MERGED: Flacco Needs to Play Better

[Alexir]

[quote name='ravensdfan' timestamp='1286771195' post='504627']
"we gave him an O line" Really? I think they've played pretty inconsistent. Totally broke down against the Bengals. Held up alright for the Jets. Held up stellar today in the beginning then began to break down. I'm not saying Joe is perfect. I'm saying he's a 3rd year QB. There are things he still needs to learn. The fact is as well that we DO have a defense and a running game. We are not going to air the ball as much as Manning, Brees, Rivers etc. When you throw the ball 40 - 50 times a game it goes a long way to bringing up those numbers. Joe is fine. He is progressing just fine.
[/quote]

A. The offensive line has played VERY WELL. It's not as great as having Gaither in the line up and Yanda at RG but they are a good job keeping Joe's jersey clean.

B. Flacco has been averaging 35 passes a game. So yeah, he is almost throwing it 40 times a game and numbers aren't what make a QB. I was bringing up his completion percentage to show how inaccurate he has been. He has been overthrowing a lot this year.

C. 3rd year is commonly known as the year a QB should shine. The first season was managing game and learning the ropes whereas the second season is testing the talent. So when we see him struggle in games it is concerning. By no means do I think he should be benched or anything but I want more out of a QB that has 7 pro bowl playmakers on the field.

[jonnyloback76]

I thought today's game was one of Flacco's best games.

The only thing I think Flacco needs to work on is the length of his stride - footwork. When he drops back he like almost JUMPS back to the point where somehow he is probably 7-8 yards behind his offensive line.

How is the offensive line supposed to protect that? There basically is no pocket, is no time for him to actually plant his feet, and is no time to throw.

If I watch a QB with a short drop, the offensive line can form almost like a "closed fist" (so to speak). Defensive players can only spin in one direction or they're going to run into another offensive lineman. With Flacco dropping back as far as he does, it's like those "fingers" spread out and there's 3-4 feet of room on either side of any of the guards, tackles or center. An opposing team's defensive player can spin right or left and still have room to get to Flacco with how far the offensive line has to spread out.

When he drops back, because it's so far, the offensive line can't stay there and form a pocket in front of Flacco, they almost have to separate and usually pretty far. Watching the game today (and some of the other games), I was noticing how far Oher might need to seperate from Grubbs (just an example) to cover the fact that Flacco dropped back as far as he did.

He needs to shorten his stride, find a way to work with his 6' 6" height, and not drop back anywhere near as far as he does. He drops back on almost every passing play like he's going to roll out. He can't keep doing that if he wants his offensive line to be able to stay together and even maintain a pocket for him.

The reason I liked today's game was because weren't there a few dropped balls? and it looked like Flacco might have been testing the Broncos' younger CBs to see if Mason and so on, could win jump ball situations, but he also took off running rather then standing there and getting sacked.

He seemed to be on target for most of the game but he just got hurried so much and I actually think, after today's game, he gets blitzed so much because of how far he drops back. Watch what happens to the offensive line when he takes a "Flacco three step drop". They fan out and seperate by about 3-4 feet because they have to. Cameron might as well call shotgun plays if he's going to have Flacco throw at all and tell him not to drop back.

Other teams have obviously noticed that they can pretty much run in between any two offensive linemen that they want. It might start causing more and more holding penalties as the year goes on if he doesn't stop dropping back so far.

But today, Flacco looked like he had most of his mechanics together and just needs to shorten his steps when he drops back. He still had a QB rating over 80, ran for a first down, had 20 rushing yards on 5 attempts and a rushing TD. Plus, he knew when to get rid of the ball and only got sacked once even with all the pressure he had on him.

Today was a great win IMO.

Cameron called a lot of good plays and most of the players were getting used all over the field. Should the score have been higher? In all likelihood, yeah, with some of the chances they had. Orton should have been held to less yardage, but, 86 of those yards were to Lloyd over two passes, and Gaffney was used more because Royal was contained to his second lowest receiving yardage this year by a huge margin.

I still don't know why, was it Landry? Lloyd had his eyes on the ball the entire way and Landry didn't even turn around for that 46 yard TD throw (or whatever it was). When they showed it again, Lloyd was watching the ball come in the entire way and even being in the back of the endzone, I didn't notice Landry turn around once.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1286770221' post='504596']
I think people are just saying that we gave him an offensive line, got him SEVERAL weapons and there just doesn't seem to be much progression. We want him to be our "Big Ben" or Phillip Rivers when [b]he is performing like Alex Smith /Jason Campbell.[/b]
[/quote]
Wow....just wow!

[Alexir]

[quote name='JohnJohnson' timestamp='1286772442' post='504658']
There doesn't seem to be much progression? Have you watched the games? How can you compare him to Alex Smith or Jason Campbell when he showed more potential in his rookie year than they ever have?

He's in his THIRD YEAR. He made plenty of good plays today, and Rivers/Ben have had terrible games as well. Leave Flacco alone, we've had enough of the negativity. He's just beginning to show us what he's capable of, no great QBs have peaked after 2 seasons. Relax.
[/quote]

Yes I have watched the games. I have watched him look like a deer in headlights. I have seen a lot of overthrown balls or underthrown go routes including 1 today, 1 last week to Housh and week before to Boldin. Which is fine if we are winning and I know we played the best defenses this year but like i mentioned, he has weapons, he has a great QB coach in Jim Zorn and I am not seeing much progression. I m not looking for a Drew Brees or Peyton Manning, I just want to see him make better throws. Thats all. I dont care about how many touchdowns he throws for or records being broken, I just want him to play better ball

Sorry that mediocre play is good enough for you.

[Alexir]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1286772727' post='504670']
Wow....just wow!
[/quote]

Ok maybe not that bad lol but I meant an average QB. Jason and Alex are terrible, I shouldn't of put him in that category!

[1/28/01]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1286773048' post='504676']
Ok maybe not that bad lol but I meant an average QB. Jason and Alex are terrible, I shouldn't of put him in that category!
[/quote]
Yeah, that one through me back in my chair....Alex Smith? Campbell?

[Alexir]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1286773148' post='504680']
Yeah, that one through me back in my chair....Alex Smith? Campbell?
[/quote]

Honestly, I want the best for him obviously and I want him to be a Raven forever. Just want him to be a little bit more accurate.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1286773331' post='504684']
Honestly, I want the best for him obviously and I want him to be a Raven forever. Just want him to be a little bit more accurate.
[/quote]
I agree with 1/2 of whats being said by those that keep making these Flacco threads, I just done give it any thought at this time since we're 4-1, have played some great defenses and I still see Flacco making great plays/reads mixed in with the misses/bad decisions. I will give a big Flacco analysis come week 9 or 10.

[Moderator 2]

What I saw at the stadium was the pocket collapsing and some of Flacco's best plays were throw aways. I thought the play calling was not so great at times.

[rlh445]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1286770221' post='504596']
I think people are just saying that we gave him an offensive line, got him SEVERAL weapons and there just doesn't seem to be much progression. We want him to be our "Big Ben" or Phillip Rivers when he is performing like [b]Alex Smith /Jason Campbell.
[/b]
Yes we won. I am sooo glad we went back to the running game more this week. Yes we are 4-1 but from a 3rd year QB I want to see less overthrown balls, faster releases, better timing and just better poise. I wanna see smart plays and not taking a sack on 4th and inches. I wanna see receivers not coming back on their 9 routes because they have to wait for the ball to get to them.



I'm not hating on the guy by any means, but this is a discussion forum and I am not going to just talk about everything we did right. 5 games into the season and Flacco has played alright minus the dreadful Bengals game.


But to say he is playing good or great would just be bias. Not to bring statistics into this but look at his completion percentage. He is in the bottom tier with 57%. Yards Per attempt is also in the lowest tier.

It's just a little concerning to me and if you are comfortable with the level of his play, more power to you. But I want us to dominate our division for years to come and I want us to be able to actually beat the colts one day lol.


P.s. He did make some great plays with his feet today. Totally trucked DJ Williams today.
[/quote]

Seeing as how you have amended your statement I will as well!

[BloodRaven]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1286770221' post='504596']
I think people are just saying that we gave him an offensive line, got him SEVERAL weapons and there just doesn't seem to be much progression. We want him to be our "Big Ben" or Phillip Rivers when he is performing like Alex Smith /Jason Campbell.

Yes we won. I am sooo glad we went back to the running game more this week. Yes we are 4-1 but from a 3rd year QB I want to see less overthrown balls, faster releases, better timing and just better poise. I wanna see smart plays and not taking a sack on 4th and inches. I wanna see receivers not coming back on their 9 routes because they have to wait for the ball to get to them.



I'm not hating on the guy by any means, but this is a discussion forum and I am not going to just talk about everything we did right. 5 games into the season and Flacco has played alright minus the dreadful Bengals game.


But to say he is playing good or great would just be bias. Not to bring statistics into this but look at his completion percentage. He is in the bottom tier with 57%. Yards Per attempt is also in the lowest tier.

It's just a little concerning to me and if you are comfortable with the level of his play, more power to you. But I want us to dominate our division for years to come and I want us to be able to actually beat the colts one day lol.


P.s. He did make some great plays with his feet today. Totally trucked DJ Williams today.
[/quote]

Well said. But you do realise this is going to be argued with "Leave Britney alone!" logic.

[rlh445]

[quote name='BloodRaven' timestamp='1286776171' post='504720']
Well said. But you do realise this is going to be argued with "Leave Britney alone!" logic.
[/quote]

Leave Britney alone? I wish I was hip enough to get the reference, .

[Purple Nurple]

Dont be talkin 'bout Britney, now.

[jonnyloback76]

He needs to stop dropping back as far as he does, like I said on another thread. Watch the offensive line when he drops back as far as he does. The whole line spreads out and it creates huge gaps that allows too much pressure on him.

[noy]

[quote name='JohnJohnson' timestamp='1286772442' post='504658']
There doesn't seem to be much progression? [b]Have you watched the games?[/b] How can you compare him to Alex Smith or Jason Campbell when he showed more potential in his rookie year than they ever have?

He's in his THIRD YEAR. He made plenty of good plays today, and Rivers/Ben have had terrible games as well. [b]Leave Flacco alone, we've had enough of the negativity.[/b] He's just beginning to show us what he's capable of, no great QBs have peaked after 2 seasons. [size="4"][b]Relax.[/b][/size]
[/quote]

Hilarious. The only one making aggressive statements is you, yet you're telling Alexir to relax.

I'm not quite sure why everyone has their panties in a bunch. Not to mention, by trying to disprove the OP, all you guys are doing is keeping a thread alive about something you all clearly have something against. Again, comical. Instead of concentrating on the subject of the criticism, you all swarm to attack the action of criticizing, making all of your posts [i]OFF TOPIC[/i]. If you don't like it, make a thread in the OFF TOPIC forum about how you dislike negative posters...oh wait...there already is It's funny how subtle attacks sneak through the Moderator's suffocating filter. As long as we're not cussin' each other out! Right?!!

Back to the topic at hand. I think the problem is Flacco gets a little jumpy when defenses bring the house. If memory serves correctly (it should, I literally just watched the game), on one occasion the Broncos blitzed the middle and Flacco stutter stepped, throwing him off the play's timing. The only problem was that the pressure never got there, it wasn't even in his face. It was evident on the 4th down sack, when Flacco rolled out of the pocket toward the left instead of right and away from the pressure. Maybe he thought he could outrun the linemen? Not sure, but it's safe to say it didn't work!

Anyway, with all the threats he has now, more is expected of him (not just by fans, but by the team as well). In order to take advantage of those threats, he needs to deliver the ball more. Opposing teams know this, and are going to do everything they can to get him on edge. The biggest downer about young quarterbacks is they can get flustered easily in comparison to an experienced veteran. All NFL QBs have the tools to compete, but the biggest part is the mindset of the player under center. We saw a perfect example of this in the 9ers - Eagles game, when Singletary lit a fire under Smith and suddenly San Fran is back in the game with minutes to go in the fourth. Flacco is a cool cat, but he is human and doesn't have that "Ben Roethlisberger" (YUCK) type reliability when the pocket collapses.

[flynismo]

Okay, here's the bottom line on Flacco. We won week one in large part because of his performance. I think our defense was the main factor, but if it weren't for Flacco playing better than any QB in recent memory other than Brady against the Jets defense, we lose that game. Week two, that loss was on Flacco. I blame no one else but him for that loss. Week three, Flacco was dominant. He and Boldin put on a show that carried us to victory. Week four, Flacco was extremely efficient while moving the ball against the Steelers, in their own house. 65% completion, 250+ yards, no turnovers against the Steelers defense. Few QB's have that on their resume. And I hear he made a fairly important throw at the end of that game. Today, if it weren't for Flacco being unstoppable in the first half, which led us to jumping out to a 17-0 lead, this game might not have resulted in a win. That's 4 wins in which Flacco outright won the game for us or played a huge factor in the win. One loss. I'll take a 4:1 win/lose ratio any day of the week, and smile about it. Flacco isn't here to throw a gajillion yards in the first five weeks of the season. He isn't here to break Brady's TD record. He isn't here to win you your fantasy football league. He is here to put us in position to win games. Which is EXACTLY what he does. Flacco's greatness is not necessarily a tangible entity. It doesn't always show up in the stat box. But since his arrival here in Baltimore, it DOES show up in the Win/Loss column. All that said, yes, Flacco needs to make some refinements. And it's okay to point that out. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is an effective tool. But some people aren't constructive in their criticism, and that is what irks a lot of people. Some people aren't happy unless they have something to **** about. We will lose again this year. And when we do, we'll go through this nonsense again. "What's wrong with Flacco?" "Bench Flacco" "Flacco is entering his third year, he should be singlehandedly winning games for us." Here's some news for ya...Nothing is wrong with Flacco. No, we shouldn't bench Flacco, you tool. Flacco HAS singlehandedly won games for us. Get used to him, he's going to be here for a long time.

[Radinho84]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1286787416' post='504789']
Okay, here's the bottom line on Flacco. We won week one in large part because of his performance. I think our defense was the main factor, but if it weren't for Flacco playing better than any QB in recent memory other than Brady against the Jets defense, we lose that game. Week two, that loss was on Flacco. I blame no one else but him for that loss. Week three, Flacco was dominant. He and Boldin put on a show that carried us to victory. Week four, Flacco was extremely efficient while moving the ball against the Steelers, in their own house. 65% completion, 250+ yards, no turnovers against the Steelers defense. Few QB's have that on their resume. And I hear he made a fairly important throw at the end of that game. Today, if it weren't for Flacco being unstoppable in the first half, which led us to jumping out to a 17-0 lead, this game might not have resulted in a win. That's 4 wins in which Flacco outright won the game for us or played a huge factor in the win. One loss. I'll take a 4:1 win/lose ratio any day of the week, and smile about it. Flacco isn't here to throw a gajillion yards in the first five weeks of the season. He isn't here to break Brady's TD record. He isn't here to win you your fantasy football league. He is here to put us in position to win games. Which is EXACTLY what he does. Flacco's greatness is not necessarily a tangible entity. It doesn't always show up in the stat box. But since his arrival here in Baltimore, it DOES show up in the Win/Loss column. All that said, yes, Flacco needs to make some refinements. And it's okay to point that out. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is an effective tool. But some people aren't constructive in their criticism, and that is what irks a lot of people. Some people aren't happy unless they have something to **** about. We will lose again this year. And when we do, we'll go through this nonsense again. "What's wrong with Flacco?" "Bench Flacco" "Flacco is entering his third year, he should be singlehandedly winning games for us." Here's some news for ya...Nothing is wrong with Flacco. No, we shouldn't bench Flacco, you tool. Flacco HAS singlehandedly won games for us. Get used to him, he's going to be here for a long time.
[/quote]
+1 from me my friend. u are so right about what you´ve said. people forget that we do have a gameplan for every game. some people said that flacco isn´t able to start fast in games. well he proved them wrong yesterday. if we where out there to get flacco 300 plus yards we would have done that. but we were out there to win the game. so we did it. if you lead by 17 you don´t air it out. you just manage the clock and try to score. just like we did. one can argue about his 8 passes without any completeion but who really cares. when the game is on the line and we have to score i am very comfortable with flacco behind the center. look at the stealers game. it was all him (and housh running a great route of course). but like fly said: stop complaining when we are winning. we are the best TEAM in the league right now in my opinion and that is much better than to have a qb who is on the run for a yardage record or anything like that. just ask the pony fans if they rather would have gotten the W our the 300 yards for orton!
i love how we play right now. everything is working for us perfectly. just relax and enjoy the ravens!!

[rlh445]

[quote name='noy' timestamp='1286784241' post='504770']

I'm not quite sure why everyone has their panties in a bunch. [b]Not to mention, by trying to disprove the OP, all you guys are doing is keeping a thread alive about something you all clearly have something against. Again, comical. Instead of concentrating on the subject of the criticism, you all swarm to attack the action of criticizing, making all of your posts [i]OFF TOPIC[/i].[/b]
[/quote]

This is an ad hominem statement if I've ever seen one. If someone has something against what someone else has posted in a thread about Flacco being his worst enemy, and that response has to do with how either A) they have a problem with that assessment or B ) has a problem with why that statement was made then it's certainly not off topic. Sorry, but that's just a poor try at redirection. The only ones with their panties in a bunch are the ones trying to convince the rest of the board that Flacco is wildly inconsistent and this won't last when trying to beat good opponents.....even though Flacco has been beating good opponents all season.

The fact that these guys want Flacco to put up Rivers numbers is notwithstanding, because let's be honest, there are few games where he's going to be allowed to do that, much less figuring in his obvious talent to do so. When Cam said 'shut it down' they shut it down, to great effect. We ran the ball down Denver's throat and I'm not the only to say, 'It's about damn time!,'. It's not a stretch to attack someone's argument in the thread about said argument, and no amount of stupid ad hominem attacks like yours will make that not so.

[rlh445]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1286787416' post='504789']
Okay, here's the bottom line on Flacco. We won week one in large part because of his performance. I think our defense was the main factor, but if it weren't for Flacco playing better than any QB in recent memory other than Brady against the Jets defense, we lose that game. Week two, that loss was on Flacco. I blame no one else but him for that loss. Week three, Flacco was dominant. He and Boldin put on a show that carried us to victory. Week four, Flacco was extremely efficient while moving the ball against the Steelers, in their own house. 65% completion, 250+ yards, no turnovers against the Steelers defense. Few QB's have that on their resume. And I hear he made a fairly important throw at the end of that game. Today, if it weren't for Flacco being unstoppable in the first half, which led us to jumping out to a 17-0 lead, this game might not have resulted in a win. That's 4 wins in which Flacco outright won the game for us or played a huge factor in the win. One loss. I'll take a 4:1 win/lose ratio any day of the week, and smile about it. Flacco isn't here to throw a gajillion yards in the first five weeks of the season. He isn't here to break Brady's TD record. He isn't here to win you your fantasy football league. He is here to put us in position to win games. Which is EXACTLY what he does. Flacco's greatness is not necessarily a tangible entity. It doesn't always show up in the stat box. But since his arrival here in Baltimore, it DOES show up in the Win/Loss column.

All that said, yes, Flacco needs to make some refinements. And it's okay to point that out. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is an effective tool. But some people aren't constructive in their criticism, and that is what irks a lot of people. Some people aren't happy unless they have something to **** about. We will lose again this year. And when we do, we'll go through this nonsense again. "What's wrong with Flacco?" "Bench Flacco" "Flacco is entering his third year, he should be singlehandedly winning games for us." Here's some news for ya...Nothing is wrong with Flacco. No, we shouldn't bench Flacco, you tool. Flacco HAS singlehandedly won games for us. Get used to him, he's going to be here for a long time.
[/quote]

This, fly, is why I've always loved you and will always love you. If anyone can put up a tangible argument about how we'd be better off with another available QB since Flacco I'd love to hear it. But I won't, because there isn't one. Thanks fly!

[ravenanchors]

There will never be a perfect player.
Payton Manning comes about as close as you'll ever get, but even he had a bad day on sunday, not to mention
Aaron Rogers, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, etc............... someone else can continue this list.

The Cincinati game
You cannot blame the Cincinati game on Flacco.
Everyone played bad that day, Defense, Offense and coaches.
To me is seemed like Cameron's intention was to show Cincinati that our QB and Receivers were better than his QB and Receivers. When we knew that Cincinati's weakness was stopping the run.
Also,
When you have players that play as well as the Ravens, before the Cin game and after, you know something is wrong and it has to be with something other than the players. (Coaching, Game Plan, Preparation and Play calling)

The coaches game plan worked this game. Come out throwing to gain a lead and then run the ball to protect the lead.

It took me a while to understand why people are calling for Housh to be a bigger part of the game and to go 4 wide.

I don't play fantasy football, but now I understand, people who play fantasy football view real football the same way. They think that stats is the way to win and the way to pick players. That only works in fantasy football.

The way you win consistently, is by having a balanced team, that means that all phases of the game contribute. Offense, Defense and Special teams. And it also means that the stats will not be stellar for any individual, but the team will win.

Those who have Ray Rice on their team say All we have to do is RUN THE BAll.

Those who have Housh on their fantasy team say, THROW HOUSH THE BALL MORE.

If you picked Ravens players to be on your fantasy football team, you will be dissapointed, because regardless of how good the players are, it is the coaches decision which plays to call, not Flacco's. Coach Cameron is calling plays that will win the games, not plays that will give large stats.

Stats do not equal wins.(For Fantasy Football Players)

People who blame Flacco for certain plays, really needs to blame Cam (if you feel you must blame anyone), Because it is Cam who calls the plays. Flacco does his best to complete those plays. Flacco does not have the freedom to call the plays himself unless it is to escape a blitz.

Flacco played a great game,
he made good decisions,
he ran the ball instead of throwing it away,
he did not throw interceptions
his throws were accurate and on time
he made 1st downs
he lead the team to victory, again.

Flacco may dissapoint all you Fantasy Football Players, but thats okay.
I would rather win the real game anyway.

How about someone start a forum for "Lets thank Flacco for the Win"

flynismo is correct, you can thank flacco for all of the wins this season.

[TXRaven]

Joe and everyone else for that matter looked great. Total team effort today

[1/28/01]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1286787416' post='504789']
Okay, here's the bottom line on Flacco. We won week one in large part because of his performance. I think our defense was the main factor, but if it weren't for Flacco playing better than any QB in recent memory other than Brady against the Jets defense, we lose that game. Week two, that loss was on Flacco. I blame no one else but him for that loss. Week three, Flacco was dominant. He and Boldin put on a show that carried us to victory. Week four, Flacco was extremely efficient while moving the ball against the Steelers, in their own house. 65% completion, 250+ yards, no turnovers against the Steelers defense. Few QB's have that on their resume. And I hear he made a fairly important throw at the end of that game. Today, if it weren't for Flacco being unstoppable in the first half, which led us to jumping out to a 17-0 lead, this game might not have resulted in a win. That's 4 wins in which Flacco outright won the game for us or played a huge factor in the win. One loss. I'll take a 4:1 win/lose ratio any day of the week, and smile about it. Flacco isn't here to throw a gajillion yards in the first five weeks of the season. He isn't here to break Brady's TD record. He isn't here to win you your fantasy football league. He is here to put us in position to win games. Which is EXACTLY what he does. Flacco's greatness is not necessarily a tangible entity. It doesn't always show up in the stat box. But since his arrival here in Baltimore, it DOES show up in the Win/Loss column. All that said, yes, Flacco needs to make some refinements. And it's okay to point that out. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is an effective tool. But some people aren't constructive in their criticism, and that is what irks a lot of people. Some people aren't happy unless they have something to **** about. We will lose again this year. And when we do, we'll go through this nonsense again. "What's wrong with Flacco?" "Bench Flacco" "Flacco is entering his third year, he should be singlehandedly winning games for us." Here's some news for ya...Nothing is wrong with Flacco. No, we shouldn't bench Flacco, you tool. Flacco HAS singlehandedly won games for us. Get used to him, he's going to be here for a long time.
[/quote]
Agreed! "You play to win the game"

[jaege]

If he plays this "badly" for the rest of the year, I will be thrilled.

[Gtown Purple]

I'm not sure how you knock Flacco when he completed 56 percent of his passes, made throws when he needed too, and did not commit any turnovers. He even stuck a td in the end zone on a sneak when Willis and Leron couldn't. Every game isn't going to have the seem rhythm and feel to it. Yesterday was the running backs day to dominate, let Ray Rice have his day. Any week jow doesn't throw 2-3 touchdowns we see one of these threads.

You can seem improvement not just in Flacco but as an entire team each week. i can only imagine how good we'll be if this trend continues.

[3-4ravdef509]

Ok, let's get on thing straight.
Flacco is a good qb, developing into possibly a great qb.
But he's not perfect. So both sides of this arguement, which is gotten out of hand I must say, need to get a reality check. Flacco is not God. So he is not perfect, and you can't always make excuses for him when he makes mistakes. But, you can't slander him and say all he's doing is relying on the defense and running game. Last I checked, Flacco made passes to get us many a first down and set us up for a few touchdowns, running one in himself. He threw a perfect pass to Heap, a nice pass to Dickson (a little late but in the right spot) hit Mason and Housh for several good completions, and hit Boldin in the hands (Boldin shoulda caught that).
He also overthrew Heap, had some sketchy footwork (my biggest grevience with him), threw one pass I didn't like that could have been picked, and held the ball too long on the first 4th and goal (he needs to be more decisive on the goal line).
Wrs dropped some balls, we didn't call any passes over the middle (or the few we did Flacco either missed the throw or the Wr was too well covered) and there were some PIs that weren't called.
So...Flacco made mistakes, but performed well enough for a win. Need to improve? Yes. Will he? Yes. He'll make mistakes guys, hopefully not to the degree of week 2 again, but he will. So relax. We saw what he's made of last week, when he made that huge mental leap to overcome the Steelers. This team, as much as we don't want it to be, is a team in progress in many aspects. Not to overlook that we're first in the AFC right now, and we have a serious shot at the Lombardi. But you can't expect to have it all when you want it. Welcome to life.

[BloodRaven]

[quote name='noy' timestamp='1286784241' post='504770']
Hilarious. The only one making aggressive statements is you, yet you're telling Alexir to relax.

I'm not quite sure why everyone has their panties in a bunch. Not to mention, by trying to disprove the OP, all you guys are doing is keeping a thread alive about something you all clearly have something against. Again, comical. Instead of concentrating on the subject of the criticism, you all swarm to attack the action of criticizing, making all of your posts [i]OFF TOPIC[/i]. If you don't like it, make a thread in the OFF TOPIC forum about how you dislike negative posters...oh wait...there already is It's funny how subtle attacks sneak through the Moderator's suffocating filter. As long as we're not cussin' each other out! Right?!!

Back to the topic at hand. I think the problem is Flacco gets a little jumpy when defenses bring the house. If memory serves correctly (it should, I literally just watched the game), on one occasion the Broncos blitzed the middle and Flacco stutter stepped, throwing him off the play's timing. The only problem was that the pressure never got there, it wasn't even in his face. It was evident on the 4th down sack, when Flacco rolled out of the pocket toward the left instead of right and away from the pressure. Maybe he thought he could outrun the linemen? Not sure, but it's safe to say it didn't work!

Anyway, with all the threats he has now, more is expected of him (not just by fans, but by the team as well). In order to take advantage of those threats, he needs to deliver the ball more. Opposing teams know this, and are going to do everything they can to get him on edge. The biggest downer about young quarterbacks is they can get flustered easily in comparison to an experienced veteran. All NFL QBs have the tools to compete, but the biggest part is the mindset of the player under center. We saw a perfect example of this in the 9ers - Eagles game, when Singletary lit a fire under Smith and suddenly San Fran is back in the game with minutes to go in the fourth. Flacco is a cool cat, but he is human and doesn't have that "Ben Roethlisberger" (YUCK) type reliability when the pocket collapses.
[/quote]

This.

[PuRock]

[quote name='noy' timestamp='1286784241' post='504770']
Hilarious. The only one making aggressive statements is you, yet you're telling Alexir to relax.

I'm not quite sure why everyone has their panties in a bunch. Not to mention, by trying to disprove the OP, all you guys are doing is keeping a thread alive about something you all clearly have something against. Again, comical. Instead of concentrating on the subject of the criticism, you all swarm to attack the action of criticizing, making all of your posts [i]OFF TOPIC[/i]. If you don't like it, make a thread in the OFF TOPIC forum about how you dislike negative posters...oh wait...there already is It's funny how subtle attacks sneak through the Moderator's suffocating filter. As long as we're not cussin' each other out! Right?!!

Back to the topic at hand. I think the problem is Flacco gets a little jumpy when defenses bring the house. If memory serves correctly (it should, I literally just watched the game), on one occasion the Broncos blitzed the middle and Flacco stutter stepped, throwing him off the play's timing. The only problem was that the pressure never got there, it wasn't even in his face. It was evident on the 4th down sack, when Flacco rolled out of the pocket toward the left instead of right and away from the pressure. Maybe he thought he could outrun the linemen? Not sure, but it's safe to say it didn't work!

Anyway, with all the threats he has now, more is expected of him (not just by fans, but by the team as well). In order to take advantage of those threats, he needs to deliver the ball more. Opposing teams know this, and are going to do everything they can to get him on edge. The biggest downer about young quarterbacks is they can get flustered easily in comparison to an experienced veteran. All NFL QBs have the tools to compete, but the biggest part is the mindset of the player under center. We saw a perfect example of this in the 9ers - Eagles game, when Singletary lit a fire under Smith and suddenly San Fran is back in the game with minutes to go in the fourth. Flacco is a cool cat, but he is human and doesn't have that "Ben Roethlisberger" (YUCK) type reliability when the pocket collapses.
[/quote]

I agree. There is no Flacco sucks comments, or any start Bulger comments. Merely Constructive Criticism. Is it bad to want to see Joe progress even further? I'm pretty sure we are all in the same boat, we want to see Joe elevate to the next level. He's young and still has upside.

He had a good game. No Turnovers, Some good passes, great game management. We won. But I noticed (as well as commentators and Preston, etc), that when the play breaks down, Joe's mechanicals fall flat which creates the lofty throws off the back foot. It's not much. But Joe can and for the sake of all of our hopes should progress in fixing this step (because we all want to see him make more strides).

I love Joe probably more than the next guy and stand up for him (when the real bashers are around). But I am all for constructive Criticism of him, the coaches or any of the players.

[FerrariFan87]

Sure, every player on every team could play better... we are blessed to have a QB as solid as Joe. More than half the teams in the NFL would die to have Flacco lead their teams.

[ravenanchors]

How about mentioning all the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives.
The positives are what has the Ravens winning.

The ones I can think of are
No interceptions
83 passer rating
recognizing defensive coverages
Ran for a first down
Ran for a touchdown
He converted 3rd downs

This forum needs to be called "Thank Flacco for the Wins".

Because obviously the positives outweigh the negatives by a large margin.
Flacco can win games and he can win in the playoffs.
I could care less about minor inconsistencies.
Most winers are "Fantasy Football" players who want the Ravens to run up the stats.
When a team is playing balanced football, the stats are spread among all the players so that no one player will have great stats but the team will win. That's what it takes to win in "Real Football".

Here is some good advice for all the "Fantasy Football" players, do not pick Ravens players for your league. You will be much better off picking T.O. or Kyle Orton if you want the stats.

[Guest Mr. Nobody]

Joe needs to improve his feet movement, he needs to be more consistent; he needs to trow the ball a little bit sooner.
These said, he completes the Ravens game, which is not a pass-happy game, so he'll never be Manning or Rivers or Brees or Brady.
He's the perfect fit for the Ravens now and that is all that counts!