Just A Thought

[Blitz44]

This team is 9-4 and lost to an improving Redskins team. The QB throws for 3td's and 1int while completing well over 50% of his passes. The RB runs for over 100 yards on 20 carries. Hence a balanced running and passing attack. Your offense puts 28 points on the board and gives you an 8pt lead going into the last 4 minutes of the ball game. Did you really think this game was going to be a blowout? You were 2.5 point UNDERDOGS going into this game. The offense eclipsed half of the OVER/UNDER set forth in this game 48. If an NFL team scores 28pts on a Sunday that should be enough to solidy a win considering most games are set between 38-52 points. This loss wasn't on the offense. This loss was on the defense. Could it be that it's a new defensive cordinator preparing for multiple sets? This is the first spread option offense you faced all year MAYBE. But the people who are pointing fingers at the offense need to realize the real problem is the defense.

And on a side note....i'm pretty sure the coach didn't commit the pass interference calls on the game tying drive. Just saying. And i'm pretty sure Flacco was trying to make a play on the INT off a screen pass. He can't block out on the edge and throw a pass at the same time. It was a great play by the defense identifying the screen and blowing it up before it started.

[OriginalColtsFan]

I agree.

[DJGreg1200]

This team is 9-4 and lost to an improving Redskins team. The QB throws for 3td's and 1int while completing well over 50% of his passes. The RB runs for over 100 yards on 20 carries. Hence a balanced running and passing attack. Your offense puts 28 points on the board and gives you an 8pt lead going into the last 4 minutes of the ball game. Did you really think this game was going to be a blowout? You were 2.5 point UNDERDOGS going into this game. The offense eclipsed half of the OVER/UNDER set forth in this game 48. If an NFL team scores 28pts on a Sunday that should be enough to solidy a win considering most games are set between 38-52 points. This loss wasn't on the offense. This loss was on the defense. Could it be that it's a new defensive cordinator preparing for multiple sets? This is the first spread option offense you faced all year MAYBE. But the people who are pointing fingers at the offense need to realize the real problem is the defense.

And on a side note....i'm pretty sure the coach didn't commit the pass interference calls on the game tying drive. Just saying. And i'm pretty sure Flacco was trying to make a play on the INT off a screen pass. He can't block out on the edge and throw a pass at the same time. It was a great play by the defense identifying the screen and blowing it up before it started.

Flacco is such a lightning rod for criticism that even when the defense is main reason for the team's loss, people still blame Joe

[Andy in Hagerstown]

The defense is a big problem but we also have to keep in mind the injuries to Lewis, Suggs, Ellerbe, Smith and Webb and we alos know that Ngata isn't 100%.

With that said, I have never been a fan of the bend don't break defense. It does several things. It is demoralizing not only to the defense but to the offense. It wears your defense out as the season progresses. Tired players lead to injuries. It also generally will lose you the time of possession battle and keep YOUR offense off the field.

Cam has been a problem for years. Pees is a smart guy I'm sure. But his coaching philosophy does not fit how we have seen the Ravens play defensive football. There is no aggression, no dictating to the offense, hence no passion.

But the way this season could end Ozzie and the Biscuit may have no choice but to Can both coordinators.

[OriginalColtsFan]

Flacco is such a lightning rod for criticism that even when the defense is main reason for the team's loss, people still blame Joe

It's truly mind bending. It's like for some people, unless he's picture perfect, he gets trashed and blamed for everything. He had a 121 QB rating yesterday, yet Mike the Donut Man Preston rated his performance as a "C". That's typical of the crap Joe has had to endure here, both from the media and from some of the (ignorant) fans. For his sake, I hope he finds a much better deal elsewhere; not just from the financial point of view, either. I hope he finds a team and fanbase that truly appreciate what he brings to the table. Joe is a class act all the way, and he deserves better. Much better.

[RIKMAN]

Defense and Offense lost the game. Team loss.

As they always do, they get conservative on offense and play not to lose instead of unleashing everything to win.

Unfortunately, the coaching staff mindset is that we still have a great defense. We don't and even when they were all healthy, they struggled.

The team is going to need an overhaul on "d" in the offseason. When you lose two games in a row that you should have won, it should tell the organization that they need some help. The losses of talent each year like Jarret Johnson this past offseason has bled the team's talent. Next man up doesn't always work.

My concern is the team will back into the playoffs and delude themselves that the injuries were the issue!

[Andy in Hagerstown]

The whole team has lots of issues and Joe is no different. Certainly it's not his fault that Oher is consistently beat like a rented mule on the left side. However he did have 2 turnovers that led to 6 points. The fumble certainly not his fault although he tends to hang onto the ball way to long. The interception is not a throw a veteran QB should ever make.

If any of you are listening to the Fan this morning former NFL players are pointing these things out. Not journalists or armchair Qbs but guys like Bruce Laird and Wally Williams. Also guys like Vinny Cerrato.

The reality is that Joe is not an elite QB whatever that means. He is in the pack of 2nd level QB's and then there are the real dregs of the league. The guys that play for Arizona the Jets, etc...

In the grand scheme of things Joe is the least of their worries at this point.

[Andy in Hagerstown]

They just had a stat on the radio that Joe Flacco has fumbled the ball 50 times in his career. The ball security and judgement in the pocket have always been issues for Joe and why he hasn't raised his game to elite level.

[AFKAR7]

They just had a stat on the radio that Joe Flacco has fumbled the ball 50 times in his career. The ball security and judgement in the pocket have always been issues for Joe and why he hasn't raised his game to elite level.

The knock on him fumbling the ball and not protecting it is deserved. Now here is what I don't get. Someone kept trying to tell me that when it mattered Joe did nothing to win the game. So twice when the Ravens were down by 7 he helped lead them on scoring drives to tie the game. He also lead them on two scoring drives to put the Ravens up by 7 & 8 points. I was told that it didn't matter since they went three and out in OT. OK I don't know what else to say then.

[Blitz44]

The Redskins made the right adjustments in the second half on defense by increasing the amount of pressure. The Ravens on the other hand didn't make any adjustments on defense. It's very easy for me to sit back and try to understand the defensive scheme of things but frankly i'm not that smart. But this team is consistently beat between the hash marks. That's all I'm going to say about the defense. I don't have the answers to cure talent.

Joe Flacco was 4-of-7 for 85 yards and all three touchdowns on throws deeper than 10 yards downfield, but only attempted one of those throws in the second half (25-yard overthrow targeting Dennis Pitta on the first play from scrimmage in overtime). Flacco entered the day with a 39.3 completion percentage on those throws this season, worst among qualified quarterbacks.
Joe Flacco was excellent in the first half, completing 10-of-13 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Flacco faced four or fewer pass rushers on 10 of his 13 first-half dropbacks and was not sacked. In the second half, the Redskins sent extra pressure on 5-of-11 dropbacks, holding Flacco to 55 passing yards with an interception and two sacks.

4 or Fewer 5+ Rushers

Comp-att 13-15 3-6
Yds per att 9.5 6.5
TD-Int 3-0 0-1
1st-down pct 37.5 12.5

When Joe has protection he plays like the franchise leader in passing. When he doesn't get the protection his play comes off as lack luster. Teams are going to start sending pressure and jamming WR's off the line early and often against the Ravens.

[Andy in Hagerstown]

The knock on him fumbling the ball and not protecting it is deserved. Now here is what I don't get. Someone kept trying to tell me that when it mattered Joe did nothing to win the game. So twice when the Ravens were down by 7 he helped lead them on scoring drives to tie the game. He also lead them on two scoring drives to put the Ravens up by 7 & 8 points. I was told that it didn't matter since they went three and out in OT. OK I don't know what else to say then.

Some people including me will nitpick these kind of things. There are very few elite QBs in this league. Joe isn't one of them but he is good and has flashes of being very good. My bigger issue right now with Joe is the whole contract thing. The Ravens are either going to overpay him $100 mil long term or cripple themselves next season by franchising him. The Ravens put themselves in this situation and with the state of the team as it is it is really going to hurt them.

[Blitz44]

To hear Ray Rice say "Thinking about visiting the workplace of an armchair QB to tell them how to do their jobs even though I have no clue. That might be kind of fun!"

That is rather bothersome and quite frankly that goes to show you the frustrations that this team has at this point in the season. I have never heard a player that had over 120 yards and a satisfying 20 carries complain after a football game quite like he has ALREADY this week. I think some serious trouble is upon this team as a collective group. The ego's on this team are shot and I think that stems from the HUGE ego's that these players once had.

[SNAFU]

This team is 9-4 and lost to an improving Redskins team. The QB throws for 3td's and 1int while completing well over 50% of his passes. The RB runs for over 100 yards on 20 carries. Hence a balanced running and passing attack. Your offense puts 28 points on the board and gives you an 8pt lead going into the last 4 minutes of the ball game. Did you really think this game was going to be a blowout? You were 2.5 point UNDERDOGS going into this game. The offense eclipsed half of the OVER/UNDER set forth in this game 48. If an NFL team scores 28pts on a Sunday that should be enough to solidy a win considering most games are set between 38-52 points. This loss wasn't on the offense. This loss was on the defense. Could it be that it's a new defensive cordinator preparing for multiple sets? This is the first spread option offense you faced all year MAYBE. But the people who are pointing fingers at the offense need to realize the real problem is the defense.

And on a side note....i'm pretty sure the coach didn't commit the pass interference calls on the game tying drive. Just saying. And i'm pretty sure Flacco was trying to make a play on the INT off a screen pass. He can't block out on the edge and throw a pass at the same time. It was a great play by the defense identifying the screen and blowing it up before it started.

Spot on. The one scene embedded in my mind on the wide open Garcon TD was 3 Raven defenders looking around trying to defend someone.

[Blitz44]

I just wanted to throw this out there....Look at the Team Ranks fields on the below link. I want you to look at two very distinctive stats. Rushing DEFENSE ranks and the Passing OFFENSIVE ranks during Cam Camerons tenure. You will see that during Cam Camerons career at San Deigo for many years they didn't have a great passing attack. In fact the most touchdowns thrown on a Cam Camerons offense was in Miami during the 2007 season. The defensive rushing ranks were always in the tops in statistical categories year after year. This year is a totally different story as the Ravens rank 25th.

The Ravens knew what they were getting when they hired Cam. It's always been a middle of the road offense....run to set up the pass on 3rd downs and hope to control the time of possession on the other side of the ball. A lot of blame can be passed around but last time I checked Cam's passing offense has never been ranked higher than 12th.

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...es/CameCa0.htm

[OriginalColtsFan]

Some people including me will nitpick these kind of things. There are very few elite QBs in this league. Joe isn't one of them but he is good and has flashes of being very good. My bigger issue right now with Joe is the whole contract thing. The Ravens are either going to overpay him $100 mil long term or cripple themselves next season by franchising him. The Ravens put themselves in this situation and with the state of the team as it is it is really going to hurt them.

Where was all this angst and hand wringing when the Ravens were over paying Ngata, Suggs, Reed, and Ray Lewis? Huh? Joe has brought more to the team the past 5 years than ANY of those players, individually or collectively.

[DJGreg1200]

Spot on. The one scene embedded in my mind on the wide open Garcon TD was 3 Raven defenders looking around trying to defend someone.

I only saw one Raven defender looking around trying to defend someone and that was #39 who obviously doesn't understand what man to man defense means.

[Blitz44]

Where was all this angst and hand wringing when the Ravens were over paying Ngata, Suggs, Reed, and Ray Lewis? Huh? Joe has brought more to the team the past 5 years than ANY of those players, individually or collectively.

You didn't even need to waste your breath. Just state the facts and show people the MULTIPLE franchise records Joe has set in Baltimore.

[Blitz44]

I only saw one Raven defender looking around trying to defend someone and that was #39 who obviously doesn't understand what man to man defense means.

They abused him on that last drive. They knew who the target was.

[OriginalColtsFan]

They abused him on that last drive. They knew who the target was.

Amazing what can be accomplished when an OC knows who is the weak link on a D, and goes right after that player to exploit the chit out of him, isn't it?

[Blitz44]

Amazing what can be accomplished when an OC knows who is the weak link on a D, and goes right after that player to exploit the chit out of him, isn't it?

I look at the Redskins WR's and you have two burners on the field with Garcon and Moss. But with the Ravens you only have Smith if Jacoby isn't on the field. I'm not so worried about Boldin being a burner. Redskins just started rolling coverage over Smith and that was a wrap.