general I thought Billick called a much better game than usual. He actually seemed to be playing to win, as opposed to playing not to lose as is his usual status quo. One of the problems is he is naturally somewhat limited by his quarterback play. When McNair is the starter he has to go more to the play action, flare passes and dink and dunk style. With Boller he can stretch the field more but Boller too often either mis-fires on the short stuff or telegraphs his softer throws, rendering those type of plays virtually worthless.

Billick, in his defense has never had a well rounded QB that can do it all so to speak, so he has to work with what he has. I did think that play where Boller was the receiver was one that would have worked perfectly had Boller merely continued forward instead of turning back towards the ball. Had Boller acted like a normal pass receiver and continued toward the end zone with his back to the ball while in the air I believe he would have had an easy TD catch. Maybe Boller should take receiving lessons from Ogden who had much better form on his gadget play TD reception ~!;) :D :p

[The Wedge]

Back on subject: (BTW, the next time I see anyone trolling either way they are getting vacation from the board. I'm tired of it from both sides. Put Oldfan on ignore but the next time I see someone bait him or him changing the subject, vacations are on the way and they won't be for a day or two."

Now, I'm glad to see Ray speak out. I saw that Maese didn't like it and I have to say I disagree. This team is not going anywhere with Billick's offense and with his horrible play calling. He has no in game feel, never has, never will. Regardless of who is under center, we are going to continue to have a terrible redzone offense and we will continue to make ridiculous play calls. It's what Billick does.

Yes, I heard Billick admit he made some bad play calls, and that's the first step, but unless he has a complete epiphany, I don't see him changing his stripes and the Ravens have little no chance of even making the playoffs this year.

I can understand why Maese didn't like it, and in some ways, I didn't like it either, because it could have really bad ramifications for team chemistry (players that disagree with the notion and players that disagree with him speaking out vs Ray and his backers could lead to a disruptive environment). However, if anybody can say anything like that, it's Lewis, and in many, many ways, I'm glad he was that candid. Because it's nice to know that at least one player thinks Billick screwed the pooch with his play calling there.

[biggsy]

I can understand why Maese didn't like it, and in some ways, I didn't like it either, because it could have really bad ramifications for team chemistry (players that disagree with the notion and players that disagree with him speaking out vs Ray and his backers could lead to a disruptive environment). However, if anybody can say anything like that, it's Lewis, and in many, many ways, I'm glad he was that candid. Because it's nice to know that at least one player thinks Billick screwed the pooch with his play calling there.


I have no problems with what Lewis did. All he really did was speak out about how every single Ravens fan felt and probably the majority of the locker room. The main fuel behind those comments were probably frustration. It seems like when the Ravens lose everyone always questions how good the defense is this year and I honestly think Lewis feels slighted by those comments. The defense has done there job for the most part and for the past 6 or 7 years the offense has been whats holding the team back more then anything else.