The good, the bad, and the really bad vs Eagles

[Ravens4Real]

Kendrick Lewis may not be an upgrade over D. Stewart...

[rmw10]

Kendrick Lewis may not be an upgrade over D. Stewart...

 

We're 2 games into the preseason...

[JoeyFlex5]

im not concerned with maxx williams one bit. he is a husky guy so he probably needs to work extra hard to get to his playing weight, and hes such a young player and his body is noticeably not fully grown man status yet, hes practically still in puberty. i expected some growing pains, and we may be seeing them. 

 

its not as if we drafted him to be a vernon davis-esque matchup nightmare anyway, we drafted him to be a traditional TE, regardless of his speed we know what he is capable of because of his incredible ball skills and hands. 

 

we wanted a boldin replacement for the past 2 years, but that doesnt have to be a WR, maxx williams is the type of guy who can replicate what boldin brought to this offense, hes gonna need some time though.

[rmw10]

im not concerned with maxx williams one bit. he is a husky guy so he probably needs to work extra hard to get to his playing weight, and hes such a young player and his body is noticeably not fully grown man status yet, hes practically still in puberty. i expected some growing pains, and we may be seeing them. 

 

its not as if we drafted him to be a vernon davis-esque matchup nightmare anyway, we drafted him to be a traditional TE, regardless of his speed we know what he is capable of because of his incredible ball skills and hands. 

 

we wanted a boldin replacement for the past 2 years, but that doesnt have to be a WR, maxx williams is the type of guy who can replicate what boldin brought to this offense, hes gonna need some time though.

 

Doesn't surprise me in the least.  The TE is such a limited part of a majority of college offenses that they just kind of get swept under the rug a bit.  That's not to mention that they have the added problem of having to learn how to be a factor as a blocker as well as a pass catcher.  It's a tough learning curve.

[JoeyFlex5]

Doesn't surprise me in the least.  The TE is such a limited part of a majority of college offenses that they just kind of get swept under the rug a bit.  That's not to mention that they have the added problem of having to learn how to be a factor as a blocker as well as a pass catcher.  It's a tough learning curve.

yeah and some of the TEs to get drafted high the past few years should be a lesson to all fans, TEs simply have a low probability of REALLY producing as rookies, the last real strong rookie TE i can think of is tyler eifert

[Cillmatic]

Kendrick Lewis may not be an upgrade over D. Stewart...

Why are people complaining about KLew? Is it about those two BS fouls calls? He made about every tackle near him. We weren't tried deep. Seems like he did fine.

[Ravensfan23]

If you remember, last year in preseason the Eagles offense looked unstoppable. I recall a game against the Saints I believe where they just dismantled them.

Without a gameplan, Chip Kelly's offense is darn near impossible to stop because it's predicated on reading what the defense is in and always having an alternative play to beat it. If you don't have a scheme where you purposely bluff what you're doing to draw them into running the obvious adjustment you're toast.

And without communication it was even more a lost cause. Don't put too much into this performance.

I'll have to go back and watch the tape, but being at the game we kept noticing that every time the Ravens weren't penalize on D the Eagles couldn't get consecutive 1st downs on their own.

There were so many phantom calls and plays where we stopped them, caused a turnover and then the refs would throw a flag WELL AFTER the play was over. It was the worst, most blatantly one-sided officiating I've ever seen.

Even if we played well there was no overcoming the lack of game planning, no communication and officiating. We didn't play well which only exponentiated the disaster.

But I'm confident that we're still a far superior team to the Eagles and still a legitimate SB contender.

Couldn't agree more. The penalties and lack of game plan really hurt the defense. Even on offense the Ravens got everything they wanted, Joe was just off. Once the team got down by 14 and the injuries were piling up, the air was let out. Then the punt return just kind of snow balled things. I don't doubt they would have had a slow start in the regular season, but i definitely would have believed that this team would have turned it around.

[Ravensfan23]

im not concerned with maxx williams one bit. he is a husky guy so he probably needs to work extra hard to get to his playing weight, and hes such a young player and his body is noticeably not fully grown man status yet, hes practically still in puberty. i expected some growing pains, and we may be seeing them. 

 

its not as if we drafted him to be a vernon davis-esque matchup nightmare anyway, we drafted him to be a traditional TE, regardless of his speed we know what he is capable of because of his incredible ball skills and hands. 

 

we wanted a boldin replacement for the past 2 years, but that doesnt have to be a WR, maxx williams is the type of guy who can replicate what boldin brought to this offense, hes gonna need some time though.

Unreasonable expectations for Maxx seems to be a big issue. Like you said he wasn't drafted to be that WR type of mismatch at TE but many fans expect him to be. You hear him labeled the best TE in the draft and people think he should be Gronk like. I couldn't agree more with the Boldin type role and even a Pitta type role once he grows into his NFL. I like what I've seen from him with the understanding that he's still developing.

[Ravensfan23]

Doesn't surprise me in the least.  The TE is such a limited part of a majority of college offenses that they just kind of get swept under the rug a bit.  That's not to mention that they have the added problem of having to learn how to be a factor as a blocker as well as a pass catcher.  It's a tough learning curve.

On top of that, very few collegiate programs have a true TE coach.

[Cillmatic]

“It’s not what you want to happen, but you need to be humbled sometimes,” safety Will Hill said. “We learned a lot about our team and our coaching staff today, how resilient we could be and who is going to fight no matter what.”

Shots fired a coaches?

[GrimCoconut]

“It’s not what you want to happen, but you need to be humbled sometimes,” safety Will Hill said. “We learned a lot about our team and our coaching staff today, how resilient we could be and who is going to fight no matter what.”

Shots fired a coaches?

What makes you say this? I didn't have that interpretation when I read that quote. Just curious why you did. 

[ravensdfan]

“It’s not what you want to happen, but you need to be humbled sometimes,” safety Will Hill said. “We learned a lot about our team and our coaching staff today, how resilient we could be and who is going to fight no matter what.”

Shots fired a coaches?

I don't know that it is really a shot at coaching.

 

IMO though, there is a fine line between not wanting to tip your hand and giving your players a chance to be competitive. We have a history of not performing well defensively against up tempo offenses like the Eagles and I feel we should have made some attempt (given it is preseason) to game plan at least a bit for it.

Preseason wins and losses do not matter, but you don't want to get embarrassed like we did either and I think that was a poor coaching decision.

[MTRavensFan]

“It’s not what you want to happen, but you need to be humbled sometimes,” safety Will Hill said. “We learned a lot about our team and our coaching staff today, how resilient we could be and who is going to fight no matter what.”

Shots fired a coaches?

I don't see that at all. More like "how resilient we could be, and who is going to fight no matter what."

Giving props to coaches is how I read it.

[Cillmatic]

I don't see that at all. More like "how resilient we could be, and who is going to fight no matter what."

Giving props to coaches is how I read it.

Giving props after an embarrassing blowout?

[rmw10]

Hey, more overreactions!

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

Hey, more overreactions!

Par for the course

[jazz1988]

Giving props after an embarrassing blowout?

 

It's a preseason game man.. Even though The Eagles score about 30 points on The Ravens it didn't seem like any body on the team looked depressed and most kept on playing hard. You don't know what's being said to the players on the bench or in the locking room by coaches or even what's been said to players among themselves.

Edited August 23, 2015 by jazz1988

[allblackraven]

Hey, more overreactions!

It's crazy. 2nd flipping preseason game! I'm seriously considering making myself absent from game threads once the season starts. Will just check the status of the pool pic and that's it.

 

Seriously though - the only real concerns to me are the health of our starting O line and our pass rush.

[rmw10]

It's crazy. 2nd flipping preseason game! I'm seriously considering making myself absent from game threads once the season starts. Will just check the status of the pool pic and that's it.

 

Seriously though - the only real concerns to me are the health of our starting O line and our pass rush.

 

The "(insert 3rd stringers name here) played well against other 3rd stringers so now he's definitely going to make the team and won't clear waivers" comments are what gets me the most.

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

The "(insert 3rd stringers name here) played well against other 3rd stringers so now he's definitely going to make the team and won't clear waivers" comments are what gets me the most.

You mean Darren "Megatron" Waller right ?

[rmw10]

You mean Darren "Megatron" Waller right ?

 

Bryn Renner was the biggest culprit from last night

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

Bryn Renner was the biggest culprit from last night

Renner. He played well sure, but Schaub is better. I'd rather take the guy with NFL experience, especially in this particular scheme than a purist backup with a weaker arm.

[rmw10]

Renner. He played well sure, but Schaub is better. I'd rather take the guy with NFL experience, especially in this particular scheme than a purist backup with a weaker arm.

 

I actually really love Renner's mentality and he has some uncoachable traits.  That arm strength is his biggest downfall, and for that reason, he's probably not much more than a fringe NFL player.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

I actually really love Renner's mentality and he has some uncoachable traits. That arm strength is his biggest downfall, and for that reason, he's probably not much more than a fringe NFL player.

Yea he's Joe Flacco-like in the sense that he doesn't ever seem to get down on himself, can come back right after a bad mistake and make a big play, and has a knack for making plays late in the game with pressure on.

Unfortunately, that's where the comparison ends. He doesn't have NFL quality physical or technical ability - and that will always limit him. Don't think he'll ever be more than a 3rd QB, PS type player.

[GrimCoconut]

I'm not trying to sound like a guy who is hyping Renner or anything. I think he's destined for the PS, but let's be honest here: plenty of guys without arms succeed in the NFL. That's a fact. Alex Smith is one of them. I'm not trying to compare him to Alex Smith, a former first round pick (and high one at that), but another guy is Tyrod Taylor, who looks like he could make the team and be the starter for the Bills. I remember people said the same thing about Taylor. They said he didn't have the arm, was just a running QB, etc. 

 

Just give the guy a break this early in his career.

[ellicottraven]

Cassius Vaughn was good too.

Agreed.

[allblackraven]

Bryn Renner was the biggest culprit from last night

I disagree on Renner vs Schaub - to me it's unforgivable being lost the way Schaub is with just a little pressure. Experience does not seem to help much here. Renner may not be able to throw it 60y but he completed some nice passes in these two games.

[polynesian15]

Cassius Vaughn was good too.

Vaughn was agressive, showed nice intensity. You could sense he was fighting for a roster spot.

[rmw10]

I'm not trying to sound like a guy who is hyping Renner or anything. I think he's destined for the PS, but let's be honest here: plenty of guys without arms succeed in the NFL. That's a fact. Alex Smith is one of them. I'm not trying to compare him to Alex Smith, a former first round pick (and high one at that), but another guy is Tyrod Taylor, who looks like he could make the team and be the starter for the Bills. I remember people said the same thing about Taylor. They said he didn't have the arm, was just a running QB, etc. 

 

Just give the guy a break this early in his career.

 

Yeah it certainly doesn't preclude Renner from being successful, but the odds are severely stacked against him.  It's a shame because I really do like the guy, but I just don't see his physical abilities making it in the NFL.  If I'm wrong you know I'll be the first one to admit it, but I just don't see it in him.  Too many issues that I think would be highly exposed against guys that are legit NFL players.

Edited August 24, 2015 by rmw10

[rmw10]

I disagree on Renner vs Schaub - to me it's unforgivable being lost the way Schaub is with just a little pressure. Experience does not seem to help much here. Renner may not be able to throw it 60y but he completed some nice passes in these two games.

 

It's not really even an experience issue for me.  I just don't think Renner has the arm to make it.  Renner panicked heavily under pressure in the first preseason game as well.

 

Regardless, I don't think there's any question that Schaub is the guy.  Harbaugh has made that abundantly clear.