A no TD game

[The Raven]

[quote name='BMORElegacy' timestamp='1349661310' post='1181353']
Did anybody else get irritated when Cameron jumped on Harbaugh's back when the game was sealed with the Rice 3rd down conversion? He acted like his 'masterful' play calling won the game
[/quote]

No, he acted like he was happy we won the game. Damn, do you guys have to whine about everything Cam does? Y'all would probably complain if he breathed the wrong way.

[JohnnyBoy8102]

I thought of this game immediately. November 16, 2003

[url="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200311160mia.htm"]http://www.pro-footb...00311160mia.htm[/url]

I know it was a loss but the score resonated in my mind.

[RavensAllTheWay]

I just realized, I find it ironic that it was rainy and wet all across the east coast today, yet our game, in sunny KC, had no TDs and was the ugliest.

[jaege]

[quote name='The Raven' timestamp='1349661710' post='1181370']
No, he acted like he was happy we won the game. Damn, do you guys have to whine about everything Cam does? Y'all would probably complain if he breathed the wrong way.
[/quote]

I would not complain if he stopped breathing, otherwise, yeah.

[beasy2487]

[quote name='Bravens292' timestamp='1349646490' post='1180748']


how about the man that scored all our points? he even had a tackle on a kickoff LOL
[/quote]

Touche! Tucker is a straight up beast. I love his athleticism. I hope we find a way to take advantage of it later in the season when we need to mix things up.

[GrimCoconut]

[quote name='Twistidfunk' timestamp='1349655640' post='1181093']
Frustrating game for sure.

I think a lot of credit is due to the Chiefs defense. They played great and really shut us down. The drops were killing us.

I thnk on one drive down in the redzone, Flacco overthrew Leach on a 2nd and 10 when he was wide open. We settled for a FG but I think if we would have stuck with the run game more, we could have scored.

Flacco is just throwing waaaaay too much and on an off day for him and the receivers we need more Rice. Not enough dump offs. I only remember 1 and Rice killed it.
[/quote]
I don't know what happened in this game, but I will say this: it wasn't Flacco's fault--at least not initially. The WRs must've ate some buttered popcorn and buttered lobster before playing this game because they were Ed Dicksoning it up out there. At one point I thought Boldin was allergic to the ball. Thank God we struck some gold with Torrey Smith, whose hands have looked great today.

The offensive line didn't play too great, but I think Oher and KO have done a good job so far. KO's problems seem to be mental, where he costs us penalties more than giving up plays. Oher has had struggles with speed rushers for sure, but I think he has played rather well despite everything. I think people are giving him too much hate.

And then the coaching was odd. I have no idea why we decided to run Anthony Allen. I know he's a power back but he has been terrible so far. I would have rather used Allen to block as the FB and run Leach or something.

[BloodRaven]

I think defensive coordinators are starting to notice our problems with press coverage, if we can't win these one on one matchups then why aren't we adjusting? if Flacco is getting tuned up by pass rushers why not give the ball to Rice? if the receivers are getting pressed why not put someone in motion? I understand that the game is not that simple but some of the decisions being made are just dumb.

[Bravens292]

[quote name='GrimCoconut' timestamp='1349664999' post='1181509']
I don't know what happened in this game, but I will say this: it wasn't Flacco's fault--at least not initially. The WRs must've ate some buttered popcorn and buttered lobster before playing this game because they were Ed Dicksoning it up out there. At one point I thought Boldin was allergic to the ball. Thank God we struck some gold with Torrey Smith, whose hands have looked great today.

The offensive line didn't play too great, but I think Oher and KO have done a good job so far. KO's problems seem to be mental, where he costs us penalties more than giving up plays. Oher has had struggles with speed rushers for sure, but I think he has played rather well despite everything. I think people are giving him too much hate.

And then the coaching was odd. I have no idea why we decided to run Anthony Allen. I know he's a power back but he has been terrible so far. I would have rather used Allen to block as the FB and run Leach or something.
[/quote]

i thought this was a gameplan issue. i don't get the strategy behind using the deep ball too often when that plays into the hand of hali and houston and our tackles haven't shown they can handle that task prior to this game as it is. i've been saying this all day long but i still can't get over why we didn't use more screens and slants.

[beasy2487]

[quote name='GrimCoconut' timestamp='1349664999' post='1181509']

I don't know what happened in this game, but I will say this: it wasn't Flacco's fault--at least not initially. The WRs must've ate some buttered popcorn and buttered lobster before playing this game because they were Ed Dicksoning it up out there. At one point I thought Boldin was allergic to the ball. Thank God we struck some gold with Torrey Smith, whose hands have looked great today.

The offensive line didn't play too great, but I think Oher and KO have done a good job so far. KO's problems seem to be mental, where he costs us penalties more than giving up plays. Oher has had struggles with speed rushers for sure, but I think he has played rather well despite everything. I think people are giving him too much hate.

And then the coaching was odd. I have no idea why we decided to run Anthony Allen. I know he's a power back but he has been terrible so far. I would have rather used Allen to block as the FB and run Leach or something.
[/quote]

Honestly it's like we have too many weapons and Cam can't wrap his mind around how to use them all. It still seems life we do not deviate from the offensive gameplan whatsoever.

Remember when we created plays for Rice instead of just using him as a last resort? Where is the quick passing game to our speed wideouts?

[HoldingCall]

Our team dominated only one of the five games played with all four win being determined in the final minute of play. This is not the sign of a dominate offense. We are repeating a trend from last season where scoring became more difficult after the first game.

I believe the problem is more than just lack of execution. Sometimes we need to read the defense and determine whether it is best to run or throw. Perhaps it was the crowd noise but I did not see many plays changed at the line.

I keep thinking back to the point in the Cleveland game where a Browns LBer ran to a location in the end zone without looking and intecepted a potential touchdown from Joe. It made me wonder whether the plays are easy for defenses to read or was that just a lucky guess.

I also wonder what happened to play action, draw plays, check downs, or screens. There just isn't enough mixture during a game.

[beasy2487]

[quote name='HoldingCall' timestamp='1349666398' post='1181574']
Our team dominated only one of the five games played with all four win being determined in the final minute of play. This is not the sign of a dominate offense. We are repeating a trend from last season where scoring became more difficult after the first game.

I believe the problem is more than just lack of execution. Sometimes we need to read the defense and determine whether it is best to run or throw. Perhaps it was the crowd noise but I did not see many plays changed at the line.

I keep thinking back to the point in the Cleveland game where a Browns LBer ran to a location in the end zone without looking and intecepted a potential touchdown from Joe. It made me wonder whether the plays are easy for defenses to read or was that just a lucky guess.

I also wonder what happened to play action, draw plays, check downs, or screens. There just isn't enough mixture during a game.
[/quote]

One thing I've always stood by is that Cam runs a feast or famine offense. His schemes require everything to be clicking. When they are, we see Pittsburgh and Cinci week 1. Which makes sense because whenever we have an opportunity to practice the plays excessively before the game his schemes work better. However, if even one element of the offense isn't working--be that the O-line, running game, or receivers catching the darn ball--the whole thing falls apart. Then you factor in Cam's inability to plan for this type of contingency and you get games like yesterday.

The one promising thing I've seen as a trend with Harbs though is that every year we seem to come out a little better in 50/50 games. We used to punish inferior opponents and then lose close to the great ones. Then last year we started beating good teams but losing 50/50s against bad teams. This year it looks like we can eek out wins against the good ones while still not dropping the 50/50s. That game against the Chiefs was the mirror image of the game against the Jags except the Jags got that touchdown late to win the game where the Chiefs couldn't.

[bpytnjr58]

Just like the good ole days...Eh?

[RavensAllTheWay]

[quote name='HoldingCall' timestamp='1349666398' post='1181574']
Our team dominated only one of the five games played with all four win being determined in the final minute of play. This is not the sign of a dominate offense. We are repeating a trend from last season where scoring became more difficult after the first game.

I believe the problem is more than just lack of execution. Sometimes we need to read the defense and determine whether it is best to run or throw. Perhaps it was the crowd noise but I did not see many plays changed at the line.

I keep thinking back to the point in the Cleveland game where a Browns LBer ran to a location in the end zone without looking and intecepted a potential touchdown from Joe. It made me wonder whether the plays are easy for defenses to read or was that just a lucky guess.

I also wonder what happened to play action, draw plays, check downs, or screens. There just isn't enough mixture during a game.
[/quote]

Coming into yesterdays game, we were outscored 20-17 in first quarters through 4 weeks. Now it's 20-20. Our offense has generally tuned it up after a rough few possessions. We moved the ball much more effectively in the 2nd half, and tuned it WAY up after the first three or four drives against NE.

We may have sputtered in the 2nd half against PHI, but even then, we had a horrendous opening drive that we overcame as the first half went on.

I don't think we're fast starters and slow finishers. With the exception of the PHI game and the CIN game where we were on from start to finish, we've been slow starters, but played better offense as the game went on.

[GrimCoconut]

Maybe this marks the beginning of the old Ravens team that made and won the Super Bowl. Hopefully the offense changes back to the one that beat the Bengals and the Defense reverts to the 2000 defense and we make it to the Super Bowl and win again. Man wouldn't that be cool.

[admartian]

I think everyone in the league knows Cam has 3 routes that our receivers run and his strategy is spam them with deep balls (without setting it up). And when that doesn't work he will use 1 screen, 1 draw in between running it up the gut.

Seriously, that's how simple his gameplan is. It unfairly requires 100% execution without helping the players whatsoever.

Now in a perfect world, where offensive players make 0% mistakes or the environment or opposition cannot alter the plays, then yes, his gameplan will probably work.

He needs to be a little bit less predictable (I feel like we've been saying this for a while now)...

[jedasturias]

It seems like it was battle of the kickers for both teams out there. It was quite fascinating to see how both offense struggle to pass each other's defense. It just shows that it was a great match up. However, the Ravens should've stepped up and find a better way to score. Overall, it's still a win no matter what...