The Raven

Kyle Shanahan 4 Head Coach Half kidding, but Shanahan fits the mold of what I want our next head coach to be. Realistically speaking, Joe could be playing til he's 39, like Brady is. We still need a guy that can get the best out of Joe. That's an offensive guru a la Kubiak or Shanahan, not a special teams guy whose best asset is rah rah motivation.

That seat is on fire.

We asked the same thing when Billick was fired, and I think every team asks the question. Ideally, we come away with an offense minded coach (I'd hope for a BB or Payton disciple) who actually implements his own system and teaches Joe how to be a damn QB. Ideally, someone who can run an offense/ Ya know, it really is the same issues year after year. But you'd cut Joe, which would result in a massive cap penalty that would severely handicap the roster? Nice! Keep on keeping on with those sharp critical thinking skills.

One playoff appearance in four years mean cleaning house. I've been an ardent supporter of Harbaugh but I think the time has come. Head coaches simply don't survive these kinds of situations.

You do realize, like, the whole object of this game is to win the Super Bowl... right...? This is starting to sound more and more like you have a personal problem with Harbs and Joe.

You're right tbh. But... Suggs has always taken plays off. If we're talking about this year though, Suggs took off the whole Patriots game. He's got eight sacks on the year which is ballin', but he only made one tackle against New England and he didn't record a single statistic against Pittsburgh... Where's he been when it's mattered? He didn't record a state against Miami either, and that was a blowout. He's on the decline big time, and if you can't see he's taking more plays off than ever before, well... smh. And he ain't never been the "general" of anything. Generals lead. Suggs just talks loud. If you ask me, Weddle looks like the general right now, which is sad since he's a transplant. People flock to him. They respect him. He made a big mistake against New England but doesn't take plays off. He grinds and he leads. And Suggs? He's just too busy crawling on all fours wagging his tongue like some kind of man child pretending to be a dog (that actually happened, by the way). He's always liked the attention more than anything.

He's been a pro for, what, four years? He's had chances. C'mon now. As someone who once played line, I think Filmstudy's grading is mediocre and his system is misguided. I think it's a wash between Jensen and Ducasse, but Jensen's pass pro was definitely worse.

starts up front

After this last game Brandon Williams doesn't even deserve to be on the Pro Bowl ballot fam he got wrecked.

Flacco

No it's not Yes he did. He got play time there. And... Ducasse has overall been better than Urschel and Jensen, to me. Alex Lewis is a bit better in pass protection but it's kind of a wash.

Better but not great. Lately, I've been a little buzzed during games so I'm not that attentive, but the primary issue seems to me like Stanley, Ducasse, and Zuttah are doing better at making their blocks but not staying on their blocks. We're consistently getting 2-3 yard gains. That means we're hitting blocks and not missing our assignments. But, we're not staying on them and finishing them. That's how you get those 4-8 yard gains. How do you stay on your block? Good hips, good pad level, good feet, good balance. Also: on defense, nobody commanded double teams. I know everybody has a lovefest for Brandon Williams and Michael Pierce but they both had crap games. They got killed all game by one on one blocks. (And by the way, NTs who don't demand double teams don't get paid...) Which brings me to my next point. A cursory, passing look at our run game shows a reliance on double teams on inside zones. We're not getting off our doubles fast enough, which means we're not getting to the second level, which means we're getting tackled in the backfield or for no gain. The Eagles sustained one on one blocks with quick-hit double teams. We couldn't sustain blocks at all. Stanley has done better than others at sustaining blocks but he doesn't get a lot of push. And that was kind of my one gripe with him out of college. He's a dominant pass protector but when it comes to run blocking, he's just gonna be the kinda guy that walls off defenders and gets in the way.

@BmoreBird22 man did you see the way the Eagles almost took control of the game with that running game today? Really shows why it's important to run the ball and be good at running the ball. That's what you were saying all week. And I'll tell ya this, if I'm the Eagles, and I'm going for two, I'm running the ball. Why they passed is beyond me,

Yeah... No. It sure looked like the game plan. No, Mr. Know It All. What the hell does a "singular focus" mean when it comes to offense? Comprehension....... Can you actually explain what you meant by that instead of defining the word and then using an idiom that doesn't really seem to relate? Do you just throw expressions around and hope they stick? One year does not a trend make. Really? And are you smart enough to realize that most of those changes are due to injury, not roster turnover? Guess not! If you look back to the 2000s and really up until 2014, the Patriots roster could be placed next to word "stability" in the dictionary. Very rarely do I draw any real meaning from anything you say. You might say things that make grammatical sense but the logical depth is often shallow.

Not a challengeable play. You can't challenge the ref's lack of calling that an illegal block.

Not really, and I don't even know how you reach that conclusion. A coach's tenure is linked to a player who isn't the QB? I've really heard it all now.

If you don't remember Joe frequently checking down to tight ends and backs, you must have started watching this team during 2014.

What does "singular focus" even mean?

Yeah, that's not really true at all. For years the Patriots have had incredible continuity across the board for NFL standards. Very minimal turnover.

Question from an olineman to a DB. How do you beat zone? It looked to me like they ran a lot of tampa 2 and cover 3 against us. They did a good job at watching the flats and even the seams. What did they do and how do you beat it? I've always heard that one way to beat zone is to take what the defense gives you, throw short, and break tackles -- that's what the Pats did to us -- but we couldn't do that. I realize that the weak spot of tampa 2 and cover 3 is behind the backers and in front of the safeties, but our run game was so nonexistent that the LBs dropped back there. Are there any former receivers here that could provide insight, too?

Oh, and who the hell is Bernard Pollard? Isn't he the guy that had one of the top five worst coverage ratings of all starting safeties in 2012? He's the one that's been cut by every team he was ever on, right? Yeah. Good times. At least he hit hard and screamed a lot. At least he had passion, amirite?

So you think Tom Brady is the reason Belichick is good (despite Bradyless-Pats in 08 going 11-5), you want Harbs fired, and you want to hire Marvin Lewis. I think I've reached my capacity for stupid posts today.

Judon, Jernigan, Mosley, Young. If Zadarius can ever start playing up to his potential and start commanding respect, him too, but...

Man, you've really got this NFL offense thing all figured out dude. EdTheMythicalOne for OC!

I'm giving credit to Frazier and Weddle. Our defensive backs have never looked this good and well coached. I have never seen our DBs play so well in zone and break on the ball so hard. Perhaps the issue -- as I speculated last season -- was that last year, we had two extremely inexperienced guys coaching the secondary. I think the coaching here has gone a long way. I can't say it's the tools because the pass rush has not been consistent by any means, and our secondary has been hurt by injuries as always. I think we're just finally coaching our DBs better.