Anquan Boldin LEADS the Ravens

[OriginalColtsFan]

in penalties.

With 9.

Wow.

"Boldin leads the team with nine penalties this season, including two unnecessary roughness infractions."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/r...,6202027.story

[Ravens2006]

A lot of them seem to come out of frustration with being jammed all over the field and having such a hard time getting open...

[OriginalColtsFan]

A lot of them seem to come out of frustration with being jammed all over the field and having such a hard time getting open...

And so that justifies a veteran who can't control his emotions?

[Ravens2006]

Didn't say it justified anything... other than maybe a need to create more slot / LB match-ups for him and find another #2 or #1a type WR.

[OriginalColtsFan]

Didn't say it justified anything... other than maybe a need to create more slot / LB match-ups for him and find another #2 or #1a type WR.

Oh, ok. (Cuz it sounded like a justification to me.)

[tacker]

Penalties notwithstanding, no wonder he may be frustrated. The Ravens completely squander Boldin's possession skills and punishing running by not throwing any short slants over the middle or receiver screens, but rather have him running long crossing routes and out patterns, where his posession and running skills are minimized and where his lack of blazing speed makes it easier to cover him.

Whether this misuse of Boldin is entirely bad playcalling or coupled with Flacco's seeming inability to make a quick, accurate pass over the middle, it's hard to know.

[Ravens2006]

Penalties notwithstanding, no wonder he may be frustrated. The Ravens completely squander Boldin's possession skills and punishing running by not throwing any short slants over the middle or receiver screens, but rather have him running long crossing routes and out patterns, where his posession and running skills are minimized and where his lack of blazing speed makes it easier to cover him.

Whether this misuse of Boldin is entirely bad playcalling or coupled with Flacco's seeming inability to make a quick, accurate pass over the middle, it's hard to know.

I remember back in Flacco's first couple of seasons they seemed to use the short middle / slants a lot more. There were times, at home games, where you could tell when they came out with a certain alignment and if Mason had a big cushion in front of him, Joe was probably going to take 3 steps back and throw the slant. Lots of folks moaned about the "check-downs to Rice", but those were typically short passes over the middle (and he's not exactly a big target!). In the first half of '09 he got in to a bit of a rhythm with Kelley Washington for a lot of big first downs, and they were usually slant and seam routes between the hashes. For whatever reason, they've gone more away from it in the last couple of years.

Joe is throwing more off balance / off his back foot this year. THAT seems to be purely a Joe issue, not sure why. The deep balls are consistently under-thrown. The out routes are sailing well over the receivers heads more and more. Is it Joe trying to get rid of the ball faster and not stepping in to it? Did J.J. Watt put the idea in his head that the out routes are going to be deflected? Does the prospect of Birk and Reid in the middle plus two tackles that can't handle speed edge rushers have him just backing up naturally all the time?

Back to Boldin... point is, the guy can't get separation anymore in short space. He just doesn't seem to have the quickness to make a little bit of space. Now he's letting it get to his head and he's committing penalties that cost the team. Something has to change there...

[OriginalColtsFan]

I remember back in Flacco's first couple of seasons they seemed to use the short middle / slants a lot more. There were times, at home games, where you could tell when they came out with a certain alignment and if Mason had a big cushion in front of him, Joe was probably going to take 3 steps back and throw the slant. Lots of folks moaned about the "check-downs to Rice", but those were typically short passes over the middle (and he's not exactly a big target!). In the first half of '09 he got in to a bit of a rhythm with Kelley Washington for a lot of big first downs, and they were usually slant and seam routes between the hashes. For whatever reason, they've gone more away from it in the last couple of years.

Joe is throwing more off balance / off his back foot this year. THAT seems to be purely a Joe issue, not sure why. The deep balls are consistently under-thrown. The out routes are sailing well over the receivers heads more and more. Is it Joe trying to get rid of the ball faster and not stepping in to it? Did J.J. Watt put the idea in his head that the out routes are going to be deflected? Does the prospect of Birk and Reid in the middle plus two tackles that can't handle speed edge rushers have him just backing up naturally all the time?

Back to Boldin... point is, the guy can't get separation anymore in short space. He just doesn't seem to have the quickness to make a little bit of space. Now he's letting it get to his head and he's committing penalties that cost the team. Something has to change there...

Man...Kelley Washington was MONEY on third down conversions!! I was just talking about him the other day. The Ravens sure miss a guy like that. He was a genuine "go to" guy on 3rd downs. Who is that guy now?