BillyD

Coaching. Coaching, coaching, and coaching. Not many receivers step on the field day one and are just lights out. Maybe Dez and Megatron are a couple that come to mind there. It takes coaching, playing to a player's strengths, formulating an offensive plan that highlights a player's talents. Our schemes on both sides of the ball are just plain vanilla. We can't block, which means we can't run, which means we can't run play action. Joe is constantly running for his life, Steve is catching short, quick, underneath routes and because of pure heart, will, and talent, is able to make something of nothing. Crockett is the same way, as are the other TEs, it seems. Seems we've done absolutely nothing on offense to develop Brown and Aiken. I mean, we throw fades to Steve? I love Steve, don't get me wrong, but isn't the whole point of a fade to throw the ball up and let your taller, stronger receiver out muscle the defender and catch the ball at its highest point? Just my 2 cents on that. And don't get me started on the defensive coaching. Pees needs to go.

Agree, they had bad games. I'll go back to the coaching. Two seasons ago, Rice had a very sub-par season. Everyone said it was the line, Ray was injured, etc. Even caled for firing Juan Castillo (which I still think would have been a fantastic idea). Then, last season, with all the chaos surrounding the offseason issues, Kubiack came in with his zone blocking scheme and it WORKED! This season, we have the same pieces in place, but a new OC and good ol' Juan "I didn't learn a damn thing from Kubiack" Castillo, and we can't run the ball. Not exculpating the O line entirely, but if something works, as our running game did last season, DON'T FIX IT.

WR Mohamed Sanu: (on the last touchdown to Green) %u201CWe had it. He [Dalton] changed protection. We had our routes locked. ***They played man across the board, and when you do that, you%u2019re susceptible for it not to be in your favor.*** - *** They played man the whole fourth quarter.*** They were ***trying*** to throw exotic blitzes on us to slow us down.%u201D Here's Mohamed Sanu basically saying what we all have been saying and know: 1) We cannot cover these receivers man-to-man, at least not in a soft man format; 2) Not only could we not cover their receivers man-to-man on that play, we couldn't do it the entire 4th quarter (Sanu sounds almost SURPRISED that we stayed in man the whole quarter; 3) Trying to get cute/exotic with blitzes doesn't work when you are giving a huge cushion and your scheme is so obvious that Andy Dalton can sit back there and KNOW what is coming, adjust his routes and protections and we just sit back, make no adjustment, and lose the game. Sickening.

Couldn't disagree more with regards to the Joe comment. Is he "elite"? Who knows? But he put up 300+ yards in the past two games with NO rushing attack and basically going either to check downs, TEs or SSS. In my book, that's not half bad. He, SSS, and the TEs have kept us in these games for the most part. When the defense (once again) allows a QB to dink, dunk, and/or get chunks of yards the way QBs have doen against our secondary the last 2 weeks, well then the coaches better figure out how to fix the isue. You cannot run 1-on-1 coverage against AJ. Not with our CBs. (APPARENTLY WE DIDN'T FIGURE THAT ONE OUT AFTE RHE BURNED US LAST SEASON). So what do you do? You double him. And make someone else beat you, if they can. You mix up coverages, you chip and jam at the line, you tighten the zone if you're going zone...etc. We haven't done that AT ALL. No adjustment. Nothing. IMO, Pees and his scheme just have to go. They have to. I was done with him after 2012. Apparently, Harbs is not.

Folks, I said it after last week and I'll say it again this week. It is abundantly obvious that there is a coaching issue. Several coaching issues. To those who say Flacco is not elite, ok, maybe he's not. He did notch 300 in the last two games and the O put up some points, but we faltered at the end of the game. But let's get back to the coaching. You have to SCHEME to win games. Let's go ahead and start with the offense. How has our running game been? Oh, you mean we don't have a running game this season? No kidding? But wait a minute, we have the same backs...same O line...remember last season, that guy Forsett put up monster numbers? Well, what's changed? Oh, that's riiiight! We have a new OC...and he is not getting the most out of the running game. I remember a couple of seasons ago the running game was equally atrocious and everyone was calling for Castillo's job as the O line coach. And they should return to that mantra, because if he didn't learn anything from Kubiack last season, he's obviously not fit for the job. The jury's still out on Trestman, but so far if it wasn't for SSS and the TEs, we would be back in the Boller days on offense. Now, let's talk defense, or lack thereof. I posted last week that we have had 6 DCs in our history, and 2 have been known for their soft cover style in the passing game and lack of imagination in creating a pass rush. One of those DCs was Greg Mattison, who couldn't get out of Baltimore fast enough. The other is the current DC. Listen, I don't want to talk about talent or lack of talent, I don't want to talk about injuries. In 2012 Ray, Sizzle, and Ed were out there, and yes, we won the SB. But our D was ranked 17th. 17TH! With all that talent. Who was our DC? Oh, it was Pees. The year before we were ranked 3rd over all on defense. Pretty much the same crew. Different DC (Pagano). It's coaching. And scheme. Case in point, AJ Green burned us last season. Who was our DC? Dean Pees. AJ Green burned us again this season. Who is our DC? Riiiight. So Harbs says in the post-game press conference, "gee, we better learn how to cover AJ Green.". Really? That's your answer? Guess what? The tape is out on AJ. Specifically against US! And you couldn't figure out how to roll some help over the top to bracket him, or chip him at the line to give the rush a chance to get to Dalton? I mean, if he's beating you, take him away and make them go elsewhere. Don't tell me about lack of talent. Jimmy is good, but he is not good enough to be out there on an island against a guy that is eating him up all day. You're the coaches, you should recognize that and FIGURE OUT A SCHEME THAT WILL PUT OUR PLAYERS IN THE BEST POSITION TO WIN. This is a team game. Our coaching staff seems to value individual skill and talent over a group effort. Guess what. When you don't have stars that simply doesn't work. But when you prepare for an opponent and take away THEIR stars with our GROUP, you can win. That is not happening in Baltimore, and we have just squandered 2 brilliant performances by SSS. As a fan, I would like SSS to know how much I appreciate his heart, and I would like to apologize for our coaching staff not having the wherewithall to put this team in a position to win and squandering the last season in a great HOF caliber career. Coaches: WAKE UP! You had better figure out how to create a package that does not allow receivers to run free with a 5 to 7 yard cushion or we will be looking at 0-4 after Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Even Michael Vick can hit a wide open receiver from time to time. And if that happens, we are in for another long day. If AJ Green can go for 200 against our soft cover package, what do you think Antonio Brown is going to do?

I hear you. And I definitely agree with the point. I think in 2012 Biscotti was just so fed up with Cam's lack of killer instinct at the end of game he just decided to pull the trigger. I ceertainly think if Pees doesn't wake up and smell the coffee, he's a short timer and might be gone after the season is over. Maybe Harbs had a heart-to-heart with both the OC and DC and we may see some changes in the immediate future. Let's hope so...

Agreed...Harbs has proven to be meticulous and thoughtful when making changes. He's not a "knee jerk" reaction kind of guy (see DANIEL SNYDER). He has, however, IMO, clearly put the DC on notice, both in the preseason and currently. He just does it in a very profesisonal manner!

Yep. Coaches job is to scheme and get the most out of the players he has. And we are not doing that, currently.

I agree and disagree with you. I don't buy the money argument. There are plenty of teams around the league that have players come and go (namely NE) and are consistenly good teams. And we've seen player go...so? How did Adelius Thomas do when he left? How is Haloti doing (his squad is ALSO 0-2). Carey Williams and the Eagles didn't do too hot the last couple years (oh, and by the way he's now with Seattle...who is also 0-2). Torrey is doing what he does in SF, but they are not such a hot team, either. I can go on...we've had players go to Indy (currently 0-2) and Miami, which looks lost out there. Players play and need to execute. But if your game plan is not up to par, you just won't win. I do agree with the play calling argument. Listen, we don't have a bunch of bums out there, we have a good team! But the SCHEMES, man! THE SCHEMES! Wow, we need a big change in that philosophy. We lack the killer instinct. And it starts with the scheme to attack and dominate. We attack, then sit back. Sit back, then ATTACK...and it's too late. It has to be consistent...ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK...PLAY TO WIN the GAME!

Good call. That definitely may have lead to a sense of overconfidence. I stil think our success defensively against Den had alot to do with their offensive scheme. They just couldn't do ANYTHING right until Kubiack put the ball back in Manning's hands in the second half of the KC game. It was a different offense from that point on, and they lit it up.Yeah, our D had a bunch of sacks and QB hurries in that one, but so did the Chiefs in the first half against Den. In the 2nd half, they didn't do so well.

Well, it's not just blitzing and exotic packages. The CBs need to be able to be more aggressive and Pees needs to stop with the soft zone schemes. Just because Carr was getting the ball out early doesn't mean he should have carved us up like that. If he's throwing quick, press the receivers with the corners, make the QB hesitate or think twice about that first read. Jump the route. At the same time, you need to make sure you have over the top coverage, that's where the safeties come in. If the CB gets beat on a double move, the safety needs to back him up. Move the OLBs out to disrupt the passing lanes, knock the TE or even a slot receiver off of his route and screw with the timing of the play. Look, I'm no DC, but I'm no fool either. If it's a 2nd or 3rd and short situation and your CBs are lined up 3 to 5 yards BEYOND the 1st down marker, their first steps post snap are a yard or to MORE downfield, the receiver takes 4 to 5 steps, stops, turns, the ball is there, our CB reacts and makes a tackle (hopefully), but it's too late and there you have it, FIRST DOWN. It's not rocket science....well...maybe to Pees it IS rocket science! And I couldn't agree with you more about the scoring. We need TDs. FGs are good, but TDs win games in this scenario with this team. We just don't have the scheme on defense right now that will allow us to hold onto a 1 or 2 or even a 3 point lead. Heck, against Oakland 6 points wouldn't have been enough. I see more potential on offense, but I really scratch my head...you have Gilmore who was having a monster game, as was Steve. But Gilmore is big. Over 6ft tall and strong. And you throw a fade to...Steve? Don't get me wrong, I love Steve and he ALMOST made 2 game winning plays out west. But you're forcing Joe to thread a needle to a small (yet physical and fully capable) receiver when you could loft it to the big man and let him out jump and box out the defender for the TD. Yeah, I know, we tried that with the Croc-O-Matic against Den and it didn't work out. But we threw that to the MIDDLE of the field. And Joe was just a bit off, he should have layed it out a bit further so either Crocket would catch it or no one would catch it. You know, like a corner route to the back corner of the end zone? Maybe? Like I said, I'm no play caller, and if any of these plays on O would have worked, we would be singing a different tune. But they didn't and we're not. So the coaching staff needs to make adjustments. Let's hope they do, or Cincy is gonna run wild on Sunday. Hopefully that won't be the case. Go RAVENS!

You get lemons, you make lemonade. Howis it that NE can let their entire secondary go after last season and still put a good unit on the field? Coaching and scheme. Preparation. And maybe a little interference in your headset, but hey, they still have to execute. Pees is a crappy coordinater. Plain and simple. Our secondary is an NFL secondary. Bottom line, you play soft zone and give a 7 to 10 yard cushion on 3rd and 3, as long as the QB can sort of throw and the receiver can sort of catch, you'll get the 1st down on the majority of 3rd and short plays.

Harbs shoudl be coming down hard on the D, and especially the DC. Listen, we've had a total of 6 DCs in Ravens history. Let's see how they stack up: Marvin Lewis - First three seasons with a new franchise, couldn't get the defense into a top 20 squad let alone a top 10 squad. His last 3 seasons as DC (99-01)? Ravens were the #2 D in the league each year. Mike Nolan - First season was a tough transition and the D ranked 22nd over all. In his next two seasons the D was in the top 10 overall, ranked 3rd in 09 and 6th in 04. Rex Ryan - The D under Rex never fell out of the top 10 in the league. It was at it's lowest under Rex at 6th overall in 2007, and finished 1st overall in 06 and 2nd overall in 08. Greg Mattison (REMEMBER THIS KNUCLEHEAD? THE CURRENT DC REMINDS ME OF HIM) - In 2 seasons as the DC, Mattison's squad ranked 30th (that was in 09, a year after Rex had the #2 D in the league), and 10th in 2010 thanks to a stout run D that ranked 5th overall. However, the pass defense in 2010 ranked 21st in the league. Sound familiar? Read on... Chuck Pagano - In his one season as DC in Baltimore, the squad ranked 3rd overall, 4th against the pass and 2nd against the run. Imagine that...a squad that ranked in the bottom 3rd of the league the previous year was ranked in the top 5 in the league the following year. COACHING, COACHING, COACHING. Dean Pees - In his 3 seasons, Pees has been able to accomplish the following: 2012 - 17th ranked defense. He gets credit for a Super Bowl, however, I highly doubt that our 17th ranked pass defense and 20th ranked run defense did any more than keep us close as Joe had a historic playoff run that propelled us into the SB and to a win in New Orleans. I just remember praying SF wouldn't run the ball on that last series insode the 5. Luckily, they didn't. 2013 - 12th ranked defense overall. Not terrible, 11th against the run, 12th against the pass...but not Ravens football. 2014: 8th ranked defense overall. Not bad. Top 10 defense, right? Yep. Thanks to the 4th ranked defense against the run. Last season, the Ravens ranked 23rd against the pass. So where does that leave us? Sure, there are other factors in play, losing players to injury, free agency, etc. But that happens pretty much every year. The fact of the matter is that we get burned and carved up because of the soft zone coverages Pees loves to run. If you look at the history of our defense, we have had coaches that scheme and get the most out of our defensive unit agaist the run AND pass. But there are some (I'M TALKING TO YOU, PEES AND MATTISON) that can't seem to get those units to excel equally. And when they have play consistently under those DCs, as they did under Pees in 2012 and under Mattison in 2009, it's not to the top 5 level that is consistent with Ravens football. That's just my opinion, and I think the numbers support that. What do you guys think?

Couple points: As has been mentioned in previous posts - DEN couldn't get out of it's own way until they made adjustments in the 2nd half of the KC game. After that, they lit it up. I'm not giving any credit to Pees. I've been watching Ravens football too long to not recognize that the scheme under Pees is soft, and it kills us not having experienced players to make adjustments when the DC screws up. With regards to Pees being one of the "most respected DCs in the league", I'll refer to your opening line...these analysts have no clue what they are talking about. So, what you're trying to say is how much his 17th ranked defense helped us win the SB? (Just FYI, that very same defense unnder Pagano ranked 3rd the previous season) Listen, maybe some folks are satisfied with a top 15 or 20 defense. I, for one, am not. I am accustomed to a top 5 defense in Baltimore. That comes from coaching. And Pees has been baield out in the past by our experienced future hall of famers. They aren't here to bail him out anymore. And it shows.

And let's not forget, I believe it was Biscotti himself that pressed Harbs to dump Cam. Let's hope Steve doesn't wait so long to do the same if Harbs doesn't do it himself with Pees. It's been clear ever since Pees took over the D that we were operatign under a different philosophy, which really doesn't work well at all. We were lucky to have players like Ed, Ray, T Sizzle, and Haloti that had been under Marvin, Rex, and Chuck's schemes and could make adjustments and changes on the fly. We don't have that anymore, and it shows. We need a DC that is much more aggressive.

We are playing vanilla football because of the coaching and scheme. That's what they are puttign together. Everyone you mention, Suggs, Ray, Ed, Haloti, had played with the Ravens long enough to play under a different style of DC (Marvin, Rex, Pagano) so they could freelance and basically run things from the field and make adjustments as needed. We don't have that experience now, so the DC and HC have to teach these guys what "Ravens Football" is about. We have the talent, we need the teachers.

"The performance was particularly odd considering the defense nearly completely shut down Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense in Week 1. They kept the Broncos out of the end zone entirely, holding them to just four field goals." Was that the D or the inept Denver O that caused the lack of offensive production? Denver couldn't get anything going until the 2nd half of the KC game. And with regards to the SB win, that annoying "bend don't break" Pees defense in the 2nd half nearly cost us the game, if you recall. If SF ran the ball instead of leaving it up to an extremely inexperienced, overrated, and inaccurate QB, we might be having a different conversation right now, because on that last SB drive the Niners ran it down our throats down to the 5-yard line. IMO, Pees is weak and needs to go. He really suffers from Cam Cameron-itis...we can play lights out and shut a team down on D, just like Cam would come out swinging and we woudl get up on teams quick when he was the OC, and then they go into cruise control and play not to lose instead of playing to win. I'd take Rex, Marvin, or Chuck back in a HEARTBEAT. Those were the days when QBs feared the Ravens, RBs would just crumble to the turf with the sight of the Ravens front closing in. Not so much anymore. Our D has more holes than a June bride with that weak soft zone and no D-line penetration. We need to fire it up and get some schemes going that knock the offense off balance. We need to attack.

And in the words of Aaron Rogers...R-E-L-A-X...Relax! It's 2 games. If everything was determined on funky stats (only x percent of teams who won on the 3rd Sunday in October at 1pm, on the road, and flew home 2 hours after the game, ate at Denny's, and only got 5 hour sleep have made the playoffs in the Super Bowl era), then why do we play the games? Yeah, we're 0-2, and it SUCKS because we have the talent and had the opportunities to be 2-0. So what? Next game, next man up, we win 1 and keep it moving.

Dude, I am so SICK of hearing about the "leaders" who ar eno longer with the Ravens. For Pete's sake, it's the COACHES' job to be a leader, prepare these players, and inspire them. And in addition, there are plenty of veterans on BOTH sides of the ball who can step in and fill that player role. So SHUT THE HECK UP ABOUT WHO IS NOT HERE ANYMORE. We get it. Now can we please move on and get ready to whip Cincy on Sunday?

"Regroup"? That's putting it mildly. Pees is a bad DC, I've never been a fan of his "bend, don't break" philosophy. Puts us in too many bad situations. We had 2 14-piont leads against NE last year and blew both of them. This is a recurring story. The days of a dominant defense that creates chaos and turnovers left with Pagano, unfortuantely. We have the talent, the scheme is a huge issue. I hate to say it, but you see NE put a bunch of guys out there every season, they let "superstars" like Revis go, and they don't miss a beat. Why are we living in the past, saying that losing Reed, Ray, and Suggs are losses we cannot overcome? Coaching and scheme win ball games. Preparing for your opponent and everyone doing their job, especially the coaches, win ball games. IMO, Pees needs to go. Everyone was lauding this defense after week 1 against Denver. Denver couldn't get out of their own way until the 2nd half against KC. If they were playing like they did in that second half for the entire game against us in week 1, they would have crushed us. On the offensive side of the ball, what the heck is going on with Joe? Poor decision making, bad throws (underthrowing/overthrowing)...he just looks out of sync. No way he should have missed Steve OR Aiken, who were both WIDE OPEN. This team looks confused and lack luster. And what the hell is Tressman thinking throwing TO THE SIDELINES with 2 minutes and change left when we were grinding it out, milking the clock, they have one timeout remaining and we could either take time off the clock or get them to spend that last time out? Just a terrible job coaching. I watch guys like Rogers, Wilson, Brady, Big Ben, use the pocket, move to open space, give their receivers an extra second or two to work to get open, even with the pocket collapsing around them. Joe just seems to stand there flat footed. It's exteremely frustrating to see such potential and no results. With these two behind us and Cincy and Pittsburch looming in the next two weeks, the way those offesnes score points, the way our defense has been carved up, the way our offense has turned into a one-trick-pony (Flacco to Steve), I am hard pressed to see how we won't be 0-4 come October. That being said, if we don't salvage this season especially with the high expectations, what does that say for Harbaugh? Has he lost the team? How long of a leash do you think he has? If we cannot turn this around, we are looking at MAYBE 4 wins, that is, if we can actually come to play against CLE twice, MIA, JAX. I can't see this team, the way they've played, beating anyone else on the schedule at this point. Luckily, it's early yet. And the NFL is a crazy league. This coaching staff better wake up and smell the coffee. We need to prepare and take these games one at a time, stack some positive, plays, stack some wins, and, in the words of Herman Edwards, "PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!". Let's go Ravens. Who is going to step up and DOMINATE?!?!