Anquan Boldin - Whats Been Up?

[reed20]

This guys an awesome reciever, where has he been lately? Last good game was against Pittsburgh, the best defense we've played all year so it doesnt make sense hes not getting touches against these other teams.


In the superbowl against Pitt he caught 8 for 84 yds, 7 for 68 in week 4 @ Pitt and 5 for 118 and a TD in week 13 so atleast if we run into Pitt again I think we can count on him to be productive. Seems to know what to do against them.


We need to get him going against all these other teams though ASAP!

[theFRANCHISE]

Simply put, teams have been doubling Boldin, enabling other receivers to get open. This is why Flacco is able to spread the ball to so many different receivers in each game, although he had a string of two games where he completed more passes to RBs and TEs than receivers.

This was to be expected with so many top receiving threats on one team. When one guy is covered, another guy gets open, and so on and so forth.

[Ed_Reed20]

He's supposedly struggled to get separation for a while now but his lack of production hasn't been helped by Cam not drawing up specific plays that play to his strength for him and instead, having him run hook and gos and deep routes.

[Perfekt]

you do realize that he is normally doubled with a corner an safety help an that by forcing it to him that we risk INTs. Also as it has been pointed out many times over that he helps the other recievers out because they are rolling coverage towards him so hes helping even tho hes not getting the catchs. Its like when Flacco was a roookie an Heap was always blocking just because hes not grabbing passes doesnt mean hes not doing his thing.

[JimmyPop21]

I have been thinking that he is just not getting open. Ya know just like houshmandzadeh, or stallworth. Ray rice as well, i don't take the game as personal as he should.

[DevilsLuck]

I'm happy with the passing game. Running game is gettin' back to where it should be. GO RAVENS!!!

[VA_Fan]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1293556085' post='587124']
He's supposedly struggled to get separation for a while now but his lack of production hasn't been helped by [b]Cam not drawing up specific plays that play to his strength[/b] for him and instead, having him run hook and gos and deep routes.
[/quote]


This is the the whole problem. Cam is not only holding Q back but the entire Offense.

[Jamal]

He is sent on streaks for 75% of passing plays. Stuff like that will keep Q quiet for most of the time.

[Perfekt]

we cant do anything about cam but roll with the punches this year an hope we get a new offensive coord over the off season.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='VA_Fan' timestamp='1293556833' post='587136']
This is the the whole problem. Cam is not only holding Q back but the entire Offense.
[/quote]

I won't say he's holding back the "entire offense" because Joe and the o-line aren't perfect and he has done [i]some[/i] things right but he's also made and continues to make far too many puzzling decisions.

[lowrider]

Well from the articles that I've read it seems like Boldin is still remaining positive and is only worried about winning. Which is important that none of our stars on our team get to discouraged and get away from the bigger picture. Boldin is our best receiver and he still seems to show up when we need him. I saw him convert a big 3rd down against the browns last week. So even though Boldin isn't putting up flashy numbers, he is still very valuable to our team and will play a big part in the playoffs, and I think he knows that.

[reed20]

[quote name='Perfekt' timestamp='1293556235' post='587128']
you do realize that he is normally doubled with a corner an safety help an that by forcing it to him that we risk INTs. Also as it has been pointed out many times over that he helps the other recievers out because they are rolling coverage towards him so hes helping even tho hes not getting the catchs. Its like when Flacco was a roookie an Heap was always blocking just because hes not grabbing passes doesnt mean hes not doing his thing.
[/quote]

Him being doubled is the reason why hes only had 6 catches for 58 yards and 0 TD's in the last 3 games?

Nah

Its bigger than that, I agree about Cam not using him properly. Hes a guy thats great at getting yards after catch from what i've seen in Arizona. I wanna see him running about 5 to 15 yard routes for most of the game. The big 15+ yard plays will develop after the catch IMO.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='reed20' timestamp='1293558141' post='587152']
Him being doubled is the reason why hes only had 6 catches for 58 yards and 0 TD's in the last 3 games?

Nah

Its bigger than that, I agree about Cam not using him properly. Hes a guy thats great at getting yards after catch from what i've seen in Arizona. I wanna see him running about 5 to 15 yard routes for most of the game. The big 15+ yard plays will develop after the catch IMO.
[/quote]
Boldin doesn't have the size or jump-ball ability of a Randy Moss to beat double coverage. Logic is, if a guy has two defenders on him, you don't force the ball to him; that's the type of bravado that killed Kyle Boller's career. Opposing defenses are accounting for Boldin because they've seen what he can do when he gets the ball and they know that he's the most dangerous receiving threat next to Ray Rice. They don't account for Mason because they assume his age has slowed him down, and they don't account for Houshmandzadeh because they see that he's declined and has dropped catchable balls this season.

[reed20]

Not saying he should be forced the ball but he should be open more than hes been. Mason is still productive, im pretty sure teams still gameplan for him they know what hes capable of. Maybe Heaps been that difference, the missing piece because Ray Rice also draws attention out of the backfield.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='reed20' timestamp='1293558649' post='587160']
Not saying he should be forced the ball but he should be open more than hes been. [b]Mason is still productive, im pretty sure teams still gameplan for him they know what hes capable of.[/b] Maybe Heaps been that difference, the missing piece because Ray Rice also draws attention out of the backfield.
[/quote]

They don't seem to be doing it much this season. Look at the Bucs game for example. The Bucs bracketed Q and assigned their best defensive back in Talib to cover Mason and he abused him all game. Even when it was clear Talib was struggling to cover Mason, no changes were made.

[SnOoPy]

Need some Slant routes with Boldin!! :]

[Sizzle]

Whats happening is Cam is completely ignoring boldin because he MIGHT be double covered, Correct me if im wrong but if you have a number 1 receiver like boldin you make the offense accommodate to him not the other way around. GET HIM THE BALL, i dont care how.

You can't give a guy like that 2-3 targets the whole game. He should be the first read most of the times if not all the time. Its fine if he get 20 yards one game and other receivers light it up but multiple games is unacceptable on top of that offensive production is the same. That shows poor management of plays by Cam and poor ball handling by Flacco.

Plus i have seen multiple times where he is man on man and Flacco just checks it down. GIVE HIM THE FREAKING BALL!!! FLACCO!! No body gives a rats arse about your your QB rating if you go to the colts stadium and all of a sudden we are playing from behind, running game is stinking, We HAVE to throw the ball. Flacco runs out deer in the headlights...huhh dont tell me you are gonna put up points without boldin? not a chance.

[theFRANCHISE]

I know "a win is a win" is a tired expression oft-used these days, but it especially holds true in this case.

Would you rather have Anquan Boldin register a 1,500-yard receiving season but miss the playoffs, or have Boldin register zero yards but make the postseason? Dramatic example, I know, but the difference between winning and losing often lies in making a smart decision over a flashy one. Could Cam Cameron do a better job of featuring Boldin? Of course. Could the play-calling be better? Of course. But to demand that the team's "best playmaker" get the ball just for the sake of seeing him achieve personal glory, is forgetting that the team sits comfortably in a playoff berth while remaining in contention for a division title.

There is no assumption that Boldin posting big numbers would equate to more wins and bigger production from the offense. All the yards that Boldin isn't getting, are going to other guys because Boldin's presence has helped them get open. It's not as if Flacco isn't targeting Boldin, and it's not as if Boldin is just being phased out. Opposing defenses are planning around Boldin, so all Flacco and Cameron can do is adjust to that and take what the defense gives them.

To suddenly change the entire flow of the offense just to feature or accommodate Boldin is to shy away from how the team has gotten to 11-4 thus far and punched their playoff ticket.

[TSizzle00]

Would be nice to get a few slants to a YAC guy like Boldin instead of all these deep balls.

[edreedfromtheu]

[quote name='reed20' timestamp='1293555642' post='587116']
This guys an awesome reciever, where has he been lately? Last good game was against Pittsburgh, the best defense we've played all year so it doesnt make sense hes not getting touches against these other teams.


In the superbowl against Pitt he caught 8 for 84 yds, 7 for 68 in week 4 @ Pitt and 5 for 118 and a TD in week 13 so atleast if we run into Pitt again I think we can count on him to be productive. Seems to know what to do against them.


We need to get him going against all these other teams though ASAP!
[/quote]

Well if you ask Q, I bet he will tell you he's been wide open a LOT and doesn't even get a look in his direction. If you want to blame this on play-calling... fine, but the whole point of play-calling is to get guys open. Flacco still just doesn't have very good vision or awareness. He will tease you with a 3 TD performance every once in a while, but he never racks up the yards and he very rarely put a few good games together. Just way too inconsistent. And when the fans(and Ravens) are finally able to admit this, perhaps they'll FINALLY get back to running the ball with the great set of 3 backs that they have. They ran the ball GREAT in the Saints game... then the following week against the Browns they refuse to really run it until the 4th quarter to milk the clock.

[berad]

[quote name='edreedfromtheu' timestamp='1293563458' post='587225']
Well if you ask Q, I bet he will tell you he's been wide open a LOT and doesn't even get a look in his direction. If you want to blame this on play-calling... fine, but the whole point of play-calling is to get guys open. Flacco still just doesn't have very good vision or awareness. He will tease you with a 3 TD performance every once in a while, but he never racks up the yards and he very rarely put a few good games together. Just way too inconsistent. And when the fans(and Ravens) are finally able to admit this, perhaps they'll FINALLY get back to running the ball with the great set of 3 backs that they have. They ran the ball GREAT in the Saints game... then the following week against the Browns they refuse to really run it until the 4th quarter to milk the clock.
[/quote]

LOL your post is just so egregiously wrong... Your hate for Joe Flacco and delusion that we've abandoned the running game (which is entirely untrue) is pretty unfounded.

Where's Troy Smith when you need him?

[Romo Ravens]

[quote name='Sizzle' timestamp='1293562308' post='587208']
Whats happening is Cam is completely ignoring boldin because he MIGHT be double covered, Correct me if im wrong but if you have a number 1 receiver like boldin you make the offense accommodate to him not the other way around. GET HIM THE BALL, i dont care how.

You can't give a guy like that 2-3 targets the whole game. He should be the first read most of the times if not all the time. Its fine if he get 20 yards one game and other receivers light it up but multiple games is unacceptable on top of that offensive production is the same. That shows poor management of plays by Cam and poor ball handling by Flacco.

Plus i have seen multiple times where he is man on man and Flacco just checks it down. GIVE HIM THE FREAKING BALL!!! FLACCO!! No body gives a rats arse about your your QB rating if you go to the colts stadium and all of a sudden we are playing from behind, running game is stinking, We HAVE to throw the ball. Flacco runs out deer in the headlights...huhh dont tell me you are gonna put up points without boldin? not a chance.
[/quote]

You'll probably get some heat for this post but I agree. I've always said that Boldin should average 5+ catches a game. Look at some of the games where he does, indeed, get 5 or more catches:

Week 1 at NY: 7 catches, 110 yards
Week 3 vs Cleveland: 8 catches, 142 yards, 3 TDs
Week 4 at Pitt: 7 catches, 68 yards
Week 7 vs Buffalo: 6 catches, 92 yards, 1 TD
Week 10 at Atlanta: 5 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD
Week 13 vs Pitt: 5 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD

When you have a player on your team that can post these kinds of numbers with consistency when you put the ball in his hands, you do just that; put the ball in his hands. You have to have a gameplan set out to feature your best playmakers. Boldin isn't seeing the routes that work to his strenghts which just confuses the **** out of me. I know that he's being doubled a lot of the time, but the same can be said for Roddy White, Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson and so on, yet they still post monster numbers, and why? If those are the best players you have, and you know that you can win by making it a point to get them the ball by design and execution, then create some plays to get them the ball and work the offense through your best players.

Cam Cameron isn't doing this, obviously, so it's time to make it a point in the offseason to let him go and sign someone who has some balls. Give Flacco a wider and more creative playbook, and he'll be posting multiple season of 4,000+ yards. I don't know how a lot of Ravens fans think, but I want an explosive offense that puts up points in the first and the second half. No more sputtering along, it's time to use this offense to its best potential.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='edreedfromtheu' timestamp='1293563458' post='587225']
Well if you ask Q, I bet he will tell you he's been wide open a LOT and doesn't even get a look in his direction. If you want to blame this on play-calling... fine, but the whole point of play-calling is to get guys open. Flacco still just doesn't have very good vision or awareness. He will tease you with a 3 TD performance every once in a while, but he never racks up the yards and he very rarely put a few good games together. Just way too inconsistent. And when the fans(and Ravens) are finally able to admit this, perhaps they'll FINALLY get back to running the ball with the great set of 3 backs that they have. They ran the ball GREAT in the Saints game... then the following week against the Browns they refuse to really run it until the 4th quarter to milk the clock.
[/quote]
The point of play-calling isn't to get guys open -- the point of play-calling is to make the right calls in the right situations to win games. The Ravens have won far more games than they've lost.

Flacco has a 94.6 QB rating, just shy of Peyton Manning's 94.7 QB rating in his third season. Flacco also has a career-high 25 TDs and a career-low 9 INTs with nearly 3500 passing yards, once the benchmark for a Pro Bowl QB only two years ago. In his three-year career, he has throw 43 TDs to only 9 INTs in his 31 victories. He is also 18-8 in the months of November and December, when most QBs start to struggle. He's a good QB.

The Ravens have run the ball 460 times with one game left to play. Last season, the Ravens ran the ball 468 times through 16 games. It's not like the Ravens aren't running the ball, teams have just started to figure out Ray Rice and Willis McGahee's one-two punch and Le'Ron McClain has been hampered with small injuries throughout the year. It also doesn't help that the offensive line has been inconsistent all year.

[TSizzle00]

[quote name='edreedfromtheu' timestamp='1293563458' post='587225']
Well if you ask Q, I bet he will tell you he's been wide open a LOT and doesn't even get a look in his direction. If you want to blame this on play-calling... fine, but the whole point of play-calling is to get guys open. Flacco still just doesn't have very good vision or awareness. He will tease you with a 3 TD performance every once in a while, but he never racks up the yards and he very rarely put a few good games together. Just way too inconsistent. [b]And when the fans(and Ravens) are finally able to admit this, perhaps they'll FINALLY get back to running the ball with the great set of 3 backs that they have.[/b] They ran the ball GREAT in the Saints game... then the following week against the Browns they refuse to really run it until the 4th quarter to milk the clock.
[/quote]

They have been running the ball all season but the run blocking has been trash for most of it. How many games have we seen the RBs get 2 and 3 yards per carry all game? Too many, the Ravens YPC is down a whole yard from last year. Its east to say "just run the ball" but when its not working you cant just keep running the ball.

[JohnJohnson]

This guy...I guess you didn't get the memo last time you brought up this fallacious claim that we abandoned the run against the Browns. Ray Rice had 25 runs, and McGahee had some touches. We ran the ball plenty, we just didn't break any big ones. You're either not a Ravens fan, or you have no idea how to watch a football game and retain information.

Yeah...once in a while Flacco will throw 3 TDs against the Falcons in 20 minutes. Once in a while he'll throw the game winning TD at Pittsburgh. Once in a while he'll have fantastic touchdowns two weeks in a row against the Saints and then Browns. But he's terrible, it's all a fluke. He's so inconsistent that he's thrown 25 TDs and 9 INTs, a ratio better than 2.5 to 1. So inconsistent that since week 2, he's thrown 24 TDs and 4 INTs, a 6 to 1 ratio. You're out of your mind man, just wacky.

Edit: Oh yeah, and it's just a coincidence that he's thrown a TD in 10 straight games. That's not consistency.

[TSizzle00]

[quote name='JohnJohnson' timestamp='1293564110' post='587241']
This guy...I guess you didn't get the memo last time you brought up this fallacious claim that we abandoned the run against the Browns. Ray Rice had 25 runs, and McGahee had some touches. We ran the ball plenty, we just didn't break any big ones. You're either not a Ravens fan, or you have no idea how to watch a football game and retain information.

Yeah...once in a while Flacco will throw 3 TDs against the Falcons in 20 minutes. Once in a while he'll throw the game winning TD at Pittsburgh. Once in a while he'll have fantastic touchdowns two weeks in a row against the Saints and then Browns. But he's terrible, it's all a fluke. He's so inconsistent that he's thrown 25 TDs and 9 INTs, a ratio better than 2.5 to 1. So inconsistent that since week 2, he's thrown 24 TDs and 4 INTs, a 6 to 1 ratio. You're out of your mind man, just wacky.

Edit: Oh yeah, and it's just a coincidence that he's thrown a TD in 10 straight games. That's not consistency.
[/quote]

Exactly, if more people would WATCH the game they would clearly see the Ravens are running the ball but it just was not working like it was last year.

[Jabara]

I'm not worried about it, and besides, we're winning.
I don't care how ugly the win is, I don't care how many points we put up, I just want to keep winning.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='edreedfromtheu' timestamp='1293563458' post='587225']
Well if you ask Q, I bet he will tell you he's been wide open a LOT and [b]doesn't even get a look in his direction.[/b] If you want to blame this on play-calling... fine, but [b]the whole point of play-calling is to get guys open.[/b] Flacco still just doesn't have very good vision or awareness. He will tease you with a 3 TD performance every once in a while, but he never racks up the yards and [b]he very rarely put a few good games together.[/b] Just way too inconsistent. And when the fans(and Ravens) are finally able to admit this, perhaps they'll FINALLY get back to running the ball with the great set of 3 backs that they have. They ran the ball GREAT in the Saints game... [b]then the following week against the Browns they refuse to really run it until the 4th quarter to milk the clock.[/b]
[/quote]

Since when have you been in the pocket with Joe? There are times when Cam likely tells Joe where to go, the slant route to Mason on third down early against the Browns being an example but when Joe looks Q's way whenever he drops back and has to scan the field.

As for your play-calling comment, that makes no sense. If a WR isn't good at getting separation, it doesn't matter what play is drawn up, he'll continue to struggle.

So I guess the consistent production we've seen from Joe since the Bengals doesn't count as putting a "few good games together"?

About the running the ball late against the Browns on Sunday, I really don't think you watched the game if you feel that way. Look at this play-by-play and tell me the Ravens didn't run the ball enough before the 4th quarter. [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20101226005&page=plays"]Link[/url]

[Ravens Lover]

[quote name='Jamal' timestamp='1293556950' post='587138']
He is sent on streaks for 75% of passing plays. Stuff like that will keep Q quiet for most of the time.
[/quote]

I'm not sure if thats true but if it is that should be Stallworth not him, he should be running the routs Mason is doing

[Jamal]

[quote name='Ravens Lover' timestamp='1293570858' post='587328']
I'm not sure if thats true but if it is that should be Stallworth not him, he should be running the routs Mason is doing
[/quote]
Stallworth is rarely on the field, so Q is basically given what Stall should be given.