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

[BR News]

Cardinals loss a microcosm of season. Offense not good enough. 2015 ills continue to plague Ravens.

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[reed20fence]

Many fans here have said it and I've said it, and I'm hoping now that it was re-affirmed over and over by the national commentators on a national broadcast more and more of us get comfortable admitting the God's-honest reality of the situation.

1. When massive chunks of your salary cap (your playmakers) are either on IR (Suggs 4mm 2.8% , Pitta 6.2mm 4.4%) or are chronically injured and missing games (Canty 1.7mm 1.25%, Webby 9.2mm 6.6%, Perriman 1.58mm 1.15%) it's hard to compete.

2. Then you add in those three massive chunks of dead money we're suffering because of Rice 9.5mm 6.8% (really it should be 12mm cuz it costs us 3mm in Forsett to replace Rice) and the unavoidable parting with Ngata 7.5mm 5.35% and Jacoby 2.6mm 1.9%, and you've got another hand tied behind your back.

That's more than 30% of our cap that won't suit up for us this year or struggles to suit up consistently for us this year. That's before you dive into the strategic importance of those guys in our gameplans on either side of the ball. Go ahead and take away 30% of any other team's salary cap and see how they perform.

3. Then you add to that the phenomenon that we went literally 3 years ago from being one of the oldest rosters in the league to one of the youngest now, and it's another incredible challenge for teams to overcome immediately. As Gruden pointed out, we have the youngest TE corp in the entire league and a starting WR corps consisting of career journeyman Aiken and an undrafted player in Marlon. Credit Joe Flacco for keeping us relevant.

Any one of those things in isolation would be sufficient as an explanation (dare I say 'excuse') to explain why a team isn't winning.

But consider that we, unlike any other team in the league, are cursed with all 3 of those things simultaneously. And yet these coaches (yes, Dean Pees included) keep trying to make the best with what they have and compete game in and game out in close contests.

Not a single coach or player on this team will state these things during the season. Self-pity is not in the Raven organization's DNA.

It's our job as fans to be fair and honest though. In 2015 we were dealt a crappy hand and we're trying to make the best of it we can.

This may be the best 1-6 team in NFL history.

Edited October 27, 2015 by reed20fence

[Asmodeus71]

Many fans here have said it and I've said it, and I'm hoping now that it was re-affirmed over and over by the national commentators on a national broadcast more and more of us get comfortable admitting the God's-honest reality of the situation.

1. When massive chunks of your salary cap (your playmakers) are either on IR (Suggs 4mm 2.8% , Pitta 6.2mm 4.4%) or are chronically injured and missing games (Canty 1.7mm 1.25%, Webby 9.2mm 6.6%, Perriman 1.58mm 1.15%) it's hard to compete.

2. Then you add in those three massive chunks of dead money we're suffering because of Rice 9.5mm 6.8% (really it should be 12mm cuz it costs us 3mm in Forsett to replace Rice) and the unavoidable parting with Ngata 7.5mm 5.35% and Jacoby 2.6mm 1.9%, and you've got another hand tied behind your back.

That's more than 30% of our cap that won't suit up for us this year or struggles to suit up consistently for us this year. That's before you dive into the strategic importance of those guys in our gameplans on either side of the ball. Go ahead and take away 30% of any other team's salary cap and see how they perform.

3. Then you add to that the phenomenon that we went literally 3 years ago from being one of the oldest rosters in the league to one of the youngest now, and it's another incredible challenge for teams to overcome immediately. As Gruden pointed out, we have the youngest TE corp in the entire league and a starting WR corps consisting of career journeyman Aiken and an undrafted player in Marlon. Credit Joe Flacco for keeping us relevant.

Any one of those things in isolation would be sufficient as an explanation (dare I say 'excuse') to explain why a team isn't winning.

But consider that we, unlike any other team in the league, are cursed with all 3 of those things simultaneously. And yet these coaches (yes, Dean Pees included) keep trying to make the best with what they have and compete game in and game out in close contests.

Not a single coach or player on this team will state these things during the season. Self-pity is not in the Raven organization's DNA.

It's our job as fans to be fair and honest though. In 2015 we were dealt a crappy hand and we're trying to make the best of it we can.

This may be the best 1-6 team in NFL history.

Not sure why anyone would down this comment. It just points out what too many seem to miss; the Ravens are good team play in a bad spot from somethings they can control but many they can't. I understand their hope with some of the often injured, Webb when he was physically able was a great all around DB. He wasn't incredible at coverage but he was good enough at any aspect of the position that he was able to be used in unpredictable ways that lead to big defensive plays. Sadly from that last knee injury on it has almost all been bad. Monroe, sadly I think we just thought we had more than we truly had and now he is always getting hurt. Sad thing for me is my family relocated to Washington state because my wife is in the military; to watch the Ravens on TV I paid over $200 for DirectTV's online streaming service just to get my heart broke every week.

[poedacrow]

1-6 is not the ideal start to the season but I'm willing to bet those undefeated teams in the league would rather face someone else. We are a good football team; I still believe that. I was impressed by the play of our rookies, Crockett, Buck Allen and Boyle and they all look like something you can build a winning franchise around. We will get this ship righted and, if ever there was a crucible of fire to be forged in, these first seven games are it. No where to look but up. GO RAVENS!

[GangofRavens]

IDK there are a lot of reasons, I guess, as to why we are losing. Dead Money, Journeyman WRs, whatever the heck that means, and injuries. Blah, Blah, Blah. No one cautioned against dead money or journeyman when we were being picked as Super Bowl contenders!? Now all these things are major excuses, I'm sorry, reasons as to why we suck. Here are my reasons...1) we are just bad...period; 2) our Def front four can't put pressure on the QB; 2) our cornerbacks can't make a play on the ball (notice how our cornerbacks were face guarding or frozen by the double move? I didn't see that with the Arizona cornerbacks); 3) we can't beat the blitz...I mean the blitz has become the go to defensive call when you really need to stop the Ravens' passing attack; 4) finally, poor conditioning...these guys can't stay on the field. I'll continue to watch my team with the hope they can win A game.

[GangofRavens]

LOL, I love it.  Flacco threw an interception that ...."wasn't his fault."  Jump ball Joe strikes again.

Edited October 27, 2015 by GangofRavens

[mc_red23]

LOL, I love it.  Flacco threw an interception that ...."wasn't his fault."  Jump ball Joe strikes again.

You like the jump ball he threw to Gillmore to set up 1st and goal shortly before? I get that it wasn't the greatest throw but the pressure coming at him was unreal. If he didn't throw something that would also give his receivers even the slightest chance of catching the ball then he'd have been sacked and we'd have lost anyway.

[alwaysraven]

Yes John I know we will win again, if not this year then in the next. No "hay in the barn" for the horses this year so they are starving just like we are.

[GangofRavens]

You like the jump ball he threw to Gillmore to set up 1st and goal shortly before? I get that it wasn't the greatest throw but the pressure coming at him was unreal. If he didn't throw something that would also give his receivers even the slightest chance of catching the ball then he'd have been sacked and we'd have lost anyway.

If he had time to throw, he had time to throw it away.  It was 13 seconds left on the clock, enough time to run two plays.  Instead he threw his signature "heave and pray" pass.  To answer your question, no, I do not like his jump ball antics successful or other wise.  The successful ones, of which there are not many, just reinforce bad behavior.

[FloridalovesRavens]

May not be best team in history with this record but these close call finishes are heart breaking. Can only imagine how these players and coaches feel. Thank goodness we have some home games coming up. Hang in there Ravens I am.

[cobrajet]

You like the jump ball he threw to Gillmore to set up 1st and goal shortly before? I get that it wasn't the greatest throw but the pressure coming at him was unreal. If he didn't throw something that would also give his receivers even the slightest chance of catching the ball then he'd have been sacked and we'd have lost anyway.

In that particular situation, he would have been better to heave it through the back of the endzone. We still had another down and a little time still left.

[cobrajet]

1-6 is not the ideal start to the season but I'm willing to bet those undefeated teams in the league would rather face someone else. We are a good football team; I still believe that. I was impressed by the play of our rookies, Crockett, Buck Allen and Boyle and they all look like something you can build a winning franchise around. We will get this ship righted and, if ever there was a crucible of fire to be forged in, these first seven games are it. No where to look but up. GO RAVENS!

I like the fact that these young guys keep getting better and we know they are going to be a part of our future.

[EliteRavens]

Its easy to say what Flacco should have done after the play. I thought Joe played a great game

[chuchu707]

I wish I could curse on this post

1. Why the hell do we keep using Marlon brown? Cut him

2. Givens and Ross should've been out there every snap with smith to stretch the field!

3. Why the hell do we keep doing the same predictable plays over and over? Same runs back to back?

4. I'm pissed off because we could've literally won every game we lost

[Zeus]

Same thing each and every weekend

[regz1997]

I don't know if you guys noticed this last night, but I only saw us line up our corners in press coverage about 3 times, and every time we did, Palmer had nobody open and the pass rush had time to get to him and he threw it away all 3 times. Idk, I'm no expert but I really enjoy watching our corners play press coverage, and I think it really helps improve the secondary. Jimmy Smith is a natural press cover corner, and Webby is better in press than he is in zone. I honestly think it's something that would improve our defense. No more 10 yards off the line on first down.

[PalmBayRaven]

We are 0-2 at home this year. Again the Offense dies with their 3 and outs. Sick of it. Stranger than fiction. You can not makes this stuff up. Just so sad that a once mighty organization has fallen to ridicule. Stop with excuses. Fire somebody! Billick lost his job with a better team than we have now.

[bioLarzen]

Hmmm... the complete receiving group, almost the complete secondary and the pass rush department has to be rebuilt virtually from scratch - and that may even include the coaching staff. The high draft position we are driftin towards with ever growing momentum may help greatly - but it's still a close-to-impossible feat to accomplish in a single off-season... I just hope the FO can at least fix one or two of these areas, and not partly fix all of them. A good receiving corps and a bad secondary (or vica versa) is still better than a somewhat-upgraded WR group plus a somewhat-upgraded secondary IMHO...

 

Oh, and I would definitely hold any judgment on Trestman. I can see he's trying to spice things up and be creative - but when your lego-set comprises two or three white cubes, there's not an awful lot you can make of them, even if you're the best architect in the world...

Edited October 27, 2015 by bioLarzen

[Flamengo1265]

This is really a 0-7 team disguised as a 1-6 team thanks to Michael Vick. In 10 weeks they'll be saying "The Baltimore Ravens are on the clock"

[baru643]

Another heartbreaking loss last night to the Cards, just didn't make enough big plays on offense or stops on defense.  We also shot ourselves in the foot with the fumbled punt in the 2nd quarter and too many stupid penalties.  

 

I will concede that I am somewhat spoiled because we have been a perennial playoff team, so a 1-6 record is unfathomable and stings at this point, but I can also understand that we are not immune to having a off year.  I hope that we keep progressing and have a game plan to right the ship to go into next year with some momentum, the thing that really bothers me is that this team doesn't have any heart (expect SSS) and shows no unity.  We really need to have someone step up and be a leader in the locker room and field, for both the offense and defense.  Go Ravens!!!!  

[thecommish]

5 thoughts.... 1. We gave up nearly our season average of 27.5 points per game. Hard to win any game when you expect to give up nearly 30 points every game. 4 TDS per game is the average! 2. We cant tackle. I never thought I would say that about a RAvens D but we simply cannot tackle. We missed at least a dozen tackles in the game and that was probably the difference in the game. 3. Where was ZDarius Smith? He is probably our best young pass rusher with as many sacks as anyone on this team and I dont recall seeing him?????? We need to find ways to generate more of a pass rush. We are living in a passing league and any QB in this league will pick us apart when they have all day. All the teams we play seem to get this and the keep joe under pressure but we dont seem to get it- and we give QB after QB all day and they all look like probowlers vs us 4. Are the injures a result of us being that unlucky again or is this trend suggesting something bigger? Are we not properly physically prepared????????? 5. It says offense just not good enough? It wasnt so long ago that 18 points would have been plenty... in fact that last 4 years before Pees got here...we averaged giving up less then 18 points per game... Our Defense has been so bad for so long that we dont expect them to play well now. Under Pees we have conditioned the fans to expect the offense to need to score 30 points per game to win! That shouldnt have to happen... but that is now our reality. If we dont score at least 28 points per game... the offense isnt good enough? HUH... how about the Defense isnt good enough and hasnt been since Pees got here. Another game that we scored nearly 20 points and the offense just isnt good enough but for the 4 years before Pees good here that would have been more then good enough

[Hardhitters]

Has Harbaugh been traded yet? ? ?

[thecommish]

I keep hearing yes... they are 1-6 but we are close in every game. Whats the difference between a close game? I was always told the basics. Tackling, blocking, not giving away yards, not turning the ball over. We cant tackle, our blocking is very inconsistent,we may be the most penalized team in the NFL and we lost the turn over battle again. We I guess when we cannot do the basics... that is the outcome. We lose close games. Here is a thought however. The parity and talent level in the NFL is a very slim margin. In other words all games are expected to be close.... and until we start doing the basics better... we can expect to consistently lose like we have been... when we correct the basics... maybe some of these close games will go in our favor! SMH

[PurpleRainBlackVeins]

I am soooooo sick of Harbaugh's excuses at the press conference. Who gives a crap about not folding and moral victories?? This team can't win a dag on game to save their lives. Undisciplined, bad coached and not enough talent = 2015 Ravens. We can almost expect a game winning drive by the opponents offense or an interception by our offense in the final 2 minutes of every game. And for these professional players to say it was "hectic" at the end of the game just adds insult to injury.

[griffrb]

We're just simply not good enough with these players and schemes. Our best WR grouping: Smith Sr, Givens, and Ross = speed to stretch the field. WRs Brown and Aiken - they have proven they are not starting WRs. Defense: same old song - coverage and tackling. No way should there have been a 62 yd run if your defensive scheme is pursuit and gang tackling! My, my, my, how we have fallen and can't get up. It will take a few years to return to the top as one of the NFL best teams. Think I'll go play golf on Sundays, weather permitting.

[thecommish]

BIO... i agree... i think that Trestman has done a good job with what he has had to work with. We are scoring points despite the fact that we are lacking talent. We have done enough offensively to give us a chance to win every game.... and there really has been a lack of talent especially at WR... (and having Monroe out more then he has been in)! I like the job that Trestman has done so far and think that next season could be a great one for our offense under Trestman. I cannot say the same thing for our defensive if Pees is here.... regardless of who we bring in!

[PurpleRainBlackVeins]

And as much as I'm trying to ride with Flacco...if this is his idea of rising up then maybe Ozzie needs to re-evaluate our franchise quarterback.

[thecommish]

I keep checking the website and NFL.COM to see if Pees has been fired yet! SMH

[Zeus]

Harbs "we will not fold" then what do you call it?

[Minionhunter]

At least we didn't have to fire our OC and replace him with a drunk burglar named Jim Bob Cooter. That would be funny if it were not true, and sad.