81Jimmy

I agree with you that we have been outcoached. After we torched the Dolphins with play-action and passes over the middle, Pats LBs disguised blitzes and hung in midfield zone coverage. I really do not understand why we did not adjust in third quarter. Joe, I agree he had an average game. However, I wonder why he looked so uncomfortable, did not audible a lot and obviously lost his coolness in primetime games. The latter scares me most..

YES! A win against the Bengals.:-) However, after a winning beer I wonder: Have we won it or did Cincy lost it? Of course, a win is a win but looking down the stretch I am even more concerned than after the game at the Cowboys last week. Defense doesn't have a consistent pass rush and I say this as first remark even though Doom decided the game in the end. But most of the time the o-line controlled the DL. Our blitzing packages were mostly readable. I know the numbers of the D look good in total, but I really wonder how it would have looked like with Green and Bernard in the game. If we give Tannehill, Brady and Big Ben the same time like Dalton (and Prescott) in the pocket last week, it is gonna be tough. Offense cannot hold a rhytm and lacks killer instinct- no outstanding playmaker there and TEs struggle (what a poor effort by Pitta on 3rd & 10 without any try to push and get the half yard missing...). Special teams outstanding. If only these penalties stop... they are really killing the team and me. It shows lack of concentration and smart playing. In a 3rd and long in the 4th quarter holding them maybe out of field goal range, you cannot commit such a stupid penalty. It was not the first time. However, I hope the win makes them more confident, especially finally beating Cincy after 5 games and they takes this good feeling to bring down the currently hot Dolphins next Sun.

At this late point in a season, each team deals with injuries. Yes, Jimmy was out and Wright/Powers/Young gave up plays (Wright's covergae in the PI play was so bad, I doubt his ability to play in this league), but in my view, the passing game was opened up in the second half by Witten over the middle especially. There was bad alignment between webb/wedlle and Mosley/Orr in my view. AND: we did not have enough push on the edge at DL giving Prescott so much time in the second half, I hardly could not believe it. Even with Jimmy, how to cover TE and WRs of every team with that much time in the pocket? What me concerns offensively is the play of TE group and Zuttah. Even though he played most games in this patchwork o-line, he is the worst one. He makes mistakes in pass and run blocking and commits key penalities week over week. Also, the center sets the tone of the o-line. I think we never replaced anything close to Birk after SB- his retirement is constantly overlooked as major setback for the offense since then! Pitta plays bad over the last weeks as well. He struggles to get open (maybe it is also wrong play calls as we are not using it much, only WR crossing/slants routes) and his blocking skills markably dropped. I see no effort in blocking. TE group was considered a really promising one, but injuries and bad play piled up. This takes felxibility away from the passing and running game. Apart from that, we are still having chances to make the playoffs. 8-8 is realistic and may suffice. Key is to win the home games and cross fingers Cincy beats the Steelers in a couple of weeks.

I watch now since 5 years games of the Ravens but cannot really remember such performance like in second half. Apart from mistakes, bad tackling, again no pass rush resp. samrt blitzes to pressure the qb, this offense is even getting worse. O-Line cannot protect (Zuttah and jensen are likely worst NFL-linemen), but Joe is totally out of snych with his receivers. When he is even overthrowing and missing Pitta and Aiken I wonder what is happening. Likely not only one answer. Still (mentally) recovering from ACL and should, he was not stepping up and really off target. But what I missed is leadership in the offense. No one shaked this group up. It is Smith usually with one play. We do not have any playmakers. And the thing I wonder most: where are the TEs. In the offseason, how much was the depth of the TE corp praised. Now? Pitta has his catches, but not really big plays. Crockett - I havent seen him involved in big plays. Williams, out ok. The rest? When you have speedy receivers like Perriman, Wallace, Moore it should open things up fro them. I was so optimistc before season with those weapons, but...If they cannot regroup, find confidence during bye and smash the Steelers, I think this season will end December. It was really painful to see this offense today. A real shame given the solid play of defense.

If Stanley and Yanda come back along with CJ and Smith Jr. perhaps they can do it. Remember, we have a luxury with an Elite QB except he just needs a little more protection which I'm sure Stanley and Yanda will offer. You mean after Joe gets his shoulder and knee healed? Those interceptions were bad throws and the protection was sound. Joe is making as many awful throws as good throws. That happens when you throw off your back foot. As for CJ and Smith, this roster has oodles of issues that CJ and Smith can't fix. Joe obviously lacks confidence and may deal with physicals handicaps, be it recovery from ACL or his hsoulder. Never seen a worse performance from him than in second half. Cant blame this all on o-line. He does not step into his throw when releasing medium or long throws. One can see this partly this year oddly enough with Rodgers as well (some games). It can n my view only be fixed when we have a run game going and better protection. And we miss an emotional leader. Cant build one, but then it comes to coaching, to motivate enough.

What is the difference to Eli iyo? Or to Luck? Or to other QBs pressured, even Rogers. They get uncomfortable, esp. if you recover from ACL injury. It takes confidence, but how getting it with such O-line like Swiss Gouda? I think Joe is still above average considering his big arm, his toughness and coolness in clutch times. Why he did not show it since SB2012? My two cents: Birk was away, targets went, never had stability with OC....

I agree with the penalties and not to blame Young. Missing pressure is to be blamed above. I am not sure Stanley would fix the problem. I think o-line is out of sync in pass protection. And this will take a few games and also time Joe feels comfortable and gains confidence on it. I rather expect painful next game - hopefully it will be enough. See if Bye can help to recover.

When watching the first 6 games, I noticed that we were lucky in 2 games (@Browns and @Jags), unlucky against Raiders and Skins. Deserved clear win only against Bills; deserved loss @Giants yesterday. Yesterday we even had the luck more on our side but could not get away with it. Why is it?, because yesterday they just made too many mistakes (coaching like 4&1, o-line no solid pass protection and holdings, d-line with no pass rush at all- except one play by Sizzle, no big special teams play). Period. I do not like to completely blame the no huddle offense in the final minute. It is also important not to risk false starts with an unexperienced and injury-plagued new o-line, also given the not yet fully developed synch with WRs. I could nearly feel how uncomfortable Flacco was with the pressure coming in his face. This may explains some overthrows and, obviously, his lack of confidence in himself and his teammates. Compare this to the no huddle offense of the Giants especially at the end of 2nd quarter, where Eli nearly could smoke one in between. How can we expect from any DBs to cover such a long time all receiving threats? However, we see that despite penalties, giving up big plays, lack of solid o- and d- line, we still can compete until final minute! This team CAN win and I am far from giving the season up as so many here seem to. Keep grinding and wins will come, even with a harder schedule at the horizon. Go RAVENS!