Can Someone Explain to Me what the rationale could be no Rice in 4th?

[NYCRavenFAN]

Oh but I disagree. It will turn out to be the most important game of the year. A win last week and they're in the playoffs; now they may not get there at all. If we lose to the Skins on Sunday, I don't see us beating the Manning brothers nor Cinc in Cinci.

And, if last weeks game isn't a sure indication what an idiot Cameron is, nothing ever will be. Rice out for the 4th qtr is totally mind boggling. It's just another example of the pattern of horribly poor coaching we've seen out of Cameron for a very long time now. I honest believe the biggest problem on this team is coaching - all of it!

The biggest problem on this team is dropped passes and you can take that to the bank.....

[OriginalColtsFan]

The biggest problem on this team is dropped passes and you can take that to the bank.....

Not even close. EVERY team suffers from the dropsies, to some extent or another. But just about EVERY NFL team knows how to, and does, USE THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD. Except for Cam Cameron, who INTENTIONALLY, or BY DEFAULT, gives every D a HUGE advantage by cutting in HALF the amount of area they need to cover. That's coaching, and BAD coaching at that, plain and simple. And don't you dare say he does consistently or effectively use the middle of the field, or that he doesn't use that part of the field because Joe can't "handle it". On the RARE occasions when he has chosen to use the middle of the field, Joe has shown he's more than capable of completing passes there. But Joe is NOT calling the shots; Cameron is. And we're back to square one. Again. BAD COACHING. There's just no getting around it.

(Plus a crappy make shift O-line that's been a problem for YEARS now.)

[jamesdean]

Not even close. EVERY team suffers from the dropsies, to some extent or another. But just about EVERY NFL team knows how to, and does, USE THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD. Except for Cam Cameron, who INTENTIONALLY, or BY DEFAULT, gives every D a HUGE advantage by cutting in HALF the amount of area they need to cover. That's coaching, and BAD coaching at that, plain and simple. And don't you dare say he does consistently or effectively use the middle of the field, or that he doesn't use that part of the field because Joe can't "handle it". On the RARE occasions when he has chosen to use the middle of the field, Joe has shown he's more than capable of completing passes there. But Joe is NOT calling the shots; Cameron is. And we're back to square one. Again. BAD COACHING. There's just no getting around it.

(Plus a crappy make shift O-line that's been a problem for YEARS now.)

And speaking of the "middle of the field"...one thing that irritates me to no end is when all the receivers are covered(or can't seperate) and Flacco either throws the ball out of bounds or gets sacked, why can't he just take off down the field and pick up some first downs(or more)? I doubt it's because he's afraid to get hit. It makes me think that Cameron or Harbaugh have told him not to do it under any circumstances. As durable as Flacco is, why not let him run more? People tend to think of him as this plodding oaf but when he has taken off, he's more than quick enough to get positive yardage. Not only does it give the defense something else to think about but it would undoubtedly reduce the amount of pass rush he's getting. With this offensive line, it can't hurt! Maybe it will start in Washington this week....oh well, it's nice to dream.

[OriginalColtsFan]

And speaking of the "middle of the field"...one thing that irritates me to no end is when all the receivers are covered(or can't seperate) and Flacco either throws the ball out of bounds or gets sacked, why can't he just take off down the field and pick up some first downs(or more)? I doubt it's because he's afraid to get hit. It makes me think that Cameron or Harbaugh have told him not to do it under any circumstances. As durable as Flacco is, why not let him run more? People tend to think of him as this plodding oaf but when he has taken off, he's more than quick enough to get positive yardage. Not only does it give the defense something else to think about but it would undoubtedly reduce the amount of pass rush he's getting. With this offensive line, it can't hurt! Maybe it will start in Washington this week....oh well, it's nice to dream.

And you know what bothers me? Watch other teams when their QB is in trouble. Their WRs find a way to come back and help out their QB. Do the Ravens WRs do that? I don't think so; not since Mason was here.

Personally, I do NOT want to see Joe running more. Just my 2 cents.

[BlandFood]

I questioned Rays absence..... at the time I figured he might be injured because it made no sense.

[OriginalColtsFan]

I questioned Rays absence..... at the time I figured he might be injured because it made no sense.

There are two issues here: 1 is the reduced numbers of carries for Ray in the 4th quarter. Second is the increased use of Pierce. I LIKED what I saw from Pierce; it looked to me as if had a burst that Ray did not; and I don't care how may "Pro Bowl" titles get attached to Ray Rice, he has NOT looked all that explosive MANY times this year, and when you look at other teams, they involve ALL of their players a lot more than the Ravens do. It goes back to when Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes were here. And even Chester Taylor. And I for one am tired of this one dimensional mindset when it comes to the damn offense.

[BlandFood]

There are two issues here: 1 is the reduced numbers of carries for Ray in the 4th quarter. Second is the increased use of Pierce. I LIKED what I saw from Pierce; it looked to me as if had a burst that Ray did not; and I don't care how may "Pro Bowl" titles get attached to Ray Rice, he has NOT looked all that explosive MANY times this year, and when you look at other teams, they involve ALL of their players a lot more than the Ravens do. It goes back to when Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes were here. And even Chester Taylor. And I for one am tired of this one dimensional mindset when it comes to the damn offense.

Soooooo, put them both in the backfield for some plays. We know for certain that Ray is a Mighty Midget that can pack a wallop of a block. Yes, Cam HAS to go next year.... what happened to the "hurryup" that worked so well earlier on?

[OriginalColtsFan]

Soooooo, put them both in the backfield for some plays. We know for certain that Ray is a Mighty Midget that can pack a wallop of a block. Yes, Cam HAS to go next year.... what happened to the "hurryup" that worked so well earlier on?

Heck...put all 3 back there -- Leach, Ray, AND Pierce! Really mix it up!

(Oh...and what worked earlier HAD to stop because since it worked, and other teams saw that it worked, it therefore HAD to stop, because they'd be expecting it. So the only way to fool them is to keep running the same damn predictable plays because no one in their right mind would do that, so that way, you'll fool them.)

See?

[durango46]

Not even close. EVERY team suffers from the dropsies, to some extent or another. But just about EVERY NFL team knows how to, and does, USE THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD. Except for Cam Cameron, who INTENTIONALLY, or BY DEFAULT, gives every D a HUGE advantage by cutting in HALF the amount of area they need to cover. That's coaching, and BAD coaching at that, plain and simple. And don't you dare say he does consistently or effectively use the middle of the field, or that he doesn't use that part of the field because Joe can't "handle it". On the RARE occasions when he has chosen to use the middle of the field, Joe has shown he's more than capable of completing passes there. But Joe is NOT calling the shots; Cameron is. And we're back to square one. Again. BAD COACHING. There's just no getting around it.

(Plus a crappy make shift O-line that's been a problem for YEARS now.)

I totally agree.....actually I drew a picture of the field looking through Cams eyes.... A big giant U....and other teams know it.

[DkBlue]

I totally agree.....actually I drew a picture of the field looking through Cams eyes.... A big giant U....and other teams know it.

Just listening to a Pittsburgh Sports show hosted by former Steelers. In discussing the game they said one of the hard things to do was take Ray Rice out of the offense but that said Harbaugh and Cameron did it for us.

They could not understand why Rice did not get the ball. They said they think the Ravens are enamoured by the downfield throw and proving Flacco is unique.

I thought it was interesting in light of this discussion.

[jamesdean]

.

They could not understand why Rice did not get the ball. They said they think the Ravens are enamoured by the downfield throw and proving Flacco is unique.

Yep, that about sums up Cam Cameron's dream in a nut shell. He's determined to turn this team into the next Air Coryell and will not stop until Joe Flacco either makes a fool out of himself or winds up on the IR. He could care less if Ray Rice becomes the forgotten man and the 3 and outs mount at an exponential rate. He won't let go of this dream until the team crashes and burns and is excused from the playoffs after one round. By then it will be too late and his job will be terminated. That's the road he's going down and apparently, nobody can do anything about it.

[Ravens2006]

There was one play that I thought was sort of indicative of the problem with the Ravens passing schemes. A missed block combined with a flawed route.

With about 6:30 left in the game, tied, the Ravens had the ball around their 35 I think. They faked a run left, then Joe rolled right. Most of the O-line did a decent job sealing off to the left. Only Harrison (I think) failed to bite. Leach however had an opportunity to put a helmet on him and pin him back too. If he does, Joe is rolling right with NOBODY behind him, and lots of room in front of him. Instead, Leach completely whiffs, so Harrison is chasing Joe down from behind... he never had time to plant and throw.

To compound the problem... whether it was designed that way, or Torrey took it that way himself, who knows... but Smith ran more or less a deep post. So the result... Joe is throwing under duress and BACK across his body. He doesn't get as much on it as he could have if he had time to plant a little bit. Then Smith inserts the dagger by STOPPING his route too soon, and the throw goes several yards over his head. Smith taking the route back the other way also brought a safety in to the play, as he had time to sprint straight back.

If he takes that down the sideline, MAYBE Joe gets a little more on the throw because he's not throwing across his body. And the safety doesn't have the time to get back AND ACROSS the field... so you're probably looking at a DEEPER throw against single coverage, instead of what wound up being a jump ball in double coverage. Missed block, short throw, bad route, no miracle big play. There's no Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss, or Terrell Owens in the WR corps to turn a busted play in to gold.

Torrey's come a LONG way already, and looks like a legit NFL WR after looking like a unstable speedster with bad hands through last year's camp and early half of the year. But he still has a lot of trouble tracking the ball in the air. The higher the throw, the more unsteady he seems to get. Hopefully that's something that will also improve with time, and soon.

[durango46]

I'm really hoping Ray Rice not getting any touches in the 4th quarter in a close game against of all teams the Steelers, has SEALED CAMS fate !

Has Harbaugh or Cam had anything to say about why Rice wasn't used ????

[jamesdean]

Has Harbaugh or Cam had anything to say about why Rice wasn't used ????[/SIZE][/B]

Sure...the same old BS that we hear every time he's limited in his touches and the Ravens lose. They could put robots up at the podium and have them spout recorded stock answers to all the questions. It means nothing. But I guarantee you that Rice will be heavily involved this week in DC. It's predictable and ludicrous. Then Cam Cameron will lie low for a couple of weeks(probably victories) before breaking out his Air Coryell again against the Giants. Rice will get under 15 carries and the Ravens will lose. Do you see the pattern? Apparently, everyone does except Cameron and Harbaugh.