Ray Lewis Needs To Come Off The Field.........on 3Rd Down

[bmore187]

Now i know its hard to envision Ray Ray not playing every snap.......but i feel like he is a huge liability in the pass coverage department. Hes good at run stopping and blitzing, but he cant cover the middle of the field. Every time a team has like a 3rd n 6 (an obvious passing down) i know the opposition is going to attack us right n the middle of the field. Hopefully we can draft our next MLB superstar next April. I will always love Ray but i think the time has come to move on after this season.

[T3hRaven]

While that's not a terrible idea, the fact of the matter is we don't have anyone to put in on third down for Ray. Our ILBs outside of Ray are nothing to write home about.

[The Raven]

Umm... no. What we need is CBs that can do their job. Ray's fine.

[K-Dog]

wile my knee jerk reaction is to call you a heretic, hunt you down, tie you up and hang you from a light post at the inner harbor and hand out free wiffel ball bats to every Ravens fan that walks by, further consideration and some degree of sorrow is forced to admit you might be on to something.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='K-Dog' timestamp='1316392962' post='797331']
wile my knee jerk reaction is to call you a heretic, hunt you down, tie you up and hang you from a light post at the inner harbor and hand out free wiffel ball bats to every Ravens fan that walks by, further consideration and some degree of sorrow is forced to admit you might be on to something.
[/quote]
I agree with above and was a few beers away from making this sort of post, OP. Ugh.....I dont like this feeling!!

[Guest RBates]

Sorry i agree he is way to slow in coverage. Experience no longer can carry him

[Romo Ravens]

[quote name='bmore187' timestamp='1316392546' post='797311']Now i know its hard to envision Ray Ray not playing every snap.......but i feel like he is a huge liability in the pass coverage department. Hes good at run stopping and blitzing, but he cant cover the middle of the field. Every time a team has like a 3rd n 6 (an obvious passing down) i know the opposition is going to attack us right n the middle of the field. Hopefully we can draft our next MLB superstar next April. I will always love Ray but i think the time has come to move on after this season.[/quote]

I hope you mean move on from Ray playing on third down and not just releasing him from the team next season. Don't get me started if it's the latter.

[ravensdfan]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1316393077' post='797334']
I agree with above and was a few beers away from making this sort of post, OP. Ugh.....I dont like this feeling!!
[/quote]

He seemed tired to me. Then again, the entire D seemed tired to me. They did spend an awful lot of time on the field today. I'm not ready to concede this just yet. I, too, believe it might be him trying to do too much (much like Ed Reed did today as well) to cover our weakness at CB. I though Williams did an okay job. Webb too but Foxy was clearly killing us.

[K-Dog]

[quote name='Romo Ravens' timestamp='1316393283' post='797344']
not just releasing him from the team next season. Don't get me started if it's the latter.
[/quote]

Oh, H. E. double hokey sticks no.

[K-Dog]

[quote name='ravensdfan' timestamp='1316393319' post='797349']

He seemed tired to me. Then again, the entire D seemed tired to me. They did spend an awful lot of time on the field today. I'm not ready to concede this just yet. I, too, believe it might be him trying to do too much (much like Ed Reed did today as well) to cover our weakness at CB. I though Williams did an okay job. Webb too but Foxy was clearly killing us.
[/quote]

I think they were putting Foxy out as a last ditch effort. Trying to find SOMEONE who could contain Britt. I mean I think they were at the point they were willing to try any thing.

[RavenousBG]

I didn't see where that was the issue today, but Ray is slowing down. So what's the answer if you want to suggest such a move. I actually have a little bit of an answer against teams that like to run 4 wides. I would say try to put Pollard in on 3rd downs. But at the same time, I am not really sure I have seen Ray having problems in pass coverage. His responsibility today was CJ and even in the passing game he wasn't much of a factor. I have just seen him have more problems getting blocked more these days than in the past.

Also, teams are going more and more to hurry up offenses to keep teams from subbing. So you really want to be able to keep a guy in the practice of doing everything.

As far as drafting a replacement, we will never get a draft pick high enough. Ray was an accident by 20 other teams. I would be surprised to see that happen for us again. And even if we did get the next big thing at MLB, there will never be another Ray Ray.

[The Raven]

Ray was not the issue today. He is noticeably slowing down, but the old man still did better in coverage than our very young secondary.

[Dfence4champs2052]

[quote name='The Raven' timestamp='1316392901' post='797327']
Umm... no. What we need is CBs that can do their job. Ray's fine.
[/quote]

Agree on both points. Ray Lewis is still a beast in the middle evidenced by his pick last week. Awareness makes up for what he lost in speed.

[The Raven]

[quote name='Dfence4champs2052' timestamp='1316399967' post='797555']

Agree on both points. Ray Lewis is still a beast in the middle evidenced by his pick last week. Awareness makes up for what he lost in speed.
[/quote]

Well, he's a beast as far as zone coverage goes... I'll say I'm not entirely comfortable with him in man coverage.

[Dfence4champs2052]

[quote name='bmore187' timestamp='1316392546' post='797311']
Now i know its hard to envision Ray Ray not playing every snap.......but i feel like he is a huge liability in the pass coverage department. Hes good at run stopping and blitzing, but he cant cover the middle of the field. Every time a team has like a 3rd n 6 (an obvious passing down) i know the opposition is going to attack us right n the middle of the field. Hopefully we can draft our next MLB superstar next April. I will always love Ray but i think the time has come to move on after this season.
[/quote]

Another thought....if we just win the superbowl we won't have this problem next year then right???

[Alexir]

[quote name='bmore187' timestamp='1316392546' post='797311']
Now i know its hard to envision Ray Ray not playing every snap.......but i feel like he is a huge liability in the pass coverage department. Hes good at run stopping and blitzing, but he cant cover the middle of the field. Every time a team has like a 3rd n 6 (an obvious passing down) i know the opposition is going to attack us right n the middle of the field. Hopefully we can draft our next MLB superstar next April. I will always love Ray but i think the time has come to move on after this season.
[/quote]


Ray Lewis was the problem today? He didn't play amazingly but the defense as a whole looked like dog doo doo. The team wasn't focused or fired up.

Replacing Ray Lewis will never get my vote, dude is a living legend and he took care of Johnson when he touched the ball (both receiving and rushing).

Zbikowski, Foxworth and even Ed Reed looked worse off than Ray.

[PuRock]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1316400820' post='797587']


Ray Lewis was the problem today? He didn't play amazingly but the defense as a whole looked like dog doo doo. The team wasn't focused or fired up.

Replacing Ray Lewis will never get my vote, dude is a living legend and he took care of Johnson when he touched the ball (both receiving and rushing).

Zbikowski, Foxworth and even Ed Reed looked worse off than Ray.
[/quote]

I agree. I'm not pinpointing this loss on anybody. I hate after losses we start ripping this player and that player. This was a complete team loss. Every facet of our game was shutdown. There were very little, if any, bright spots.

[Tatelli]

Ray by no means was the issue IMO. Those quick passes were setting our CB's up for the stop and goes, this for us is very hard to stop, because bump and run is not what most of our DB's are good at. FoxNOTworth playing 6yrds into end zone before the snap of the ball, was not a good move on his behalf. He has the back of the end zone why not be closer to the receiver, at least give him a shove at the line, heck he caught it and momentum did the rest. Jimmy will be back soon FoxNOTworth can hit the pine, and we will have to good size corners that are aggressive and while we hate it, there will be times they get beat. The D will right the ship fast!! I'm more concerned about......Cam, Joe and our Offence! Are you telling me that if the D has a sub par game, that our offence can't carry this team.....I've heard that song and dance for to long! The players are there, what is the problem???????

[JohnnyBoy8102]

Britt/Washington combined for 16 catches/234 yards and I didn't see Ray covering them on any of the 16 catches.

Ray actually played well today. The front 7 held their running game to 2.55 ypc on 29 attempts. Ray had 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, a pass deflection in coverage on Chris Johnson, and a qb hit on a blitz. 5 of his tackles were within 2 yards of the LOS.

He clearly was not the problem today. The OP is just generalizing and doesn't have any specific examples to go on. I would bet that on 80%-85% of 3rd downs Ray either blitzes or plays zone coverage.

[JohnnyBoy8102]

I am more concerned that Webb has 21 tackles in two games which shows me that he is giving up a ton of receptions. It is never good when your leading tackler after 2 games is a cornerback.

[Purple Nurple]

Ray will blow someone up next game and I will laugh as usual.

[Thepurplehaze]

[quote name='Purple Nurple' timestamp='1316402614' post='797641']
Ray will blow someone up next game and I will laugh as usual.
[/quote]
Exactly what I was thinking.
You don't take a guy who chased down a player 15 yards to cause a FF last week off ANY down for any reason.

[scrock]

Ray has been exposed in coverage a few times already this year..but I dont see him ever coming off the field and if it starts becoming a question he will retire..which he may do after this year anyway

our secondary needs work, we need Jimmy Smith to get healthy and Chris Carr too..Carr was our most consistent CB last year and we miss both those guys for sure

Webb has 21 tackles thru two games..that is not good when your CBs are your leading tacklers each week..not good at all

[i82much]

Yeah you could pretty much put a rabid cheetah in ray's place today and we still get kicked in the teeth.

[bmore187]

[quote name='Romo Ravens' timestamp='1316393283' post='797344']
I hope you mean move on from Ray playing on third down and not just releasing him from the team next season. Don't get me started if it's the latter.
[/quote]

What I mean is we should draft our next man to eventually replace Ray Ray right now while we still have Ray Lewis. I dont wanna wait to he retires and then we're left scratching our head wondering who we're gonna plug in at MLB........And if Ray Lewis plans to play past this yr why not take him off the field on 3rd down when its an obvious passing down knowing the fact he cant cover a TE or WR running across the middle?

[Romo Ravens]

[quote name='bmore187' timestamp='1316405901' post='797724']

What I mean is we should draft our next man to eventually replace Ray Ray right now while we still have Ray Lewis. I dont wanna wait to he retires and then we're left scratching our head wondering who we're gonna plug in at MLB........And if Ray Lewis plans to play past this yr why not take him off the field on 3rd down when its an obvious passing down knowing the fact he cant cover a TE or WR running across the middle?[/quote]

I agree with what you wrote, I just thought you wanted to let him go after this season. My bad

[reediddy]

[quote name='K-Dog' timestamp='1316392962' post='797331']
wile my knee jerk reaction is to call you a heretic, hunt you down, tie you up and hang you from a light post at the inner harbor and hand out free wiffel ball bats to every Ravens fan that walks by, further consideration and some degree of sorrow is forced to admit you might be on to something.
[/quote]

hahaha! I agree. And when the opposing team's playmakers are in space, Ray seemed to be having a tough time tracking them down for the tackle. I counted at least two occurrences of said mistake.

[codizzle]

[quote name='Purple Nurple' timestamp='1316402614' post='797641']
Ray will blow someone up next game and I will laugh as usual.
[/quote]
lol this... Yea he has lost a step but he is nowhere near a liability.. I swear he is two plays ahead of yhe offense most times

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

Ray wasn't the problem in this game but teams are going to start exposing him in coverage because he has noticeably looked more slow and got exposed a couple of times. I believe someone at the Sun touched on it. Ray is a liability in coverage at this point in his career especially with teams now using very athletic TEs and RBs in passing game more these days. In other words, I see where the OP is coming from.

At the same time, Ray's presence on the field is absolutely vital to our defense and it's not like our other ILBs are any better at covering either.

[wayne]

[quote name='scrock' timestamp='1316405503' post='797711']
[b]Ray has been exposed in coverage a few times already this year[/b]..but I dont see him ever coming off the field and if it starts becoming a question he will retire..which he may do after this year anyway

our secondary needs work, we need Jimmy Smith to get healthy and Chris Carr too..Carr was our most consistent CB last year and we miss both those guys for sure

Webb has 21 tackles thru two games..that is not good when your CBs are your leading tacklers each week..not good at all
[/quote]

Can you and the guy who made this thread name when Ray was expose in coverage ( liability )? Ray did his job damn good today and I'm sure it was to focus on CJ with the running and receptions out the backfield. Please name the play or plays where Ray was expose. Please bring evidence when accusing someone of something, especially when it's not obvious...