Emotional Leadership Void?

[ratedr]

All joking aside why would he come back with the way our fanbase turned on him? everyone was mad but nobody wants to admit he was right.

What was he right about, exactly?

[beasy2487]

If there is a leadership void, it is a void at the center position. I wouldn't be surprised if Flacco got used to having an incredibly (and underratedly) cerebral center that got guys lined up correctly in the scheme.

I'm not saying Flacco is doing anything wrong, I just think Yanda's performance is the most telling. I don't think it's a coincidence that we brought in a run game coordinator that added complexity to the assignments on the line, lost our veteran center, and now all of a sudden a guy that was an All-Pro LG just last year is letting guys straight up run past him unblocked.

To me, that's a scheme issue that's being caused by increased complexity and decreased leadership at the Center position. Gradkowski and Harbs have both alluded to it. Gino just isn't anywhere near as good as Birk was at the mental part of the position, partially because of experience and partially because Birk is an uncommonly smart human being.

That said, Castillo needs to simplify the assignments and settled for 3-6 yards runs with the occasional big one instead of constantly trying to get guys into the second level for homeruns or we're not going anywhere.

The crazy thing is, despite all of our problems, we're just a respectable running game away fr contention. Both the Bills and Packers losses would've been wins if we could've made the DBs respect the run and gotten the tough yards when we needed them.

[TonyTone1192]

Here, maybe this will help.

You've made the statement that you do realize we are able to play at a certain level by saying we can score when we need to. So we need to then ask a question.

What is the difference in our team at those points when we are able to score at will? Then really think about the answer.

Because for your point about an emotional leader to be correct, then that means someone is already stepping up as an emotional leader in the 4th quarter when the games on the line - and he's just waiting until then to lead with emotion.

Quite frankly, I don't think even you believes that.... you're just at a point now where you cant come up with answers to youre searching for one. Its ok. We all are.

Again, come back to that question "Why can we score when we need to, but not the rest of the game?" While the problem is complex, I do think the answer is quite simple.

When the games on the line, the offense and coaches stop "trying" and start doing. We need points and need them in a hurry so we go into a fast paced, short huddle/no huddle type offense, with Joe making a lot of adjustments at the line. It's not running more or passing more, its calling the play based on what the defense is showing - bc even our run game improves in the 4th quarter when we hurry up. The pace also helps our line in that it wears the defense down and doesn't give them time to hide from Gino what they're going to do. It forces the defense to play things more straight forward.

For some reason we seem hesitant to go with that for an entire game. We'd rather try and stick to some formula of run vs pass balance, and running a certain % on first down. I think it's too many voices in the room, not necessarily the wrong voices but too many... and Joe's isn't being heard loudly enough bc hes not that kind of guy.

But my eyes tell me the common denominator when the offense rolls is that its hurry up, Joe audible-ing and adjusting at the line. We just outsmart ourselves with silly gameplans we stick with for way too long when theyre having no success whatsoever.




BTW completely unrelated, but has anyone else noticed Ray Rice diving into pressure. Like opportunity to bounce it outside? Nope I'll dive right into their from 7. 5 yard check down in open space? Nah I'll run right to the only tackler within 10 yards and dive right at his feet. Whats going on with him?

You just answered my question for me.
If we are able to score when we NEED it, why can't we in the beginning of games?
If it were one or two games, then I would not have made the comment. But that's been the story of the season.
It's like "OH WERE DOWN BY 4 with 2 mins left, WE NEED TO SCORE!!"
No sense of urgency at all, there's no fire in our guys until it's too late.
I understand exactly what I'm saying and stand behind my comment firmly.

[TonyTone1192]

If there is a leadership void, it is a void at the center position. I wouldn't be surprised if Flacco got used to having an incredibly (and underratedly) cerebral center that got guys lined up correctly in the scheme.

I'm not saying Flacco is doing anything wrong, I just think Yanda's performance is the most telling. I don't think it's a coincidence that we brought in a run game coordinator that added complexity to the assignments on the line, lost our veteran center, and now all of a sudden a guy that was an All-Pro LG just last year is letting guys straight up run past him unblocked.

To me, that's a scheme issue that's being caused by increased complexity and decreased leadership at the Center position. Gradkowski and Harbs have both alluded to it. Gino just isn't anywhere near as good as Birk was at the mental part of the position, partially because of experience and partially because Birk is an uncommonly smart human being.

That said, Castillo needs to simplify the assignments and settled for 3-6 yards runs with the occasional big one instead of constantly trying to get guys into the second level for homeruns or we're not going anywhere.

The crazy thing is, despite all of our problems, we're just a respectable running game away fr contention. Both the Bills and Packers losses would've been wins if we could've made the DBs respect the run and gotten the tough yards when we needed them.

Yes by far that is our number one issue, but why can we score when we NEED it?
They guys are playing with a sense of urgency that is not there for most of the game. If we can score 2 tds in 5 minutes why can't we for first 55 mins? We've only really played two elite defenses in Houston and Cleveland.
No fire and no urgency.

[TonyTone1192]

I don't know if it was mentioned, but when we lost Anquan, we lost the emotional leader of the offense. On many occasions Qs actions on the field and his emotions towards the Off on the sideline provided that spark. We've all seen him yelling trying to get his teammates to do their jobs and do it well. We lost just as much emotional leadership losing Q as we did by losing Lewis.

This!
Someone who understands

[TonyTone1192]

Ray Rice gets emotional sometimes but not in the same way Ray Lewis would. More like a sulk or a whine.

Just an observation. When things are not going well, or he's playing poorly, Ray Rice will not be doing too well either.

Yup, that's probably why Rice wanted Lewis at the first game in Denver.

[TonyTone1192]

It's a miracle that 31 other teams in the league have managed to function without Ray Lewis.

I never mentioned that we needed Lewis back, you guys assumed that I was referring to him. You'd be foolish to think that other successful teams don't have emotional leaders. Most of them are QB's, not a knock on Flacco at all, I love who he is, but someone needs to step up.

[TonyTone1192]

OF COURSE. It has NOTHING to do with our ABYSMAL o-line play. We need cheerleaders in the huddle. Receiver isn't the problem, rb isn't the problem, qb isn't the problem, the secondary isn't the problem.. THE O-LINE NEEDS TO GET THEIR DAMN MIND RIGHT. The second this happens, this team will be feared.

I never stated that the play from our o-line was not a major issue, maybe if we had a guy to get in their face and call them out, they'd play with more pride like they give a damn the ENTIRE game and not only when we NEED a score.

[flynismo]

I never mentioned that we needed Lewis back, you guys assumed that I was referring to him. You'd be foolish to think that other successful teams don't have emotional leaders. Most of them are QB's, not a knock on Flacco at all, I love who he is, but someone needs to step up.

Who is NE cheerleader, I mean emotional leader? CryBrady? Does Peyton wear pompoms in Denver's huddle? How come Rodgers personality is eerily similar to Flacco's?
Drop the pompoms, not perfectly thrown passes from Flacco!

[TonyTone1192]

Flacco does the same thing.

I think what the OP does not understand is that it is not the YAY TEAM! nonsense that matters. The OP needs to understand what being a leader means -- and the traits of leader is universal, not just on a football field. And anybody here that has ever held a role of leadership, whether it be in their careers, at home as a parent or as a teammate in a sport, can very easily tell you that 90% of being a great leader is simply knowing and refining yourself. First you need to be the person that you want everyone else to be. Then you need to learn how to follow before you can lead. And when you do those things and are ready to lead others to the promised land, you quickly realize how silly it is to expect being a glorified cheerleader producing the outcome that you want to achieve. You'll know it's silly, because as a leader, you know that you have to do whatever needs done to help a man fix himself and grow.
That last sentence is one of the traits that made Ray Lewis a great leader -- holding others accountable for themselves. Or as people around here used to think: Bring (random-troublemaker) here, Ray will keep him in line!

I'm starting to ramble now, and this is such a hugely complex topic (leadership, not whether or not the Ravens need to hire some extra cheerleaders), so I guess there is no point in continuing, but I really do wish people would get over this leadership talk just because Ray isn't here.

You're being stubborn and reading more into what's there. I never stated that we need Lewis back!
You guys assumed because I said there is a void in emotional leader that I was referring to Lewis. We need someone who will step up and hold guys accountable for their poor play.
Joe and Torrey are both leaders by example, neither will get in guys faces and call them out for underperforming week in and week out.
If I felt that we needed Lewis bAck I would've titled this post "Lewis' being Gone is a Major Issue" or something of that sort.
I could care less who it is, but we need SOMEONE to lead our men into battle each and every week.
If that's what you call a "cheerleader" then yeah we need a cheerleader because our offense doesn't care until we NEED a score which is pathetic

[Militant X 1]

Who is NE cheerleader, I mean emotional leader? CryBrady? Does Peyton wear pompoms in Denver's huddle? How come Rodgers personality is eerily similar to Flacco's?
Drop the pompoms, not perfectly thrown passes from Flacco!

agreed!  if being a grown man that makes millions of dollars to play a game and beat the man in front of you isn't enough to motivate you...then you need to retire from the sport!  pre-game "hype-up" speeches are great!  Ray Lewis was one of the greatest at that!  but, that alone didn't make the Ravens ball out in 2000 and 2012 imo.  these cats just need to man up and play some damn football!

 

#Mili

[flynismo]

You're being stubborn and reading more into what's there. I never stated that we need Lewis back!
You guys assumed because I said there is a void in emotional leader that I was referring to Lewis. We need someone who will step up and hold guys accountable for their poor play.
Joe and Torrey are both leaders by example, neither will get in guys faces and call them out for underperforming week in and week out.
If I felt that we needed Lewis bAck I would've titled this post "Lewis' being Gone is a Major Issue" or something of that sort.
I could care less who it is, but we need SOMEONE to lead our men into battle each and every week.
If that's what you call a "cheerleader" then yeah we need a cheerleader because our offense doesn't care until we NEED a score which is pathetic

Wellll.....lets see. You think that we need a cheerleader on the field. Who was our cheerleader that just left? Lewis? Oh...okay then...
Nobody said you want Lewis back, we understand that you just want someone to fill in as the new cheerleader. That's fine and all, but I'm much more concerned about doing something to improve our quality of play.

[Gordo52]

People are really reaching for an excuse they can come up with as to why we look so crappy on offense.

Some of them need to chew it over with a Twix.

[TonyTone1192]

Wellll.....lets see. You think that we need a cheerleader on the field. Who was our cheerleader that just left? Lewis? Oh...okay then...
Nobody said you want Lewis back, we understand that you just want someone to fill in as the new cheerleader. That's fine and all, but I'm much more concerned about doing something to improve our quality of play.

Boldin and Birk.. Lewis overshadowed them both

[TonyTone1192]

People are really reaching for an excuse they can come up with as to why we look so crappy on offense.

Some of them need to chew it over with a Twix.

Poor offensive line play and poor play calling, our two major problems.
Never stated that this void at emotional leader was the reason for our poor offensive problems

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

You're being stubborn and reading more into what's there. I never stated that we need Lewis back!
You guys assumed because I said there is a void in emotional leader that I was referring to Lewis. We need someone who will step up and hold guys accountable for their poor play.
Joe and Torrey are both leaders by example, neither will get in guys faces and call them out for underperforming week in and week out.
If I felt that we needed Lewis bAck I would've titled this post "Lewis' being Gone is a Major Issue" or something of that sort.
I could care less who it is, but we need SOMEONE to lead our men into battle each and every week.
If that's what you call a "cheerleader" then yeah we need a cheerleader because our offense doesn't care until we NEED a score which is pathetic

 

Didn't Tom Brady do what youre saying, ie get in the faces of the players that needed to step up?

 

It didn't work.

 

These are professionals. Grown men getting paid a ton of money to play football. They should not and do not need someone "getting in their face" to perform. A true leader holds himself accountable. Team players and professionals hold themselves accountable.

 

If someone needs a rah-rah hype man to do their job, they don't deserve the job plain and simple. It works in youth sports, high school sports and maybe even in college sports. But at the professional level, grown men should hold themselves accountable for their actions.

 

Is someone on the team suddenly becoming an "emotional leader" in the 4th quarter and that's why we suddenly start playing? No.

 

The game plan changes, the speed of play changes. We play no huddle, hurry up offense. We run out of non-traditional formations, and throw to hot routes, short slants, etc.

 

They aren't suddenly more motivated bc someone on the team "gets in their face" and says "Hey Rudy, left side STRONG SIDE, remember the titans!"

 

You're right that its the urgency that changes the game, but its not bc that urgency acts as an emotional motivator to the players. The urgency dictates a change in gameplan or style of play. That's the difference.

[Gordo52]

Poor offensive line play and poor play calling, our two major problems.
Never stated that this void at emotional leader was the reason for our poor offensive problems

But I still think that's a bit of a reach. I can't put blame on any of our losses because of the supposed lack of leadership.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

Poor offensive line play and poor play calling, our two major problems.
Never stated that this void at emotional leader was the reason for our poor offensive problems

 

If that's not what youre stating, then what are you stating?

 

If you do agree that if we fix the line and playcalling that we'll be much better on offense, why then do we need this "emotional" leader?

 

Plus the basis for your thread is, we play good at the end of games bc of the urgency, but not in the beginning. Therefore we need an emotional leader to instill that urgency at the beginning of games. So your argument is emotional leader= urgency. Urgency= good performance. Good performance = winning.

 

Therefore your argument IS we need an emotional leader in order to play well for an entire game unless I completely missed something.

[flynismo]

Boldin and Birk.. Lewis overshadowed them both

So Lewis was the Cheerleading Captain, while Boldin and Bork were less effective cheerleaders?

I would have taken this thread much more seriously if you said we lack leadership, rather than saying we need more cheerleaders.
At least then, you could have made the argument that without Birk, our line has fallen apart, and without Reed, Elam is struggling more than he otherwise would have. But I just can't take THIS seriously.

[T3hRaven]

Wellll.....lets see. You think that we need a cheerleader on the field. Who was our cheerleader that just left? Lewis? Oh...okay then...
Nobody said you want Lewis back, we understand that you just want someone to fill in as the new cheerleader. That's fine and all, but I'm much more concerned about doing something to improve our quality of play.

 

If we need a cheerleader on the field, I'd suggest trying to bring back Stacy Keibler.

[GrimCoconut]

It's Flacco. Flacco looks like a cardboard cutout out there. He's as stoic as a rock. If only he was more animated. I'd like to see him get some unnecessary roughness penalties on his own teammates while on the sidelines. That's what I'm talking about!!!

[PerpetuallyBored74]

We don't need emotional leaders.

What we do need are players who will go up to our coaches on the sidelines and tell them that such-and-such is or is not working and, in their opinions, why it is or is not working and what we might need to do differently.

Maybe that's happening, maybe it isn't.

If not, it should be.

Communication can't just be a one way street (Coaches > Players)

[Gordo52]

If we need a cheerleader on the field, I'd suggest trying to bring back Stacy Keibler.

I second this.

[flynismo]

It's Flacco. Flacco looks like a cardboard cutout out there. He's as stoic as a rock. If only he was more animated. I'd like to see him get some unnecessary roughness penalties on his own teammates while on the sidelines. That's what I'm talking about!!!

You're getting good at this game, lmao

[cursona pirate]

Flacco is the only one who I think can do this. Maybe in a passive aggressive way?

 

Also Flacco seems to step up in times we need to score....

Jacoby Jones! idk..lol

[Rav'n Maniac]

We don't need emotional leaders.
What we do need are players who will go up to our coaches on the sidelines and tell them that such-and-such is or is not working and, in their opinions, why it is or is not working and what we might need to do differently.
Maybe that's happening, maybe it isn't.
If not, it should be.
Communication can't just be a one way street (Coaches > Players)

Sorry Bud, but they tried that mutiny thing last year. How'd that work. The only thing it accomplished is that none of the players who spoke up are on the team any longer.

[flynismo]

Sorry Bud, but they tried that mutiny thing last year. How'd that work. The only thing it accomplished is that none of the players who spoke up are on the team any longer.

That was something completely different than anything to do with games...We see guys on the sidelines having spats with coaches on occasion, so who's to say what goes on behind closed doors

[BloodRaven]

It is rather strange how people mock him for the very things they have been praising him for the past 17 years. And for the record, in case you have been reading through this thread, I am not one of those people. I just think it is completely silly and juvenile to think that waving pom poms has any effect whatsoever -- even after the OP conceded that most players do not even buy into it, as evidenced by Flacco's comments. Ray was great, a man among boys. But not because of the rah rah go team nonsense.

 

I know there was a small handful here and over the airwaves who didn't immediately turn hivemind with the pitchforks and torches.

 

With that said there was more to Ray than talent and RAHRAH, it was the installation of unshakable belief and accountability in each other, when we had no identity he set the tone for what this team is about.

[TSizzle00]

No, we need people to run block and pass block.

[flynismo]

I know there was a small handful here and over the airwaves who didn't immediately turn hivemind with the pitchforks and torches.

With that said there was more to Ray than talent and RAHRAH, it was the installation of unshakable belief and accountability in each other, when we had no identity he set the tone for what this team is about.

Yes, there is that word again...accountability. he was an extension of the coaching staff out on the field. That may have been his single greatest asset, especially in his later years when the physical talent faded.

If the OP argued that was the kind of leader we needed, I would be on board with that.