Where do I start? That was such a disappointing loss. To sit in the stands and watch the Steelers move down the field, you just knew what was going to happen in the end. Just like the Titans game, I almost considered getting out of there on that drive to beat the traffic and miss the disappointing end that I knew was coming.
Such a conservative gameplan. What a piss poor defense the last drive. How can we rush only three guys and have our DB's play so far back when the reason we stopped them in the first 57 minutes was by playing tight and rushing hard.
Why did the Ravens open up the game with a third down rushing play with eight yards to go for the first down? Why then did we try to pass on that last drive when everyone, including the Steelers, fans and millions watching on TV knew it?
It seemed to me that Cam Cameron was almost afraid of the Steelers defense so he designed a gameplan focused on trying not to lose, much less win. The conservative approach made me look through my binoculars to the coaching box to see if Matt Cavanaugh had taken over. What got the Ravens to this point of the season seemed to be abandoned last night. We had opened up our offense, thrown downfield, made the big plays as well as the trick ones, only to leave them on the practice facility floor before heading to the game. Extremely frustrating.
Equally frustrating to me is the way we Ravens fans whine and complain after we lose a close one. Rather than accept blame and give credit, we try to put it on the officials for a questionable call. (NOTE: I am watching the highlights on ESPN as I type. Ouch!) What happened to the fact that they drove 90+ yards on our supposedly tough defense that just rushed three and sat back so far behind the Steelers receivers? Just as the Titans did earlier this season, we couldn't get the stop or takeaway that we have been able to do all season against the lesser opponents.
I was going to continue writing more about this, but rather than regurgitate the obvious pain we are all reeling from today, read the posting below this story by raven, a regular poster on Baltimore Beatdown, who says it all and covers the frustration for every Ravens fan, or click here.