[News] The Breakdown: Eisenberg's Five Thoughts At Bengals

[dwhravens]

Deen pees is not to blame for the defensive failings, that comes down to player execution.  the plays were there, many blown coverages weren't down to bad play calling. i would go so far as to say most were down to players failing to complete tackles or get to their assignments.  The defense overall played very well.  Pees deserves to keep his job, maybe some of the positional coaches need replaced, but that's about it on that side of the ball. the defensive core overall is pretty solid.

Yeah Pees sure looked brilliant when he dropped Ngata into coverage on our own goal line putting no pressure on Roethlisberger for an easy pass to Sanders.  Dropping Haloti into coverage denotes a brilliant defensive mind.  Thats just one of many in the poor play calling dept.

[Shaky End of the Quarter]

Interesting to note. During the 2013 season, Miami a team that is very similar to Baltimore were almost able to have 2 WR with 1,000 yds this season (Wallace 930 and Hartline 1,014). The Chicago Bears is the only team that has 2 WR with 1000 yards (Marshall and Jeffery). The reason I say Miami and Bmore are similar is because Tannehill and Flacco are the two most sacked QBs, they have no O-Line and neither team has a run game. Our offensive weapons are pretty much a wash in terms of receiver talent. I would also venture out and say that Flacco is better than Tannehill. But still they managed to move the ball for the most part (except the last 2 weeks) as their WR stats suggest. This just proves that we need a real offensive coordinator. It is incomprehensible how teams with equal or lesser caliber players at the QB and WR position can move the ball at will and score TD. Bye Caldwell. Adios.

[wcowden]

Our WRs are fine. Torrey had 1,128 yds and 4 tds and ave. 17.4 yrds per catch. Marlon Brown as a rookie had 524 yds but also had 7 TDs and ave 10.7 yrds per catch. We also other good WRs in Jacoby, Deonte and Doss. The problem is the O-line and the play design and the plays called. Even our RBs would be fine if the O-line opened holes for them. Hopefully the front office plus Harbaugh will see that when they do their yearly evaluation and make some wholesale changes that will rectify the problems and put us on the right track.

 

 

Exactly....A little new school play calling is in order if we are going to adapt and become a passing team...Our receivers can't get open because the routes are generic as is the play calling...Flacco has zero time to go through progressions so he zones in on a receiver from the snap and that leads to a lot of interceptions...I believe that Oher just played his last game in purple and black and it may be tough for him to find a starting job anywhere as he is rated 70 put of 76 tackles...He may have even slipped further after the game he had today...I'm hoping Shipley finds his way back to the bench and Osemele comes back strong and healthy...

[Shaky End of the Quarter]

wcowden, Thanks for sharing the Oher 70 out of 76 stat. Where did you find those ratings?

[BR Vices]

I swear the only games we won was either because someone was retiring a Raven, getting a HOF ring or Ray Lewis was standing on the sideline lol. I am so glad this season is finally over. Couldn't stand watching this team, especially the last 2 weeks. This season was so bad, I now see false starts in my nightmares.

[edreed2o]

Get rid of our receivers coach and let joe call the plays. Go deep are the only pass plays we use(until its too late). The o line is god aweful and the passing plays are bland. Joe took so many risks because he had to.

[BallsoHard622]

The bottom line is we need a number one wr. We have never had that in bmore. We need a 6'3 or 6'5 guy that can make the jump ball catches an demand double coverage. We also need better play calling on offense. We need to get better in the trenches especially on the offensive side of the ball. It's time for our front offense to invest heavily on this offense. Our defense is fine but we do need better play from our safeties, but they should get better because this is there first yr starting. Can't wait for the draft, in a way we kind of needed to not make the playoffs so we can retool with some nice draft picks.

[edreed2o]

Dean pee's has all this talent. Im not saying he should be like rex ryan but dean is a little bland also. Every game besides the lions were late game collapses by our defense. That shouldnt happen.

[bioLarzen]

My five thoughts:

 

1.) The same as John's: not making the playoffs is on us.

 

2.) "Luckily", the reasons mostly seem clear, so the FO and coaches should have a fairly easy job addressing them.

 

3.) What tweaking this team seems to need (through the simply fan's eye, of course) can be made in one off-season, so I see no reason why we couldn't come back strong and make the playoffs right away in 2014 - if we make the right moves. I don't think the defensive personnel needs major refreshing (apart from a real FS maybe? - plus any real reinforcement that may fall our way, like Dumervil last season) - what they need is a lot of work. It's the O that seems to need major re-enigneering.

 

4.) Though once it was official that we were out I couldn't care less about the other organizations, I certainly think there was one organization it sucked more to be a fan of last night: the steelers :) Boy, being one easy-looking field goal away from pulling one of the most improbable comeback of football - and then see it just sail wide... now they can feel what we felt after that infamous Cundiff-kick... Well, not as if it really mattered though.

 

5.) I tend to feel that the worst part of missing the playoffs is having to endure the flood of those fire-everybody, bring-in-this-or-that-coach, why-did-Ozzie-trade-Boldin, Flacco-can't-throw-a-pass etc. comments. And it probably won't die away until some time before the draft, which is in May... More than four bloody months. Missing the playoffs is one thing (for us, fans) - bad, but there's always the next season and we have every right to be hopeful about it. But when those fans who have no idea which coach does what, what makes a good O-lineman or how the salary cap works ("Let's resign Oher, Art Jones, Monroe, Jacoby Jones and Pitta, plus sign an elite O-lineman, WR, CB and safety!") still feel entitled to think they know better than Ozzie, Harbaugh or the owner... That's the real killer.

 

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[ReginaldColeman1]

John E. what stands out most of all is the number of players the Bengals have who are either rookies or with four or less years of experience who have already made names for themselves. On top of that they beat the Ravens without their starting TE's including a rookie standout. What made that all the more glaring was the second straight week for Elam to be turned around and lost or for Jimmy to resort to a flag play. I understand the motivation behind the changeover. I don't understand the failure to have a slot receiver. Going into the season with the receivers by committee pretty much laid out the ground rules if u will for what to expect. I think it was short sighted to go all in on the defense like it's 2000. Be that as it may seeing Joe gracefully face the humiliation was troubling. He's blamed and rewarded and the team's failure is placed largely on his business agents ability to get him a contract. Yet everyone not wearing rose colored glasses knew full well the run last year was impossible to repeat. What's more ridiculous was to continuously hear the credit going to John and Joe as if nearly two dozen stand out players were in the stands throughout the five year PO run. Of course the cap can be blamed. Paying Joe a franchise tag one year contract was more damaging in fact in the short term. But I think the powers that be by now know what kind of franchise QB they have to pay and what he needs. Hey look at Peyton. Now let's not argue over his ability. But it's as plain as the records we hear about now. He has receivers and probably would never have signed with Denver unless Elway could give him the team on a platter. If u want to pay for a QB with good potential but not a superstar fine. But u have to think ahead. I guess the owners were happy to get the SB with what little they had invested and didn't care about the morning after effect so to speak. I don't blame Joe. I feel sorry for the fact that he felt so bad but I know he's a realist and said what he had to say. Same for John. Hopefully drafting improves. Best for next year and good luck.

[verified]

well this is what happens when you let your best receiver walk and then try to have a kick returner (jacoby jones) be your number two WR. at least we'll have a good draft pick and hopefully oz takes the WR position a little bit more seriously so flacco won't throw so many picks. you'll throw a lot of those when your throwing to guys that don't know how to run routes.. our defense played well tho, they gave us a chance like they always do

[GangofRavens]

I disagree with you. To many times this season the blocks were perfect and the receiver was open. The only problem was Flacco couldn't deliver the pass accurately. He has clearly shown an inability to throw on time while the receiver is in stride. He has shown terrible pocket presence and don't have Boldin here to just throw it up there anymore. Flacco lost the game for us today and has been a big cause of the offensive problems. He is inaccurate and has shown NO leadership skills. Where is the heart, and desire, and pure adrenaline to win, cause when you look in Joe's eyes you don't see any of that.

Flacco has NEVER had a 60% completion rate for a season--never. He is not an accurate QB. One year when the numbers were crunched, he was voted "King of Holding on to the Ball Too Long" at an average of 3.75secs. How many times has he been sacked? He is still bad at both these things. Look at the tape. One year Cam hooked him up with a pitching coach to speed up his release, which is elongated.

Dude is average QB, look at his numbers in his best years so far, who needs help to win. There is nothing wrong with that. If he is given help and plays within his talent set, the team will be competitive. He is not an elite QB. The numbers don't lie!

If a OC replaces Jim, he should give Flacco limited options to audible. The guy doesn't read defenses well, which is one of the reasons he is constantly crushed by the blitz. Did you hear his excuses as to why yesterday on several occasions he didn't throw to the hot WR? "I wanted to give us a chance at making the first down." How many three and outs did we have? How many times did you throw the ball short of the first down? What about that last play where you threw the ball well short of the end zone?

Flacco is average.

[Barry S]

The first thing they should do is restructure Joe's contract so they can get better offensive linemen, if your going to have a pure pocket passer a hardy offensive line is needed and elite QB HA! Next they need a good offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell has to go, it is obvious that neither Jim or Joe can call plays!!!!!!!!! I think the defense will be okay, but the offense really needs work!!!!!!! That's my breakdown.

[VA Flock]

Reading Mike Preston's recent article in The Sun, I ran across this troubling tidbit: "Once Jim Caldwell replaced Cam Cameron as the offensive coordinator late last season, Flacco started calling more of his own plays. That put Flacco more at ease. But this season, Caldwell and receivers coach Jim Hostler put together game plans and call the plays." This is the same Jim Hostler who's infamous in SF for turning their 6th-place rushing offense in 2006 into a near-the-bottom run game in 2007, despite having Frank Gore. And coincidentally, our 11th-place rushing offense in 2012 is now near the bottom a year later. If this horribly failed OC has been "helping" our SB-winning OC design game plans and call plays, that explains a lot. (And anyone who wants Flacco fired must not have been around to witness what happened the last time we fired a SB-winning QB. Every Steelers fan I know gives Joe more credit than he's getting here. Shame on y'all.)

[Zeus]

I disagree with you. To many times this season the blocks were perfect and the receiver was open. The only problem was Flacco couldn't deliver the pass accurately. He has clearly shown an inability to throw on time while the receiver is in stride. He has shown terrible pocket presence and don't have Boldin here to just throw it up there anymore. Flacco lost the game for us today and has been a big cause of the offensive problems. He is inaccurate and has shown NO leadership skills. Where is the heart, and desire, and pure adrenaline to win, cause when you look in Joe's eyes you don't see any of that.

Look into joes eyes??.... Dude your on a different level, I'm watching the game.

[rmcjacket23]

The first thing they should do is restructure Joe's contract so they can get better offensive linemen, if your going to have a pure pocket passer a hardy offensive line is needed and elite QB HA! Next they need a good offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell has to go, it is obvious that neither Jim or Joe can call plays!!!!!!!!! I think the defense will be okay, but the offense really needs work!!!!!!! That's my breakdown.

Restructuring would be worse for the Ravens, not better. A restructure typically includes MORE guaranteed money, and prolongs it over a long-period of time. There is literally no scenario where Flacco would agree to restructure his contract and take less guaranteed money, because frankly, no person on the planet would either.

All a typical restructure does is take mostly non-guaranteed salary money, turn it into a signing bonus, and guarantee it over the life of the contract. Essentially, the Ravens would just be moving some of his 2014 money into future years. That doesn't make the money go away, it just delays it. That's like putting a band aid on a broken bone.

[riseNConquer81]

Five Thoughts at Bengals: 1) we need a new center. 2) we need a new RT. 3) we need a new TE. 4) we need a new receiver. 5) we DONT need any more defense.

[bioLarzen]

The first thing they should do is restructure Joe's contract so they can get better offensive linemen, if your going to have a pure pocket passer a hardy offensive line is needed and elite QB HA! Next they need a good offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell has to go, it is obvious that neither Jim or Joe can call plays!!!!!!!!! I think the defense will be okay, but the offense really needs work!!!!!!! That's my breakdown.

 

Besides what rmjacket writes... even if Flacco would agree to such restructuring - which sounds unlikely -, it would mean pushing excess cap load into the future - something Ozzie is not really keen on - to put it mildly. It's the strategy the steelers have been doing for some time - and it led to all kinds of cap troubles.

 

But i agree that if they decided to put so much money into Flacco, they should do all they reasonably can to protect him. But I'm more than sure this issue with the O-line will be addressed. I'm quite sure we've seen the Oher in Ravens-jersey for the last time yesterday, and also wouldn't be the least surprise to see Shipley go (or reduced to backup) and an extensive hunt for a legit C - Gradkowski had his chance and I don't think he's taken it. I'm quite sure Ozzie will make a push to retain Monroe  - if that's achieved, we'll have him, Yanda and a hopefully healthy Osemele to build our new O-line on. I think that's not impossible at all.

 

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[bioLarzen]

Five Thoughts at Bengals: 1) we need a new center. 2) we need a new RT. 3) we need a new TE. 4) we need a new receiver. 5) we DONT need any more defense.

 

All sounds reasonable - with one note: we IMHO could do with a legit FS. Elam isn't really a FS, he's much more a SS. 

 

Who knows, maybe 2014 will be the breakout season for Omar Brown...

 

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[ravenwildman]

The defense had four interceptions...no special team blunders.....and we still lost....,that kind of points the finger where the problem is. Fix the offense from top down and watch the "W's" show up on games that don't have to be within 3 points next year. GO RAVENS!

[bioLarzen]

The defense had four interceptions...no special team blunders.....and we still lost....,that kind of points the finger where the problem is. Fix the offense from top down and watch the "W's" show up on games that don't have to be within 3 points next year. GO RAVENS!

 

Well, I don't think anyone would disagree that it was the O that stank this season - and all along. Though I don't think for a second I know football enough to make analysis, but I think the main problem was Harbaugh's and/or Caldwell's inability/incapability to adapt. i know it's never a wise thing here to bring the Pats as an example, but I think it was outstanding how they adapted their O-game to the actual situation. No Welker, Hernandez, Lloyd, Branch and Gronkowski, and the receiving corps is full of inexperienced youngsters? A lot of short passes and more running games then. Ugly plays, ugly games, tight wins - but wins. Gronkowski back? Then back to his game - etc, etc... We seemed to try to play the same basic strategy all along, even when it became clear that we can't - mostly for the lack of an efficient O-line. That's why i was happy to see us abandoning the running game altogether in the second half in Buffalo: it seemed like we were adapting at last... But the next week we were back to square one again...

 

I don't think we'll see any coaching changes - unless a coach decides to walk of course - and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. But I wouldn't mind a change in the OC department either - not because I don't believe in Caldwell, but because I do think we could benefit from a more flexible OC.

 

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[riseNConquer81]

All sounds reasonable - with one note: we IMHO could do with a legit FS. Elam isn't really a FS, he's much more a SS. 
 
Who knows, maybe 2014 will be the breakout season for Omar Brown...
 
bio

Elam will be fine, he's a rookie, he'll get better. No one's gonna live up to Ed Reed's standard, im not worried about that.

i think using a draft pick any higher than the 5th round on any defensive player is a waste.
We payed for that half of the team this year and we got half a season. time to finish the product.

[riseNConquer81]

Interesting to note. During the 2013 season, Miami a team that is very similar to Baltimore were almost able to have 2 WR with 1,000 yds this season (Wallace 930 and Hartline 1,014). The Chicago Bears is the only team that has 2 WR with 1000 yards (Marshall and Jeffery). The reason I say Miami and Bmore are similar is because Tannehill and Flacco are the two most sacked QBs, they have no O-Line and neither team has a run game. Our offensive weapons are pretty much a wash in terms of receiver talent. I would also venture out and say that Flacco is better than Tannehill. But still they managed to move the ball for the most part (except the last 2 weeks) as their WR stats suggest. This just proves that we need a real offensive coordinator. It is incomprehensible how teams with equal or lesser caliber players at the QB and WR position can move the ball at will and score TD. Bye Caldwell. Adios.

its incomprehensible because its all in your head.
Flacco and Tannehill's season numbers are almost identical...Tannehill has exactly one more passing yard and 4 more TDs, and if we got to play against Buffalo and New England instead of Pittsburgh, Cincinatti, and Cleveland, it would probably be the other way around. Youre really reaching here, the coordinator is not the problem.

[GaryRavenFan]

Maybe there's an in house fix to one of the offensive lines problems. We know Mike Oher isn't cut out to be a tackle in this league, but maybe could resurrect his career at guard and move Osemele to right tackle. Nobody's going to offer him big bucks to play tackle anymore. As for Gino,he may get another year to see if his game improves with more experience

[fusuymada]

We got all the help we could. The only thing the Jets couldn't do to help us is to play our game. It was in our hands. Granted the defense intercepted Dalton four times but at 17 - 17 we were set to take the lead. The defense needed one stop to get us over the top. Same thing that happened over and over all year, that was the value of Lewis and Reed. Not that they were great, not that they were super productive, but they knew what was going on, got the defense in the right spots and never gave up. When we needed a stop we got one, that didn't happen this year. Flacco will stink up the place and we need that defense to keep us in the game no matter what Joe does. Joe can not qb a team that needs a qb to win these games, he needs to play to not lose it and the only way to do that is with a killer defense.

[EddiOK]

The work for this off-season has to be with the offense, and the O-line in particular. They need a shift in scheme/system (as well as some new personnel on the line); not sure if that means a new OC or not. But this vanilla, pedestrian, even-I-can-guess-the-play-from-the-TV kind of offense was just...well, offensive. No creativity, originality, or unpredictability at all. Maybe Flacco needs a new OC like Big Ben-Haley, and he'll need to adapt to that(?). But just chucking the ball downfield and going 3 & out 6 times each game gets boring, frustrating, and it won't lead to too many W's. Bottom line: We finished 3rd in our own division. That stings a lot. We won't move up unless we seriously address these core offense issues.

[EddiOK]

Four of our losses were by 3 pts or less. Yet 5 of our wins were by 3 pts or less. So we could have ended up 12-4, or 3-13. We had only 2 convincing wins (by more than a TD), and 3 convincing losses. But we're not putting anyone away, and we're not dominant in any way shape or form across the board. By comparison, last year, we were 5-2 in games decided by less than 3 pts. And we were 5-2 in games beyond a TD. Even with the losses last year, you had a sense of the capabilities of the team. This year did not feel that way at all. Whether it was too many new players, rookies, lack of leadership, or chemistry, you just did not have a sense of the capabilities of this team. Every week felt like a desperate reach.

[whobilly]

Let me preface this one final time.....I understand the Ravens were not going to extend Boldin's contract, however, they should have tried a little harder to have him play out the final year of his deal as a Raven. I know, I know, we got Dumerville, and Canty with that money. We also used it for Spears(Released), Huff(Released), and Vonta Leach who played 5 snaps a game.Boldin "only" had 85 receptions for over 1,000 yards. Ask Joe how much he missed him. Love the Ravens, but at times the way to get better is that you have to hear what you DON'T want to hear.

[Arch Mage]

When none of the running backs can get anything going, it is not the running backs who are at fault. When we have the quarterback who is sacked or hit at almost the worst rate in the entire league, it asks the same questions. Is it personnel or scheme or coaching? We know John Harbaugh is "loyal" to his friends; I don't expect the coaching to change. We know we can't draft our way into having a better line next year because it takes a while for rookies to be effective if it happens at all in their first year. Our off season acquisitions of late have been of the "no-one-else-wanted-them" variety. We have not outbid another team for them. We got lucky when Birk was available, but we have 2 or 3 holes to fill, out of five on our line: center and right tackle at the very least. And we have, what, 10 free agents, with little cap space, in total? How do we find the money to sign the players we need? John Harbaugh won't give us anything in the way of meaningful info, so we will have to wait and see.

[fusuymada]

its incomprehensible because its all in your head.Flacco and Tannehill's season numbers are almost identical...Tannehill has exactly one more passing yard and 4 more TDs, and if we got to play against Buffalo and New England instead of Pittsburgh, Cincinatti, and Cleveland, it would probably be the other way around. Youre really reaching here, the coordinator is not the problem.

What did you see different in the play calling from last year and Cameron? With that logic we should have kept Cameron. All year long every pundit and fan kept questioning the play calling yet Caldwell is not the problem. The only thing that changed was the zone stretch run plays that were horrible. The only thing he changed destroyed the run game. Caldwell is not an OC, never called plays and clearly there was a reason and we saw why.