objective view

How can a hand full of carries and a few catches equal a "Breakout Game"? Come on Mr. Mink, write something worthy of the space ....

Here we go again hyping up Jimmy Smith but it is funny how PFF does not see it that way. His weekly ratings including last week are not top of the list at all ....

Not so sure that it would not be in the best long term direction for this team to SIT Joe for this game and see what happens with Mallet in there. If the offense moves the ball and scores it just could be the slap up side the head that it appears that Joe needs ....

This and similar reports are really funny to me, I mean WHY does Mornhinweg need time to see what was going on with the offense.... He has Been with the offensive coaching staff for the last two years as the QB coach How ohhh How could he possible not know what was being run and the abilities of the players involved? Also,,, and this is paramount in my mind, he was a key part of Trestman's team along with Juan Castillo and HAD imput into what was being done and run so, I fail to see how he needs time to see what is happening, silly, just buying time before the judgement .... Not sure we can expect much of a creativity change however he can effect the play calling and run balance WHICH has been the same ( around 50 passes ) in the 2 post Trestman games?????

He has been a part of this staff for two years he should already know each players strengths and weaknesses if he was paying half attention ....

To me, the biggest reason we've lacked long, sustainable drives is the fact that we seem to always shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties. And the scary offensive line play is the reason ... it is along the line where these drive-killing penalties occur. They generally don't appear to be of the bone-head variety (false start or hands to the face) ... they normally seem to be the "I can't cleanly block my opponent so I guess I better grab him" kind of penalties. Agreed .... It's another disturbing issue and another x Phili coach with the o line....

For me, it is difficult to get excited about Mornhinweg, I do not see a great deal of Leadership presence in the guy AND, in my mind this is critical, wasn't he a part of Trestman's team? Did he not have the opportunity to contribute his two cents into game plans and general offensive direction, did he do so? I for one also see two common treads with the offensive struggles over the years, one John Harbaugh does not escape responsibility in my mind, he is the Head Coach and as such should be participating in the development of each game plan and the overall offensive strategy and if the direction is not going well, he should work with the coordinator to get it right participating at whatever ever level is needed to insure the success of the unit. That to me is good LEADERSHIP. Yes at some point in time the OC has to maintain that direction which is responsible for success BUT we never got there with Trestman so in my mind Harbaugh is just as much responsible as Trestman and he threw Trestman under the bus! The second common thread, and I love the guy, is Joe. It is Joe after all who is checking down as most plays have various options including, long, middle and short routes. IMO Joe has a tendency to just want to go long which is hit or miss and we lack long sustainable drives to help keep the D off the field and rested. Joe has never been strong in running progressions and Kubes was trying to work with him on reading during his drop back. Joe also has the ability to audible out of a pass play at any time and go to the run if that is what is needed BUT he too has not done that. He want's a chunk offense and running does not fit that bill so, regardless of the coordinator, Joe has to improve in his on field management and we need an offensive coordinator who has some leadership skills along with current day x and o capabilities. Offensive line is also scary the way they are currently playing and I am surprised at the amount of reported injuries which can also be an indication of a lack of leadership and desire to go play the game at a high level...

I would like to know when this is going to fall on Harbaugh. Yes he has an offensive Coordinator BUT you do NOT Abdicate the task of running the offense to him, you DELEGATE, the difference being, you stay involved helping the OC achieve success. If I am the Head Coach, I am participating in the game plan, the plays we are going to run and if the team is going bad, I will set out exactly what I want from the segment that is under performing. Harbaugh acts like he stands back and lets something fail and then throws the Coordinator under the BUS. I would not work for someone like that and I do not believe that is solid leadership characteristics....

John, you hit the nail right on the head with this article. The secondary especially the corners are still a big question mark as the pass rush and poor opposing QBing have saved them on several occasions this year. Will be a big test and I am more concerned about no. 22 than S. Wright.

Big test coming up this weekend with the Raiders offense. Trying to be objective, I would say that the improvement in the lack of Big Plays has been the pass rush more than anything else. The opposing QB's have not had the time to wait for the downfield routes to develop but that is at risk to change this weekend with the Raiders offensive line. Despite constantly getting bashed on this site, Pees has been outstanding dialing up the blitzes and pressure packages. I am seriously concerned with the secondary, front 7 is playing well with better defensive line rush and much better line backer drops. I am still worried about our corners and Mr. Webb who will be seriously tested this week. Neither corner plays press coverage well and the underneath quick routes are an easy completion against them. Watch the catch and runs this week and if we tighten up at the line the raiders have the ability to get the ball deep if the pass rush is a little slow. I still have not seen solid coverage by Jimmy Smith this season, he appears to be trailing the receiver and beaten at the line 8 out of 10 times. One thing is for sure, we will learn a great deal this week and the offense better be ready to be in a shoot out .....

Jimmy was fried all day, what game were you watching? The only reason the total receiving yards were not really high was that the pressure kept Taylor from getting the ball out or Jimmy Smith would have been responsible for a total team loss.

For those that insist on defending Jimmy Smith, please open your eyes during the game. His performance is poor I do not care who he is covering. He is trailing the receiver or getting turned around more often that not. If you think I am being overly critical of him, check out PPF grades, I am sure they are the worst of the backfield. Pressure up front saved him from being the goat of the game.. We need to sit him down and play Davis.

I am a true Ravens fan however I do not respond to hype or get over emotional about the season just because it;s new. I try to objectively look at the team, it's players and it's pre season performance all be it pre season to try and objectively evaluate where we might be.. We had a lot of tough luck last year with the injury bug, lost a lot of close games, but I do not see where we made enough changes to become contenders again. We lost D. Smith in the middle, are returning the same corners, not safety but corners, Weddle can only do soo much and I am not a L. Webb fan as far as his cover skills go. D line is really weaker without Canty and I think the bills will run on us fairly easily. If we over react to the run, look out for the Bills passing game. On offense, we lost a stud in Osemele and to be perfectly candid I do not see all the upgrade in Rb;s the boys on here are talking about but if the holes aren't there, there is not where to run, period and Joe will be under constant pressure. Like everyone, I worry about Pitta's ability to stay healthy, Mike Wallace should be a nice addition if Joe has time to find him. Steve Smith will hopefully be Steve Smith and Akin has become a valid receiver. If the O Line does not self destruct the offense should be ok but, I think we will see the same result out of the defense this year as last, maybe worse and it's not Pee's, it the caliber of player on D. We are really weak at middle linebacker imo. Just my most objective point of view....

I'm thinking (and I could be wrong) that the running backs problem was more of a O-line problem. For a running back to run thru a hole there has to BE a hole. You might be correct but it appeared to me that West on at least 2 occasions missed the open hole or cut since it's zone blocking but I agree the O line was not at it's best ...

Well it's only 2 preseason games but .... I am NOT impressed. Our D and secondary is got major holes in it, Mallet is not the 2nd best Qb on this team in my opinion, I do not see what all of the running back hype has been about as to me they look slow and unsure where they are going with the ball and West consistently turns his back instead of lowering his shoulder. O line has not consistently opened the holes either. Makes you wonder what Mr. Garret and Mink have been watching because the over hyped players have shown very little so far OH and where is Correra, he has been billed as Mighty Mouse on here but I from what I have seen he closer to a flea. Harbs and company have there work cut out with this group IMO.

I have gotten to the point with Jimmy where I do not need to hear anything else I need to see him perform on the field in game day!

I hope that we do not take Miles Jack as I see him as a high risk due to 1.) His recovery from knee surgery and 2.) Lack of significant analysis due to his lost time due to injury. It is possible he turns out to be a star but seeing how we can't miss with this pick, I would be much more comfortable with anyone of the other top 5.

IMO it is NOT the system it is the players. It's the same system that has been in place since Ed was here. A huge problem with execution!

My observation is that when our Db's have been in position which is not often they fail to get the head around and locate the ball, too many times at the time that the receiver is ready to catch the ball they are still trailing with their back to the pass, impossible to intercept what you can't see, we need Db's who turn and located the ball IMO.

Trending Up ???? That must be meant as a joke! Is this blog going to spend the entire off season trying to spin the results of 2015 or be straight and address the real issues this team has? (If you keep up with the spin, well that is not journalism thats sales) This secondary is at best poor and has been for several years now. The uptick over the last half of 2015 was weaker comp, look at the Seattle Game and show me an uptick!

Where does that Jimmy Smith rave come from. The game I watched, he was beaten a lot more times than not and apparently PFF agress. S. Wight is rated much higher than Jimmy and that is what I saw as well. If Ozzie does his job well this off season J Smith will not be a starter next year unless he really elevates his play.

Defensive problems are easy to assess, 1) the entire secondary needs to be overhauled, every last one of them, barring None! A lot of complaints about Pee's here but if his players can't cover receivers. there is little any DC can do. Look at Miami's CB's, they are aggressive and play tight coverage. Additionally, we need to source some LB's that can cover, while CJ is solid in run support and ZaDarris as a rusher, we have NO cover backers.. Offensive I think is OK when healthy if we add a Big Body receiver with speed who can stay healthy and resolve the LT position because Monroe can not stay on the field.

Please, Please STOP making excuses for Jimmy Smith. He just has not played with solid technique and consistently get neat on the bump. That is not his foot!

I would lose all of the folks on here who continue calling for Pees head. He is not the problem on this defense. All of the arm chair coaches on here continue to think it is scheme but IT IS THE PLAYERS who are not getting the job done with poor decision making and poor technique. Pees does not play corner or safety nor gets beat looking in the wrong area or loosing badly on the bump and run at the line. That is the primary reason he can't pull them up, the receivers bump them and run away from them, that my friends is not Pees, that is the payers. Pees is nothing more than a convenient excuse and target. But, to each his own and I am sure the lack of analytical depth will continue to rear is ugly head.

Not sure I would call it regression BUT, Flacco is not picking up wide open receivers, he looks to SSS then dumps the ball off and on many many occasions there are MULTIPLE receivers running wide open! Joe has never really been good at running his progressions but Kubes worked with him to read on the drop back, seems like he has forgotten those lessons.