Joe Flacco and Gary Kubiak

[callahan09]

A worse offense than last year?  Really?  Does this guy realize that we had the worst and the 6th worst running backs of the last 10 seasons?  In one year, on one team, the WORST and the SIXTH WORST.  That's out of 339 qualifying running backs, ranked in terms of yards per attempt.

 

We had a bottom 20 running game in the Super Bowl era.

 

We were last in the league in Yards Per Play.

 

He really expects it to get even WORSE from that?  Really?

[Cville-Raven]

This guy is unaware that Flacco can move around. In fact, his ability to move around in the pocket and escape has improved ten fold since last year.

[PolishRifle]

This guy is unaware that Flacco can move around. In fact, his ability to move around in the pocket and escape has improved ten fold since last year.

 

I agree with you there. That was sort of the one thing, that kept our offense alive last season, but then the Detroit game came and ... ugh.

[callahan09]

You might not say Joe's a better athlete than Schaub but he clearly is. Beyond simply watching them play, the stats bear that out. Flacco has run for a higher clip than Schaub during his career, picked up more first downs and had bigger gains. 

 

As others have said, I'm looking forward to watching Joe work with Kubiak. 

Agreed.  You know, over the last 4 seasons, Schaub's longest rush attempt was for 8 yards.  Flacco's longest in the span was 33 yards, and he has ran for 9+ yards (so, longer than Schaub's longest) 16 times.  Over their entire careers, Schaub has run for first downs of at least 2 yards (so this is purposefully exluding anything that would constitute a QB sneak, for instance) 21 times, while Flacco has 35 under his belt.  And Flacco has played in 32 fewer games.  (These stats are regular season only, by the way).  So I would say Flacco has demonstrated much more athleticism in making plays with his feet just going by the stats alone.

[flynismo]

that cannon arm of his makes up for being not set when throwing and probaly his best plays came when on the move.

Perhaps, but throwing downfield on the run is where 90% of his accuracy issues come into play. Very inconsistent on 15+ yard attempts on the run, according to the eyeball test

[ravens533]

Neither Flacco or Kubiak strike me has unreasonable personalities. Therefore, I think they will work well together. Flacco has been open to advise and help in the past and with the year he is coming off of I expect he will be again. Joe has shown that he is flexible (excluding those gimmick wildcard plays). And Kubiak says he will work with Joe on what he feels or his strengths and help him continue his growth. So, I see only good things coming from a Kubiak offense with Joe as its QB.

[Gordo52]

Well I disagree entirely.

[Raven07]

based on past teams and QB's Gary's worked with, and proven track record with Qb's and bringing the best out of them at some point, im excited to see the progression and growth Flacco takes through the course of this season as well as the seasons to come. Time will tell for sure but just looking from the outside in, it appears to be a match that could bring balance to this offense once more AND establish a more "fine tuned, primed" Flacco, as compared to his previous years, leading to better production overall as a complete unit.

 

AND bring back a rushing attack that his a productive force in moving the chains and extending the play. A Respected Rushing attack back in Baltimore.

[Ravensfan23]

He can run it and run it well. I would like for Joe to work on his play fake more though.  Maybe it's the view when watching, but it doesn't seem like he sells it well.  It's small things like that can help get a receiver some separation for a big play.  Will also make the throw easier on him if the defense actually bites.  Excited to see how the o line plays next year.  One thing I noticed about the Texans o line before this year was they really seemed to move as a single unit.  Don't see that often where the whole line seems in sync. 

 

 

I also think the bootleg has a lot to do with how the o line moves.  If they do their job, you don't need to be the most athletic because the defensive front will be following them.

I agree with the play fake of Joe, but I will also say that comes from coaching as well. Our offense never put a heavy emphasis on carrying out the play fake so Joe doesn't really do it. Despite not being under center much, his play fakes in college looked much better then now. So that leads me to believe he isn't asked to focus on that much.

I like this offense because it'll force Joe to have active feet. One of my biggest issues with Joe is that he gets lazy feet at time and just relies on arm strenght to win. Zorn started to clear that up, thanks Cam, but once we started focusing more on the vertical pass game those bad habits showed up again. This offense will force Joe to have active feet and he's really good when he has active feet. It'll definitely be interesting to see how Flacco handles a offense that actually suites him.

[Ravensfan23]

This right here. Look, I'm a fan of Flacco. I root for him to do well. But, my biggest complaint about him is his awareness, both pocket and pre-snap. Seriously, when was the last time any of us saw a defender jump offsides and Flacco take his "free shot" downfield? I can't remember a single time. That kind of stuff drives me crazy about Flacco. How many times did we see Polamalu lining up in the defensive end position to blitz, and zero changes occur at the line? Then he gets sacked or stripped of the ball, with zero effort to move away from that side of the rush!! I know it sounds like I'm bashing on Flacco, but I'm just pointing out some examples of things I hope this new relationship will fix. After all, no one is perfect.

Yea the motion and overall design of the offense should help Flacco in these areas. We should have more blitz beaters now, aduibles that are actually designed to attack defenses not just flip the play side or kill the play. The offense Gary brings will help Jow a lot and of course Joe will have to do his part to master this offense and make it even better.

[PurpleCityLights]

If Flacco doesnt fit well with this new offense, who fault is it?

[JoeyFlex5]

watch the super bowl again if you have a problem with flacco throwing on the move, youll change ur mind. 

 

it boggles my mind to know that some of these people get paid hefty salaries to talk about sports and dont know the first thing about the most recent SBMVP

[redrum52]

If Flacco doesnt fit well with this new offense, who fault is it?

Not his...

[The Oakland Cathedral]

If Flacco doesnt fit well with this new offense, who fault is it?

Yours

[ravensfan520]

I think one of Joes biggest upside is arm strength. One of his flaws is throwing a wr open. Call that not trusting his teammates or whatever. I am hoping that kubiak can fix that part of his game. Kubiaks game plan attacks in all parts of the field and I hope he can help Flacco to see that as well instead of waiting on one guy or area.

[ravensfan520]

I agree that he can move around in the pocket but that's because he is big and hard to bring down. We never featured a lot of Joe moving by design. Yes he has done it some and faired well with it... but he needs to work on the touch with his passes as well. He tends to rely on his strong arm and zip it in to much. One big thing I hope Kubaik can help with is the middle of the field that is where Flacco seems to have the most problems with. Reading safties or linebackers in coverage.

[Bruce_Almty]

Someone has to be at the far end of the scale, this time it's Gottlieb. Pay him no mind & move on.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

I'm excited about this hire. It will help Joe get to the next level. For the first time since Jim Zorn left, Joe will have someone on the sidelines who understands what he is going through. Gary Kubiak will get the most out of Joe. Its up to Joe to get the most out of Gary Kubiak.  It will also be refreshing to have someone on the sidelines who understands how to run the offense. Its frustrating and embarrassing for a HC to watch a team who is not performing up to his expectations. It is probably even more frustrating for a HC who often looks clueless on the sidelines and whose game decisions often seemed to lack good judgment. I will temper my enthusiasm because we have just hired an OC who is coming off a 2-11 season as a HC after starting 2-0. That being said, this will give John Harbaugh the opportunity to become a great coach rather than just the good coach he is now. He will have more time to concentrate on the things that HCs should be doing. AND he could take a page out of President Reagan's book where the President said "you can accomplish a lot if you don't care who gets the credit." Its too early to post our predictions for next year's entry but we've already improved the team. Let's go, Ravens! 

[SecretAgentMan]

Flacco a bad athlete?

(The Video Sucks but Bare with me)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIJfZ5gvi5U

 

 

Unathletic guys don't run for 38 yard TDs

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCwalIkeW4s

 

And proof of being able to roll out of the pocket

[Gordo52]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCwalIkeW4s

And proof of being able to roll out of the pocket

God I needed that. Thanks SAM. Reminded me of how amazing that Super Bowl was and how great Flacco played.

[SecretAgentMan]

God I needed that. Thanks SAM. Reminded me of how amazing that Super Bowl was and how great Flacco played.

*Can't Tell if Sarcastic Or Not*

[HomeoftheBRAVENS]

I only read a few comments so idk if it's been mentioned yet,but Flacco ran bootlegs all the time under Cam Cam.I don't get why people are acting like bootlegs and zone blocking schemes are something new to our offense.We've been doing it since 2011.

[Gordo52]

*Can't Tell if Sarcastic Or Not*

Huh? Of course not lol

[PolishRifle]

I only read a few comments so idk if it's been mentioned yet,but Flacco ran bootlegs all the time under Cam Cam.I don't get why people are acting like bootlegs and zone blocking schemes are something new to our offense.We've been doing it since 2011.

 

Kubiak is a great fit for our players the more you look into our and his past. I agree. What is most intriguing about Kubiak are his credentials as a QB guru. Not only is he a former QB (the first OC Joe will have with that kind of experience), but he also has a history of making QBs, nowhere near as good as Flacco, look great. I still can't understand how Schaub got to all those ProBowls.

Joe always had a handfull of games where he performed truly great. Here's hoping, that Kubiak can stop that rollercoaster Joe's production tends to be on. One complete regular season of "great Joe" would be like a godsend.

[K-Dog]

Flacco a bad athlete?

(The Video Sucks but Bare with me)

 

 

The first video made me laugh.

 

The second one made me miss Boldin

[hawkprey]

Okay, first, lets address the fact that you dont have to be "mobile" to run a bootleg. Peyton Manning scored a Td on one this year and Russell Wilson was strip-sacked on one last game.

Second, and this is more broad, but i'm tired of people making negative assumptions on Flacco that are just plainly wrong. He is in no way above criticism, nor is he perfect, but this is just stupid. I remember

people saying his mechanics stink, his delivery is slow, he cant throw intermediate routes, cant move in the pocket... all of them baseless and only brought up because he succeeded so obviouly in another area and cant possibly be good at two things.

[Dudeman]

I agree with most of you, this offense can only get better.  I'd truly hate to see what could be worse. 

 

I also am excited about Kubiak being the one we hired.  All hyperbole about Schaub aside, the Texans have fielded some really good offenses over the years, but unfortuantely for Schaub he seemed to lose a lot of confidence and maybe some arm strength last year. 

 

We got the most accomplished canidate possible outside of the likes of Norv Turner, and with Norv we'd be going with the teacher to Cam Cameron's pupil, or basically more of the same we've had for awhile. 

 

Yet ultimately this all goes back to Joe Flacco, and the personnel around him.  You give Flacco time in the pocket, a dangerous run/return game, and some reliable receivers and this Ravens offense can really take flight.  But I think most importantly I'd really like us to establish some kind of consistency for the Ravens across the board.

 

The past few years we keep losing and turning over players, and coaches.  I know I'm going to the dog house for this, but if we kept Greg Mattison several years ago on defense, I still think we'd have Chuck Pagano today.  Furthermore, I know Cam Cameron is the one armed man of Baltimore, but there is a solid chance we could've won the Super Bowl had we kept him, and maybe not regressed so much without him. 

 

Lastly, has Joe had the same offensive line for more than a season?  God I wish Ogden hadn't retired before Joe played, same with Willie Anderson who played great Joe's rookie year.  We lost Grubbs who went to the pro-bowl this year, and I think losing Birk had a very under-rated effect on the o-line last year.  It's just always a shuffle here lately and I know it's from the salary cap, but of all the pieces we lost losing Boldin was the one I think most of us can't seem to get over.

[cursona pirate]

A worse offense than last year? Really? Does this guy realize that we had the worst and the 6th worst running backs of the last 10 seasons? In one year, on one team, the WORST and the SIXTH WORST. That's out of 339 qualifying running backs, ranked in terms of yards per attempt.

We had a bottom 20 running game in the Super Bowl era.

We were last in the league in Yards Per Play.

He really expects it to get even WORSE from that? Really?

And we almost made the playoffs somehow with that.

Im hoping for once that our offense plays like they did in the SuperBowl run in at least 9 games if not all

[gabefergy]

I think Kubiak will be very good for Flacco. Bootlegs off or run action are very effective and with Flacco's arm he should be able to hit targets on the entire field, not just the boot side. Denver used to run that play with Elway where he would roll out to the right and then fling it 50 yards down the opposite side of the field which is so hard for defenses to cover. I definitely think if we get a couple more weapons Flacco will be having a career year.

[Ravensfan23]

Greg Cosell says: " Flacco can run any kind of offense" "The offense does take play action shots down field, which works for him. Kubiak's offense creates single high safety and one on one looks".

That was from a really good article in the Sun. Can't provide a link right now but it's definitely a good read and great view on Kubes' offense.