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Don’t let him off the hook. Don’t be blinded by a win. What happened today is completely and totally unacceptable by the Ravens coaching staff.
Situation:
1st & 10: Ravens ball, up by 10, 7:43 left on the clock. The Baltimore Ravens run the ball on the 35 yard line. Gain of two.
Completely makes sense. Ravens need to chew clock and attempt to get ahead in the down and distance. On 19 carries they had 150 yards. Continue to run and control the time.
2nd & 8: Joe Flacco throws an incomplete pass to Steve Smith
One run play doesn’t score and the coaches have no idea what to do. They opt to pass; it fails. The Ravens now stop the clock, giving the Eagles time.
3rd & 8: Joe Flacco pass short middle to Mike Wallace for a 54 yard gain. Ravens now at the 11 yard line.
Wallace bails out the Ravens offense and heroically caps the game off here. Ravens are in the redzone with only 6:21 left on the clock. Three runs could beat the clock and let Tucker put the team up by 13 points.
1st & 10: Joe Flacco PASS short left intended for Darren Waller INTERCEPTED by J. hicks at PHI 6. J. Hicks to PHI 40 for 34 yards.
This is how screwed up this scene goes.
The Ravens go 54 yards to the redzone. They call a timeout. They decide with this timeout and extra time to call a pass play. In the redzone. Up 10. Six minutes left.
This is the coaching staffs fault. But not just their fault.
Joe Flacco throws a pass into coverage where nobody was open or looking for the football besides an Eagles defender.
Ravens coaches and Joe Flacco almost gave this game up. Elite teams don’t make these mistakes. This shouldn’t be something that is glossed over.
UPDATE: 5:40 PM ET
John Harbaugh comments on play call:
“I should have vetoed it right away. I like an aggressive mindset but that was way too aggressive. It’s the worst play call we’ve had and it’s my fault. It should have never happened.”
From Bo Smolka of ComcastSportsNet Twitter: @bsmolka