Has Joe Lost His Mojo?

[Ed_Reed_Pick_Six]

[quote name='Purple Punishment' date='26 November 2009 - 08:00 PM' timestamp='1259222434' post='293935']
Most definitely cannot disagree here. I dont understand what the big deal is either. Rice leads the team in receiving yards mainly because our guys arent getting open. I think Joe does a wonderful job in diagnosing the plays and he knows he can put it to a recevier when they are open. he makes great throws, even some that the best in the league cannot. They just arent getting open fast enough
[/quote]
Mason is the only receiver who consistently get seperation, however, speedy corners can recover as Mason is not the fastest of receivers. We all know Clayton is inconsistent at generating seperation, Heap is solid but again can be negated in coverage. Rice... well what can you do there? Unless you get him right as he grabs it, he'll make good gains.

[BohBalmerOsbohs]

Mason is a pretty good YAC receiver. He can make the guy miss aswell. I REALLY want to see Kelly Washington get more grabs. Is it me, or does it seem we see him once a game for a 3rd down Conversion catch?

[Purple Punishment]

Exactly it is a team effort. If one link in the chain is weak (receivers) it makes the strong ones weaker (quarterback)

[Ed_Reed_Pick_Six]

[quote name='BohBalmerOsbohs' date='26 November 2009 - 08:06 PM' timestamp='1259222782' post='293941']
Mason is a pretty good YAC receiver. He can make the guy miss aswell. I REALLY want to see Kelly Washington get more grabs. Is it me, or does it seem we see him once a game for a 3rd down Conversion catch?
[/quote]
He's alright, not really that powerful or speedy though. But he fights well. I would also like to see more Kelley Washington, he's made some great grabs this season.

[Purple Punishment]

So my question is, why we as fans can see this but the coaches cant? Or do they see it but are too prideful to pull the trigger on these types of things?

[ih8unc]

[quote name='ravensfan160' date='23 November 2009 - 08:49 AM' timestamp='1258984177' post='291238']
Does anyone else think its odd that as Rice becomes more of a threat that defenses need to account for, Joe is struggling? That to me doesn't make any sense so it brought me to only one conclusion.

Joe is starting to look for the checkdown to Rice more and more quickly than he did before. Before Rice was such a threat out of the backfield Joe was constantly looking down the field even when he scrambled. He was being compared to Roethlisberger in that regard. But now he's hesitant in throwing downfield because he doesn't want to make a mistake when he can just dump it off to Rice.

Anyone else feel this way?
[/quote]



I've noticed that as well.Good point,its good that he has that option but I feel that he pulls the trigger a little too quickly on that.

[Marc2k6]

[quote name='RavingRaven' date='23 November 2009 - 02:06 PM' timestamp='1259003167' post='291498']
Flacco is fine and much improved over last season. He lacks targets. When your running back is your leading receiver, that tells you a lot about the WRs ability to get open and catch the ball.

Pray for the acquisition of talented WRs before the start of next season.
[/quote]

Sure! Blame it on the WR's instead of the man holding the ball in his hand. For some reason we do not attack the middle of the field and most of our pass routes are outs, Curls or come backs. Yeah the safe stuff! I'm not sure what the problem is but there is a problem. Do you think Flacco is having a problem reading the coverage? Let's not sit here and give Joe Flacco a pass because he is everyone's favorite, he will tell you himself that he has to do a better job. That last int vs the colts to me says that he relies on Ray Rice to much and he needs to find the open WR down field.

[Rinbee]

[quote name='BohBalmerOsbohs' date='26 November 2009 - 03:06 AM' timestamp='1259222782' post='293941']
Mason is a pretty good YAC receiver. He can make the guy miss aswell. I REALLY want to see Kelly Washington get more grabs. Is it me, or does it seem we see him once a game for a 3rd down Conversion catch?
[/quote]

I don't think we see Washington enough to get into a good groove with Flacco. I like what he does and would like to see more of him.

[kash96ravenstotalfan]

[quote name='Marc2k6' date='26 November 2009 - 11:52 AM' timestamp='1259254373' post='294023']
Sure! Blame it on the WR's instead of the man holding the ball in his hand. For some reason we do not attack the middle of the field and most of our pass routes are outs, Curls or come backs. Yeah the safe stuff! I'm not sure what the problem is but there is a problem. Do you think Flacco is having a problem reading the coverage? Let's not sit here and give Joe Flacco a pass because he is everyone's favorite, he will tell you himself that he has to do a better job. That last int vs the colts to me says that he relies on Ray Rice to much and he needs to find the open WR down field.
[/quote]
First, our WR's many times cannot/do not get open. Is that Joe's fault? We don;t have a strong, fast WR to get open in the middle of the field. Real problem is that we do not have a big, strong, fast WR for Joe to throw to. Hopefully, we can fix that before next season.

[gilgamesh]

[quote name='kash96ravenstotalfan' date='26 November 2009 - 07:40 PM' timestamp='1259282445' post='294157']
First, our WR's many times cannot/do not get open. Is that Joe's fault? We don;t have a strong, fast WR to get open in the middle of the field. Real problem is that we do not have a big, strong, fast WR for Joe to throw to. Hopefully, we can fix that before next season.
[/quote]

Because every good WR is big, fast and strong? You make it sound so easy to get one. Larry is not breaking any speed records and neither is Boldin. Moss does not catch in the middle and run very often. Steve Smith is downright tiny. The only receivers with all of those attributes is Megatron and maybe Marshall. Even Jerry Rice didn't have all three of those attributes. What he did well was catching the ball and running routes. Those are pretty hard to determine in college players, or people like Mike Williams and Charles Rodgers would never be picked.

Also, a receiver doesn't need great speed or size to catch in the middle of the field, ask Wes Welker. Measurables are easy to find, that is why the aren't the determining factor in draftees and why every team has a whole scouting division. It's not just Ozzie and Harbs that sit in a room alone and decide who we draft. It would be too easy if we can just look at the combine numbers and draft accordingly. You don't see many Raiders draftees in the Pro Bowl for a reason, Al Harris only looks at measurables.

Yes a big, strong, fast WR is very desirable, but it is very difficult to find one with good football skills. It would certainly help our offense, but would not be the determining factor in our games. The superstar WR is a luxury spot. A great o-line and quarterback combo can make anyone look good, like in New Orleans. Even in Pittsburgh, Ben gets sacked a lot because he holds onto the ball too long. Why? Because his great receivers aren't open and he has to prolong the play. Nobody ever blames them (not that I'm saying they deserve the blame, just that fans readily blame ours for the same reason).

[JaxFlaccoFan]

Joe has struggled the last three games, but I believe he will become a top tier QB in this league. He is only in his second year and is still learning. I think his self-confidence has been tested the last few games. How he responds to this will define what type of QB he will ultimately become just like every other QB in the league who has gone through this including all the great ones. I think when your receivers are having trouble getting separation, you start to lose some of your confidence, especially when you try to make something happen and end up forcing the ball and getting picked off. Joe has very little room for margin. When he does complete passes, he usually has to throw into very tight windows. On Sunday, Manning's receivers were often wide open and he had time to survey the field. Joe usually only has time to look at maybe two receivers and if they are covered, he doesn't have many options other than to check down to Rice. I love Mason, but even he has dropped a few balls this year and is having trouble getting separation. I wonder how Manning or Brady would do with the Ravens' receivers or OL. I'm not sure they would do much better than Joe. Joe is still in or near the top 10 of every passing statistic, even with his difficulties in the past three games, and he is ahead of Matt Ryan in just about every statistic. Joe will be fine.

[Guest I-70WestRaven]

[quote name='Marc2k6' date='26 November 2009 - 10:52 AM' timestamp='1259254373' post='294023']
Sure! Blame it on the WR's instead of the man holding the ball in his hand. For some reason we do not attack the middle of the field and most of our pass routes are outs, Curls or come backs. Yeah the safe stuff! I'm not sure what the problem is but there is a problem. Do you think Flacco is having a problem reading the coverage? Let's not sit here and give Joe Flacco a pass because he is everyone's favorite, he will tell you himself that he has to do a better job. That last int vs the colts to me says that he relies on Ray Rice to much and he needs to find the open WR down field.
[/quote]
Are the receivers open downfield?Face it I don't think too many D-co-ordinators are losing sleep trying to figure out how to shut down our passing game.It sure would help if we had a verticle threat that may force a double team or a safty to cheat to one side of the field,opening possibilities on the other.I think it's a lack of speed or perhaps receiver packages(Washington,Tyree,whoever)that has Joe checking down so much,and yes like you,I think he does need to do a better job,but better weapons would go a long way to help.

[#52BABY]

[quote name='ravensfan160' date='23 November 2009 - 09:49 PM' timestamp='1258984177' post='291238']
Does anyone else think its odd that as Rice becomes more of a threat that defenses need to account for, Joe is struggling? That to me doesn't make any sense so it brought me to only one conclusion.

Joe is starting to look for the checkdown to Rice more and more quickly than he did before. Before Rice was such a threat out of the backfield Joe was constantly looking down the field even when he scrambled. He was being compared to Roethlisberger in that regard. But now he's hesitant in throwing downfield because he doesn't want to make a mistake when he can just dump it off to Rice.

Anyone else feel this way?
[/quote]

hes a second year QB out of Delaware (i know he was trans from pitt) i think hes doin gr8 considering hes been thrown in there with soo much to learn over the last 18 months. At least boller aint in there! give the kid a break

[Guest I-70WestRaven]

[quote name='Rinbee' date='26 November 2009 - 04:57 PM' timestamp='1259276234' post='294135']
I don't think we see Washington enough to get into a good groove with Flacco. I like what he does and would like to see more of him.
[/quote]
I also agree!He looks like,if given a chance,he could do some damage.He makes a good catch and then,"poof" where did he go?Also do you think it wouldn't hurt to try to get the ball to the tight end more?

[FlaccoFlicker]

Flacco with an Ankle Injury?

“Ever since Flacco hurt his ankle in the Minnesota game, he hasn’t played as well,” said Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun. [b]“Because Harbaugh likes to play these mind games with the injuries, we’ll never know the extent of it.”[/b]

Preston believes that an ankle injury could be the reason behind Flacco’s inaccurate throws and slow movement in the pocket.

An ankle injury would explain Flacco’s three-game decline. However, he is not listed on the team’s official injury report.

On that same report linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Ed Reed, tight end Todd Heap, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and several others are listed. Why would you note all of these Ravens leaders, but not Flacco?

Sometimes a slump is just a slump.
This came from a report here.Is Harbs trying to pull a Bellichik with the not gonna say if he's hurt or not.I know alot of coaches probably do,but dang man come one,if Flaccs ankle is bothering him hope he doesn't injure it to much worse.He isn't scrambling as much as he used to.

[Dan The Man Ravens #1 Fan]

I dont think there is anything to worry about as far as the ankle is concerned. If it were any more than a little soreness then the Ravens would be required to list him on the injury report. His performance over the last few weeks isnt as bad as some like to think. Flacco is still quite young and it should be expected that he would have a bad game or two from time to time. In spite of the inaccuracy, hesitation occassionally in the pocket, and his misreading the defense from time to time, Flacco is still moving the offense. Had the Ravens scored even a couple more times over the past few weeks or take away the last interception, we wouldnt even be discussing this right now. Like others have said, compare him to Matt Ryan. Flacco is still by far the better of the two. After he throws 3 touchdown passes this week against the Steelers, all will be well again!