Quick thought/theory about our current offensive situation

[jazz1988]

Very true. I, however, think it was a result of both Cam and Harbs. Cam ran his offense the way Harbs liked, so that's why Harbs kept him for so long instead of pushing for him to be fired (which likely would've resulted in Cam's dismissal sooner rather than later). But Harbs is still the coach here, so the conservative offense is still here, even with Cam gone. What makes me mad is the fact that we paid Flacco to be our franchise QB. Why in the world would you pay a guy that much money if we don't intend on letting him attack the D on a consistent basis?? Makes no sense at all.

 

I think one of the reasons why Cam wasn't fired right away was mainly because The Ravens was  winning enough games to reach the play off consistently. The drop passes  by  T.J Housh and Lee Evans in the playoffs wasn't Cam's fault and at the end of the day I'm sure the coaches/ozzie consider all that and figured  why get rid of cam now when we  was able to reach the playoffs once again  but in the end our receivers just let us down by not catching the ball.

 

I doubt John Harbaugh/Ozzie Newsome didnt notice the problems with Cam Cameron play calling but when you winning games/making  it to the playoffs it makes the problems little less noticeable. When the ravens started lossing games more than usual those problems with cams just started to be more magnified and  John Harbaugh had no choice but to fire him.

[jazz1988]

Yeah. It's looking like Harbaugh is the one who wants conservative plays and the ZBS. We always blamed Cam but it appears John wants it.

I still like Harbaugh but he needs to lose the conservative approach at times.

 

I just dont get the feeling that  John Harbaugh demands for conservative playing but honestly just about every coordinator gets conservative somes times also its not like the ravens  have this great cast of receivers either.  Marlon Brown, Stokely, Clark,and Dickson so far are still  finding their way on offense and i get the feeling  once they get better the  playbook opens up a lot more which makes for less conservative play calling.

[Ravensfan23]

I just dont get the feeling that  John Harbaugh demands for conservative playing but honestly just about every coordinator gets conservative somes times also its not like the ravens  have this great cast of receivers either.  Marlon Brown, Stokely, Clark,and Dickson so far are still  finding their way on offense and i get the feeling  once they get better the  playbook opens up a lot more which makes for less conservative play calling.

I agree 100% with this. Imo there is nothing overly conservative about the offense. There was nothing conservative in the Broncos game, the offense just didn't move because of dropped passes. If Clark and Dickson catch those early passes, the offense is producing huge plays.

In the Browns game the offense had 3 drops that would have resulted in at least 80yds and 2TDs in the first half. Add those missed opportunities to Flacco's numbers in that game and he has 300+yds and 3Tds. The offensive production thus far hasn't been a result of conservative play calling, it's been execution.

It's hard to open up the offense when you have drops, penalties and poor blocking at times. I think Caldwell is doing a heck of a job so far.

[beanfigger]

No wonder Rodgers, Brees, Brady, Manning number stinks. Which such high % of your passing attempts come in situation when the defense knows you're passing.....give me a break...if you are elite QB you dont need an excuse. Somehow every flacco apologists find a way to blame everything else except flacco when offense is lacking. Whether run game is top 5( like in the past) or the passing weapon is loaded( like in the past) its either the coach, the coordinator, the defense or something else, but OH NO SIR, NEVER FLACCO my dear idol!.....Smh.

 

Just because you think people sometimes go overboard with their love for Flacco (by the way, why would anyone have the audacity to love the QB of their favorite team?), doesn't mean you have to rip into any positive note about him, especially ones that are founded in logic.  When someone mentions that a huge percentage of his throws are on 3rd and long, he leads the league in 3rd down passing, etc., why do you take that as an invitation to attack him?  You don't have to blindly support everything any player does to appreciate the things they do well.  Joe Flacco has been asked to do a lot of his passing on third down, and he has been money on that down.  When you look at how long we have to go on average for 3rd down compared to the rest of the league, and then factor in the fact that we are near the top of the league in 3rd down conversions, you cannot dispute that these statement are fact.  Nobody brought up anything about Brady and Rodgers before you did.  It was a statement of fact and appreciation by a fan of this team.  If you are also a fan of this team, why would you lash out against that?

[gabefergy]

The OL is the #1 culprit in this offense, but I think it can only improve.

Playing against some very good defenses with a lot of new skill players has been a problem as well.

NE has been in a similar situation and their offense has looksd just as anemic.

[Crabcakes&Football]

When the run game gets going (if it gets going) the entire offense will just fall in place. Always been that way in my observations. It's got to do better, this is a talented O-line, plus we have Vonta Leach not to mention Ray Rice and Pierce. The pieces are all there and we have very good coaches to figure it out. So I feel it will definitely shape up.

[PerpetuallyBored74]

It's a domino effect.

 

No runnning game + o-line can't pass protect long enough to allow WRs to get downfield to stretch the defense + opposing secondary starts sitting on and anticipating the short/intermediate crossing routes = condensed coverage blanketing receivers leaving them no space and no seperation.

 

And that equals the QB constantly forcing throws into tight coverage.

 

The only time I saw actual seperation was on a few deep passes, one crossing route and one blown coverage. Every other pass was either contested, or if caught, then the defender immediately tackled the receiver for nearly 0 YAC.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

No wonder Rodgers, Brees, Brady, Manning number stinks. Which such high % of your passing attempts come in situation when the defense knows you're passing.....give me a break...if you are elite QB you dont need an excuse. Somehow every flacco apologists find a way to blame everything else except flacco when offense is lacking. Whether run game is top 5( like in the past) or the passing weapon is loaded( like in the past) its either the coach, the coordinator, the defense or something else, but OH NO SIR, NEVER FLACCO my dear idol!.....Smh.

Why don't you cut Joe some slack? Here we go with that elusive rating called Elite again. Btw, are you trying to compare Joe's record with Elite Eli's. Some media types have even used the Elite label on RG3 already in commercials. Is his nickname RG3 or RGO-3? Joe had a bad day today but he had a lot of help making him look bad. Torrey & Marlon are the only WRs who "play like a Raven." The rest of the receiving corps are poor imitators of the likes of Sharpe, Heap, Mason, Boldin and Stokely or Clark in their prime. Pierce is no substitute for Jamal Lewis, Willis McGahee and Ricky Williams. Our current O-line can't compete with the likes of Ogden, Grubbs, Chester, Birk, etc. Gimme a break!
Give Joe the weapons and he is as good as any of the other elite QBs you mentioned. Better yet,send Joe to the Pro Bowl and have him throw to the same receivers of the elite corps of QBs you mentioned and see how he lights up Honolulu. Like I said, gimme a break!

[Jillester]

Our offensive situation is just that....OFFENSIVE!  It stinks ... from play calling to execution (or lack thereof.)   There are fleeing moments of genius but not enough consistency to make a difference.