[News] The Breakdown: Eisenberg's Five Thoughts vs. 49ers

[krark3]

I wonder how much money Biscotti keeps losing, as fans continue to not buy merchandise, and get more and more disgusted with the defense losing games. Folks are dumping tickets left and right, everybody wants Pees gone, but it looks like Harbaugh is the only one wanting him around. The players are clearly not responding to him,he puts himself up on the pedestal,like its all the players fault, not his. Smh

The NFL has a revenue sharing policy in place. According to some sources I read it was like $7.2 billion split between all 32 teams last year, which ends up being over $200 mil per team. That number covers most of the operating costs, plus Bisciotti, like most owners is already rich. So I don't think money is a motivator here, but winning is. If we keep losing I got to believe changes will be made by the end of the season if not before. I mean look at the Dolphins cutting ties with their head coach. I'm not saying we should follow suit, but I agree changes need to be made. 

[MTRavensFan]

That final holding penalty on Jimmy was pretty questionable. You are allowed to have your hands on the receiver inside of 5 yards, and that receiver was running a drag route well inside 5.

It looked inside 5 yards to me as well. Terrible call.

 

Also the NFL needs to set standards for the fields these teams play on. A bad knee injury for Kendrick Lewis and a chunk of turf giving way on Tucker's kick. With the rash of knee injuries across the league the past few years, they should set some sort of standard for player safety.

This.

The turf snagged one of their players as well, Carlos Hyde got his foot caught and just went down, lucky for him he was only out a play or two. As someone else said, this is the field they want for the SB?

[metalraven]

One thought. 1) This team SUCKS from top to bottom.

[Fikenhild]

We've been in every game, but for some reason we're just not coming through like we used to. Every week it's something different. Losing Suggs for the season early along with his leadership on the field, it was clear with his and other injuries that the team would have to suck it up and do the old "next man up" to perfection, but that's not happening. I don't hear the commentators talking about Ozzie's genius to spot talent any more, either. Has the game passed him by, or can the Ravens turn it around and get out of this funk they're in? The next two or three games will tell.

[bioLarzen]

As I'm quite sure almost all of the others have already mentioned all the negatives in detail and at length, let's try to balance the scales a bit, and concentrate on the positives - because there are always positives.

 

1.) One step closer to a great draft position

Call me a non-fan, but since the season (meaning the playoff chances) has been over for the Ravens (just about at falling to 0-3), there were two things to really root for: no major injuries and the best possible draft position. For me a 7-9 season is not really different from a 4-12 season: neither brings the team to the playoffs. But a 4-12 season means a much better draft position, which is always a good thing - especially for us now, when I think there's gonna be some major overhaul at some positions. We will need at least 4-5 new key players, and it's impossible to get them all through free agency, so we'll IMHO definitely need one or two immediuate impact rookies - and those are considerably easier to find when you pick early. At 0-3 I was hoping for a near-top 10 draft position, now I'm definitely starting to hope for a top 10 pick. That would be huge and would help Ozziwe turn something short-term negative into something long-term positive.

 

2.) Now we have some kind of a return game.

Not nearly as good as with Jacoby, and not much better than in the David Reed era, but a definite upgrade over what ve'we seen the first three weeks.

 

3.) Forsett is starting to prove he wasn't a one-year wonder.

He's not gonna be as good as he was last season, but - provided he"ll go on like he has been the pas caouple of weeks - he seems to be doing a good enough job to be trusted - and that's great, because what we need the least is another position with urgent facelift needs... Luckily, RB doesn't seem to be one. And talking about RB's...

 

4.) I was wrong about Buck Allen in the pre-season: he's much better than I anticipated based on those pre-season games.

I did see precious little of him in terms of positive signs throughout the pre-season - and didnt hear muchj of him in camp reports either... Tha fact that we kept Magee on the roster at the start of the season also seemed to indicate Allen might not yet be ready. Well, so far he's one of the definite bright spots of the season.

 

5.) Steve Smith

Nuff said.

 

Bonus find: At least now we have trick plays.

Not a lot, but at least some... The two trick plays against the Browns and now the flea-flicker. Before the Browns game, the last Ravens trick play I remember was the fake FG in the Super Bweol, in the 2012 season. Trick plays can not only be of high entertainment value, but also huge momentum creators. I'm looking forward to the trend to continue, and see one or two more in the season.

 

See what I did there? Found not five, but six positives for y'all.

Edited October 19, 2015 by bioLarzen

[rmcjacket23]

I wonder how much money Biscotti keeps losing, as fans continue to not buy merchandise, and get more and more disgusted with the defense losing games. Folks are dumping tickets left and right, everybody wants Pees gone, but it looks like Harbaugh is the only one wanting him around. The players are clearly not responding to him,he puts himself up on the pedestal,like its all the players fault, not his. Smh

Revenue is up, not down. The fans that are dumping tickets on SECONDARY markets already bought those tickets from the team, so the team already has that revenue. 

[RavenSB13]

I'm usually right on how I predict our year is gonna be but this year I was extremely wrong. This is a terrible year. I doubt we are going to beat the Cardinals next Monday.

[Bruce_Almty]

Wow, as bad as the Ravens are playing right now, they still will not be picking in the top 10 come April. There are far too many teams that will have a worse record than we at the end of December.

[rmcjacket23]

Wow, as bad as the Ravens are playing right now, they still will not be picking in the top 10 come April. There are far too many teams that will have a worse record than we at the end of December.

I'd be stunned if we finished outside the top 10. Realistically, 7 wins is probably our ceiling, and its probably going to be more like 5 or 6.

[EliteRavens]

Harbs is not going anywhere people, Dean Pees on the other hand...

[Ravens_Flock]

Flacco is a bum, Harbs continues to prove that the ONE thing he actually controls during games, time management, he's absolutely terrible at. And Yeah, Boldin and Torrey did get the last laugh....they showed us that we actually had a good WR tandem when they were around, and proved that it was actually players like them, that made Joe look even halfway decent. Now that they're both gone? Steve Smith Sr. ain't enough to hide just how exposed Joe is without his old security blankets. An "elite" QB would succeed with and find a way to elevate the offensive talent we've got right now. Joe cannot. That is the defining difference, and why he has never been "elite". He had one great run in the 2012 playoffs. And that's pretty much it.

[Ravens_Flock]

You want to see a team with no fire and no passion? Then see a team completely devoid of all past Ravens greats (see: Suggs, Ngata, Ray, Ed, etc.), and see a team led by Coach Harbaugh and his coaching buddies, and the vanilla QB of his dreams. That final drive is a perfect example of a team led by the walking dead.

[Purple Dawg 96]

Can't blame Harbs,Pees blocking and the WRs for those INTs! Let Matt start! Joe is DONE!

[manofsteel]

Ahhh, Jimmi Smith, this man has to GO! Just like Babin! Cost us a big time penalty that we could have taken down the lane and in for a touchdown. Unbelieveable. There you go for all of you J Smith lovers! Still could not keep up with his opponent. Well the other side and whole defensive backfield is UGLYYYYYY!!!

[manofsteel]

Don't they, or they should spend a whole day on how to tackle players...... Low not high or with body blocks. Even the Pee wee league teaches that! Is it also true that the players can only practice with pads only every other day? Who came up with that stupid rule?

[PurpleRainBlackVeins]

My 5 thoughts 1. How many of us are tired of the same old after game press speech? It's getting quite old. 2. Maybe it's time for a new regime cause something is clearly off in this locker room. 3. We are now the laughing stock of the NFL. 4. Stop with the trades, apparently it's the scheme....duh! 5. Let me know when fans can try out...I'm sure I can attempt to be a shut down corner or a wideout

[BigUgly]

This train wreck has been building for years. Ravens would've had to have had nearly no injuries (and maybe a different D coordinator) to have a shot at the playoffs this year. That is unrealistic. They are feeling the effects of several horrible drafts prior to 2014 (now is the time when vets from those classes should be making an impact). They are old and slow at all the wrong positions, and are saddled with nearly $22M in dead money so they couldn't make a splash in free agency. Also paying salaries for guys like Pitta, Ngata, Jacoby, John Simon, and Gino Gradkowski who either aren't suiting up or are actually helping other teams. Ozzie needs to get his player personnel house in order, and Harbs needs to take a very hard look at his coaching staff.

[Ravenboss]

I know everyone wants to blame the defense and I agree. But why is it when you play the worst defense in the league followed by the next to last defense in the league you can't score points in the first half. The ravens offense plays with NOT ONE IOTA sense of urgency in the first half (and maybe 3 quarters) until they kind of wake up and start to look desperate in the 4th quarter. You know...I remember JOHN HARBAUGH saying a couple years ago that it's not Gary Kubiak's offense..it's the RAVENS OFFENSE and he repeated it this year with Trestman. Well let me say this.. That would tell me that it's JOHN HARBAUGHS offensive thinking on how the offense should operate. Our offense has been this way since Harbaugh arrived. Well Mr. Bisciotti, it's about time you strip JH from the offense and maybe let it be the OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS OFFENSE because the RAVENS OFFENSE absolutely stinks. Against Cleveland the week before you had them down 14-3 and the offense died for a quarter and a half letting the Browns back in the game. I feel like there's no killer instinct about putting a team away when you have them down. No.... we let them hang around and they get the feeling like they have a chance. When the other team is down...step on their throats and KEEP THEM DOWN! But we have a coach that talks a good game about "OUR GUYS ARE TOUGH". Well we need a TOUGH COACH!!!

[January J]

Well it's official- the Ravens just aren't that good. They always try to give one little push when it's too late just to get your hopes up , only to come up short. This was the last game I was giving them to " turn things around" .. And it was the same old story. Here are my thoughts.

1) this team cannot tackle, cannot cover, and cannot catch. The 3 basic fundamentals of football. I knew the Ravens were going to lose on the very first play of the game. All teams have to do is run to one side of the feild and then cut back and reverse directions and this defense is so slow and stupid they get fooled every time. They cannot contain. Give them one little juke and they fall down. When you get burnt by a fullback you know something is wrong.

2) sharice WRONG. One teams trash is another teams ....trash . We continue to think we can patch up weaknesses with little band aids. Obviously you get what you pay for. I just knew Torrey was gonna burn us atleast once. It was inevitable. Nothing more to say here, just made another sub par qb look like a pro bowler. It's pretty embarrassing. We had a potential 3 interceptions if our guys could actually catch. Too bad they can't.

3) once again, harbaugh displays horrible clock management , and horrible timeout management . Why in the world he challenged that boldin catch il never know , whether it was the ppl upstairs who told him to or not- it's no excuse. You have the power to veto as the coach. Another blown timeout in a close game that could have potentially given us an extra 3 or 4 plays on that last drive. Makes no sense to me how these ppl get paid millions of dollars to make decisions like this and fail to execute on the feild. I love harbaugh to death but his clock, challenge, and timeout management has always frustrated the hell out of me.

4) flaccos not innocent here. Although he had two (actually 3)potential tds dropped early on that could have changed the whole dynamic of the game, once again throws an interception where it's like he doesn't even see the defender. Then he throws another of his back foot that killed the first drive of the second half. He usually doesn't make poor decisions like that but this year you can tell he's just trying to force things bc nobody's open! And every single time we run a play action he has a defender right In his face. I just don't understand bc once the game is almost over and were in a hole all of a sudden our offense just opens up and starts humming!? Where was that play calling earlier in the game? How bout we play with a sense of urgency and be aggressive the entire game. We're 1-5 for christs sake.

Sadly were done, this was the last opportunity for us to get it together. After the Michigan v Michigan st. Ending last night it was clear this is just not the harbaughs year. Then Pittsburgh beats Arizona with a third string qb! Cincis still undefeated and Cleveland damn near took out Denver in overtime. It's just not in the cards this year. You could point out a million different reasons, but it doesn't even matter, the point is were just not a good football team. Doesn't matter what the wildcard picture looks like if you just can't win games. Rant over.

Edited October 19, 2015 by January J

[whobilly]

With the first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, The Baltimore Ravens select.......

[whobilly]

Bad secondary, horrible decisions by Joe, brutal clock management as we burn a time out right at the start of the second half them waste another one with an awful challenge.

The Ravens need to fill so many holes I'm not sure how long it will take. We have Practice Squad WR's, and to many guys playing with zero urgency.

[TheRavengers]

Spreading the ball around, Steve Smith scoring, 300 passing yards and notching 3 sacks were the only good things that happened this game. Other than that.....sigh.....

[DBsRAVENS]

You want to see a team with no fire and no passion? Then see a team completely devoid of all past Ravens greats (see: Suggs, Ngata, Ray, Ed, etc.), and see a team led by Coach Harbaugh and his coaching buddies, and the vanilla QB of his dreams. That final drive is a perfect example of a team led by the walking dead.

 

I made a similar quote 2 weeks ago about the Ravens without former standout players are being led by Harbaugh's friends, family, and Jr. Varsity coaches. If the leadership does not come from players then it must be instilled by the coaching staff. That's not going to happen with some of the coaches we have. Prime example: We have a former PUNTER as the CORNER BACKS coach. Enough said about Harbaugh's selection of coaches!

[whobilly]

How bad is next Monday going to be? ESPN already knows that by the middle of the second quarter the majority of the viewing audience will be tuned into Monday Night Raw.

[bioLarzen]

With the first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, The Baltimore Ravens select.......

 

Dunno whether you've wrote that out of frustration, but, in fact, at this point that would be the best for the team's future. Being the worst team in the NFL for one season isn't a catastrophe, and it's a great opportunity to grab some quality young players you don't have a chance getting when you constantly pick late.

 

I'm not rooting for the guys to lose every game, of course - it's jut that I'm not gonna think its the end of the world if they end up being the worst team this season (which I don't think is gonna happen, BTW)

Edited October 19, 2015 by bioLarzen

[DBsRAVENS]

I know everyone wants to blame the defense and I agree. But why is it when you play the worst defense in the league followed by the next to last defense in the league you can't score points in the first half. The ravens offense plays with NOT ONE IOTA sense of urgency in the first half (and maybe 3 quarters) until they kind of wake up and start to look desperate in the 4th quarter. You know...I remember JOHN HARBAUGH saying a couple years ago that it's not Gary Kubiak's offense..it's the RAVENS OFFENSE and he repeated it this year with Trestman. Well let me say this.. That would tell me that it's JOHN HARBAUGHS offensive thinking on how the offense should operate. Our offense has been this way since Harbaugh arrived. Well Mr. Bisciotti, it's about time you strip JH from the offense and maybe let it be the OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS OFFENSE because the RAVENS OFFENSE absolutely stinks. Against Cleveland the week before you had them down 14-3 and the offense died for a quarter and a half letting the Browns back in the game. I feel like there's no killer instinct about putting a team away when you have them down. No.... we let them hang around and they get the feeling like they have a chance. When the other team is down...step on their throats and KEEP THEM DOWN! But we have a coach that talks a good game about "OUR GUYS ARE TOUGH". Well we need a TOUGH COACH!!!

Finally somebody get's it. Football teams more so than any other sport are a reflection of their coach. John Harbaugh came into a great situation when he was first hired and all he and his JV coaching staff (at most positions) had to do was show up. Well now the Ravens are lacking great players and they need to identify with their coach only the coach has no identity. The Ravens were done when the article came out last week that said there's been no change in Harbaugh's attitude sine the loosing began. Enough said! If the Head Coach is not mad/pissed off with what he is witnessing during the games, then what improvement can we expect from the players. 

 

"Find a way to win" is the worst statement a coach or player can make. You don't find ways to win, you go out on the field and make plays to win!

Edited October 19, 2015 by DBsRAVENS

[TheRavengers]

Speaking of urgency, raise your hand if you screamed at the TV when the offense was just barely jogging to the line of scrimmage on the final drive with TIME WINDING DOWN.

[RavensAllDay1987]

Zeus

Yesterday, 11:14 PM

Ozzy, how did it feel to see the weapons you traded away kick our butts.

OZZIE

[MissRay27]

Jeremy Ross has been a bright spot. Good to have Mr. Gillmore back. Williams and Guy had a good game.

[whobilly]

@ravensallday1987....Understand your frustration, however, the Ravens did offer TS a fair contract and he opted for a few more million and signed with SF. In todays NFL you cant pay good receivers great receiver money. Torrey is a good receiver on some days and invisible on others. He had a whopping 11 catches the first five games. That's Marlon Brown numbers. I hated to see Boldin go but the Ravens would not have been able to pay him the 6.5 million he's making with the Niners. That's cap space life in the NFL.