What Does "conservative" Mean To You?

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[quote name='PurpleCorsair' timestamp='1325620671' post='933588']

To be fair that particular breakdown is on the O-line.
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I know it was on the line, I'm not blaming that on cam, I actually liked the call. That was up to flacco and the line to adjust.

[ravensdfan]

[quote name='adam713' timestamp='1325610841' post='933319']
Who cares if we are predictable, as many of you claim (which I don't necessarily agree with). What does that even mean?

Ok, let's say we are indeed predictable...oh and we're also 12-4 and just completed a clean sweep of all our divisional opponents in arguably the best division in the NFL. If we're so predictable than why can't good teams stop us? Better players? Maybe. Better Execution? Maybe. Better plays? Maybe. I think it's a mix of them all with maybe a harder emphasis on EXECUTION and great players.

I don't get why we argue this over and again. We're not experts and at this point Cam actually should warrant some CREDIT. Who are you confident would be better? Norv? Why?

I would even go as far as to argue that when we're not "predictable" or we veer away from what our team is built for we lose. Pass heavy in TEN (32 pass attempts vs. 13 Rice carries) and abysmal showing from our D; Pass heavy in JAC with good defensive performance (38 pass attempts vs. 8 Rice carries); Pass heavy in SEA (52 pass attempts vs 5 Rice carries), and For SD I'm not even going to say since our D got absolutely lit up which gave us no shot anyway. Also, we almost lost to PIT & ARI due to this disproportion, too. Last 2 games (CLE- 24 Pass attempts vs. 23 Rice carries) (CIN- 19 Pass attempts vs. 24 Rice carries).

From looking at those stats, I'd at the very least say we are a run first team and that with our offensive line talent and massive bonus which is Vonta Leach....look to pound that rock first (and we're starting to get that).

What we should be focusing on is how well is our offensive line is playing in any given game. OR, how about our wideouts actually catching catchable balls. If Lee Evans, TSMith (who've they given the opps to redeem himself), and Dickson caught a few of those catchable balls....we'd probably have bigger scoring wins. Oh, what about Joe hitting his targets when open or being able to find them when open? Does all this fall on Cam too?

I'm not a Cam apologist and don't think he's perfect. Yet, it's mad to me to see how much flack he gets for things outside of his control. Execution is key...not the predictability of the plays called.
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You've missed the point here though. We're not saying we need to dump the run and go to an air attack. If you look at our wins vs top teams this season we had a balanced attack. We passed on first and second down occasionally. We didn't leave our passing game strictly for 3rd downs. It is about letting teams hang around when we could put them away if we only mixed up our plays and got a little creative. It isn't even about going for the deep ball necessarily, but a few more slants and screens rather than handing the ball off. It is also about when we go about hitting that run, run, pass, drop, punt routine. Why do we go there at the beginning of the 3rd quarter? This is something that should be saved for the 4th when we have at least a 2 score lead. Our losses were not just about play calling. It was about not making half time adjustments when it was obvious the game plan wasn't working. Cam cannot adjust or refuses to, either way, he is a liability because of that tendency. It is about running the slowest hurry up offense I've ever seen and wasting a time out because Cam won't let our 4th year winning QB run the offense. Cam isn't the worst OC around, obviously, but this offense has outgrown him. We can be so much more without him.

[adam713]

[quote name='ravensdfan' timestamp='1325676103' post='934423']

You've missed the point here though. We're not saying we need to dump the run and go to an air attack. If you look at our wins vs top teams this season we had a balanced attack. We passed on first and second down occasionally. We didn't leave our passing game strictly for 3rd downs. It is about letting teams hang around when we could put them away if we only mixed up our plays and got a little creative. It isn't even about going for the deep ball necessarily, but a few more slants and screens rather than handing the ball off. It is also about when we go about hitting that run, run, pass, drop, punt routine. Why do we go there at the beginning of the 3rd quarter? This is something that should be saved for the 4th when we have at least a 2 score lead. Our losses were not just about play calling. It was about not making half time adjustments when it was obvious the game plan wasn't working. Cam cannot adjust or refuses to, either way, he is a liability because of that tendency. It is about running the slowest hurry up offense I've ever seen and wasting a time out because Cam won't let our 4th year winning QB run the offense. Cam isn't the worst OC around, obviously, but this offense has outgrown him. We can be so much more without him.
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I don't feel that I have missed the point. I pointed the run vs. pass stats out because of the overall inability to define what people specifically mean by "not creative" or "too conservative." Essentially, my point was to point out that we have learned to mix things up and realize that we're a run-first team. As fans, we shouldn't be scrutinizing which of those should be on which down. If Flacco doesn't like a play called...he should change it based on his read of the D.

1) Not sure what you mean by not being able to make halftime adjustments. Did you watch the Cardinals game? Did you watch the away Steelers game? In both of those games we executed tremendous 2nd half come backs lead by our offense. I'm not a O coordinator nor do I know much about offensive game planning but it takes a certain amount of creativity to lead these drives....and who knows maybe all of those comebacks were plays called by Joe and not Cam. The point is we don't know but we can see the results.

2) In terms of the hurry-up offense, I'm not entirely sure how much Cam trusts Flacco and his wideouts to execute this to a T (and to your point). Yet, in Pittsburgh we executed one of the most beautiful 2 minute drills I've ever seen (and almost lost it 'cause of the initial TSmith drop). I know we tried this in Ten too but their secondary had our number that day.

I guess my point is that, as fans, we are so whiny about the play calling and suddenly forget all the other factors that contributed to a loss. Also, Flacco isn't an elite QB and I dn't care who you have as an o-coordinator. He can't execute and seemingly read a defense like a Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Newton, and even a Manning (either of them). The only game where I can remember Joe showing up to 100% was that 1st game vs. Steelers. Other games, there's just too many missed open receivers and mistakes.

Overall, I get what people are saying in the sense that it has now become a league where you probably need to be able to score 30+ points a game to beat the big dogs. I'm just not sure our team was built for that this year (too many injuries to vets and too many young guns to have consistency in doing that).