21 replies to this topic

[Gashman]

Great job securing the win! Hats off to Ray, we are very privileged to have had #52 for so long. It's been an honor watching his career unfold since day 1.

Ed Reed, " We got a little winded out there"

22 minutes time of possession won't get it done playing a mile high. We need to form a patient game plan to make sure our guys on D aren't winded vs Peyton.

[Mick0311]

Yeah, this could be bad for us. If we cannot sustain drives, we are done. They will be gassed for sure up here, and you know Manning is going to chew up some clock.

[dhstandard]

A lot of bad calls ruined some good drives such as the Boldin phantom PI. Ray Rice's fumbles were a major factor as well. He was trying to do too much today.

Edited by dhstandard, 06 January 2013 - 05:22 PM.

[JHarris]

Keep in mind too most or all of the scoring drives were under three minutes. They do need to have some sustained drives but I'll take points over time of possesion.

[jimmypowder]

Great job securing the win! Hats off to Ray, we are very privileged to have had #52 for so long. It's been an honor watching his career unfold since day 1.

Ed Reed, " We got a little winded out there"

22 minutes time of possession won't get it done playing a mile high. We need to form a patient game plan to make sure our guys on D aren't winded vs Peyton.

Bring in the oxygen machines !

[Moderator 3]

If the defense would stop that "bend but don't break" scheme, they'd get off the field faster. They let the Colts have sustained drives.

[SecretAgentMan]

If the defense would stop that "bend but don't break" scheme, they'd get off the field faster. They let the Colts have sustained drives.

God Only knows what Peyton will do.

We need a plan, like what we did vs Eli

[Footman DCXLV]

If the defense would stop that "bend but don't break" scheme, they'd get off the field faster. They let the Colts have sustained drives.

I actually look at the offense as the reason for the low time of possession. The way our defense plays, which is better than a lot of us want to give them credit for based on our history, time of possession should be about even every game. Instead, I think there was only one game all year long in which we won the time of possession battle.
We rely completely on big plays. We either score on drives with big plays, or we struggle to get a single first down. You almost never see a long, sustained Ravens drive, which is completely contradictory to having set a franchise record for points scored in a season this year.
Specifically, I'd like to see Joe spend more time at the line before snapping the ball. The no-huddle is great, but there's a difference between a no-huddle offense and a hurry-up offense. There's no need to play a hurry-up offense, and when you try to and fail consistently, it's time to re-evaluate. Stick with the no-huddle, which Joe really can succeed with, but slow everything down and stay at the line a little longer. That's when our offense, and specifically Flacco, seems to be at its best.

[Gashman]

I actually look at the offense as the reason for the low time of possession. The way our defense plays, which is better than a lot of us want to give them credit for based on our history, time of possession should be about even every game. Instead, I think there was only one game all year long in which we won the time of possession battle.
We rely completely on big plays. We either score on drives with big plays, or we struggle to get a single first down. You almost never see a long, sustained Ravens drive, which is completely contradictory to having set a franchise record for points scored in a season this year.
Specifically, I'd like to see Joe spend more time at the line before snapping the ball. The no-huddle is great, but there's a difference between a no-huddle offense and a hurry-up offense. There's no need to play a hurry-up offense, and when you try to and fail consistently, it's time to re-evaluate. Stick with the no-huddle, which Joe really can succeed with, but slow everything down and stay at the line a little longer. That's when our offense, and specifically Flacco, seems to be at its best.

I agree.
At home the deep ball offense works better. We tried that in Houston and we got pasted. I think Flacco just loves to throw it deep a lot because he can. With Pierce coming on strong, I would love to see the dual threat of him and Rice on the field at the same time. Whatever they do, patience and methodical are the buzz words that should be put at the top of the Game plan chart.

[TonyTone1192]

Yeah, this could be bad for us. If we cannot sustain drives, we are done. They will be gassed for sure up here, and you know Manning is going to chew up some clock.

That's very true.. Our offense goes through dry spurts where we have consecutive 3 and outs.

[Bobby]

I actually look at the offense as the reason for the low time of possession. The way our defense plays, which is better than a lot of us want to give them credit for based on our history, time of possession should be about even every game. Instead, I think there was only one game all year long in which we won the time of possession battle.
We rely completely on big plays. We either score on drives with big plays, or we struggle to get a single first down. You almost never see a long, sustained Ravens drive, which is completely contradictory to having set a franchise record for points scored in a season this year.
Specifically, I'd like to see Joe spend more time at the line before snapping the ball. The no-huddle is great, but there's a difference between a no-huddle offense and a hurry-up offense. There's no need to play a hurry-up offense, and when you try to and fail consistently, it's time to re-evaluate. Stick with the no-huddle, which Joe really can succeed with, but slow everything down and stay at the line a little longer. That's when our offense, and specifically Flacco, seems to be at its best.

I think there are some good points here. My biggest concern is how hard we make it look to convert 3 and 4 or less. Other teams seem to always have a simple slant, or QB roll out to a TE, etc. that works consistently. We just always look like there is way more effort needed. Those are where we will get more sustained drives. Hopefully Jim Caldwell and the boys will have some new wrinkles this week!

Total confidence in this team! Let's get us some Peyton!

[ellicottraven]

We are losing not only the time of possession battle in most games we play, but we are losing badly the number of snaps played by the offense. The Colts had 87 snaps on offense yesterday! Can you imagine how much that should tire our defense out??

Our game planning should be more comprehensive than what we have now. We are very score centric which is alright, except that when you leave the defense out there so long, it increases the chances of the opposing offense to score and equalize or even move ahead of our score. That is a very dumb strategy imo. We need to win time of possession first and foremost because that leaves our defense fresh and ready to defend....

[Footman DCXLV]

I agree that time of possession is the most important stat we need to improve, rather than any traditional defensive stat.
Another thing that could go a long way is play calling. For example, the second-to-last Ravens possession yesterday against the Colts. There was about 3:30 left in the game, with the clock running after two running plays, and it was 3rd and 6 or 7 around midfield. Joe threw the ball, incomplete pass, nothing gained, and the clock stopped. In a situation like that, even if it is third down, run the ball. Take an extra 40+ seconds off the clock (a significant portion with under 4 minutes remaining), and actually give yourself a chance to pick up the first down in the process, considering we had already rushed for over 150 yards on the day. Or, at least line up in a formation that looks like you might run, instead screaming to the world "we're passing" out of shotgun.
Obviously, as there was under 4 minutes left, that particular play didn't do much in the final tally for time of possession. But, similar play-calls in similar situations do greatly affect it at the end of the day.

The defense does enough to win the time of possession if our offense plays well. A stat that seemed to go unnoticed comes from the first Denver game. At the end of the game, the commentators made sure the audience knew that Baltimore's offense went three-and-out seven times in that game, the most of any team in any game this year. Prior to that game, the most had been six three-and-outs, which is also a very high number. Denver also happened to go three-and-out six times in that game. The fact that they still scored 34 points, and won the time of possession battle with a whopping 38:34, while only gaining 350 yards of offense is mind boggling. That doesn't happen unless your own offense simply doesn't exist.

[Gashman]

We need an emergent short passing game to mix in with the runs, go sparingly on the deep balls.

[flaccopoe]

A bit of a silly debate, no offense to the OP. Just make the most of the time you do have!

[funky141]

Could be a huge factor if the offense goes 3 and out a few times. The Ravens D will tire very quickly if the offense can't sustain some drives.

[pgk]

The timing of the 3 and outs is critical too. In the past our offense had a tendancy to goes 3 and out following a successful drive by the opposing offense on our D. Not only does this lead to our guys being gassed, but it also doesn't allow enough time for the coaches to effectively implement adjustments. The D ends up quickly going back again without adjustments being made and thus gets gashed on consecutive series. Conversely, our D tend to perform well following a series in which the offense picks up at least a couple of first downs and thus allows an adaquate amount of time for the D to catch their breath and get coached up on the sideline.

[awholelottahaloti]

ToP will be much different and tilted more to the Ravens this week. Our running game will be much more efficient and I see a possession type passing attack as well. The D will need to do a much better job of containing the run as well.

[Balmorefoosball]

You look at our D's stats for the year and we've really fallen from our "top defenders" classification, but what's really depressing about it is that when the D is fresh, they're GREAT. If our O would win the TOP battle a little more often, do a little better at converting our 3rd downs, I believe our D would still be in that top 5 discussion... I believe this is all being caused by a forced and premature attempt to evolve this Ravens team into a passing team.<- Take this comment as lightly as possible, I am aware that during the Flacco/Harbaugh era we've been a lot better passing the ball, but we need to keep our roots in the ground game IMHO.

[Footman DCXLV]

You look at our D's stats for the year and we've really fallen from our "top defenders" classification, but what's really depressing about it is that when the D is fresh, they're GREAT. If our O would win the TOP battle a little more often, do a little better at converting our 3rd downs, I believe our D would still be in that top 5 discussion... I believe this is all being caused by a forced and premature attempt to evolve this Ravens team into a passing team.

I agree completely. Just an average TOP of 30 minutes a game would make us a top 10 defense. Our offense needs to start staying on the field longer, even when they score.