[News] Harbaugh: Defense Has To Get Off Field

[Utah_Raven]

The only thing keeping me from COMPLETELY ripping my hair out was seeing the Steelers get DESTROYED by the Pats today.

[Ravens_Flock]

Defense has to get off the field? No John Harbaugh, the offesne has to STAY on it. The D got off the field many times today, and our offense couldn't do jack with it. Our D wasn't the ones punting constantly. We have a lot of problems, but hanging losses on our defense, who has absolutely been outperforming our offense, is a joke. Maybe if your $120 million dollar QB made more than 50% of his throws? Maybe if our "great" o-line could actually run block.

[upshaw brawl]

Wake Up Call?

What draft pick are we going for?

[Claire]

The defense shouldn't continue to be put in the position of needing to get off the field! The offense needs to step up to the plate score points so that we can be in the lead. It doesn't help when special teams gives the ball up in the red zone either.

[Purpleghost23]

no really?? (answering the article title)

[ravens4life86]

This team is outmatched outclassed and outschemed and out coached over the first 9 Weeks of this NFL season. The Ravens have fallen from atop the north for many reasons I already mentioned but also while we seemed content with our success Ozzie has missed on several players in the draft these past few years like CODY, Kindle, Jimmy Smith is borderline bust aswell as F/A flops like Spears and huff along with a pure 1 dimensional player in Dumervil who has only been ok at best getting a huge contract, yet not retaining a Anquan Boldin or getting a Legit no.WR in the draft like Keenan Allen or Deandre Hopkins. Meanwhile our competition, Cinci has stacked their squad at every possible position on offense and defense, and Cleveland has a stacked Defense. Now no they dont have our success, but if you fail in drafts or in F/As this is what happens even a great franchise like the Ravens cant win, we have to reload the offense at several key positions including get legit no.2WR, no.2 Pass Catching TE to PITTA 1, Get a pure Speed scat back homerun hitter WR like Tavon Austin, Deanthony Thomas coming out<br />On D we need a True Ball hawking FS! and another 3down ILBr. As for scheme and coaching fire Castillo the Zone blocking is BS and not working. And its obvious HARBS is not in the Bellicheck Class because hes not winning with lesser talent

[shorefan]

We play flat on both sides of the ball.There is no emotional leader on either side. Our O line is non existent, Our D cant make the stops when its critical. There is no pass rush because we dont blitz. We give up huge plays all the time. We have talent, but our coaching is awful. Castillo has ruined our offense, but the players arent playing either. No excuse for Harbs not fixing some things over the bye, its the same old problems. Miami put us back in the mix but we blew it. Sad to see this team struggling like this. And I dont care what anybody, including Ray, says, its not the same old Ray, something is wrong.

[kduo]

the reason we did not improve during the bye week is because ravens use their bye week as a vacation week. you see these guys posting on instragam in vegas, parties, etc... then you see other teams use their bye week for grinding purposes only..

[Crusader]

You got to kidding me! The defense has to get off the field? REALLY!! For the offense to go three and out! Is this guy in reality? I see a coach in denial.

[Jfravens]

Torrey and Marlon were the Highlight's of Offense. Joe is Playing up and down, O-line is playing average, and we got no run game. The strenght of this team is Passing the ball, but we need to Protect the Qb , give him at least 4 Sec to Throw, Our Wr's need to improve in getting sep, and route run. And Joe needs to Step up Like Brady did. i know joe is capable of doing GREAT things. Time to cut the crap !!

[Baller MD]

The defense is at fault for not being able to stop opponents late in the game BUT if the offense would actually show up in the first half of the game maybe the defense wouldn't be in the position they've been in late in the 4th quarter these past few games.

I'm just sick and tire of going into halftime with little or no points, always having to play from behind in the second half. It's to the defense's credit that these games haven't been blow outs with the way the offense has been performing, or should I say, not performing.

[CHARMCITY187]

Hmmm so it is the defense's fault? What about the offense having 11mins of possesion in the fist half or punting the ball 9 times. The defense is gassed at the end of the game because Flacco and Rice can't move the ball to save their lives. Rice 11 carries for 17yds. = pathetic. Flacco 230 yds passing is ridiculous for a 120 Million dollar QB. The D can get turn overs and 3 and out but it really doesn't matter because all the offense is gonna do is throw a pick or punt the ball again. Hey Coach how about assigning some blame to your butt buddy Castillo who has the weakest blocking scheme in the NFL, Or your 120 Million Dollar QB who has 9TD's and 9 INT's. Or your RB who is barely averaging 1yd per carry. Defense can only do so much at the end of the game when you go 3 and out and use 44 secs of clock the whole game. It's not the D's fault it is Harbaugh and the offense that are slacking.

 

LMAO what did Harbaugh do on the BYE? The offense has gotten progressively worse every week. Only a bad coach would go on a BYE Week and not fix that weak zone run blocking scheme.

[Crusader]

Who is laughing at the Browns now?

[imabmoraven]

Really?? You're gonna pin this on the Defense?? The only aspect of the team this year that has any level of respect. Harbs, please look in a mirror, click your Nike's, and hope you can call a play, find a leader, hire an O line coach, get a QB to make a few big plays, and redeem this team...If not, The Umpa Lumpa browns just smoked us!!!

[Crusader]

"the reason we did not improve during the bye week is because ravens use their bye week as a vacation week. you see these guys posting on instragam in vegas, parties, etc... then you see other teams use their bye week for grinding purposes only.. "

You forgot getting married!

[Shaky End of the Quarter]

H8R, "Jason Campbell , 116 passer rating. Offense didn't do that"

I understand the offense didn't do that. But if this offense actually scored points the defense can feed off of their success. The defense has kept this team in every game but it must be getting frustrating for them as well. When you are constantly stopping teams to under 20 points only to see your inept offense go 3 and out on every drive it doesn't motivate you to go out and play hard especially since you are not getting any time to rest.

This organization has experienced "roughly" 4 games of exceptional offense in their entire 17 year existence, our playoff run last year.

[bioLarzen]

Since Mr. Eisenberg seems to be late with his 5 takeaways today, here are mine:

1.) We were promised treat for this late Halloween game - we ended up tricked. The bye week did not yield any apparent gain. What worked before the bye more or less worked today, what didn't work before the bye worked even less now.

2.) It seems to be a fact now that we won't reach the playoffs. Not so much because of the L, but because it's become evident that we are unable to fix the running game. If it wasn't solved in the bye period (solved? It got worse apparently), it surely won't be fixed later on. And with no running game there's no success in the NFL. We have at east 4 or 5 games on our remaining schedule we have no chance with the level of offensive efficiency we seem to be capable of.

3.) I have a hard time imagining this total waste of the bye week will go without serious consequences. and there's only one tier that's to be held accountable for it: the coaching staff. It's clearly their fiasco. I think we are going to see coaches' heads fall. Not necessarily right away or in the coming weeks - more probably at the end of the season - but I don't think the owner tolerates his money wasted like this.

4.) It's almost a pity we still have a mathematical chance of making the playoffs because that will keep Harbaugh sending the best possible team on the field, risking pointless injury to key players. I do think it would be in everybody's best interest to rest Rice. He clearly doesn't get the support to make running plays - why risk getting him seriously injured for a 2-yard gain? I'm sure he's gonna be back with a vengeance next season - I don't think we should risk him. and, as soon as we're practically eliminated from the playoff conversation, I do think we should give Flacco the same treatment - he's way too useful and precious to risk pointless injury. Yeah, I know neither of them is gonna be pulled off...

5.) There can't be enough good said about Marlon Brown and Flacco. Brown is simply a jackpot (I could liken him to the 4th-and-29 of last season: something absolutely amazing out of nowhere), and Flacco keeps proving the owner was right about giving him the kind of money he did.

Bonus: we're still the reigning champions - and no bitterness about our present woes beats that feeling. If someone said a year ago that for a Super Bowl win I would have to see the team fall short of the playoffs the next season, i would have gladly said yes on the spot.

Bonus #2: When those huge roster purgings took place, it became more or less obvious that we're taking a huge chance with out immediate future for our mid-term future. With the Super Bowl won, we could afford one transitional - or experimental if you will - season. So, although of course I'm bitter about seeing my Ravens struggle, I'm not at all disheartened. That's only a temporary setback, not the commencing of a downfall.

 

Bonus #3: at last we can see how well Ozzie and his team can pick in the middle of the round in the drafts. It's gonna be a (not really welcome) novelty to see us pick at around #20. I hope there are gonna be some real good O-linemen this time (although they usually go earlier...)

 

bio

[jbcissom]

Not that worried about the season yet. Still half a season to play with a game against the Steelers and two against the Bengals. I'm worried about our run D. We have a great pass rush. I don't know what it is... but Ngata, Cody, Canty, and Jones aren't getting nowhere the push they (the d-line) got last year. As a matter of fact, they are getting pushed back a lot. Maybe Jones needs to come out, and McPhee needs to move in to DT/DE.

[jimgiampaoli]

"Defense has to get off the field." Maybe, (I don't want to seem too overly critical here) it should read that the offense has to stay on the field. Who am I to doubt the wisdom of our head coach who knows that it is our offense that scores points. It's our offense that eats up the clock and it is our offense that keeps our defense on the bench where they can rest. Of course, it was Harbaugh who hired Castillo. So place all the blame on the defense. Because of our lousy offense, the defense is slightly tuckered out come the final quarter.

[CHARMCITY187]

And Mr. Downing.... Why is it that Defense has failed to get off the field to give the offense a chance at the end of the game? You do know that the offense has had the entire game to do something and didn't, what makes you think 1 more would do any better? The D is gassed at the end of the game because Rice can't get more than 1yd a rush and flacco throws to many incompletions and are punting back to the other team in about 45seconds. I guess it is the D's fault Flacco is throwing INT's, Rice can't run, The O-Line can't block and Dickson can't catch, and Doss fumbled a punt after the D stopped them..... Yea it's all the Defenses fault.

[CHARMCITY187]

Was it the D's fault Flacco took 2 9 yd sacks and knocked us out of filed goal range just like he did in Pittsburgh?

[Aviano87]

Thank you @Ravens4life86!! Well said.......

[wakkaflaccoflame]

Harbaugh and Castillo need to get off the feild

[sp3ctor20]

Here's a thought, maybe we should have hired Norv Turner in the off season, because he's a real OC. Notice how he doesn't run, run, pass; or pass, run, run. Notice how he also disguises the plays, stretches plays, schemes against defensive weaknesses. Notice how we play right into the strengths of our opponents. I just wish Harbs and co could have manned up in the off season and came out and said, we're rebuilding this season, don't expect much. Instead they try to make drastic changes on formation but not on play calling, set the bar high with their 'reloading' campaign, and failed to give Joe one proven reliable target. One tight end going out for the season to injury shouldn't constitute a failed year. This is a shameful display of football.

[Rave-O]

@BioLarzen the fact that you can compliment Flacco after this game is amazing to me are you serious! Flacco was out played by a 3rd string QB!

[The Mom Gene]

@BioLarzen the fact that you can compliment Flacco after this game is amazing to me are you serious! Flacco was out played by a 3rd string QB!

[picke]

Someone please help me out. I didn't see the game. Did DOOM play...and by play, I mean suit up and step on the field. I can tell by reading the stat-line that he didn't actually play.

[Island.John]

Ray Lewis

[CHARMCITY187]

Maybe someone should inform "Coach" Harbaugh that without this Defense we wouldn't be in ay of these games at all, because it is quite apparent Flacco and Rice can't do anything for 3 1/2 quarters of the game. You do know that Flacco was 5 - 18 before the last drive of the 1st half, but I guess that was the defense's fault also.

[bioLarzen]

Oh, and one more thing: if you want to get better at utilizing the by week, send a spy to Houston. They're in a miserable situation, without their best QB, not their top offensive weapon out again - still hey're beating the Colts. They've clearly did someting good during the off season...

 

And I'm still talking about the coaching staff, not the players.

 

bio

 

PS: Oh, and I'd be delighted to see the entire coaching staff donate their salaries for this week for some charity function - they clearly didn't earn it...

 

bio