BillyD

Absolutely. That idiot has single-handedly ruined the Ravens defense. Out pass defense has never been in the top 10 under him, is consistently soft...and this season has made Andy Dalton, Carr, and now McCown look like Montana, Unitas, and Favre. On a day when the offense is supposed to stink it up and instead puts up 30 on the backs of Forsett and a bunch of back-up receivers, the D decides to take the 2ns half off...oh, wait. Sorry. I forgot, when we have a lead Pees goes into prevent mode. My bad. Why else would a journeyman QB and some noname receiver light is up in the 4th quarter. GET RID OF PEES.

Nice!

Great comment and insight, sami! I couldn't agree more. The receivers run routes, yes. But they also have to run the route they are assigned based on the coverage. If it's a zone, they have to find the soft spot to get open. If it's man, they have to find a way to shake the coverage and get open. In addition, the QB has to read the coverage and be on the same page as the receiver. Is it zone? Is the receiver going to sit down in the soft spot for the pass? Is it man? Where is he making his break? Is the defender inside? Outside? Does my guy have a step? At the end of the day it takes a combination of coaching/play calling that leans on the stregnth of the players on the field in combination with execution. That has been a huge struggle for the Ravens thus far this season. But then again, there are 23 other teams that are .500 or below, so we're not the only NFL squad struggling this season. It's early, yet. Let's hope Givens provides us a spark, the running game keeps it going after last week, and things start to click with our young guys stepping it up on O.

WURD!

Roddy White doesn't like to blippity blippity block? Scratch him off the list. Golden Tate? I dunno. I like what we have at this point. No need to throw a wrench into the chemistry these guys are trying to develop. We need team players...not "me" players.

When both Steve and Camp went down last week, Aiken and Waller both stepped up with key grabs. We picked up Givens, who is a burner. Let's calm down and see what develops this week. I know Oz may be looking to see what might be available, but he's not one to pull the trigger quick. Which is a good thing (SEE DAN SNYDER).

Royal and Lockette sound pretty good. I wouldn't pick up any Washington receiver outside of Garcon, and there's no way in hell they're letting him go. I agree that Oz will probably wait to see how things look after the Cleveland game. The thing I worry about is SSS having those microfractures in his back. He as tough as they come, but he is 36 and that is not an easy injury to deal with. I would hate to see him come back too soon and either not play at his best or sustain another injury.

Yep. Let's hope we can stay relatively healthy with the 4 WRs we have left and that someone steps up. Seemed like when SSS went out against Pitt Joe spread the ball around a bit more. Not sure if that's a result to Trestman not going to that well one too many times and calling a play desigend for Steve on every passing down or if it just opened things up a bit. Who knows. Do I think we could pick up a realtively decent receiver before the deadline? Maybe. But at the end of the day we've been bit by the injury bug, and it doesn't look too promising. Let's hope we can scheme to our strengths and get the O clicking.

Agreed, Pees needs to go. Think the coverage was still way to soft in spots, and the pressure was just way too "vanilla". Pitt was running overloads and stunts almost every play. Not us. Glad we pulled out the win thanks to a lot of individual effort on the D's part. Davis looks like a good addition in the D backfield. On offense, man...I also agree. What the heck, man, let's play to our stregnths and figure something out. Just vanilla on both sides of the ball. But we won. And that's all that matters at the moment.

Agreed. Terrible missed call. Then again, they missed Doom's facemask on Vick on a sack that ended a drive for Pitt as well. Missed calls happen. Drops by Antonio Brown in the end zone happen. Interceptions and fumbles happen. Missed FGs happen. That's football and that's why we love it so much. I don't care how we won. We just won. And now, on to Cleveland. Let's keep it going, ugly or not!

Thought the D played well. Still have issues with the soft coverage at times. Davis looked like a fantastic addition and Webb played better in spots. Jimmy had some nice plays but looks off...IDK. He seems to allow way too much cushion too often. Think the foot may be bothering him, or something is up. There were some spots when it looked like we didn't want to get beat deep so we gave a 10 yard cushion and the receivers were just WIDE open. Passing the ball in 7 to 12 yard increments is just as back breaking as giving up 80 in one shot (see last week's results). D line is doing well, backers looking pretty good. Wish Pees was more imaginative with his schemes and play calling. Guess that's just wishful thinking.

I hear you, it looks ugly. All I'm saying is it ain't all Joe. And that pass was picked because of a really good defensive call by Pitt. We have multiple issues on both sides of the ball. As far as Joe's cap space, I'm no GM so I can't speak to that. But when I do hear commentators talk about it that know about those things they really don't give too much creedence to the idea that Flacco's number isn't much of an issue. IDK.

4 OCs in 3 seasons. A very young team. Very unimaginative play calling. there are a bunch of factors that are leading to the stagnant offense this season. Let's not forget this is the same QB that holds the NFL record for most career playoff road wins with 7, has more career playoff wins overall than Kurt Warner, Steve Young, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelley to name a few (Joe has 10 career playoff wins, tied with Big Ben). He's also tied with Joe Montana with one of the best playoff runs in NFL history (11 TDs/0 INT) during that 2012 SB run. So now, the offense is struggling in multiple areas and we're going to call out Joe? Come on man, there's more to it than that.

I disagree. He was running for his life most of the game and no one was getting open. A goo measure of how much pressure and blitzing a team is doing is how well you run the ball. Pitt brought so much pressure on Joe and played such tight coverage that they over pursued on many occasions leading to the huge running lanes for Forsett. They came with some pretty creative blitzes, as Pitt usually does, and our receivers just weren't getting open. Simms called it on a couple plays during the CBS broadcast...the spacing was not good and the route running was not good. The pick was a very good defensive call that was helped by the fact that they could gamble that SSS was going to get the ball in that situation. The fumble was a combination of no one being open, a big time hustle play by the Pitt tackler, Joe not protecting the football in that situation, and a great heads up play by the Pitt player that made the recovery. It was an ugly game on both sides of the field, and we luckily came away with the win.

I agree with everyone on here saying we need to run the rock. It's essential. I am beside myself wondering what "techniques" chenged that jacked up the running game. But then again, if the passing game is working right, you can pass to open up the run, too. The lack of a true deep threat is a hinderance, but come on man, these coaches need to use their imagination.

Alright, comments on the press conference yesterday. Nice to see all the coaches are on the same page, circling the wagons. I love Harbs, but come on man. Cut the reporters a break, they're doing their job. The repeated "I have no idea what your talking about" regarding the question about Perriman was uncalled for. I guess if Harbs isn't quoting Winston Churchill or talking about how hard everyone is working he doesn't want to talk about it. Part of their job is to ask, and part of your job is to address, Johnny Boy. Jerry did a nice job and I think he explained things with regards to the return game and Tuck's miss last week. I thought Trestman was OK, seemed like he's trying to figure some things out. Now Pees...PLEASE. It's not communication? Every single D Back said after the game they need to improve communication. There were no blown coverages? REALLY? What games have you been watching over the past 2 weeks? And let me address this whole "technique" thing. This is your 4th year as DC. Jimmy and Webb have been there the entire time. This is Hill's 2nd year in the system. Kendrick is new, so he MAYBE might have to learn the system. But if Jimmy, Webb, and Hill are still learning your "techniques", well, you better find a different way to teach it. For that matter, let's talk about your "techniques", since you feel it's got nothing to do with your scheme. We are currently 29th in the league against the pass. Last season our D was 23rd in the league against the pass. 2013 we were 12th in the league, and in 2012 we were 17th. So, under your watch as DC, we average about 20th in the league against the pass. You had better check your "technique", because it doesn't work.

We have 7 sacks on the season. We can pressure. We need to have better play/scheme in the secondary. That will prevent the quick pass and make the QB look to his second or third read and then...BOOM. Everything has to work in concert.

Agreed, Greek. Let's put the coaches at the top of that list. Get better or get gone, both OC and DC. You can even see the frustration on Harbs face with both of those guys in certain situations. At the end of the day, falls on Harbs to get those jokers in line.

Our receivers aren't below average. They have performed well in the past in different schemes. The lack of a deep threat does limit us. But then again, New England doesn't really have a deep threat and it doesn't seem to bother them. This offense (the same pieces we had last season) put up record numbers overall in 2014. In a different scheme. As far as pass rush is concernedm pass rush is generated in most cases by good initial secondary play. You don't just line up and get a pass rush unless you have Suggs and Doom out there together, or Hali and Houston, JJ Watt, or Ware and Miller, guys that can bring it on every down. I think the secondary scheme working in concert with the pass rush is another area that is not coached or properly schemed by the coaching staff. We are in the top third of the league in sacks with 7, so I don't buy the theory that we have no pass rush. We could be better if we had a better scheme overall. Let me ask you something...does NE have any big name pass rushers? Who is in their secondary this season? Can you name someone? Well, they are tied with the Rams with 13 sacks so far this season. It's scheme, man. Our coaches need to prepare better schemes, do a better job of player development and preparation, and our players need to execute better.

We're not bad. Chicago is bad. SF is bad. Heck, Miami is bad. We are bad in phases which has prevented this team from sealing a victory in the 1st 3 games. I don't see this team getting blown off the field, and they very well could have been blown off the field in any one of these games if we are as bad as you say we are. As far as draft busts are concerned, I'll follow up with my normal mantra over the past few seasons...it's coaching. There's no reason why any of these players haven't or couldn't develop save the LACK of COACHING on DEFENSE. Period. The offense, specifically the line, is the same line that allowed Forsett to gain 1200+ yards last season. Aiken had a few TDs last season, and Marlon Brown had 7 TD grabs in 2013. These guys can play. But the offensive scheme is suspect thus far IMO. Actually, what has kept us in these games overall has been talent, pure and simple. Have to combine that with a winning formula. Then we'll be moving in the right direction.

What's interesting in all of this and really gets lost because of the outcome of the game is the fact that Cincy's supposedly vaunted secondary wasn't all that impressive either, considering EVERYONE in the stadium knew the only option on offense was Steve and they still not only allowed him to catch the ball, but couldn't tackle him either. In 2 seasons with us, Steve has made the Bengals secondary look like children (LOOKING AT YOU, PACMAN). As frustrating as this start is for us, this team is not done. Everyone that is punching Cincy's ticket to a Division title is way too premature, just as those writing off the Ravens are speaking way too soon. We are one stop and one score in each of these games from being 3-0. It is frustrating, damn unacceptable the way these games shook out. I just hope Harbs gets the OC and the DC motivated to make the necessary adjustments, and hope our guys start doing their jobs. If that happens, we'll be in the mix when January rolls around.

@merryjman, I couldn't agree more with this entire post. You are spot on. There's a lot of tap dancing going on as far as explaining the issues, but to me they are obvious, and you hit them all. First, when an opponent makes an adjustment, we somehow don't have an answer, as if the coaches haven't taught these players to make those adjustments on the field. And you're absolutely correct, specifically speaking of #52 and #20, who were in the chess match with QBs until the ball was snapped, adjusting defensively to the offensive pre-snap adjustments. They bailed Pees out many a time in 2012. Without them in 2013, our secondary was not good. In 2014, it was even worse. At the end of the day, the coaches have to prepare the players to play. Our players are good, but obvioiusly not properly prepared.

And with zero running game. I agree, Joe should be on this list.

Even on Sirius NFL Radio, Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller are talking about, "Well, you know with Dean Pees when he needs a play, zero blitz. Dalton obviously knew that and took advantage.". When the sports talk shows know that your DC goes to one play when he needs a play, you don't think every OC in the NFL knows that? Pretty sad that a supposed professional DC has no imagination.

Steelers have been picking at the bottom of the draft for years, too. So has New England. Their combined record is 5-1. Riddle me that, Batman. It's the coaching and execution. Our players don't suck. If they did, we'd be getting blow off the field. That's not the case.