Joe and the 1st Quarter

[jimmypowder]

Joe ended up having a terrific game last night but it seems he starts off slow a lot
and seems to have mediocre 1st quarters . I don't have any stats to back this up
but if anyone does please post.

What do you think the coaches should do (play calling ) to get Joe in a better
groove earlier ?

[jus'_crAzy]

Run the ball.

[jimmypowder]

Yeah I think your right . Get him moving around .

[PolishRifle]

Depends on the look the defense gives you. The Patriots were clearly preparing for shoot-out, so running the ball made sense, but during the Bengals game Cincy was watching Rice closely, so passing was the right thing to do. You either pass or run and you have to adjust accordingly, which the Ravens did.

[hawkprey]

We did run the ball early and for minimal gains. Remember the run-run-pass 3 and out to start the game? The Pats throw new things at us, it just took a little time to figure it out.

[gabefergy]

Joe had a bad Interception, but he got into a groove after that. Our 3 and outs were both just short of extending the drive. That first 4th and 1 was the time to go for it imo.

[RavensWin09]

we couldn't get those running holes opened. we never gave up the run even when it wasn't working and rice eventually broke loose after awhile which was huge for joe.

[Purple Punishment]

My John Maddenesque comment:

You are going to have to either run the ball or pass the ball

[TreTheRaven]

As someone stated earlier, run the ball. That will allow them to open up that playaction.

[ravens88]

[size=5][sub]play action like 5 times without ever running the ball didnt help..[/sub][/size]

[Alexir]

1 pick, 2 dropped picks. For Joe to be effective, like everyone else said, run the ball with RICE. He is throwing too much

[Cville-Raven]

They need to get him hot early, easy passes like screens and Quick slants.

[ravens rule]

Get that first first down and he'll get in a rythim.

[RavensWin09]

[quote name='Cville-Raven' timestamp='1348515242' post='1165743']
They need to get him hot early, easy passes like screens and Quick slants.
[/quote]

that is what our no huddle should be based on yet when we go no huddle we go for the sticks every pass. the key is to string passes together which gives us momentum and wears the defense at the same time. i don't see how they can get tired if we're throwing incomplete passes all the time. there was no better example than the 1st couple of drives of the 2nd half of the eagles game. we couldn't get a single completion and the eagles took advantage of us after that. we seem to have abandoned the rice screen the last 2 years as well. i guess cam is overcompensating for doing that do much in 09.

[CorvusCorax]

Joe really relies on his RBs to help him out with the pass, kinda like Eli Manning. We have a really good rushing attack group. I wasn't as upset about the first 3 and out series as I was the second and continued lack of progression.

But, we adjusted and make progress. Heck Flacco and Rice had a great night!

[raybaby]

[quote name='ravens88' timestamp='1348514945' post='1165737']
[size=5][sub]play action like 5 times without ever running the ball didnt help..[/sub][/size]
[/quote]

Exactly a big problem with our offense early was they expected the Pats to bite on the play action and they clearly weren't. Thankfully they actually made adjustments.

[darklight1216]

Has anyone else ever heard the saying "it's not how you start, it's how you finish?"

[cobrajet]

It does seem like Joe does need one or two series to get into that good rythymn. He needs to find his man Pitta early, that is a great combo right there. And yes, get Rice involved early.

[GOTA]

The team scripts the offensive plays. The number of the scripted plays varies from team to team but there is a very specific plan. It's possible that after the 1st series that it was time to throw that plan away. Do something else because that clearly wasn't going to work. Ultimately they seemed to do that but it might not have been until the 2nd quarter.