RavensBaltimore

You can want to throw deep but if your o-line can't keep you upright for more than a second, it's not gonna work. Seems like the Redskins went man-to-man yesterday and none of the Ravens WRs could get open (during that 1 second before the pocket collapsed), so that's got to be sorted out too.

You hit the nail on the head. The line isn't giving Joe enough time to get the ball down field, and our WRs aren't getting open. It looked like there were plenty of play calls that were intended to go down field, but Joe either didn't have enough time or he had to check it down because no one was open. Flacco actually made up for their lack of separation by throwing perfect passes into small windows, but they dropped them. Hopefully, our new OC will be able to draw up some plays to get our receivers open, because they aren't doing it on their own.

Even with the drop and the inability to stay in bounds, I think Perriman should start seeing more snaps. At least Perriman can get in position to make a play in the first place. There's no way Wallace or Aiken beat Norman off press coverage. Perriman is basically a rookie who went almost 2 years without playing a game, and he missed most of training camp and the preseason. He might just need some time to get comfortable in the offense and gain some confidence. It's not like anyone in front of him is lighting it up, so they might as well see what he can do with a bigger role.

  5 hours ago, OUravensfan said:

Just insane to think what Flacco could do with an AJ Green type WR, guess we'll truly never know.

Hope Perriman can learn from this and do better going forward, make this a growing milestone is all you can do at this point.

[profanity removed]

The problem is not what Flacco could with WRs like AJ Green. Right now the offense is in a funk. 10 Jerry Rices would not make a difference!

If our receivers would simply catch the key passes that hit them right in the hands, we'd be 5-0. We don't need Jerry Rice. We just need players who can catch the ball.

Except Joe did rise to the occassion in the 4th quarter.  He threw the pass that could have, should have, and needed to be caught.  And it wasn't.  He threw it multiple times this fourth quarter, in fact.  And he did it LAST WEEK, too.  Now that's not an excuse for why the offense sleepwalks through the rest of the game, but on the do-or-die 4th quarter win-or-lose drive, Flacco is the guy delivering, while his teammates drop the ball (literally).  

Unbelievable to me how much of the discussion is on blaming Flacco for everything, when the play designs & calls are not working, he has no choice but to throw it short of the sticks because nobody is open beyond the sticks and he has no time for a play to develop.  He completes two thirds to 70% of his passes, with a handful of drops every game (KEY drops on HUGE plays at that!) while being constantly under duress, hurried, under pressure, getting hit all the time, and the complaints are all about his accuracy?  Curious.  He looks pretty accurate to me with a couple of throws per game being out of reach of our receivers.  We are now in the business of demanding perfection on every snap from Joe?  Good luck with that from ANY QB in the game.  Everybody misses a throw here and there, Flacco's misses are just being unfairly magnified by fans who are unhappy with the offense as a whole.  Most of his misses are a result of pressure or tight coverage anyway.  

Today, I saw a lot of people complain about a pass that was low and away and bounced off the ground.  But if he threw it where the receiver could catch it, there was a defender in the area who probably would have INTERCEPTED it instead.  That one in particular might as well just be a throwaway to avoid a sack, because that was never getting completed anyway.  I do remember two passes today that went over the heads of the receiver.  On 50 dropbacks, 2 passes were obviously overthrown that I can recall.  And that's supposed to convince me that Flacco needs to be benched, when he completes two thirds of his pass attempts and had 3 or 4 really major drops on key plays that would have given us big points had the receiver done their part today?  Because when you're throwing over a pass rush in your face you aren't supposed to ever loft one that might end up out of reach of the receiver?  It's actually really common.  

What's uncommon is how often Joe is pressured, how little of a pocket he's getting to step into, and how tight the windows are on his receivers.  I watched a little bit of the Patriots game today and Tom Brady had all freakin' day back in the pocket today and was throwing to receivers who didn't have a single defender within 5 yards of them in any direction at the time the ball got into them, then they would make tons of yards after the catch, often breaking tackles.  I don't know how he gets all that help, but he does.  Joe needs pass protection, he needs the guy catching the ball underneath the coverage to make a play after he catches the ball, he needs the guys down the field to catch the ball when he puts it where they can reach it, and he's way too often not getting one, two, or all three of those things (sometimes on the same play).

I'm just saying, Joe Flacco is being put in a position to lose on a bad offense with bad play-calling, but he's doing about as much as you can ask a QB to do if you ask me.  He's putting the ball where it can be caught at least 80% of the time when you consider drops.  If that's inaccurate, I don't know what to tell you.  He's being judged completely unfairly and without regard for context and what's really happening if you ask me.

Joe was amazing on that final drive. No one could get open on 4th and 2, so he took it around the edge and picked it up himself. He also used his legs to roll out and find Wallace when it looked like he was going to have to throw it away. Then he throws a perfect deep ball to Perriman in the end zone, then throws a laser through a small window and it goes off Wallace's hands. He made extremely difficult throws and put them exactly where they needed to be. On the previous drive, Wallace dropped a pass on 3rd down to force a punt. Earlier in the game, besides Perriman dropping the perfect deep pass, Juice stumbled on an easy route over the middle at the end of the half, which prevented us from getting a 1st down. That's in addition to the fact that he rarely has time to throw and gets hit constantly. Then he gets criticized for the offense's failures. Even before this game, Wallace and Moore dropped perfect deep passes that would have been TDs. Last week, Tucker probably would have kicked the game winner had Moore not dropped the easy pass over the middle. If our receivers would simply catch key passes that hit them right in the hands, we'd be 5-0.

Those stats about previous 3-0 teams are completely and utterly meaningless. None of those teams were this year's Ravens. The stats don't account for the fact that we basically had to throw our offense together week 1 and figure things out on the fly, nor do they account for the fact that we are a winning organization that has won more playoff games than anyone in the Harbaugh/Flacco era. When there are variables that are unaccounted for, statistics will not be accurate.

I'm confident the offence will take off soon too. Literally every one of our starting skill players is new to the team or coming off a major injury. No one knew who would regain their form or how long it would take, and several of them missed most or all of training camp and the preseason, so we have had to figure it all out on the fly during real games. Trestman has had to figure out what sets to run, who to put on the field, and where to line everyone up, all without knowing what each player is capable of, since he hasn't been able to evaluate SSS, Pitta, or Perriman much in preseason. The miscommunication between Flacco and his receivers and the presnap penalties should get cleared up with more repetitions. We have speed on the outside, guys who can work the middle of the field and move the chains, and a QB who can make all the throws. We just need to put it all together.

RavensBaltimore, all I know is #24 is what I saw get beat on several plays. So maybe they traded numbers..otherwise idk its Arrington. But its unimportant. Whoever got beat..fix it for next week. Competition doesnt get easier

#24 is Wright.

we can spin this anyway we want to, but I'll tell you this much. Getting down to a Cleveland Browns offense that is really average at best by 20 points in the first quarter is really terrifying. I understand we came back and won the game, but what does it really prove? That we can come back from a deficit and win? Perhaps, but it also tells every other team that you can run big on the Ravens and score 20 points in a quarter too! All in all, I am very disappointed in how we won this game against possibly the worst team in the NFL. People may not like me saying it but it is exactly how I feel. There is an empty feeling despite the win.

I think coming back from 20 down is more beneficial than blowing out the Browns. A win like this builds character. It shows that we can stay poised and handle adversity, which is vital for a successful season. A win like this brings the team closer together and helps instill the belief that we can handle difficult situations. Besides one terrible quarter, our defense has given up 7 points in the other 7 quarters, so if other teams think they are just going to be able to quickly run up a 20 point lead against us, I think they are going to be awfully disappointed.

Obviously happy with the Win..
5 Takeaways) 1. Defense pitched a Shutout after 20pt burst, including 2 pivotal turnovers(Weddles INT, Mosley Game Ending INT)
2) Run Defense?? Where you go!! Unacceptable to allow 100 yrd rusher. The standard in Ravens History is to let up 1, 100 yrd rusher every 30 games or so.
Get that Fixed.
3. Playcalling..Trestman bad..I completely agree with Flacco, who had to go to Trestman to stop the dink&dunk..and let Joe use the weapons and go for chunk plays.
4. Young guys contributing, Judon,Pierce, Z.Smith.
5. Explosive plays...Arrington got burned all day 1 on 1..and next week is the Allen Bros&Juice Thomas.
Arrington better not be outside#24 covering deepthrear wrs.. put Jimmy on 1, Wright on the other, and activate Davis

Arrington has not played a snap this year because he's been on IR since before the season started.

It will be interesting to see who steps up at each position to become the starters who get the most snaps, and I'm curious to see if we are going to spread playing time and targets around to all of our skill players throughout the season. Teams don't usually give many snaps to their 5th WR, 3rd TE, and 3rd, RB, but we may be deep enough to do that. It may take some time to figure out exactly who we are as an offense and what our go to plays/packages are going to be in big moments, but I still think we have enough talent to put up plenty of points while we are figuring it out.

Not sure about the pro bowl ( certainly could be another alternate) but I could almost guarantee that if he plays 16 games he will throw for over 4500 yards and over 30 TDs. That said I dont see any of our receivers surpassing 1000k yards. We will be spreading the ball around too much.

If Flacco throws for over 4500 yds and over 30 TDs, those sound like pro bowl numbers to me.

  3 hours ago, FloridalovesRavens said:

  7 hours ago, riseNConquer81 said:

Devin Hester is a wasted roster spot.
return TDs are few and far between for him in recent years. Hasnt gotten one on a kick off since 2011, and hes averaging just about 26 yards on kick off returns over the past 4 years which would be great IF a touchback didnt already net you the 25.
and obviously he's not contributing much on offense.
dumb move. and i thought we were over holding a special spot just for a returner. we really need to be.

Guess you would prefer no one as returner because that was what we had before Hester.

returner isnt some special unique position. you can make literally any player a returner and we're not going to get anything out of Hester we couldnt get from someone else.

That's not the case for PRs. According to Harbaugh, anyone can go out and catch kickoffs, but consistently tracking and fielding punts cleanly is difficult and most players can't do it. If Hester can avoid mistakes, give us just a few extra yds each game, and give us a couple big returns this year, he will probably make a bigger impact than a 6th receiver that never sees significant playing time.

  4 hours ago, budman said:

It gets funny each year when cuts are made or any other big decisions by the front office are made. All full of shock, Doom & gloom like we know what should be done and to whom it should be done to. It has been proven that our F.O knows what they are doing, so lets just sit back and let them do what they do.

Well apparently you are ignoring the elephant in the room. The Ravens have been slipping the last few seasons now and they use the same old excuses each time around and the fans are just supposed to eat those lines. They have not drafted well for at least the last 4-5 years now (more misses than hits) and the current roster shows this fact easily enough.

Ozzie has become predictable. Seems like they consistently draft too many D line when they express being content with the guys they have. They don't ever address CB/S until later rounds in the draft and then wonder why the secondary is not as strong as it needs to be. Pass rush has been sorely missed and they have not hit on a early draft choice, for too long.

Yes they know or at least say they know what they are doing, as most people that make choices do, but that does not mean it is the right thing to do.

We are talking about cuts, not the draft, and I think the organization makes right decisions the vast majority of the time. We rarely see us cut a player who becomes a star somewhere else, and the FO has managed the cap situation very well recently. Rice's situation and Pitta's injury really handicapped us the last couple years, but we were able to obtain our key players besides Ngata last year, and we had Williams to step up in his absence. This year, we actually managed to have a significant salary cap surplus.

As far as the draft, how have they not hit on an early draft choice for too long? Ozzie drafted a pro bowler in 2014. It's too early to judge last year's 1st rnd pick, but I think he's going to be great, and our 2nd rnd pick put up the best numbers for a rookie TE in the history of the franchise, although his playing time was increased because of injury. This year's 1st rnd pick hasn't given up a single sack in the preseason. 2013 was really the only bad draft we've had, and I don't agree the team has been slipping recently. I think we've just had horrible luck with injuries. When I look at our roster, I see more speed and versatility on offense than ever before, the line looks to be improved, we are deep at RB, and we locked up our franchise qb. On defense, we have the personnel to stop the run as always, we have safeties that can cover, we have a shut down corner (if healthy, and he appears to be), we have young and veteran pass rushers, and more overall team speed. We have one of the best, if not the best ST units in the NFL. I'd like to have another CB who can play on the outside, but overall, I love the roster that Ozzie and the FO have constructed, and we still have cap room to spare.

  11 hours ago, Steve32 said:

  13 hours ago, JamesA119 said:

  14 hours ago, Ravenous_Ravens said:

  14 hours ago, JamesA119 said:

  On September 3, 2016 at 10:00 PM, sami said:

  On September 3, 2016 at 8:34 PM, Barry S said:

  On September 3, 2016 at 5:56 PM, pete261 said:

Why is Campanaro still on this team? he is always hurt

Yeah, he dropped the ball on the kickoff then fumbled it and is injured on top of that!!!! Kaelin Clay fumbled a punt once and was promptly released, that's a double standard there! 

Kaelin Clay wasn't as good of a receiver as Camp is. When did Camp get hurt? I missed that one.

DaCosta pegged his reputation on Campanaro. He was behind the trade that allowed the Ravens to move up to draft Campanaro in the 2014 draft. He pegged Campanaro the new Edelman or Wes Walker even before Campanro played a down in the NFL. I don't pretend to know the behind-the-scene dynamics, but I think that the Ravens have gotten worse with their ability to draft since DaCosta has gotten more and more say. Pre-draft he tends to come out too brash and braggadocious which is unlike Ozzie. In my opinion the reason they are keeping him as GM #2 is not because he is really good, but to protect their trade secrets.

To be fair Campanaro is pretty good. His problem is he cannot stay healthy.

In my opinion there's not enough sample of him playing to say that he is good. His best showing was the Tampa Bay game when Flacco threw like ? 5 TDs in the first half in 2014. Tampa Bay was pretty bad that year. So I'm saying that he might be good but we don't have good evidence of it on film in the NFL. He continuously has been making the roster on potential.

You apparently missed his touchdown against the Steelers. Great play.

How many catches has Campanaro made in the NFL? When you look at his stat line, one cannot help but reach a conclusion that he has been making the roster mostly on potential.

He is a legend among some of you fans.

The stats don't show ability. It's not about the number of catches he has made. It's about the talent he displayed that can't be taught. He showed the quickness to get separation, the ability to go up and catch a pass in traffic, good hands, the ability to hang on when getting hit, he converted a few 3rd and longs and made a clutch catch in a playoff game, and he showed great acceleration by turning a loss of yds into a TD. In a very limited amount of snaps, he showed every skill necessary to be a great slot receiver.

  6 hours ago, bioLarzen said:

  6 hours ago, BmoreFan15 said:

Extremely disappointed we let Terrence Brooks go...

You won't get far in the NFL as a safety if your covering skills are poor.

You also need safeties that can come down hill to support the run. Keep in mind Ravens won a Superbowl facing Luck, Brady, and Manning, with Pollard who was not a great cover safety. He intimidated guys coming across the middle. His hit on Ridley turned the tide, he put Gronk on the shelf on a couple of occassions. Safeties also MUST be physical. A young , physical safety like Brooks should have been retained over excessive depth at LB with Chris Carter or 7 CBs. Two ingredients that the Ravens had with each Superbowl team was a physical blocking FB and a knock out safety.

Our pass defense was not very good the year we won the SB. Pollard did have some impact plays in the postseason, but as the league uses more and more spread, pass happy offenses, I don't think Ozzie wants safeties on the field that can't cover. On a side note, I would say Pollard's hit on Ridley pretty much finished the Pats off, but it didn't turn the tide. We were already dominating the second half of that game.

i can see why OCHI and BUTLER signed with other teams,so they can actually play.it's terrible because both will be stars in this league,just on other teams,i'm still very mad about BROOKS as well.

Ochi is still very young and may have a high ceiling, but the chances that Butler becomes a star are pretty slim. At this point, not a single GM thinks he is good enough to be on an active roster, and this is at least his 3rd year in the league. He needs to make someone's roster before he can have any chance at becoming a star.

  11 minutes ago, boconnor said:

What was the corresponding roster move?

Maybe Pitta will be a game day scratch due to the lingering finger injury?

No, Pitta would still take up a roster spot unless he went on IR or was cut.

  43 minutes ago, RavensBaltimore said:

We probably brought in Hester for his experience, ability to consistently catch punts, vision, instincts, and decision making as much as his speed.

I understand that, but my real question was why not wait till after the first game to sign him because it would then allow us to cut him if he didn't work out for us. Now we are stuck with his salary for the full year.

I'm sure Ozzie is fully aware of that, so he must have a reason. Maybe other teams were showing interest. Maybe he wanted to bring him in before the first game to get him time to practice and be available for game 1.

Why didn't they wait until after the first game to sign him. At least that way they didn't have to guarantee his salary right? Very curious move signing a 33 yr old returner whose very job is to be fast. The first thing that goes away with age as far as I can tell is speed. So, clearly he outperformed expectations in his work out.

We probably brought in Hester for his experience, ability to consistently catch punts, vision, instincts, and decision making as much as his speed.

I understand that it´s hard to compare positions, but how we can keep Hurst over Brooks or Butler is beyond me. But I´m sure there´s some other plan in place. Some moves to be expected I guess.

It might be because we don't have another backup LT. We have options if one of our WRs or safeties gets injured, but Hurst is really the only backup LT we have.

  32 minutes ago, hen826957 said:

  35 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

Hmmm... the Packers cut Josh Sitton - one of the better LG's in the league... LG is the position in the O-line where we could definitely do with some upgrade...

That's shocking. Don't mind getting some depth there and than we could cut Hurst.

Lewis seems definitely promising and Urschel is no joke either - but Sitton is better than both at this point. He'd be a definite upgrade now. He woudn't come cheap for sure - but I think it would be worth it...

... but then again, I'm not Ozzie :)

I would think that signing an expensive LG would violate Ozzie's 80/20 rule. Lewis or Urschel can probably give you 80% of the performance for 20% of the price. We don't have a pro bowl caliber LG(unless Lewis can surprise us) but we have a capable starter and good depth, so I don't see a reason to spend a lot of money there.

I thought there was a realistic chance that both Camp and Butler would make it. With Camp getting waived, I would've thought that pretty much guaranteed Butler's spot. I'm very surprised that neither made it. I thought Brooks would make it as well, but I guess Levine's versatility makes Brooks expendable. We must be planning on signing Hester or another FA with all these surprising cuts.

  3 hours ago, RavensBaltimore said:

  6 hours ago, eze17 said:

Three guys that make the roster that I have questions with:

Camp. Coach/front office favorite who hasn't really shown me anything since being drafted. Has the size, speed and athleticism, but still a work in progress...basically handed the returner position and hasn't proven capable...how long do you need to evaluate his abilities?

Henry. Seems lost out there at times, mistake prone, definitely needs polishing. Will make the team because he's a 4th rounder, but I could see him being inactive come game day. Has the raw talent, but still developmental in my opinion.

K. Lewis. My best scenario is that a veteran safety(who doesn't cost an arm and a leg)get's cut by another team with too much depth at safety and Ozzie swoops in and snags him, then waives Lewis. I hate too be hard on the guy, but he's below average at best.

Camp has been productive when he's been on the field. He has shown quickness, the ability to separate, good hands, the ability to make catches in traffic, and the ability to make people miss in the open field. He's shown all that and made plays in a very limited amount of snaps. He hasn't proven that he's capable of staying healthy, but he has proven he is capable of playing at a high level when he's been on the field.

When? I saw him run one WR reverse for 10 yards. Other than that he hasn't done anything and has been injury prone his entire stint with us. Butler better make the cut over Camp.

In his rookie season, he first got significant playing time in Cinci. He converted a couple 3rd and longs. One of them was in traffic, and one was a tough, diving catch. Then there was the Tampa game, where he "Randy-ed" the DB(Brandon Williams' words) for a long TD recepton. I remember a simple out pattern he ran in that game where he was face to face with the DB, he made a quick move, and in the blink of an eye, he was wide open on the sideline, and the DB was left there like a statue. That really showed me that he had the quickness to get separation against NFL DBs. Then he got hurt until the playoffs, and in NE, he caught all 4 targets, including a first down conversion on the final drive, where he got hammered and still held onto the ball. Last year, he didn't get much time with the offense until the Pitts game, where he had a couple catches, including a 3rd and long conversion, and he turned a loss into a TD on a running play. The times where he's gotten consistent snaps with the offense have been few and far between, but like I said, when he has been on the field, he's shown the ability to be a very good slot receiver.

Three guys that make the roster that I have questions with:

Camp. Coach/front office favorite who hasn't really shown me anything since being drafted. Has the size, speed and athleticism, but still a work in progress...basically handed the returner position and hasn't proven capable...how long do you need to evaluate his abilities?

Henry. Seems lost out there at times, mistake prone, definitely needs polishing. Will make the team because he's a 4th rounder, but I could see him being inactive come game day. Has the raw talent, but still developmental in my opinion.

K. Lewis. My best scenario is that a veteran safety(who doesn't cost an arm and a leg)get's cut by another team with too much depth at safety and Ozzie swoops in and snags him, then waives Lewis. I hate too be hard on the guy, but he's below average at best.

Camp has been productive when he's been on the field. He has shown quickness, the ability to separate, good hands, the ability to make catches in traffic, and the ability to make people miss in the open field. He's shown all that and made plays in a very limited amount of snaps. He hasn't proven that he's capable of staying healthy, but he has proven he is capable of playing at a high level when he's been on the field.

I would have had Brooks get reps at PR duties during pre-season, he has the speed, and not a starter, so why not get the most out of his speed...

The most important aspect of being a PR isn't speed. It's being able to track and catch the ball. That does not seem to be one of Brooks' strengths as a S, and catching a punt is much more difficult than catching a pass.