Composure and Preparation

[tctony]

Does the coaching staff seem a little off to anyone else so far?

Coach Harbaugh usually has this team [i]on point [/i]after a long lay off. They don't normally struggle when they've extra time to prepare (season openers, bye weeks, after Thursday games). They looked flat in all facets today.

And whats up with the penalties? Penalties are something that plagued our talented 2008 team. Harbaugh has cut them out in recent years, but this year not so much.

Obviously we're still 4-1. But the Ravens look a little rough around the edges this year.

[rlh445]

Don't question anything bro, we got a 'W' so that's all that matters. That's pretty much the sum of what you'll get, so I'll try to offer an actual hypothesis before people come in here and tell you to stop 'complaining,'.

Basically we had a brutal start to the football season, and that's about it. Four games in 18 days is super rough, and the first game back on the road probably had a lot to do with it too. This was the first game back from an extended absence from playing real football, and they're not yet on the schedule they're normally used to (like during most seasons). Couple that with the replacement refs and you've got a lot of pent up chippiness. Hopefully they got it allllll out of their system today, along with the horrid execution and can get back to playing actual big boy football and maybe if we're lucky they'll score at least a touchdown against Dallas.

[Corvus]

The bottom line is it looks like it was a bad 10 days off at the office for everyone involved on the offensive side of the ball (with the exception of Rice). The gameplan didn't seem very good and the majority of the offense simply failed to execute the already questionable gameplan. Defense and the Chiefs' gift wrapped turnovers saved our team yesterday.

And I wouldn't consider the OP as "complaining." An objective question and not demanding changes to the team because he "knows more than our staff" doesn't qualify as such rlh445. Its the threads that say "[insert name] was terrible for one game, replace him now!" That kill me and many others on these forums.

[The Raven]

Penalties occur more frequently when you have a young team. I'm going to say, for now, the penalties are due to inexperience.

[JoeCool#5]

[quote name='tctony' timestamp='1349670808' post='1181704']
And whats up with the penalties? Penalties are something that plagued our talented 2008 team.
[/quote]

The holding and false start penalties (drive killers) are getting to be a bit much.

[ravens88]

o-line was the only big concern i had we shut the run down in the second half but Osemele and Oher struggled some dropped passes hurt also. Rice had a good day and we looked better against the pass plus we keep making turnovers so that good.

[SirPainsalot]

[quote name='ravens88' timestamp='1349709937' post='1181936']
o-line was the only big concern i had we shut the run down in the second half but Osemele and Oher struggled some dropped passes hurt also. Rice had a good day and we looked better against the pass plus we keep making turnovers so that good.
[/quote]
Speaking of which, is it just me or did Osemele get beat on a lot of plays?
I swear most of Flacco's sacks came from that side.

[rlh445]

Yea, KO's having some growing pains. I'll give KO a pass and hope that he gets it together. It's probably worth nothing that at least when he's messing up, everybody seems to be messing up so it doesn't highlight him as much.

[dirtybird10]

[quote name='SirPainsalot' timestamp='1349710846' post='1181944']
Speaking of which, is it just me or did Osemele get beat on a lot of plays?
I swear most of Flacco's sacks came from that side.
[/quote]

yea definately, but he is young and I don't think he has really played that position before. So it is to be expected to see some growing pains, some worse than others. Seems most of the pressure was either coming from his side, or near Harewood. I do remember Joe taking a sack by Hali who Oher had, but Joe tried to scramble right past him and got caught. I don't really see how that was on Oher, since if Joe was still in the pocket, Oher would have still been blocking him.

[Tank 92]

At the end of the day we are 4 and 1.

I don't see a problem with composure or preparation. We have had some issues with execution, but that is to be expected adding young and new players,

I think the Ravens will be fine. Just need to get to the bye and remain healthy.

[ravens rule]

[quote name='dirtybird10' timestamp='1349719554' post='1182133']
yea definately, but he is young and I don't think he has really played that position before. So it is to be expected to see some growing pains, some worse than others. Seems most of the pressure was either coming from his side, or near Harewood. I do remember Joe taking a sack by Hali who Oher had, but Joe tried to scramble right past him and got caught. I don't really see how that was on Oher, since if Joe was still in the pocket, Oher would have still been blocking him.
[/quote]It was on Joe for that sack but it was cuz the interior linemen got pushed back. Is it me that Yanda is the only consistent lineman for us. I swear you just can't trust anyone else to play well.

[rlh445]

[quote]
[b]At the end of the day we are 4 and 1.[/b][/quote]

At the end of the day, Mike Vick is back in the NFL as a starting NFL QB. Does that make his journey from the beginning until now any less significant? No. I don't think it's at all out of the question to pontificate about the curious goings on with the penalties and such. My feelings on why I think it's happening have already been posted, but I just hate the, 'at the end of the day' stuff as if nothing in between matters. Our performance the past few weeks matters. The number of penalties we've incurred matters and a 'W' in the win column doesn't take away from that.

[dirtybird10]

[quote name='ravens rule' timestamp='1349724855' post='1182212']
It was on Joe for that sack but it was cuz the interior linemen got pushed back. Is it me that Yanda is the only consistent lineman for us. I swear you just can't trust anyone else to play well.
[/quote]

I agree, the interior has been possibly the worst part of the line. If pressure is not coming from the outsides, its coming right up the middle. I don't know if the sack was necessarily ON Joe, like you said pocket collapsed right up the middle, and he tried to get away. He didn't... obviously. Don't really know what he should have done there besides throwing the ball away, or making a quick throw to someone and risk a pick.

[GrimCoconut]

I don't blame the coaches as much as the players. I'm not in the locker room but Harbaugh seems like the kind of coach that makes sure the team is ready. I am beginning to believe more than anything that some players are taking teams lightly. I saw this last year and I am seeing it more this year. I can't tell who yet but I feel like some of them are just relaxing when it comes to weak teams. They must play on special teams and defense, because I remember BA saying that some younger guys weren't taking special teams seriously. I also remember reading that some player said that some of our young guys weren't taking opponents seriously. Maybe that was the wine, though. I forget.

Bottom-line is I think some young players are underestimating opponents, and I see that being the reason for our struggles.

[tctony]

[quote name='rlh445' timestamp='1349671623' post='1181712']
[i]Don't question anything bro, we got a 'W' so that's all that matters. That's pretty much the sum of what you'll get, so I'll try to offer an actual hypothesis before people come in here and tell you to stop 'complaining,'. [/i]

[/quote]

That was what I was mostly expecting lol.

That opening stretch was a drag, but I expected these guys to blow KC out of the water after having 10 days off. They usually come out with a dynamite gameplan when they have that much time to prepare.

[quote name='Corvus' timestamp='1349695236' post='1181798']
And I wouldn't consider the OP as "complaining." An objective question and not demanding changes to the team because he "knows more than our staff" doesn't qualify as such rlh445. Its the threads that say "[insert name] was terrible for one game, replace him now!" That kill me and many others on these forums.
[/quote]

Definitely not complaining, just looking for opinions. I wish I knew as much about football as our coaches.

I'd just hate for this talented team to be wasted by us getting chippy with another team and getting penalties, or having a holding or false start ruin a GW drive, or lazily prepare for games and lose out on home field advantage again.

[ThePurpleWall]

4 and 1