Harbaugh Deserves First (+) Rep Point!

[hammer]

The Ravens coaching staff has been spotty this year after a Divisional Title in 2008.

1. Harbaugh's game management has been questionable as he has mis-used timeouts time and time again.

2. Players are getting "lost and or buried" in the rotation and substitutional patterns. Reducing the in-game strategy to incoherent.

3. Cam's has been inconsistent as a play caller, with no identity of what our strengths might be on any given Sunday.

4. Mattison...... well, I am just not going to go there.

However, with that being said, [b]Harbaugh took a GIANT LEAP FORWARD as an NFL head coach when he elected to go for it on fourth down at about 3:40 left in the fourth quarter. [/b]

As a young 2nd year Head Coach, it appears that he has the "stones" to be turning the corner into a strong 2010 year of leadership. But make no doubt about it, this is the kind of "BOLD LEADERSHIP" we are going to need from Harbaugh in the future.

[Moderator 2]

Even if that play did not work I would not have slammed coach for that, it took stones to do that.

[hammer]

[quote name='Moderator 2' date='01 December 2009 - 12:43 AM' timestamp='1259642637' post='299339']
Even if that play did not work I would not have slammed coach for that, it took stones to do that.
[/quote]

True. I think we had one timeout left and the two minute warning to stop the clock again. Pitt would have effectively needed only two first downs to end the game, and the way Mendenhall was running the ball, this would have been a huge mistake to give them the ball back.

I know this is "corney and cliche-ist" but Harbaugh looked like a young Parcells or Belichek in that call. It was the right in-game decision to make. No doubt about it. He deserves a lot of the credit for the win, but no one has mentioned it.

[Bltravens]

[quote name='hammer' date='30 November 2009 - 10:41 PM' timestamp='1259642478' post='299338']
The Ravens coaching staff has been spotty this year after a Divisional Title in 2008.

1. Harbaugh's game management has been questionable as he has mis-used timeouts time and time again.

2. Players are getting "lost and or buried" in the rotation and substitutional patterns. Reducing the in-game strategy to incoherent.

3. Cam's has been inconsistent as a play caller, with no identity of what our strengths might be on any given Sunday.

4. Mattison...... well, I am just not going to go there.

However, with that being said, [b]Harbaugh took a GIANT LEAP FORWARD as an NFL head coach when he elected to go for it on fourth down at about 3:40 left in the fourth quarter. [/b]

As a young 2nd year Head Coach, it appears that he has the "stones" to be turning the corner into a strong 2010 year of leadership. But make no doubt about it, this is the kind of "BOLD LEADERSHIP" we are going to need from Harbaugh in the future.
[/quote]
Mattison has been getting better Hambone...give him some love lol. The style of defense has just changed now. We arent going to attack the snot out of teams now partly because we cant. Last 5 games we have the #1 rated defense in points allowed. Including games against Denver, Cincy, Cleveland , Indy, and Pittsburgh.

[hammer]

[quote name='Bltravens' date='01 December 2009 - 01:05 AM' timestamp='1259643918' post='299369']
Mattison has been getting better Hambone...give him some love lol. The style of defense has just changed now. We arent going to attack the snot out of teams now partly because we cant. Last 5 games we have the #1 rated defense in points allowed. Including games against Denver, Cincy, Cleveland , Indy, and Pittsburgh.
[/quote]

No need to walk "shaky" on that one, because you are absolutely right. The defense IS GETTING BETTER. No doubt about that. Thanks for the insight.

[b]I .....HAAAAVVE TO.....GIIIVE MATTISON,,,,,,C...R..E...D...I...T ...for that.
Done. I did it! That wasn't too bad, was it?[/b]

[flynismo]

[quote name='hammer' date='01 December 2009 - 01:29 AM' timestamp='1259645388' post='299381']
No need to walk "shaky" on that one, because you are absolutely right. The defense IS GETTING BETTER. No doubt about that. Thanks for the insight.

[b]I .....HAAAAVVE TO.....GIIIVE MATTISON,,,,,,C...R..E...D...I...T ...for that.
Done. I did it! That wasn't too bad, was it?[/b]
[/quote]


Thank you hammer, I know that you were critical of him in the beginning, but at least you give the guy credit when it's due.
I gave up on trying to preach patience with him; people were calling for his head after two weeks, and that's not fair to him.

[Purple Punishment]

Exactly nismo. Change takes time, sepecially to be effective

[hammer]

[quote name='flynismo' date='01 December 2009 - 02:45 AM' timestamp='1259649906' post='299402']
Thank you hammer, I know that you were critical of him in the beginning, but at least you give the guy credit when it's due.
I gave up on trying to preach patience with him; people were calling for his head after two weeks, and that's not fair to him.
[/quote]

That's the way it's supposed to go. [b]You shouldn't be willing to lose your credibility for the purpose of defending your point.[/b] A football season is not "Static" but rather, it is "Dynamic" in nature.

Stuff happens all the time and things do change. Hopefully, we WILL ALL have the decency to change with the canvas as it is being painted. Hopefully.

[AwakenTheDemon]

[quote name='hammer' date='01 December 2009 - 02:30 AM' timestamp='1259652632' post='299419']
That's the way it's supposed to go.You shouldn't be willing to lose your credibility for the purpose of defending your point.[b] A football season is not "Static" but rather, it is "Dynamic" in nature.[/b]

Stuff happens all the time and things do change. Hopefully, we WILL ALL have the decency to change with the canvas as it is being painted. Hopefully.
[/quote]

That is the silliest comment I have heard. No logical person who watches football thinks a season is "static". Purely due to the fact that the majority of players' skill is not static, but ever changing (dynamic) over the course of the season. No team plays 16 games of bad football, and few teams play 16 games of good football. Each good team has a bad game here and there, and each bad team has a good game here and there. I think you're trying a bit too hard to be philosophical. The only static season was the Lions last year.

Anyways, Harbaugh set expectations too high for this year. After the AFC Championship game, everyone (and that includes me) expected another fantastic year with another AFC Championship showing. Now, after struggling and losing some key games, people are all too willing to jump on Harbaugh's case. There may have been some shaky moments for him, but he's only in his second year as a Head Coach, and that's without any experience higher than a coordinator position (no assistant head coaching for him). Just like with any new personnel there's going to be growing pains, Flacco's going to have them, Mattison is going to have them. Thus far, Harbs is showing that he is a good coach, despite the struggles he may have every now and then.

Truthfully, another 11-5 or a 10-6 season is not far out of grasp for Harbs and the Ravens. I'd take that over the tradition of "Good Year, Bad Year, Rinse, Repeat".

[Twoo]

People need to stop praising him for going on it on 4th down. Harbs opened his eyes, realized that if he loses this game then the playoffs are pretty much out of sight- so he realized this was an all or nothing play. The season sitting on a 4th down conversion. 99% of coaches would have gone for it.

[PuRock]

I was furious when he called the second timeout on that 4th down. If he brought out the punting unit after the timeout, I was going to jump ship officially on the Harbaugh boat. But luckily it paid off and it was a smart move.

I kept saying if we gave the ball back to the Steelers on any point of that drive. They would suck the clock dry. Every possession they had it was like 7 minutes, 8 minutes, suck...suck...suck...There was no way we'd stop them with 1 timeout and 3 minutes left.

The only call I did absolutely hate. Was the punt on our own 34 yard-line. I'm thinking that there isn't a team in the league that would have punted in the situation. Half of them would've gone for it, the other half kick a field goal.

Nothing is gain, if nothing is risked.

[Ravnet]

I disagreed with Harbaugh going for it on fourth as a mistake would have meant an automatic loss, but the playcall was absolutely perfect, and if coach knew that Cam had that kind of a play in his book, then I give John credit.

[ravensfan160]

[quote name='Ravnet' date='01 December 2009 - 10:16 AM' timestamp='1259680572' post='299524']
I disagreed with Harbaugh going for it on fourth as a mistake would have meant an automatic loss, but the playcall was absolutely perfect, and if coach knew that Cam had that kind of a play in his book, then I give John credit.
[/quote]
First, about the play call. As it was unfolding it reminded me so much of the game ending interception in the Colt game. Thankfully it worked out better this time.

As for the decision to go for it I would have done the same thing. We were down to one timeout so even if we punted and pinned them back we would have needed to get a 3 and out or allow no more than 1 first down anyway. How is that any different than if we turned the ball over around midfield? We still would need to stop them right away only this time we would also have to do it to keep them out of field goal range.

The bottom line is we would have needed to get a three and out either way so the only difference would be field position if we failed to convert on 4th down.

[Guest RBates]

[quote name='flynismo' date='01 December 2009 - 02:45 AM' timestamp='1259649906' post='299402']
Thank you hammer, I know that you were critical of him in the beginning, but at least you give the guy credit when it's due.
I gave up on trying to preach patience with him; people were calling for his head after two weeks, and that's not fair to him.
[/quote]
im one that still calling for it if he does not get on board to get rid of mattison. Tell me why this guy always shows pre snap who he is going to bring on the blitz and why he always brings pressure up the middle. The reason you don't get many sacks is because we have our whole team in one area on the field. Harbs if you don't see that ill be on the bandwagon for not only getting rid of him next year but you as well. No more breaks this team is to good to be managed by a nice guy learning the game.

[Guest RBates]

[quote name='Bltravens' date='01 December 2009 - 01:05 AM' timestamp='1259643918' post='299369']
Mattison has been getting better Hambone...give him some love lol. The style of defense has just changed now. We arent going to attack the snot out of teams now partly because we cant. Last 5 games we have the #1 rated defense in points allowed. Including games against Denver, Cincy, Cleveland , Indy, and Pittsburgh.
[/quote]
wow top d in last five huh with the exception of Indy none of those teams score alot of points anyway against other good defenses. Yall kill me with that. I'm not impressed with having to comeback against a rookie Qb. Who they had to dumb down the offense for. So much faith in these coaches that make mistake after mistake. Look tell me why we can't get to QB in this league. Ill tell you Mattison brings pressure behind our own d line its messy and we get blocked by our own guys not to mention if i was coaching Pitt and I'm no coach i would have fried the Ravens. You always no who is coming on the blitz so better please we will have this song in dance next week when we play the Packers.

[McBoller]

eh, the defense is getting better, but it could have been better than it was against the steelers.
I think it was obvious to everyone that with our defense and a young QB we were going to try to pressure him as much as possible. Dont you think the Steelers anticipated that? They were making mostly the right blitz reads early in the game and threw a lot of balls behind the LOS. It took 3 and a half quarters to figure out what REALLY worked against Dixon.It should have only taken two drives...

Also, I think the D getting better has a lot to do with getting the RIGHT players in the right spot, not the highest paid or the ones with the most expectations. Webb is playing more, Kruger, Ellerbe...and they are showing up.

[FerrariFan87]

[quote name='hammer' date='30 November 2009 - 11:41 PM' timestamp='1259642478' post='299338']
The Ravens coaching staff has been spotty this year after a Divisional Title in 2008.

1. Harbaugh's game management has been questionable as he has mis-used timeouts time and time again.

2. Players are getting "lost and or buried" in the rotation and substitutional patterns. Reducing the in-game strategy to incoherent.

3. Cam's has been inconsistent as a play caller, with no identity of what our strengths might be on any given Sunday.

4. Mattison...... well, I am just not going to go there.

However, with that being said, [b]Harbaugh took a GIANT LEAP FORWARD as an NFL head coach when he elected to go for it on fourth down at about 3:40 left in the fourth quarter. [/b]

As a young 2nd year Head Coach, it appears that he has the "stones" to be turning the corner into a strong 2010 year of leadership. But make no doubt about it, this is the kind of "BOLD LEADERSHIP" we are going to need from Harbaugh in the future.
[/quote]

I wonder if we had missed on that play if you would be singing this same tune...

[McBoller]

[quote name='FerrariFan87' date='01 December 2009 - 01:59 PM' timestamp='1259693998' post='299692']
I wonder if we had missed on that play if you would be singing this same tune...
[/quote]
It was the right call. If it didnt work then its on the players. There were less than 4 minutes left and they werent exactly having a LOT of trouble getting a couple first downs on us. We might have had less than a minute to try and tie the game assuming they didnt score.

[Bltravens]

[quote name='RBates' date='01 December 2009 - 12:12 PM' timestamp='1259691124' post='299639']
wow top d in last five huh with the exception of Indy none of those teams score alot of points anyway against other good defenses. Yall kill me with that. I'm not impressed with having to comeback against a rookie Qb. Who they had to dumb down the offense for. So much faith in these coaches that make mistake after mistake. Look tell me why we can't get to QB in this league. Ill tell you Mattison brings pressure behind our own d line its messy and we get blocked by our own guys not to mention if i was coaching Pitt and I'm no coach i would have fried the Ravens. You always no who is coming on the blitz so better please we will have this song in dance next week when we play the Packers.
[/quote]
Well Cincy, Denver, Indy, and Pitt are all playoff calibre teams...you make it sound like every other defense in the league faces a top 5 offense every week. Pretty sure Denver just threw up almost 30 against a historically good Giants team. So we played 4 playoff calibre teams and average 17 points against per game. Thats good....I dont know why thats not good to you.

[jschultz]

I liked the 4th down call and not just because it was successful. NFL coaches, other than Belicheck, are more conservative than the statistics call for because you won't get hammered for punting, but you will get hammered if you go for it and fail. If the call failed, then Pitt gets the ball in our territory. If you hold them there or hold them to 3 points, then you still have a shot to tie or win. If the call succeeds, then you have a good chance to win the game outright.

The call I didn't like was on the final 3rd down to have Flacco fall back to throw. If he was going to throw it should have been an immediate slant that only our receiver could catch. Other possibilities include spiking the ball to freeze the clock or handing the ball to Rice. In any situation other than spiking the ball the FG unit should have been ready to charge the field and the offense ready for a quick substitution.

Falling back and getting sacked was about the worst possible outcome other than fumbling the ball.

[Alexir]

Ugh...he didn't have a choice, we were losing the game and our defense was Swiss cheese....I wouldn't say anything about him having "stones" either....if he didn't go for it we would lose.

[hammer]

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' date='01 December 2009 - 04:02 AM' timestamp='1259654568' post='299429']
That is the silliest comment I have heard. No logical person who watches football thinks a season is "static". Purely due to the fact that the majority of players' skill is not static, but ever changing (dynamic) over the course of the season. No team plays 16 games of bad football, and few teams play 16 games of good football. Each good team has a bad game here and there, and each bad team has a good game here and there. I think you're trying a bit too hard to be philosophical. The only static season was the Lions last year.

Anyways, Harbaugh set expectations too high for this year. After the AFC Championship game, everyone (and that includes me) expected another fantastic year with another AFC Championship showing. Now, after struggling and losing some key games, people are all too willing to jump on Harbaugh's case. There may have been some shaky moments for him, but he's only in his second year as a Head Coach, and that's without any experience higher than a coordinator position (no assistant head coaching for him). Just like with any new personnel there's going to be growing pains, Flacco's going to have them, Mattison is going to have them. Thus far, Harbs is showing that he is a good coach, despite the struggles he may have every now and then.

Truthfully, another 11-5 or a 10-6 season is not far out of grasp for Harbs and the Ravens. I'd take that over the tradition of "Good Year, Bad Year, Rinse, Repeat".
[/quote]

Hey, I agree with your post. Maybe you are trying a bit too hard to be "confrontational." Maybe.

[Ravens_Fan13]

[quote name='hammer' date='01 December 2009 - 12:41 AM' timestamp='1259642478' post='299338']
The Ravens coaching staff has been spotty this year after a Divisional Title in 2008.

1. Harbaugh's game management has been questionable as he has mis-used timeouts time and time again.

2. Players are getting "lost and or buried" in the rotation and substitutional patterns. Reducing the in-game strategy to incoherent.

3. Cam's has been inconsistent as a play caller, with no identity of what our strengths might be on any given Sunday.

4. Mattison...... well, I am just not going to go there.

However, with that being said, [b]Harbaugh took a GIANT LEAP FORWARD as an NFL head coach when he elected to go for it on fourth down at about 3:40 left in the fourth quarter. [/b]

As a young 2nd year Head Coach, it appears that he has the "stones" to be turning the corner into a strong 2010 year of leadership. But make no doubt about it, this is the kind of "BOLD LEADERSHIP" we are going to need from Harbaugh in the future.
[/quote]
Tooshey my friend