Sloppy

by vlad755 on Jan 4, 2011 2:03 PM EST

We won. Yay team… Okay, now the “real” games start.

The Good

Ed Reed. The guy is just an animal; a beast. Yeah, he is old, lost some of his make-up speed, but he also makes his own opportunities. And is still one of the best at his position. The flea-flicker TE screen –a little surprised to see them pull out a trick so I believe this was more of an experiment to see if it would work. I have a feeling that is not the only version of that and that there are several other versions/plays they can run off of that.

I have no gruff with the overall vanilla gameplan heading into the playoffs.

And finally- PURPLE CRUSH!!!! What a season for a guy that a mere four months ago, we were debating the merits of making the team or not... But, its the results and not the process that matters and he has truly had a career year! Congrats on the NFL record!

The Bad

Injuries. Too many, and they may ultimately be our downfall. The half-hearted effort. Would have like to have seen them go up on the Bungles by 17 to 21 points by halftime and then take the rest of the day off…

Penalties, ball security and just general lack of focus. Yes, I know, end of season, game really didn't matter, the bungles, but at least show a little pride.

And what was the deal with keeping Boldin in to block on a passing play…?? That was bizzaro… If they were trying setup a screen of some fashion, okay, but it certainly didn’t look like it, on that play. I am all for vanilla gameplans, but that is ridiculous…

The Ugly

The defense not getting off the field. Even with the half-hearted effort and the fact the game really would not have changed anything one way or the other ultimately (and the players I think knew that before halftime with the way the Squeelers game was going), the defense should have stopped them a little more frequently. They allowed far too many third and fourth down conversions –long ones also. 76 –that is how many snaps the defense took –way too many.

Let us face it, had Shitser, or whoever the Bungles kicker is, not missed that FG, that game goes into overtime. How many more Ravens get injured in overtime?

On to Kansas City. The good news is, as bad as the Ravens looked, the Chiefs looked even worse -at least we won our game, and that is all that really matters at the end of the day.

As it is a Sunday game, we will know who our next opponent will be, should we win, based on Saturday night’s outcome of Jets-Dolts. Will actually be rooting for the Jets as they are the only playoff team we can host in the AFC Championship game, if we make it that far.

The opinions posted here are those of the administrator of this blog and his loyal readers. They are in no way official comments from the team, and should not be misconstued as such, even though he thinks he could do just as well or even a better job!

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Comments

O-line

Has been pretty ugly recently. Way too much pressure on Flacco. I guess that’s the price you pay for going out and getting Boldin, Housh’, keeping mason, and drafting two TE’s and a WR. Something has got to give, and this season it has been both the offensive and defensive lines. Gotta build from the trenches up. I guess you can’t really blame Ozzie for not trying to build a strong offensive line – he has invested two 1st round picks, a few seconds and thirds, and a 5th supplemental in building an o-line, but unfortunately not enough of those players panned out. Jury is still out on Oher as a left tackle, Grubbs is solid but unspectacular, Yanda is a beast playing out of position, Chester doesn’t have the power to generate push, and letting Brown walk away to the Rams will be very tough to recover from once Birk is done. This unit is getting beaten on a consistent basis and is responsible for most of the offensive underachieving.

They say the empty can rattles the most...

by Massacre on Jan 4, 2011 2:21 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Yup

I think Sunday’s game was a capsule of the entire season- it all starts with the mediocre O-line play on Sunday and the entire season. At times, they are gang-busters; other times, pathetic -very up and down and inconsistent. Who knows, maybe switching Gaither and Oher was not such a great move even though at the time it seemed like the right idea.

by vlad755 on Jan 4, 2011 2:34 PM EST up reply actions

Switch

I was skeptical about the move to flip-flop tackles from the very first time I heard about it. There may be different schools of though on this topic, but its always been my philosophy that you put more emphasis on pass protection from the left tackle protecting a right-handed quarterback, and more emphasis on run-blocking on the right side.

Its my impression that Gaither’s strengths, both athletically and physically, are more suited to excel at pass-protection, while Oher’s strengths lie more in the aggressive run-blocker mold. I’m aware that Ozzie probably drafted Oher with “left tackle of the future” in mind, and I know the money situation makes things complicated, but as a coach it is your responsibility to put your players in position to be successful. Switching Oher and Gaither to positions that are not consistent with their individual strengths seems very irresponsible with regards to the team’s best interests.

They say the empty can rattles the most...

by Massacre on Jan 4, 2011 4:28 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

You are all over it

Gaither’s absence has had devastating consequences. Gaither may not have been a premier LT and his questionable work ethic is well documented but he alllowed other players to remained in positions that best suited their talents. The OL lost it’s “mojo” and became much more susceptable to the stunts and games that DC’s use to attack a team missing a important piece of their OL. Gaither’s a quality LT and his value to Ravens is clearly evident to anyone willing to be objective.Gaither has prototype LT size and skill (unfulfilled).

Oher is a RT. I don’t think there is any real question about where Oher’s talents are best utilized. Oher’s lack of consistent concentration limits his effectiveness on the blind side. The protection was fanned to the left side or a back had to remain in to chip before realeasing out as an outlet for Flacco.

It will be very interesting to see how the Jared Gaither situation unfolds in the off-season.

by Ravens One on Jan 4, 2011 10:08 PM EST up reply actions

Amen

don’t get me started on the loss of Gaither…

by Tassadar on Jan 4, 2011 2:35 PM EST up reply actions

Many Ravens fan, including myself, took Gaither for granted.

by mookie_20 on Jan 4, 2011 3:38 PM EST up reply actions

well at that time when they drafted the two tight ends gaither was still healthy and

they did draft a o linemen when the got ramon harewood but he got injured as well the ravens still have a good oline they just need to be more consistent

by jazz20 on Jan 4, 2011 5:09 PM EST up reply actions

The Ugly?

Defense can’t get off the field? The problem is our offense can’t stay on the field. Look at the 2nd half.
Bengals: plays/result
3/punt
2/lost fumble
13/TD
11/over on downs
5/lost fumble
6/over on downs

Ravens:
3/punt
3/punt
5/TD
3/punt
3/punt
3/punt
1/game over

Defense kept getting the ball back and handing it to our offense and look at the results. One score and 5 (count em) 3 and outs. That is just pathetic. You expose your defense with no rest you are not doing your part to help the team. Somebody has to light a fire under the offense to show some urgency and respect for the D.

by Monkey C on Jan 4, 2011 4:39 PM EST reply actions

A Different Way

Of looking at it. I suppose by your analysis you are correct for the second half. I may have been thinking about the entire game…

But to your point, that is pathetic for the second half for our offense. Yes, a few more plays on offense, gives our defense a longer rest, maybe they stop some of those third and fourth down conversions.

One thing I noticed, if we are facing a third and longer than four near the opponent’s thirty yard line -at the extreme of our FG range, opposing defenses predictably overload blitz to sack us out of FG range -has happened several weeks in a row now.

by vlad755 on Jan 4, 2011 4:46 PM EST up reply actions

Joe3Punt

by raven on Jan 5, 2011 12:23 AM EST up reply actions

Beautiful game it was on Sunday. I’ll take 4 more of those please.

"My youngest brothers think I'm a dorky older brother, I can't tell jokes because, 'I'm not funny.' They're much more street smart than I am. They can say whatever they want, cause 'they're funny.' I do pick on them. I try to be funny, but they don't laugh. Even if I am funny, nothing I say is funny to them because I'm just the older brother who's not that cool." - Joe Flacco

by Mr MaLoR on Jan 4, 2011 5:55 PM EST reply actions

Did you have a near death experience Malor or run into a talking fish down in Va.? Your contrived optimism is making me sick. I know you threw your Stretch Armstrong at the TV a few times Sunday.

by raven on Jan 5, 2011 12:23 AM EST reply actions

I was at the game Sunday, so that would not be possible. I did call someone a Dundalk Hill Billy after he was calling for Bulger to come in. Was that you raven?

by Mr MaLoR on Jan 5, 2011 1:10 AM EST up reply actions