BigUgly

Harbs is rightly ticked that the offense couldn't get half a yard on 4th and 1. That's because the philosophy of the offense is still based on a "West Coast", pass-heavy, zone-stretch, east-west style. It's the same offensive style, with the same issues in short yardage, that Harbs (and Marty) enjoyed watching his mentor Andy Reid employ in Philly all those years ago. Though Kubiak employed the zone-stretch blocking scheme - which was partially retained (less the outside zone stretch) - Trestman sprinkled in more of the west-coast aspects which Marty is comfortable with. The current result is an ineffective Frankensteined offense that has no identity and critical disconnects between formation, play selection, routes, and blocking schemes. Here's to hoping Haslam does something typical for that franchise and fires Hue Jackson. I'd trust him to right this offense, next year if not this.

Man this is beginning to feel a lot like 2015 all over again.

I think the issue with Joe has to do with him being put in the Shotgun for the majority of his snaps. Compare that with the offense under Kubiak, where he was under center far more often and was more successful. Not only did it provide the threat of a running game to open up play action and keep pass rushers honest, it allowed the Ravens to roll protection or have Joe bootleg to buy time against a pass rush. It also helped Joe's mechanics, making it less likely that he'd throw flat-footed / off of his back foot. Against the Giants, he was under center for the first quarter and a half, then went predominantly to the shotgun after that. The results were predictable.

I don't think its a coincidence that so many of the injuries are to over-30 veterans, many of whom are on the tail-ends of their careers (SSS, Watson, Doom, Suggs). In a way, the roster's dependence on those guys is driven by underwhelming drafts and the inability to afford younger high profile vets due to the cap situation.

I think it's more frustration than anything else. He has little pass protection which forces him to rush his throws or throw from a awkward position. In addition, he is being dropped on virtually every pass play. That many hits will take a toll on his body as well as his psyche. Then when he is able to make a good play downfield and get a first down, it gets called back for a lame penalty all too often. It's definitely frustration. I think the issue has to do with Joe being put in the Shotgun for the majority of his snaps. Compare that with the offense under Kubiak, where he was under center far more often and was more successful. Not only did it provide the threat of a running game to open up play action and keep pass rushers honest, it allowed the Ravens to roll protection or have Joe bootleg to buy time against a pass rush. It also helped Joe's mechanics, making it less likely that he'd throw flat-footed / off of his back foot. Against the Giants, he was under center for the first quarter and a half, then went predominantly to the shotgun after that. The results were predictable.

I agree 100% that entire secondary can take a hike! It's so frustrating watching this team. Really too cap constrained, and will be for some time, to really "blow up" the roster. We will have to rely on the draft and take some fliers on some middle-of-road, tail-end-of their-career free agents for the foreseeable future.

You think...? Trying to think of the last real playmaker we drafted. Maybe the oft-injured Jimmy Smith in 2011 (which also had Tyrod Taylor - a playmaker for the Bills and Torrey Smith), or Dennis Pitta in 2010.

I think Harbs is one of the best coaches in the NFL for 349 days of the year. He has created a winning culture where personal accountability matters, and attracts top coaching and free agent player talent (that we can afford to pay). As a special teams coach, he is limited in his ability to step in and make adjustments during the game and is heavily reliant on his hand-picked coaches to do so. As such, we may only judge him on his clock management, challenges, and pivotal decisions (4th down calls, etc.). By those metrics, he hasn't been very successful and recently has contributed to our losses. I am more concerned with the inability of the high character / high IQ players and the elite coaching staff to avoid continually repeated mistakes with technique, alignment, execution, tempo and adjustments. Those shortfalls have cost us more than any poor in-game decisions by Harbs, I think.

Marty still went pass-happy in the second half, with Joe out of the Shotgun nearly every play. The results were predictable: running game disappeared, O-Line overwhelmed by edge rushers, and Joe throwing off of his back foot.

It's really interesting that the drafts in the 4 years since the SB have been worse than any other stretch in the team's history, and this with only ONE winning season in that span. That leads me to believe Harbs is exerting his influence more as a SB-winning coach.

New offensive coordinator, offense beset by injuries, and only a slight improvement. Still far too many formations with Joe in the shotgun, which effectively takes away the threat of a run, enables the defense to pin their ears back, and results in Joe throwing off his back foot. I'm sure his completion percentage out of the 'gun is demonstrably worse than when he's under center. Still a lot of work to do. And can we ask Harbs to dial back the "being aggressive" a bit?

Losing Smith cost us big time. With no pass rush, Odell went off.

The NYG don't have much of a pass rush, so I am hopeful our ever-patchwork O-Line can open some holes and give Joe some time. We may be down SSS and Wallace, so Aiken and the TE's will have to pick up the slack. Conversely, we need to manufacture a pass rush. I think Judon has been more productive than Doom, so I'm glad he'll get some more reps. Correa will be playing inside and out as well. Here's hoping he plays with a bit more abandon like he did early in camp, and flashes that talent the Ravens are so high on. Finally, with Hester limping around, we need to be extra conservative with our return game. Don't run it out of the end zone and, if necessary, let the punts bounce where they may.

It's beginning to look a lot like last year with the injuries. At this rate, Joe won't last much longer either. It really is depressing. To some extent, it correlates with older players (Doom, Yanda, SSS, Watson, Suggs last year, Wallace), but that doesn't explain the other half of the injuries. The younger, less experienced guys are gonna have to really step up the coaches - especially on offense - will have to come up with ways to minimize the impact of the loss of the starters.

Desperation move to shore up the Offensive Line, and one that will weaken an already shaky special teams with the loss of Carter. Couldn't have afforded to keep him, but certainly missing KO now.

Desperation move to shore up the Offensive Line, and one that will weaken an already shaky secondary with the loss of Carter. Couldn't have afforded to keep him, but certainly missing KO now.

Mornhinweg wasn't a very effective QB coach, as Flacco his clearly digressed since Kubiak left in terms of his mechanics and pocket awareness. Let's hope he can at least improve the formations, scheme and play selection, and enable Joe to have broader latitude to audible This still is on Harbs. He supposedly had doubts about his hire, Trestman in the offseason but did nothing about it. When asked if Marty would take more shots downfield, Harbs said "I hope so". You hope so?! You'd better know so. You failed to step in with Trestman in the offseason or during the last two losses and now you are relying on hope?

The best OC the Ravens have had in the last decade - Kubiak - was a front office hire forced on Harbs. One wonders if Harbs likes to be surrounded by "yes men", both coaches and players. No coincidence that the guys that brought fire and passion to the SB season were promptly let go (Boldin, Pollard) or retired (Lewis, Reed). Since then, one has to think Harbs has influenced the draft, taking "character guys" like Arthur Brown and Matt Elam over question marks like Vontaze Burfict and Tyronne Matthieu (both of whom otherwise fit the Ravens mold). I think Harbs is a great guy, and an outstanding leader and coach. As such, he should be more willing and able to accept stronger personalities and rely on what he brings to the table to focus and lead guys with more upside.

Joe should also fire Morningweg, who has failed to correct his mechanical flaws an inconsistencies as QB coach.

Trestman got rid of the outside zone stretch plays from Kubiak's playbook that made Forsett so effective. Don't know how easy it would be to add them back in. Also not sure what was structurally done to the offense (formations, philosophy) to hinder it so, or if it is a simple matter of play selection. Either way, bad on Harbs last week for not putting his boot up Trestman's backside in the 2nd quarter and dialing up more running plays. Maybe he was just trying to "be aggressive".

Take away the front office's hire of Kubiak, which was forced on Harbs, and our record since the Super Bowl would truly look pathetic. I also suspect that Harbs has had greater say in personnel selection since the Super Bowl, and has prioritized smart nice guys over guys with more talent and fire. In a battle for a job between Harbs and Ozzie, I think I know where Biscuit will put his faith. For now, Harbs needs to cut bait with Trestman before the season further slips away.

If Trestman doesn't get the boot, and soon, Harbs may get booted at the end of the season.

Defense.. check. Special Teams.. check. Offense.. Offense!.. Anyone seen the offense?.. Better have Biscotti send out the search teams, this might take a while. You seriously gave a check to special teams? What, the stupid fake? The poor kick coverage? Special teams cost us the game every bit as much as the putrid offense.

And yet, the banged up, patchwork offensive line proved it could run the ball and pass protect on play-action pass last week and this week. When Joe is consistently in the shotgun? Not so much. When the defense doesn't respect the run, the line is toast. It all comes down to scheme and play calling....aka coaching.

The only reason Kubiak came to Baltimore was because of Harbaugh - Kubiak said that. You're just making stuff up at this point..... You are dead wrong. Kubiak was a front office hire, and forced on Harbs. That was absolutely NOT his call.