OVERTIME OVERSIGHT: A breakdown of Flacco's Last Play in OT

[chrisbraven]

I have posted an illustrated run-through of the last offensive play vs. the Redskins on the 4th and 29 blogsite. You are invited to check it out and give your input. That play had some wide open possibilities and you have to see the whole 22 (view of all the players on the field) to get it.

While I am never a Flacco basher, the fault of this play was his and only slightly Cameron's. BUT, now Flacc will be free to make great decisions and not controlfreaked out the eyeballs.

Braven

[SugarRay52]

I have posted an illustrated run-through of the last offensive play vs. the Redskins on the 4th and 29 blogsite. You are invited to check it out and give your input. That play had some wide open possibilities and you have to see the whole 22 (view of all the players on the field) to get it.

While I am never a Flacco basher, the fault of this play was his and only slightly Cameron's. BUT, now Flacc will be free to make great decisions and not controlfreaked out the eyeballs.

Braven

Good info cbr, Joe has made his share of mistakes and needs to improve his pocket presence and decision making but with the control freak gone he can relax.

[tacker]

Cameron had one play-calling pattern that was as predictable as mom's apple pie and, also made no sense, and it put Flacco in 3rd-and-longs repeatedly, series after series:

Whenever Cameron called a pass play on first down, AND it was incomplete, it was almost a near certainty that the next play, on second-and-ten, would be a handoff to Rice, usually up the middle somewhere. This constant sequence of calls made utterly no sense because, when the first down play nets zero yards, that's the one time you don't want to be running up the middle on second down, usually for five yards, or less, thereby setting up the assured "3rd & long." This resulted, invariably, in Flacco being in a passing situation, which we further telegraphed by being in the shotgun.

It's a lot easier for any defense to be effective against the Ravens, if they know all first-down incompletions are followed by running plays, and they know that the resulting third-down plays are going to be passes, so they don't even have to pay attention to the runs. Cameron routinely eliminated any uncertainty for defenses about what our play-calling sequence would be and, thereby, made their job that much easier. The results were rather predictable in too many cases.

[HallofFameRay]

Excellent blog...i noticed rice was open, but boldin would have won the game if completed...funny thing is, Cousins saw his open man, just sayin...all n all it's no longer Cam's fault cause i don't think it makes a difference, Joe will still deliver the same product.

[NYCRavenFAN]

Cameron had one play-calling pattern that was as predictable as mom's apple pie and, also made no sense, and it put Flacco in 3rd-and-longs repeatedly, series after series:

Whenever Cameron called a pass play on first down, AND it was incomplete, it was almost a near certainty that the next play, on second-and-ten, would be a handoff to Rice, usually up the middle somewhere. This constant sequence of calls made utterly no sense because, when the first down play nets zero yards, that's the one time you don't want to be running up the middle on second down, usually for five yards, or less, thereby setting up the assured "3rd & long." This resulted, invariably, in Flacco being in a passing situation, which we further telegraphed by being in the shotgun.

It's a lot easier for any defense to be effective against the Ravens, if they know all first-down incompletions are followed by running plays, and they know that the resulting third-down plays are going to be passes, so they don't even have to pay attention to the runs. Cameron routinely eliminated any uncertainty for defenses about what our play-calling sequence would be and, thereby, made their job that much easier. The results were rather predictable in too many cases.

I do agree with you, but I think the only thing worse than a run on 2nd and 10 is a pass on 2nd and 10. I bet if you look at the stats for INTS, 2nd and 10 probably is statistically the highest as for down and distance and INTS.

IMO the change was not about strategy but about attitude.

[durango46]

Wow that's pretty cool. Puts it all into perspective. You get to see all the players and the entire field.
Look like his original guy was Torrey who looked open.
Then when he took off almost everybody was open. Including Boldin crossing wide open for probably 6 just like you said.

Not too mention how wide open Ray Rice ..

IMO, the Ravens not getting the first down was all on Flacco from those views.

Thanks for the link

[Baltimore Ravens Lets Go!]

I hate to say this but Big Ben would have made that completion for a TD and not tried to run on that play. But as much as I hate to say it, Flacco is no Ben.

[cprenegade]

Cameron had one play-calling pattern that was as predictable as mom's apple pie and, also made no sense, and it put Flacco in 3rd-and-longs repeatedly, series after series:

Whenever Cameron called a pass play on first down, AND it was incomplete, it was almost a near certainty that the next play, on second-and-ten, would be a handoff to Rice, usually up the middle somewhere. This constant sequence of calls made utterly no sense because, when the first down play nets zero yards, that's the one time you don't want to be running up the middle on second down, usually for five yards, or less, thereby setting up the assured "3rd & long." This resulted, invariably, in Flacco being in a passing situation, which we further telegraphed by being in the shotgun.

It's a lot easier for any defense to be effective against the Ravens, if they know all first-down incompletions are followed by running plays, and they know that the resulting third-down plays are going to be passes, so they don't even have to pay attention to the runs. Cameron routinely eliminated any uncertainty for defenses about what our play-calling sequence would be and, thereby, made their job that much easier. The results were rather predictable in too many cases.

Haha....that is so funny. Watching the game with someone at a local establishment on Sunday, everytime a first down throw was incomplete he turned to me and said "Who don't know this is a running play."

[cprenegade]

I hate to say this but Big Ben would have made that completion for a TD and not tried to run on that play. But as much as I hate to say it, Flacco is no Ben.

Roethlisberger never takes his eyes off of the field even when he is scrambling. I've noticed that Flacco often glances away when he gets flushed out of the pocket. That makes it very hard to reset once you look back. It is also why so many scrambles result in a throw to the outlet saftey valve when someone downfield might be wide open. Rogers is the same way as Roethlisberger in always keeping his eyes focused downfield. It is why both of them are able to hit so many big plays.

[Ravens2006]

Other things to note...

The Redskins D line to Joe's left gets a great jump off the snap, and pushes the left side back. Most victimized of all was Jah Reid, who was pushed 6 yards back in two seconds. Really, check the clock when the ball is snapped vs. when Jah Reid is pushed back IN TO Flacco as he's about the throw. 6 yards back.

Boldin had drawn double and left Torrey with soft coverage on the sideline by the safety. Had he thrown then, instead of being bumped in to by his own inept OLman, it's a first down.

When he pulled away from the contact, Rice was battling another man right in Joe's face... so he turned and took off. Not sure you could expect Joe to be looking 15+ yards to his left for Rice, when a second earlier Rice was 10 yards in the backfield trying to block. I think it's a stretch to say Joe EVER really had time to "set himself" on the play. In a series of freeze frames, it's easy to find spots he could have gone with the ball. In real time, the line blew up in his face pretty much right away, and he took off.

Had he actually made the LB miss, Joe would have wound up near midfield, WELL past the first down marker. We were happy when he made a similar play in KC in the final minutes to put a game away.

Pitta stopped his pattern near the marker, then basically stood there for a second or two in double coverage. Standing still with two defenders an arms length away from you, while your QB is trying to avoid a rush, doesn't really help anyone. He decided to stretch the field too late. And overall, none of the receiving targets did much other than run straight down the field.

Back to the key failure... the Redskins D line got a great jump. Know why? Because they keyed off Birk's head. The SNAP in shotgun on the road basically cues the D-line on EXACTLY when to go. You see this every week on the road. Every. Week. Watch how quickly they get off the ball in shotgun vs. under center. They HAVE TO find a way to improve that.

I realize that other offenses deal with crowd noise in the shotgun (on the road) with some standard signals... but the consistency of the timing with Birk's movement is striking. I've tried to pay more attention to the nuances of other teams and how they handle shotgun / snap / noise situation... and none seem to be as consistently predictable.

[OriginalColtsFan]

Other things to note...

The Redskins D line to Joe's left gets a great jump off the snap, and pushes the left side back. Most victimized of all was Jah Reid, who was pushed 6 yards back in two seconds. Really, check the clock when the ball is snapped vs. when Jah Reid is pushed back IN TO Flacco as he's about the throw. 6 yards back.

Boldin had drawn double and left Torrey with soft coverage on the sideline by the safety. Had he thrown then, instead of being bumped in to by his own inept OLman, it's a first down.

When he pulled away from the contact, Rice was battling another man right in Joe's face... so he turned and took off. Not sure you could expect Joe to be looking 15+ yards to his left for Rice, when a second earlier Rice was 10 yards in the backfield trying to block. I think it's a stretch to say Joe EVER really had time to "set himself" on the play. In a series of freeze frames, it's easy to find spots he could have gone with the ball. In real time, the line blew up in his face pretty much right away, and he took off.

Had he actually made the LB miss, Joe would have wound up near midfield, WELL past the first down marker. We were happy when he made a similar play in KC in the final minutes to put a game away.

Pitta stopped his pattern near the marker, then basically stood there for a second or two in double coverage. Standing still with two defenders an arms length away from you, while your QB is trying to avoid a rush, doesn't really help anyone. He decided to stretch the field too late. And overall, none of the receiving targets did much other than run straight down the field.

Back to the key failure... the Redskins D line got a great jump. Know why? Because they keyed off Birk's head. The SNAP in shotgun on the road basically cues the D-line on EXACTLY when to go. You see this every week on the road. Every. Week. Watch how quickly they get off the ball in shotgun vs. under center. They HAVE TO find a way to improve that.

I realize that other offenses deal with crowd noise in the shotgun (on the road) with some standard signals... but the consistency of the timing with Birk's movement is striking. I've tried to pay more attention to the nuances of other teams and how they handle shotgun / snap / noise situation... and none seem to be as consistently predictable.

Great breakdown/analysis. Thanks.

(And you too, Chris. Thanks.)

[tacker]

I do agree with you, but I think the only thing worse than a run on 2nd and 10 is a pass on 2nd and 10. I bet if you look at the stats for INTS, 2nd and 10 probably is statistically the highest as for down and distance and INTS.

IMO the change was not about strategy but about attitude.

I have no idea where to find it, but I'd question that and bet that a higher rate of INT's occurs on obvious "3rd & long" passing plays. On second down, noboy's sure what's going to happen (unless playing against Cameron), but on "3rd & long" everybody knows the pass is coming.

Maybe, someone can supply the data.

[OriginalColtsFan]

I have no idea where to find it, but I'd question that and bet that a higher rate of INT's occurs on obvious "3rd & long" passing plays. On second down, noboy's sure what's going to happen (unless playing against Cameron), but on "3rd & long" everybody knows the pass is coming.

Maybe, someone can supply the data.

^^^^This. Cameron was constantly playing into the strength of the D's on down/distance; constantly putting his QB and the rest of his offense behind the 8-ball, exactly because of the stupid timing of his stupid, predictable schemes. When you're playing the Steelers and are constantly in 3rd and long situations, it just plays right into their hands.

[jessup270]

I think Flacco is a good guy, but the reality might be that Flacco has reached the point, that he is as good and he is going to be.

If you can accept Flacco's performance at his level, that is OK. Lots of teams would like to have him.

Will Flacco get you a SB win, thats the hard question that management has to address.

My guess is that Flacco will not take any team to a SB win. He has lots of skills but is not a complete package.

[bmore_ken]

I think Flacco is a good guy, but the reality might be that Flacco has reached the point, that he is as good and he is going to be.

If you can accept Flacco's performance at his level, that is OK. Lots of teams would like to have him.

Will Flacco get you a SB win, thats the hard question that management has to address.

My guess is that Flacco will not take any team to a SB win. He has lots of skills but is not a complete package.

Nahh according to people here, now that Cam is gone you can engrave Flacco's name on the SB MVP trophy

[OriginalColtsFan]

Nahh according to people here, now that Cam is gone you can engrave Flacco's name on the SB MVP trophy

And yet again...MORE of your nonsensical, hyperbole, straw man useless crap.

[bmore_ken]

And yet again...MORE of your nonsensical, hyperbole, straw man useless crap.

It was a joke you dumb arse. Lighten the F up. Go tell your boyfriend you need to get laid or something

[OriginalColtsFan]

It was a joke you dumb arse. Lighten the F up. Go tell your boyfriend you need to get laid or something

LOL @ Lighten Up.

Ya mad?

(The only "joke" around here...is you. man.)

[bmore_ken]

LOL @ Lighten Up.

Ya mad?

(The only "joke" around here...is you. man.)

Your boyfriend told me you were the joke

[jessup270]

To put Flacco's ability into a few words, its like the movie title, "as good as it gets".