BillyD

The calls stink. The officiating in the NFL stinks across the board this season. It really ruins the flow of the game and makes some games unwatchable. There is no denying that. However, with regards to the calls last night let me say this: Those calls were not the reason the Ravens lost. The Ravens lost because they squandered way too many opportunities, specifically in the 2nd half on offense. We could not move the ball. We could not get 1st downs. That opening drive in the 2nd half when we could have driven the ball down and made it a game was a quick 3 and out and just looked awful. Does the coaching staff realize that if you open a drive with the same play every opening drive, i.e., a flare pass to the FB, that play is on tape and studied by the opponent? Even Tirico called it on the ESPN broadcast, "Hey, that's the same play the Ravens ran to open the 3rd quarter last week!" It's brutal to watch. Joe missed a sure TD in the 1st half with another underthrown ball, we seemed to abandon the run when Forsett and Buck looked pretty good in the 1st half. We were down by 4, not 24. And Justin gets only 12 carries? The D played OK and had some good moments, but once again bad penalties and the inability to cover AND tackle just killed any chance we had to win the game. I think Joe put it appropriately in his post-game press conference..."We probably didn't play well enough to win the game." Exactly. Of note - We needed a pass rusher when Suggs went down. We picked up Jason Babin. That experiment lasted 2 or 3 weeks. Then we cut him. The Cardinals signed Dwight Freeney. And he came into the game late and killed us. Love the talent evaluation, or lack thereof, in Bmore.

I agree with the general sentiment in a lot of these comments that games don't necessarily have to come down to the last drive. But when they do, you better be able to execute on offense and defense in those situations. And therein lies the problem. This team cannot consistently execute at a high level during the entire game, and it has put them in the same last drive situation in every single game this season. And they have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they cannot execute at all in a 2 minute situation on offense or on defense. That falls on everyone, the coaches, the players, etc. For once I'd like to see Joe just take the reigns and make a decision if the coaches are late with a play or he doesn't like the play call. I think that's something that separates him from the "elite" QBs. You see Manning, Brady, Rivers, making all kinds of calls and adjustments pre-snap. I've seen Joe do that too. Just not very often. Am I missing something?

Yes. We have had success for a long time. But we had key veterans who have either retired or been sent packing in free agency, as well as talented young players who have also been lost in free agency. That being said, there are glaring issues with specific portions of this team. Namely the DBs and WRs. Why is that? Injuries? Part of it. Lack of talent? Maybe. Lack of player development and coaching in those areas? Another possibility. I'd like to give Trestman and his crew, as well as Harbs, the benefit of the doubt. But I agree with the sentiment on Pees. He's just a bad DC IMO. I'm still scratching my head on 2 plays in the SF game: 1st, going straight man on Torrey with no safety help - touchdown. 2nd, blitzing the corner that was on Boldin in the slot on a key 3rd down and expecting Daryl Smith to cover around 10 yards to pick up the coverage. Boldin has a free release, easy catch, 15 yard gain and a 1st down. What the heck is this guy thinking?

I don't think we've drafted poorly overall. We may have drafted poorly in areas. And injuries haven't helped (Webby, Elam, Jimmy last season). We consistently hit the nail on the head for TEs, DL, and LBs. We have a terrible track record with WRs and DBs over the last several years. And the RB position is questionable as well. Now, does this have to do with the fact that we are drafting more talented players at those positions, or are those position coaches getting more out of their players than the coaches of the weaker parts of each unit? Just food for thought.

He needs to make better decisions, no doubt. But he is a hell of a lot better than Boller.

I see your point. But wouldn't we have to implement some plays from our playbook to do more short and intermediate routes? And if and when we do, if we have plays like that, don't the receivers have to get open? Look at some of the weapons on teams that have the "elite" QBs...Brady has Gronk and Edleman along with Amendola, Rodgers has James Jones and Cobb, P. Manning has Thomas and Sanders...for Pete's sake, even Pitt is loaded with Brown, Bryant and Wheaton. You can't just discount the fact that we have very limited talent at the WR position. That being said, Joe has to make better decisions. That's a given.

I wonder if our guys are overworked in practice or in the training room? Or underworked? I don't know, but seems like we get hit by the injury bug way too often. Maybe it's just bad luck. Who knows. At the end of the day, the key injuries to the few playmakers on our squad highlights our complete lack of depth on the roster. We are scrambling every week it seems to sign anyone who is available. At this rate, we'll have an entirely different roster come Thanksgiving.

Yep. We were really lucky to pull that one off in Pitt. Bad kicking and questionable coaching from the Squeelers won that game for us in the end. Seattle is obviously having a hard time on the defensive side of the ball as a result of their new DC. Just goes to show you can have all the talent in the world...if your coaching, scheme, or a combination of the two are sub-par, you will have issues.

Not sure what game or film Harbs was watching. Guys needed to sprint up to the line. It was 20 yards, not 60. Most of these guys aren't exactly running a 4.4 40, but you can't tell me they can sprint and set up in less than 15 seconds. That was tough to watch.

I don't know. The two vets we have faced in Manning and Vick didn't hit the 200 yard mark. I think you need to be a lower level journeyman or a young QB to clear 300 against the Ravens...Palmer might not qualify for 300+...(I'm joking, of course!) Good fantasy strategy, though...I might test that out myself! Great post!

It's not the same system this year. They kept the same language to make it easier, but the system is definitely different.

Haha! Love it! I think Castillo was saved by Kubiak's system. Still seeing mistakes from the young guys though. Except for KO, of course. That man is a BEAST!

True. And it's not like he has a bunch of weapons that are working with him when the blitz comes. Most of the time Joe is on his own and might have SSS or Forsett read the blitz and adjust. I'm not sure the other receivers and the young TEs are able to do that. Now that might be coaching, it might be experience, it might be a combination of the two along with other factors. Not to mention for the 4th season in a row Joe and the gang are in a new system with a new OC. Is he perfect? "Elite?" I don't know. But he's my QB, and I'm happy to have him.

Yeah, I see your point. Denver has been leaning heavily on its defense this season. Wade Phillips is a pretty good DC and he has a ton of playmakers on that defense to work with. It's hard to measure our player development since the SB though. Williams and Juszczyk are good. A. Brown was a whiff. Wagner, Hurst, Urschel, and Jensen are still developing, lot of mistakes still, though. Elam and Urban are injured, Lewis-Moore is just getting up to speed after being injured his first two seasons. Mosley, Jernigan, pretty good, but need to develop more. Lots of injuries, lots of young guys. But I hear ya...I definitely have some issues with the coaching overall. Seems like the lack of "talent" or "development" is consistently in the same areas: WR, CB, SS, FS, OL (I'm speaking about Wagner and Jensen as far as O Line goes, as well as Urschel and Hurst. Granted, they're all young, but I still see a lot of mistakes being made by them. Obviously KO is a freak and is doing very well, so count him as a good draft pick. Zuttah and Monroe were FA acquisitions, so they don't count in this discussion.). One could argue that those are the same areas where we lack high end talent, though. Might be time to look at those position coaches and see just what they're up to. Just my opinion. Time will tell if this gets turned around.

Agreed. Big time lack of talent. And the injuries to our few playmakers doesn't help. As far as the past drafts go, seems like every good player who developed in our system over the past several years is gone. We only have I believe 7 guys left from the drafts between 2008 and 2012. Of those players, two are consistently injured (Webby and Pitta) and one is lacking in development (Asa Jackson). That leaves only 4. Others like Torrey, Ellerbe, Kruger, are all gone. Not saying they're all top echelon players, but they are good players and are no longer part of the puzzle. In recent drafts, we have some whiffs like Arthur Brown, some good young guys like Mosley and Jernigan, and a bunch of guys with injuries like Camp, Perriman, Elam, and Urban. Lewis-Moore is just getting into rhythm after spending his first two seasons injured. It's been a tough stretch so far this season, but I think if we can get healthy we'll be ok moving forward. Although I've said it before and I'll say it again...overall I'm not a fan of Dean Pees. I just don't like his approach on defense. I wouldn't be sad to see him go. Just my opinion.

You hit the nail on the head @Ravenshine. With regards to Pees, personally I've never liked him as a DC. Just not a fan of the "bend don't break". Nearly cost us a SB. But we did win, in the end. But that's just my opinion, others feel differently and like Pees. At the end of the day if we were winning and the D was holding up or the O was completing late game winning drives none of this would be an issue. And, you're right, to top it off while the team is competing and fighting their tails off, another key player gets carted off the field. It makes matters worse. We missed opportunities early in the season when we were mostly healthy with both offensive and defensive gaffes. And as the season wears on and those gaffes might be corrected in a particular area, BOOM, someone goes down and we're back at square one. I'm still pulling though. I have faith that these guys are gonna find a way to get some wins. And hopefully in that process a new leader is going to step up!

Yep, Harbs has won more than he's lost. And a lot of those wins were with an entirely different roster with draft picks that came from the BIllick era. And there were some of his own as well who were good payers and were contributing that we have lost as a result of cap space issues. I think the org is going to give Harbs a pretty long leash because of his record, and who knows, things could turn around this season. I hope so. I'm just curious to see how this all shakes out and if he has a plan moving forward. Hard to get your original plan accomplished when half of your pay roll is either out or on IR. Makes it really tough to win with new guys filling every week for experienced guys who have gone down. As far as the OC and DC go, not sure either has that long of a leash. But this is a patient organization, thankfully, so I would think Bisciotti will let it play out and see what happens. I think if anyone goes it'll be the DC, but that's just my opinion.

I think Harbs is the right guy for the job. It is frustrating hearing the same storyline week in and week out, but what is he going to do, get up to the podium and say, "Yeah, we stink. Players stink. Too many injuries. Coaches aren't cutting it.", etc, etc, etc? He's doing his job with regards to how he relates to the media. Who knows what his tone is in the locker room, at practice, in film sessions, what he's saying to players and coached at The Castle. I'm sure that he is holding everyone accountable. But I understand people being frustrated. I don't like Pees. Never have and never will. Some folks on here think he makes lemonade out of lemons. I just disagree. So I would be happy to see him go. Just don't know if that's the direction the org is going to take when the time comes. Trestman isn't lighting it up either. But then again, he's the 4th OC in a s many seasons. Not to mention the fact we have no playmakers outside of SSS. Forsett is good, but banged up. Taliaferro is out. We have Buck Allen who is young and inexperienced and some other guys we picked up off the waiver wire/brought up from the practice squad. There is a reason those guys were out there, so I'm not expecting big things. Marlon Brown is just not showing up. Aiken shows flashes, but is inconsistent. The TEs are a good group, but also young. The best two in Pitta and Gilmore are banged up. All things considered, averaging about 24 points a game isn't all that bad. But there's no consistency on offense, which is troubling. So many factors resulting in a frustrating season so far. Just hope we get guys healthy and figure something out moving forward.

Yeah, it would be nice to see that, wouldn't it? I just don't think it's in Harbs' DNA to concede anything or to apologize. I have no doubt that the players are working hard and the coaches are trying to figure a way out of this mess. Harbs might not be frustrated, but I sure am. Just tired of the same storyline every week. But I'll keep pulling for my Ravens.

I agree. We're young. With Sizzle out there is a void because he was the leader out there, although I don't think anyone will ever match Ray and Ed. We were blessed for so many seasons with their leadership. Hopefully someone will step up and fill that void to some extent. Let's go Ravens! Get it done!

I should have known you would respond! Lol! You just can't help yourself! All things aside, it's all good. As I've said before, you have your opinions, I have mine. Deuces.

Gee, I guess that's why Seattle is having so many issues on defense this season, too...they have no talent! Has nothing to do with the DC. Please sir, don't respond to this. Thanks.

Hahahahaha! Yeahhhh, right! Pees is so accomplished! Laughable, man! I'll end this here.

Pure opinion. Pure talk. Absolutely no facts to back it up. Par for the course in your discussions. Mind numbing, really. Point 1 - 21 playoff wins, 6 AFC Championships, and 4 SBs is a whole lot of luck along with a whole lot of cheating. Could be. But that sure is a whole lot of "what ifs". Bad kickers? Terrible rules? Sure. No one else has caught any breaks like that in the past decade. Point 2 - It does bear relevance. Based on your statement, which was that NE hasn't had a good defense since Pees was the coordinator. Then you immediately citied a NE defense being blown out at home by the Ravens. Obviously you didn't comprehend the fact that while you were naming Pees the crème de la crème of coordinators in NE and then in the following breath citing a mediocre outing by a NE defense against Baltimore, the same guy you were defending was actually the coach of the "mediocre" defense you were citing. Additionally, I pointed out that NE did not just lose one game because of defensive let downs or a "bad game" while Pees was there. Obviously you read the post thoroughly based on your half informed response. To add to the litany of facts supporting the opinion that Pees sucks, Baltimore has lost several games because of defensive let downs. Sorry, not going to list all of them for you. Why don't you educate yourself on history before responding. And I wasn't being facetious. You are a genius. Point 3 - History. I named more than one big spot where he has come up short for the purposes of the discussion. Want to explore further? How many games has the D given up this season in Baltimore under Pees? How many last season? How did his 9 men in the box, zero coverage work out yesterday against the Niners? And don't come back at me with some comment on the lack of talent. He's the DC. Harbs is the head coach. They signed the guy that was in coverage so one would think that they knew his skill level and abilities. The Niners sure did. And they exploited his weaknesses, and the defensive play calling didn't help. You seem to love to give this guy credit. Why don't you look at his record before you respond with baseless nonsense. If you believe Pees "molded what normally would've been some pretty lackluster defenses into overachievers", provide some examples to back that claim up. I don't know what team you have been watching over the past three years that would support that claim, but it can't be the Ravens. And please, go ahead, refer to the SB win here in Baltimore again. Cite that one game, which the defense nearly lost. Be a hypocrite and cite one game while tearing down the counter argument, which consists of dozens of games. I've only pointed out a few, but Ravens Nation has experienced several in the past three years. The genius in you loves to discount examples on the other side of the argument and then just talks a lot of baseless trash. Now that is short sighted. Keep trying to defend your point. Keep splitting hairs and saying there's such a grand difference in saying that Pees is a bad DC as opposed to saying Pees can't coach a defense to hold a lead. What's the difference. Either way the point is he is not good at his job. But keep trying. Keep defending. You might come up with something that makes sense eventually. Good luck.

And I love Harbs calling Wright out after the game. Good job, John. No, it wasn't the fact that you left a guy who is new to the system out there on an island. It wasn't the fact that the DC made a stupid, idiotic play call. It's all on the player because his technique was "below the line". Hey, you picked him up off the waiver wire. I'm assuming someone looked at some tape on Wright and figured out what his strengths and weaknesses are so we could call the right defense to be sure we were putting our best effort as a team out there, getting the most out of our players that are available. I mean, the 49ers sure knew what Wright's weaknesses are. It's up to you to prepare, John. And if a player can't do it by himself, you better figure out a way to put the team, as a whole, in the best possible scheme that will provide the best coverage. Interesting that we keep getting burned deep yet we still put 9 in the box on a passing down. Brilliant. Yeah, that's an individual player's fault. Good call, John. Good call. PS: This is me SCOFFING...we will win when Harbs and his coaching staff figure out what the hell they're doing. My faith in that ever happening is quickly fading.