Not Running The Ball Enough

[omar586]

not running the ball is a huge problem for us, that's our game, even if we gain a yard or two its better than a fumble or int, especially if pass protection is weak, u always try to run the ball to take pressure off qb, just think about if we ran the ball on 2nd and 5, that would of sealed the game,but CAM wants to turn us into the 2003 KC chiefs or the colts of old, it doesn't work, when we don't run the ball effectively it always expose and exploit are deficiencies, weak pass protection.

[saved72907]

Yep. We don't run anymore..... they didn't try it enough times to say that it wasn't working. We should have run the clock out. I wish I could coach the game from my couch.

[Romo Ravens]

Rice only had nine carries lol. I mean I know Flacco was playing well in the first half, but what I don't get is why we put in dancin' McGahee when all he does is either manage a yard, or nothing. Rice is probably our best play maker before Boldin on this offense, why he wasn't fed a lot tonight is just beyond me.

Will I finally get my wish and have Cam fired in the offseason?

[Ed_Reed20]

You can't be serious. The team's left guard was rag-dolled all night and you think Cam should have called more runs? To me, the only time Cam should have been looking to pound it in was on first and goal but instead, he went with three straight passes and the offense had to settle for a field goal.

The protection broke down at times but Joe made some big plays early and Cam should have trusted him in the second half rather than sit on a 10-3 lead.

[Betweenthetackles]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1291613726' post='562500']
You can't be serious. The team's left guard was rag-dolled all night and you think Cam should have called more runs? To me, the only time Cam should have been looking to pound it in was on first and goal but instead, he went with three straight passes and the offense had to settle for a field goal.

The protection broke down at times but Joe made some big plays early and Cam should have trusted him in the second half rather than sit on a 10-3 lead.
[/quote]



3:22 left on your 43 up by 4pts and you pass? u can't be serious? run the ball! even if oher made a major bonehead mistake not fanning out to block troy

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Betweenthetackles' timestamp='1291615011' post='562605']
3:22 left on your 43 up by 4pts and you pass? u can't be serious? run the ball! even if oher made a major bonehead mistake not fanning out to block troy
[/quote]

Why not pass? You're trying to win the game! The Steelers have the stingiest run D in the league and the Ravens have been inconsistent run-blocking unit all season.

[True]

Meh you can't run against that brick wall Steeler D.

What I found most disappointing was not a single slant route was called. You know Boldin is great with YAC, give him the ball over the middle.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='True' timestamp='1291615347' post='562633']
Meh you can't run against that brick wall Steeler D.

[b]What I found most disappointing was not a single slant route was called. You know Boldin is great with YAC, give him the ball over the middle.[/b]
[/quote]

I've come to conclusion Cam doesn't know what a slant route is. Reverses to Stallworth, screens to Houshmandzadeh, curls to Mason? He'll run those all day. A slant to one of the more physical WRs in the league? Never!

[Jamal]

Anyone who has watched the Steelers this year knows, spreading them out is the best way to attack them.

Running a couple of times is a good idea to keep them honest, but you wont be coming up with too many yards most of the time.

[TSizzle00]

Ravens run blocking has been TERRIBLE for most of the season. Without Flacco this team might have 4 wins on the year.

[True]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1291615438' post='562638']
I've come to conclusion Cam doesn't know what a slant route is. Reverses to Stallworth, screens to Houshmandzadeh, curls to Mason? He'll run those all day. A slant to one of the more physical WRs in the league? Never!
[/quote]
Yeah I've noticed a lot of the pass plays are towards the sidelines, and rarely if ever in the middle of the field. When they were in the red zone not a single pass to the middle, instead two fades to the side of the endzone. Not passing over the middle with slant, post, and drag routes is hurting this team when the running game isn't working.

[TSizzle00]

[quote name='True' timestamp='1291615347' post='562633']
Meh you can't run against that brick wall Steeler D.

What I found most disappointing was not a single slant route was called. You know Boldin is great with YAC, give him the ball over the middle.
[/quote]
I too cant figure this out

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='True' timestamp='1291615757' post='562655']
Yeah I've noticed a lot of the pass plays are towards the sidelines, and rarely if ever in the middle of the field. When they were in the red zone not a single pass to the middle, instead two fades to the side of the endzone. Not passing over the middle with slant, post, and drag routes is hurting this team when the running game isn't working.
[/quote]

Like I said before, I think Cam should have been looking to power the ball in the end-zone but if you're going to call three straight passes, why in the hell do you call fade routes?! He called at least one fade against the Steelers in the first game and they didn't work and he decides to call two of them again tonight? Where are the rub plays, screens to Q that he was money on as Cardinals? Or how about simple slant or drag like you said?

It's ridiculous....

Execution has failed this team but I'm at the point where I feel Cam has hurt the progress of the offense a lot.

[-Truth-]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1291615229' post='562625']
Why not pass? You're trying to win the game! The Steelers have the stingiest run D in the league and the Ravens have been inconsistent run-blocking unit all season.
[/quote]
Ray Rice gets a 5 yard gain on the previous play, and this does not warrant us to at least give him another carry on 2nd down to make the 3rd down more manageable? We signed a veteran, run blocking FB, and never utilized him in the 4 minute Offense. Troy blitzed several times from the outside while lining up at the line of scrimmage and I'm almost positive that he did not drop back any of the times he was on the outside of his DL. So while he lines up in the exact same location, we call a pass play that turns Flacco's back to the best SS in the league, as opposed to letting Ray run either to the middle or to the opposite side. How does trying to win the game correlate with that situation when we were already winning? Be serious.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='-Truth-' timestamp='1291616230' post='562679']
Ray Rice gets a 5 yard gain on the previous play, and this does not warrant us to at least give him another carry on 2nd down to make the 3rd down more manageable? We signed a veteran, run blocking FB, and never utilized him in the 4 minute Offense. Troy blitzed several times from the outside while lining up at the line of scrimmage and I'm almost positive that he did not drop back any of the times he was on the outside of his DL. So while he lines up in the exact same location, we call a pass play that turns Flacco's back to the best SS in the league, as opposed to letting Ray run either to the middle or to the opposite side. How does trying to win the game correlate with that situation when we were already winning? Be serious.
[/quote]

I am serious.

The "run-blocking FB" you spoke of wasn't active. Either he wasn't in shape or didn't pick up the playbook in time.

Regardless, Oher was the one who should have picked up Polamalu on that play but he didn't.

[-Truth-]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1291616617' post='562703']
I am serious.

The "run-blocking FB" you spoke of wasn't active. Either he wasn't in shape or didn't pick up the playbook in time.

Regardless, Oher was the one who should have picked up Polamalu on that play but he didn't.
[/quote]
The first part I wasn't aware of. Thanks for clearing that up. But if it was questionable call to run the ball because of our OL, what exactly gave us the confidence that pass protection would fair better when Oher was drawing penalties by attempting to compensate for his condition, and our scheme asked Rookie TEs to block some of the best defenders in the league? And if we are playing it by the numbers, while Pittsburgh owns the #1 Rush Defense, they've also allowed 3 Yards Per Carry to opposing backs. Doing the math, that would equal a 1st down when starting with a 2nd and 5. Rice's 3.5 YPC wasn't exactly impressive, but his effort would likely have been enough. Yet when looking at his close out performance last week's win, which was a very similar situation, we should've had no faith in him mustering up a handful of yards? He hasn't been a liability in terms of ball security, with 0 fumbles thus far. There's a fine line between being aggressive and being reckless.

[Alexir]

This isn't a game where we run the ball.

A. It's the Steelers.
B. McClain is out.
C. It's the Steelers.


I was more disappointed in Cam calling a Conservative game with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter. That and Joe Flacco's awesome bounce pass........

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='-Truth-' timestamp='1291618305' post='562777']
The first part I wasn't aware of. Thanks for clearing that up. But if it was questionable call to run the ball because of our OL, what exactly gave us the confidence that pass protection would fair better when Oher was drawing penalties by attempting to compensate for his condition, and our scheme asked Rookie TEs to block some of the best defenders in the league? And if we are playing it by the numbers, while Pittsburgh owns the #1 Rush Defense, they've also allowed 3 Yards Per Carry to opposing backs. Doing the math, that would equal a 1st down when starting with a 2nd and 5. Rice's 3.5 YPC wasn't exactly impressive, but his effort would likely have been enough. Yet when looking at his close out performance last week's win, which was a very similar situation, we should've had no faith in him mustering up a handful of yards? He hasn't been a liability in terms of ball security, with 0 fumbles thus far. There's a fine line between being aggressive and being reckless.
[/quote]

But how do you know they would have yielded three yards in that situation? In an ideal world they would but we just don't know.

All hypothetical scenarios aside, can't we just agree that due to a combination of conservative play-calling and poor execution, the offense was pathetic in the second half?

[berad]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1291618525' post='562789']
[b]But how do you know they would have yielded three yards in that situation? In an ideal world they would but we just don't know.
[/b]
All hypothetical scenarios aside, can't we just agree that due to a combination of conservative play-calling and poor execution, the offense was pathetic in the second half?
[/quote]

It probably wouldn't have. Our OL has been notoriously bad in short-yardage situations this season and they showed me nothing, in this game, to prove otherwise.

[Alexir]

[quote name='berad' timestamp='1291618683' post='562794']
It probably wouldn't have. Our OL has been notoriously bad in short-yardage situations this season and they showed me nothing, in this game, to prove otherwise.
[/quote]

Our OL got handled, however, Joe HAS to have a faster release. I was a little disappointed we didn't see more of Stallworth. And for that matter, I wish Heap hadn't got injured....

Ultimately, you can't play call cheap run plays against the Steelers. You need to keep moving the chains til the final whistle

[XxSizzleXx]

[quote name='True' timestamp='1291615347' post='562633']
Meh you can't run against that brick wall Steeler D.

What I found most disappointing was not a single slant route was called. You know Boldin is great with YAC, give him the ball over the middle.
[/quote]

Just a FYI, Boldin was running a slant on the last play of the game the Ravens offense had. McFadden read it and was all over it.

[XxSizzleXx]

[quote name='Betweenthetackles' timestamp='1291615011' post='562605']
3:22 left on your 43 up by 4pts and you pass? u can't be serious? run the ball! even if oher made a major bonehead mistake not fanning out to block troy
[/quote]

Agreed, the line was at least getting a little push in the 2nd half compared to the 1st and with that much time and with our defense playing lights out you have to run in that situation.

[flynismo]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1291619165' post='562819']<br />Our OL got handled, however, Joe HAS to have a faster release.[/quote]

That's on Cam just as much as it is Flacco. Who's Flacco going to throw the ball to if he gets it out of his hands the second he touches it? If we know Harrison is coming on a blitz, why isn't Mason running a short cross to where Harrison was, rather than sending him down the sideline every single play? If Polamalu is on the LOS, why not throw a screen to Rice going to the other side of the field rather than have him sit back in pass protection all game? Why no quick slants over the middle to Boldin?
Point being, most of the game was so predictable. PIT brings a heavy rush, and the play takes too long to develop, so Flacco has to buy time and avoid the rush. Then Flacco looks like the bad guy and people wonder why he holds on to the ball so long at times.

[omar586]

[quote name='XxSizzleXx' timestamp='1291622233' post='562954']
Agreed, the line was at least getting a little push in the 2nd half compared to the 1st and with that much time and with our defense playing lights out you have to run in that situation.
[/quote]
agree w/u 100%, again even if u dont gain yards when u run the ball, u have to keep the D honest, ok people, who knows rice or mcghee might break a big one, its better than a STRIP/FUMBLE, and that was on 2nd and 5......CAM always dissapoints in BIG games, and honestly our running game is our butter and bread people..

[JoeCool#5]

We are actually running the ball more this year then 2009.

2010 - Ravens running 108.4 yards/game with 359 attempts (29.92 carries/game)
2009 - Ravnes running 137.5 yards/game with 468 attempts (29.25 carries/game)

The only difference is this years running game and the OL needs work

2010 - 3.6 yards/carry compared to 4.7 yards/carry.

The offense has stayed the same for the passing has improved, unforunately the running game has declined.

Cam's play calling needs to improve. Cam has a history of handcuffing QBs. Just look how Rivers and Brees are flourishing in his absence.

[omar586]

CAM suks sllab

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='omar586' timestamp='1291657846' post='563732']
agree w/u 100%, again even if u dont gain yards when u run the ball, u have to keep the D honest, ok people, who knows rice or mcghee might break a big one, its better than a STRIP/FUMBLE, and that was on 2nd and 5......CAM always dissapoints in BIG games, and honestly our running game is our butter and bread people..
[/quote]

Keep the D honest? The Steelers are stoutest run D in the league. What's the point of "keeping them honest"? And you want to bet on Rice or McGahee breaking a long run against them?

If Oher does his job, Joe doesn't get striped of the football.

[-Truth-]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1291618525' post='562789']
But how do you know they would have yielded three yards in that situation? In an ideal world they would but we just don't know.

All hypothetical scenarios aside, can't we just agree that due to a combination of conservative play-calling and poor execution, the offense was pathetic in the second half?
[/quote]
In all honesty, you're right. It's just that I expected them to go with what worked last week, and with Rice only having 9 carries, he was relatively fresh. But these will forever be hypothetical scenarios. I was coincidentally running back the scenario from 2 years ago, when Flacco fumbled during a sack and Woodley recovered it, so I couldn't believe my eyes to see almost a replica of the occurrence. And it was actually frustrating that the play calling during the last drive worked so well, because we should've had the same confidence before we gave up the lead. Although I would imagine that Heap would've found the 1st down marker, I agree, our execution during the last 4 downs was abysmal.

[scrock]

[quote name='omar586' timestamp='1291613109' post='562444']
not running the ball is a huge problem for us, that's our game, even if we gain a yard or two its better than a fumble or int, especially if pass protection is weak, u always try to run the ball to take pressure off qb, just think about if we ran the ball on 2nd and 5, that would of sealed the game,but CAM wants to turn us into the 2003 KC chiefs or the colts of old, it doesn't work, when we don't run the ball effectively it always expose and exploit are deficiencies, weak pass protection.
[/quote]

Our run game hasn't been great this year, our FB was out and we were facing one of the best Run Defenses in the league. The times we did run we didn't do much at all. Their weakness is their pass defense, as long as the o-line blocks Troy the Ravens win that game...hindsight is always 20/20...and running it did not close the game out, there was still plenty of time.

[ravensfan160]

The loss of Gaither has been huge. That forced Yanda to tackle and he was our dominant force inside. Chris Chester has done an admirable job filling in over the years but he's not a starting quality quard. He's too small and struggles against the big physical teams.

Harbaugh and Cam would never do it but I would like to see Oniel Cousins play RG. Especially when Chester got hurt I don't see how Tony Moll was the best option. Cousins' strength is...well his strength. He's sorta slow to play tackle so I think he's a better fit at guard to begin with. But then again what do I know.