Ray Rice

[jimmypowder]

Time for Rice to make up for these fumbles and have a breakout playoff game .

I'll take this next week against Denver !

[rayrayven]

[quote name='TXRaven' timestamp='1357522299' post='1295715']
I thought the 2 back system worked well today as it has most of the season. The 2 fumbles caught me off gaurd a little because Rice does not fumble that often.
[/quote]

Part of the reason the ball got knocked out is being locked up at line of scrimmage. From an article on this site :

"His first fumble came on the Ravens’ opening drive. Rice ran up the middle, but found no open lanes. He danced in the hole and eventually had the ball knocked out by former Raven Cory Redding"

[izvoodoo]

Pierce has been are leading rusher last 3 games. And is the hot hand right now. He should get more touches than rice.

[usmccharles]

Im a huge Rice fan and i really cant defend him on this stuff. I mean two fumbles is horrible and thats his only downfall in this game to me. He finished with 117 total yards which is obviously good and 70 yards on 15 carries is good as well, so other than the fumbles obviously, i think he had a fine game.

One thing id love to see, put pierce in the backfield and have rice in the slot, i think that would make for an interesting mixup. Obviously i dont mean for the whole game but i really think we could do more damage that way. Rice is prolly the best receiving rb in the game and pierce on the ground reminds me of ricky williams, id love to see that game plan, but i really have no idea what im talking about

[bdravens]

He seems to have some issues in the playoffs. But, now that we have a guy like Pierce, I'm more confident. Like a lot of people have said, Pierce could be a feature back on about half the league's teams, so when Rice struggles like today, we won't have to rely on Flacco's arm.

[Purple_ICE 81]

When I saw Rice fumble I was thinking..when was the last time Rice fumbled? And even the second time it wasnt so bad, sure a little upsetting but I think its more of playoff jitters for Rice. Marshawn Lynch coughed up the ball against the Redskins right on the goaline its just what runningbacks do, but just like Rice its only once in a long while. it looked to me that he was stripped both times not just running careless with the ball...like some players *cough Bryce Brown* who hold the ball ball above their head on a silver platter and allow the defenders to take it at will.

Rice will be fine and he is our feature back (25 carries a game). Were not going to get ahead of ourselvs and try and pull a Carolina Panthers or Buffallo Bills and have a split-back situation where players get disgruntled and want to leave, and their skills arent fully utilized. The formula we have used in the backfield the past 5 seasons was perfect, know who your dominant runner is (Ray Rice) and give him the majority, while also giving a good 10-15 opportunities to the backup (Pierce). And who knows you never know with runningbacks nowadays their shelf life is very limited they rack up the miles quick and are the most susceptible to injury. So if (good god forbid) Rice were to get a season ender or anything inbetween Pierce could have a breakout season and end up being an allstar.

Besides the Broncos top-5 defense, theres nothing to worry about in our backfield we have one of the best runningbacks in the league, and besides Dougernaut and Alfred Morris we have one of the leagues best up and coming runners in Bernard Pierce.

[flaccopoe]

Looking forward to seeing #30 a lot in the backfield at Mile High Stadium!

[Purple Nurple]

Hey. Those checkdowns to Ray can be deadly. Why not plan those? If you give that man some SPACE (looking at you O line), he will burn you 9/10 times.

[Purple_ICE 81]

[quote name='The Raven' timestamp='1357518325' post='1295523']
Sorry, but it's the truth. Pierce runs the ball harder than Rice, and he has done so all season. Rice has a history of not hitting holes hard, especially in playoff games. That's all we're saying.
[/quote]
I wouldnt go so far as to start assuming Pierce is better than ray rice. Rice has been a top ranked running back for the past 5 seasons and the reason he has trouble in the playoffs is because we usually play top ranked defenses like last year we played the bengals, texans, and Pats who all have great run defenses. We played the Colts today and Rice only got the ball 15 times today and went for 70 yards which is nearly 5 yards per carry thats just about what AP averaged all season. Pierce is good but he has yet to prove anything other than the fact that sure he is a potent runner who can hit the holes good, but could he do it consistantly for 5 seasons? Runningbacks are a dime a dozen in this league, but there are only a few Adrian Petersons and Chris Johnsons and elite runners out there who can tally thousand yard seasons over and over again, and I think Rice is one of them seeing that every single season as a starting runningback he has tallied atleast 1,100 yards on the ground with 61 receptions and 450 yards. Hes not only a great runner but one of our best receivers he used to lead the team in receptions before the emergence of Torrey Smith.

[Militant X 1]

imo, we need to resurrect our 3-headed monster (Rice, Pierce and Leach) and some "unbalanced" sets...like we use to do back in the day, on Saturday against the broncos. sure, throw the rock to keep the defense honest...but man...we need to pound it relentlessly and keep Peyton and his offense on the sidelines as long as possible.

~Mili

[Bltravens]

[quote name='Militant X 1' timestamp='1357534314' post='1296235']
imo, we need to resurrect our 3-headed monster (Rice, Pierce and Leach) and some "unbalanced" sets...like we use to do back in the day, on Saturday against the broncos. sure, throw the rock to keep the defense honest...but man...we need to pound it relentlessly and keep Peyton and his offense on the sidelines as long as possible.

~Mili
[/quote]
Pierce needs to see heavy action next week. He doesn't go down on initial contact and I've yet to see someone from the secondary tackle him without Pierce dragging them for another 3 or 4 yards.

[AsianRice]

[quote name='Bltravens' timestamp='1357536296' post='1296269']
Pierce needs to see heavy action next week. He doesn't go down on initial contact and I've yet to see someone from the secondary tackle him without Pierce dragging them for another 3 or 4 yards.
[/quote]
He runs like AP; not there yet but his exposiveness and breaking tackles are unbelievable as a rookie.....wait till he has couple yrs under his belt.....

[ThePurpleWall]

Ray Rice is great,and did you forget today already ?,Ray Rice was probley closer to Ray Lewis then any other team mate.

on pregame intro of Ray Lewis,His teammates fought for position, trying to get as close as they could. Those not suited up whipped out their cameras to record the historic event. Running back [url="http://www.baltimoreravens.com/team/roster/ray-rice/9d941a20-0c76-412d-85fd-165a029d59e6/"]Ray Rice[img]http://www.baltimoreravens.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/url] was crying.

“I was just emotionally distraught, and it was a lot going on in my head today,” Rice said. “It was sort of like ‘Save the Last Dance.’”

Ray Rice is human,did you forget that already ? give him a break.

[calculator]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1357517979' post='1295491']


Don't get me wrong. I love Rice. I just wish we could use Rice's strengths more. Getting him more active in the flats as a pass-catcher. More screens. The dude is dangerous in that role. He can flat out run as well (ofcourse).

But we would make our run game more effective with a dual-threat backfield over a workhorse. Plus it will prolong Rice's shelf life.
[/quote]


I agree with that

[calculator]

[quote name='The Raven' timestamp='1357518325' post='1295523']


Sorry, but it's the truth. Pierce runs the ball harder than Rice, and he has done so all season. Rice has a history of not hitting holes hard, especially in playoff games. That's all we're saying.
[/quote]


Rice has a history of carrying the offense when the passing game isnt working, no offense to Pierce but Rice is always amongest the league leaders in yards from scrimmage....yet you guys are selling him out for a running back who averages 6 or 7 carries a game usually? thats messed up imo

[arnie_uk]

Pierce is clearly the hot hand in the running department ATM. He often turns a yard gain into 4 or 5 and turns 3 yards gains into plus 20 yard runs.

Rice rarely does that in the run game, but is far more dangerous in the passing game.

Mix them both in early rather than all rice, try and give rice more touches in the pass game, whole running with pierce more.

[krrock10]

[quote name='calculator' timestamp='1357516589' post='1295402']
I will revisit this topic one day after Pierce has a bad game, geeze u people.....
[/quote]

I dont care that Rice had one bad game, its just that (as a poster above said well) he doesn't run that well in our blocking scheme. I think Pierce is better suited.

Pierce is just good at finding the hole and hitting it for 6 yards. Thats what he does best. Rice is best at making great plays in space, not necessarily from the tailback position.

[GrimCoconut]

I would like to see a backfield with Rice, Pierce & Leach at the same time. Use Rice in the slot at WR if necessary.

[The Raven]

[quote name='AsianRice' timestamp='1357536758' post='1296276']
He runs like AP; not there yet but his exposiveness and breaking tackles are unbelievable as a rookie.....wait till he has couple yrs under his belt.....
[/quote]

Wait until he gets a full year in a NFL strength and conditioning program too. Pierce has room for more size. Hopefully he doesn't add too much and lose his explosiveness though.

[edreedfromtheu]

[quote name='ratedr' timestamp='1357510247' post='1295023']
I love the guy...but how come it's never acknowledged that he has generally been ineffective in the playoffs outside of that one game @NE in 2010. I was scared that his fumbles would spur another Divisional Round @PIT type meltdown, but thankfully Boldin, Flacco, and Pierce came to play.

The question is, how do we split the carries in the games ahead, knowing Rice's playoff history and the fact that Pierce got 33 more yards on 2 less carries?
[/quote]

Because they just paid Rice a huge contract(which I spoke out against well before it ever happened)... he's going to be getting the majority of the carries going forward.

But what SHOULD they do? Rice is honestly much better in open space and I'd say he might be better used as a receiver. or on third downs when screens are effective.

Pierce is clearly the better "pure-runner" in that he's just got so much more speed, acceleration, and power... things pretty improtant for getting through the initial wall of defenders at the line of scrimmage.

And if the run game is working early... I'd just continue to run Pierce and Rice. Letting them determine when they need a breather. But it's a money game, and Rice is already paid. It sucks because Pierce is probably going to end up leaving for money and the Ravens aren't going to pay two backs.

This weekend is supposed to be freezing temperatures, and possibly even snow or rain so the run game will be huge for the Ravens. Oh... and it also keeps Peyton Manning on the sidelines!

[The Raven]

[quote name='Militant X 1' timestamp='1357534314' post='1296235']
imo, we need to resurrect our 3-headed monster (Rice, Pierce and Leach) and some "unbalanced" sets...like we use to do back in the day, on Saturday against the broncos. sure, throw the rock to keep the defense honest...but man...we need to pound it relentlessly and keep Peyton and his offense on the sidelines as long as possible.

~Mili
[/quote]

Perfect game plan to beat Peyton. Hopefully it will be executed well.

[gabefergy]

[quote name='jdynamite' timestamp='1357522485' post='1295725']
People shouldn't over react its not like Ray Rice has a reoccurring fumbling problem. He made up for the first fumble with that long reception to set up that first TD. The second fumble was just a defender hustling downfield and hitting a sweet spot. Rice made a huge gain on the play but fumbled.

He ran well, caught that one good pass. Rice should have had a few more catches.

Rice had 15 carries 70 yds (long 18yd) 1 rec 47 yds.
Pierce had 13 car 103 yds ( long 43 yd).

I don't see a reason to complain either way, Rice's fumbles are a rarity, and I like that Pierce has earned more Carries with his hard running.

It's not like Rice is gonna be benched for Pierce. Teams gameplan to stop Rice first on this offense. Not Flacco.
[/quote]

I completely agree. Rice ran well except for the fumbling. That is somewhat fluky in nature and I doubt he has another fumble in the playoffs. He had like 1 fumble all year and then 2 in one game...I dont see that as a trend.

I want to see a good mix of the two backs. They complement each other well and can help keep each other fresh. Rice is clearly a more dynamic pass-catcher so he should definitely be in there in a 60/40 split.

[rayrayven]

[quote name='calculator' timestamp='1357565733' post='1296480']
Rice has a history of carrying the offense when the passing game isnt working, no offense to Pierce but Rice is always amongest the league leaders in yards from scrimmage....yet you guys are selling him out for a running back who averages 6 or 7 carries a game usually? thats messed up imo
[/quote]

Rice has about 500 yards less total yards than Emitt Smith after his 5th season - and Smith had a good OL.

There is one style difference bewteen Rice and Pierce that's due to training. At Rutgers Rice was taught patience to let blocking develop and create the gaps, seams etc. Unfortunately Ravens OL is lousey at creating organized blocking and the middle is always a clustershuck - especially since opposing defenses have more guys coming after Rice . Patient running is actually the more sophisticated way of running vs just blasting upfield. At Temple where Pierce played they ran a billdozer type offense. Temple could'n't recruit the great QB's and WR so they run most of the time. They are often in bottom 10 of college passing. They had big lineman (Temples OL had 50lbs per man on Penn St) that just paved defenders. Pierce is just blasting upfield. Hes deceptiviely fast for his size so defenders have taken the wrong pursuit angles on him. This will all change as teams scout him now that hes been playing. New guys off the bench get about 7 games to excel before the lagure figures them out