The good, bad and ugly vs Broncos

[jimmypowder]

Best game Dean Pees has ever called. Glad to see it. O line looked not good. Flashbacks to 2013. SSS makes that catch or Flacco gives that last throw another half a foot of air and everyone on this board is singing a different tune. I wasn't super upset after this game just because it looks like defense is back in Baltimore. Hoping it isn't a fluke.

Really both Smith & Gilmore need to make those plays in the end zone . Gilmore had the ball in both hands while being pass interfered with . The Bronco defender had his back to the ball pushing into Gilmore . They call that 90 % of the time but since it was near the end of the game they decide not to call it .

Smith just plain misjudged the ball as even if the defender git a pinkie on the ball it never changed trajectory .

Joe could have gone from goat to hero in this one if either one makes the play .

[BmoreBird22]

So, I had time to clear my mind and re-watch some things and I still think that final play was PI. Crockett got off the line in a hurry and Bruton was clearly playing catch up the entire time to the point that he hooks his arm inside Crockett's. Honestly, Crockett probably shouldn't have unhooked his arm and gone up for it with just one arm because that would have definitely drawn a flag, but he'll learn that as a veteran move as he gets more broken in. However, Bruton still had his arm around Crockett and you could definitely argue that he held Crockett from high pointing like he would have loved to. Still, Crockett could have done a better job of delaying putting his hands up because Bruton had no idea where the ball was and the only reason he put his hands up was because Crockett did. Definitely was not double coverage because Stewart literally got there for the tipped ball and even had to make an extended/diving play on the ball. 

 

Okay, with that rant over, I think the defense showed amazingly. 

 

I was reading on a Broncos forum (go figure) that Jimmy Smith was "arguably top 10, but even that wasn't a sure thing". I told him Jimmy was top five and would show it in this game. I think he did. 

 

I was told that Lewis was worse than Stewart (I think Lewis had quite possibly one of his best games as a pro) and that Hill was not a good SS and was only playing there because the Ravens had no other options as SS. I was assured that Ward was better than Hill in every way (yeah, okay). 

 

I was also told the Ravens defensive line wasn't elite, but that's why they haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher for 27 straight games and held the Broncos to 2.8 yards per carry and did not allow a 20+ yard rush all day. 

 

Mosley and Smith are one hell of a tandem. Smith just dominated coverage and it's a huge reason that Mosley was able to sniff out running plays and get two sacks. It's a real shame that Smith didn't get that pick-6 that he should have had because that could have been the difference, but that was far from the thing that lost it (or didn't allow the Ravens to win). 

 

Now, on offense, the offensive line just did not show up. James Hurst was beyond bad in this game. I literally saw occasions where Ward literally ran by him untouched, despite Hurst getting out of his stance and making an attempt at blocking. Wagner must still be feeling the effects of his surgery because he got pushed around more than I would have expected and didn't stay engaged very well. Zuttah is still about as average as it gets. On the bright side, the Broncos are likely the best pass rushing team the Ravens will face all year. 

 

Joe played decently given the circumstances. I know people will pin the Talib interception on Joe, but Steve got outmuscled and needs to get underneath of Talib, but he just let Talib gain the leverage and position. Joe was also facing a free rusher and had to throw the ball away before he would have liked off of his back foot. It was a bad decision, but the offensive line could have helped and Steve should have played it better, but things happen. 

 

The receivers weren't gaining much, if any, separation, not that it was much of a surprise against Talib and Harris Jr. However, when they were open, they had some ugly drops. The Steve Smith one was inexcusable. Even if Roby touched the ball, it would have been barely because from what I could tell, that trajectory didn't change at all. Steve just let himself get distracted by the jumping defender. That was inexcusable.

I know a lot of people will complain about the lack of involvement from the tight ends, but they were in to block a lot, from what I could tell. 

 

And I know a lot of people have been taking shots at Trestman, but honestly, what could you expect in this game where the rush is destroying the offensive line? Also, as a note, he did get a screen pass involved (bubble screen to Aiken) and he involved the backs quite a bit in the passing game on swing passes. The backs caught nine passes, literally half of Flacco's completions. And don't complain about running a lot because how do you neutralize a rush? You establish the run, get quick passes out (swing passes to the backs), and run play action (no effective running game ruined any shot at this). There really wasn't a ton Trestman could do. 

[BmoreBird22]

That's only because Peyton missed Emmanuel Sanders on multiple occasions. He got wide open on those streaks far more often than my stomach could handle.

I counted twice with Emmanuel beating Webb once in man coverage when Webb played flat footed and once in a zone when Jimmy and Lewis seemed to have a miscommunication. 

[CalvinSmoke]

So our Run D is going to be terrible for the rest of the season?

 

 

I wanna say that Peyton made our secondary look good because he is just so finished. 

Not saying that, but when you lose an important player mid game it screws things up... as it should.

 

and yea, Peyton made us look good. 

[CalvinSmoke]

I counted twice with Emmanuel beating Webb once in man coverage when Webb played flat footed and once in a zone when Jimmy and Lewis seemed to have a miscommunication. 

I remeber those two, and that's normally two Touchdowns right there my friend. We can't have that. 

[Static]

Kamar Aiken is who we thought he was.

[jimmypowder]

Kamar Aiken is who we thought he was.

On most teams Kamar is no 4 or 5 receiver at best .

[Gordo52]

Why does everyone say the run D was great? The LONG 10 minute drive at the end was accomplished by the Broncos running the ball.

Ok so the first drive and the last drive.

Don't care what the situation is. Not giving up a TD is great D. Especially vs Manning on the road

Edited September 14, 2015 by Gordo52

[Guest]

So our Run D is going to be terrible for the rest of the season?

 

 

I wanna say that Peyton made our secondary look good because he is just so finished. 

 

Agreed, though Manning was under pretty good pressure too.  But Peyton is definitely done.

[Tank 92]

Absolutely and I like that approach by the officials. So, for me, I have to take the bad with the good and can't be screaming for flags when it suits my team. IMO that is the best crew in the NFL. There are crews out there that would have called Jimmy for PI because he made slight contact on the back as he went over the receiver to get that pick 6.

Look at that tragic preseason game vs. PHI. There were like 8 illegal contact calls ... replays show minor hand checking. Please. NFL refs need to stop dictating outcomes. However, then people will look and see there were only 2 TDs - both by the defense. No one wants that, so the league goes flag-happy.

Gimme a game called like this every time. It is what I prefer.

Yeah, I guess. But on Jimmy's pick 6 he was looking forward and clearly playing the ball. He has as much right to the ball as the receiver and contacted him making the play on the ball. No thoughts of PI there. On the Gilmore play the defender was beaten and lunged at Crock with his arms in the air. Never turned to look for the ball and wasn't making an attempt at catching the ball. For me a clear PI that's called all the time. Looking at both of those plays objectively and not just as a Ravens fan, I think you can say they got one right and one wrong. Edited September 14, 2015 by Tank 92

[Purple_City39]

And I know a lot of people have been taking shots at Trestman, but honestly, what could you expect in this game where the rush is destroying the offensive line? Also, as a note, he did get a screen pass involved (bubble screen to Aiken) and he involved the backs quite a bit in the passing game on swing passes. The backs caught nine passes, literally half of Flacco's completions. And don't complain about running a lot because how do you neutralize a rush? You establish the run, get quick passes out (swing passes to the backs), and run play action (no effective running game ruined any shot at this). There really wasn't a ton Trestman could do. 

 

Yeah, Trestman is apparently the goat of the game because his o-line didn't block at all.  As stated above, he tried pretty much everything he could to neutralize a pass rush and the o-line sucked so bad it still didn't matter.  Let's remember the Marc isn't even using his playbook and schemes.  He's using Kubiak's and he honestly called a decent game but the execution by the players let him down horribly

 

 

Kamar Aiken is who we thought he was.

I've argued with so many people that said Aiken was clearly the second best on this team and he simply isn't.  He showed it all preseason as the ONLY WR who couldn't get separation at any point against any team.  That's not a coincidence.  I'm not saying anybody is a clear cut #2 at this point but every other WR on the team brings something he doesn't.  Whether it's a taller target (Brown), a shiftier WR (Camp), or just a bigger, taller, and faster target (Waller).  Kamar isn't even a great route runner

[Gordo52]

That's only because Peyton missed Emmanuel Sanders on multiple occasions. He got wide open on those streaks far more often than my stomach could handle.

Well Sanders is a pretty good WR... He'll get open multiple times a game.

Jimmy, Hill, Arrington & Webb made our secondary look worlds better than last season. Might not be saying much but it's still a positive to take out of this game

[jimmypowder]

Yeah, I gueAss. But on Jimmy's pick 6 he was looking forward and clearly playing the ball. He has as much right to the ball as the receiver and contacted him making the play on the ball. No thoughts of PI there. On the Gilmore play the defender was beaten and lunged at Crock with his arms in the air. Never turned to look for the ball and wasn't making an attempt at catching the ball. For me a clear PI that's called all the time. Looking at both of those plays objectively and not just as a Ravens fan, I think you can say they got one right and one wrong.

I think the refs were afraid to call it in Denver .

[Guest]

Kamar Aiken is who we thought he was.

 

Have never been impressed with him. Last night was no exception.

 

No WR looked good though.

 

The secondary gets a good grade, even with the Broncos missed opportunities. I thought Will Hill was a force. Webb did not look flat footed to me. He was on his guy most of the time.  Jimmy made the big play for our only touchdown.  They were a worry and passed a tough test.

 

The Defensive Line was very good and candidly the Lions not so much. They get a very good grade. When Suggs went out it wasn't as effective, but you're not going to lose a Suggs without paying a price.

[Tank 92]

I think the refs were afraid to call it in Denver .

Yeah, you are probably right. They had just got an ear full on the PI that gave us the first down.

If Smitty catches the ball that play never happens. Still can't believe he missed it so badly and not a play you would expect from a veteran WR.

[jimmypowder]

Yeah, you are probably right. They had just got an ear full on the PI that gave us the first down.

If Smitty catches the ball that play never happens. Still can't believe he missed it so badly and not a play you would expect from a veteran WR.

Yeah if Smith wants a ring he has to make those catches.

[ravensdfan]

I think Crockett should've came down with that catch but I'll take his effort over Torrey any day

 

I think given some experience that is a catch he will make. As you said, at least he made the effort.

That last throw from Flacco is a chemistry issue. Gilmore clearly had his guy beat and a nice touch pass from Joe would have sealed the deal. If that's Pitta or Daniels he's probably throwing that ball right into thw basket. But when you're not used to throwing to a guy you kinda just put it in a place where the guy can use his best attribute to make the play. That's size with Gilmore. If given that opportunity again, i think Joe throws that ball to the back of the end zone.

This is the type of game Pees typically calls honest, the difference is you finally got heathly players at CB and two quality Safeties to execute the defense. When the secondary is playing well Pees will call up some exotic coverages and blitzes. Now that Suggs is gone i expect Pees to be even more aggressive with his pressure packages.

But the exotic coverages & blitzes are what we were missing last season, outside of the Pitt game. So no, he didn't call the same game. He did great but he really needs to abandon that 3 man rush. We got burned every single time.

 

That's only because Peyton missed Emmanuel Sanders on multiple occasions. He got wide open on those streaks far more often than my stomach could handle.

Peyton did so poorly though because the pass rush got in his head early. That is what happens to Peyton if you can put hands on him a few times. Didn't you notice how he just went down or threw the ball into the ground as soon as he saw a Raven running free at him? That is the result of a good pass rush.

 

Yeah, Trestman is apparently the goat of the game because his o-line didn't block at all.  As stated above, he tried pretty much everything he could to neutralize a pass rush and the o-line sucked so bad it still didn't matter.  Let's remember the Marc isn't even using his playbook and schemes.  He's using Kubiak's and he honestly called a decent game but the execution by the players let him down horribly

 

 

I've argued with so many people that said Aiken was clearly the second best on this team and he simply isn't.  He showed it all preseason as the ONLY WR who couldn't get separation at any point against any team.  That's not a coincidence.  I'm not saying anybody is a clear cut #2 at this point but every other WR on the team brings something he doesn't.  Whether it's a taller target (Brown), a shiftier WR (Camp), or just a bigger, taller, and faster target (Waller).  Kamar isn't even a great route runner

What? What did he try? He ran basically the same 4 or 5 plays until the last offensive series of the game. We did not roll Joe out one single time, which is what normal OCs do to counteract pressure like that.  He is the goat because he called a horrible horrible game.

Edited September 14, 2015 by ravensdfan

[Cillmatic]

Depth chart needs to be blown up

[jar2260]

I can't believe how poor the offensive line played, both for running the ball and pass protection! There were spots

that showed our offense could be great, but something needs to be done with the OL!!

The defense played really well with the exception of a few series, the three man rush needs to go, the defense played

their best when they played aggressively, pressure the quarterback and come up of the wideouts (don't give them

room to run thrie routes)!

NEED to find some offensive lineman who want to play.

[3-4ravdef509]

Neither interception was on Flacco. Takin mugged Smith and Smith just let him on the first one. The second one was a great play by Stewart.

[Guest]

I think given some experience that is a catch he will make. As you said, at least he made the effort.

But the exotic coverages & blitzes are what we were missing last season, outside of the Pitt game. So no, he didn't call the same game. He did great but he really needs to abandon that 3 man rush. We got burned every single time.

 

Peyton did so poorly though because the pass rush got in his head early. That is what happens to Peyton if you can put hands on him a few times. Didn't you notice how he just went down or threw the ball into the ground as soon as he saw a Raven running free at him? That is the result of a good pass rush.

 

What? What did he try? He ran basically the same 4 or 5 plays until the last offensive series of the game. We did not roll Joe out one single time, which is what normal OCs do to counteract pressure like that.  He is the GOAT because he called a horrible horrible game.

 

The pressure Flacco faced was so intense from the outside, I don't see how rolling out into it was going to buy him more time. Maybe it should have been attempted once.

 

When we got up on Jimmy's TD, I really thought we needed to go conservative with how well the D was playing and how ferocious their rush was.  The "Even Up" pick 6 really hurt us. That was ball game. 

 

Waller didn't play Offense all game and it would have been a lot to ask him to play that last Red Zone series but he would have made a nice option there. 

 

Tough loss.  Tough consequences now with our O Line and Suggs out.

[Cillmatic]

Neither interception was on Flacco. Takin mugged Smith and Smith just let him on the first one. The second one was a great play by Stewart.

The first pick was ENTIRELY Joe's fault. When a receiver is covered QB's aren't suppose to throw to that receiver, Joe must've missed the memo there.

[The Mom Gene]

Guys?  It's Week 1...  Did anyone watch any of the other games???  No one is really "sharp" right now....  Give it time.  I was just impressed that we made it a game in the end.  To say that our Defense wasn't on yesterday is just nutz. 

 

Ok, defense isn't clutch, I'll give you that one. Did you notice that a ton of nine routes by Broncos receivers were completely uncovered by Webb?

[Cillmatic]

Guys? It's Week 1... Did anyone watch any of the other games??? No one is really "sharp" right now.... Give it time. I was just impressed that we made it a game in the end. To say that our Defense wasn't on yesterday is just nutz.

1. Lol, Broncos D looks sharp right now.

2. Our defense hasn't been clutch on many occasions for the best 4 years.

Edited September 14, 2015 by Cillmatic

[3-4ravdef509]

Trestman didn't do great but it's hard to dial up much against their pressure without adequate weapons. I put this loss on Ozzies inability to field a legitimate supporting cast around Joe. For the second time in three years since he HAD a great supporting cast that Joe used to propel us to a super bowl and record setting playoff performance.

Hopefully the tight ends develop or Perriman is as good as we hope he can be. We have a aging received who is at best a number two receiver, and behind him a bunch of number three and lower level receivers, with a whole lot of inexperience at tight end.

Torrey Smith, with all his flaws, could have made a difference in this game. So could have Owen Daniels.

[Edgar]

Really disappointing loss.

Joe forced that pass when he should have been in Dilfer mode.

Monroe has been off the field almost as much as on it......missed watching the first half...how did he fare against ware fir the snaps he was in?

No play makers. Really going to be an endeavor to put up points as a result.

Our defense would have likely won the game for us if Joe Hadn't played like a first year qb in the aforementioned instance. Might be a different story when we play a team whose qb can throw down field. Webb got destroyed by Martavius Bryant last year.

[jimmypowder]

Trestman didn't do great but it's hard to dial up much against their pressure without adequate weapons. I put this loss on Ozzies inability to field a legitimate supporting cast around Joe. For the second time in three years since he HAD a great supporting cast that Joe used to propel us to a super bowl and record setting playoff performance.

Hopefully the tight ends develop or Perriman is as good as we hope he can be. We have a aging received who is at best a number two receiver, and behind him a bunch of number three and lower level receivers, with a whole lot of inexperience at tight end.

Torrey Smith, with all his flaws, could have made a difference in this game. So could have Owen Daniels.

Torrey would have made a difference .Thats why we need Perriman.Pronto.

 

Joe has an old Steve Smith and zero weapons after that right now. Really not good.

Edited September 14, 2015 by jimmypowder

[The Mom Gene]

1. Lol, Broncos D looks sharp right now.

2. Our defense hasn't been clutch on many occasions for the best 4 years.

Really?  What does that mean, "on many occasions"... We pressured and beat him all day yesterday.  7 sacks yesterday....

Manning wouldn't answer questions last night with regard to his performance...  We shut him down.  He threw "0" touchdowns.... 

[jimmypowder]

Anyone else think Anquan would have come down with that Gilmore pass? 

[The Mom Gene]

Torrey would have made a difference .Thats why we need Perriman.Pronto.

 

Joe has an old Steve Smith and zero weapons after that right now. Really not good.

 

I'm not sure about that.....  If you watch the game again, you'll notice one thing... Flacco had "0" time.  None.  So even as fast as those guys are???  He didn't have time to wait for them to get downfield.  That pocket was collapsing so quick last night.  Half of his throws he had to follow-through at all...  Because he couldn't bring his arm down, because he was surrounded by players.