[News] Eisenberg: Balance Is The Key To Winning More Games

[BR News]

Joe Flacco has to make defenses pay for stacking the box to stop the run.

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[ciro]

11th offense in the league. i want to hear about beginning and ending games with a tough defense.

[The Greek]

need the receivers and te's to get open more quickly if flacco is to make defenses pay for stacking the box. flacco cannot miss on those wide open deep passes as much as he has this season.

[Militant X 1]

Been hearing this stuff for years. Same ole', same ole'.

[Jim from Ellicott City]

Balance is not wanting to run and pass equally but rather, being able to run and pass the ball. I personally hates these articles. They are written like it's just a matter of choice.

[omar586]

i would put 3 WRs set or 2 TEs 2 WRs all game long, dare dem 2 put 8 n box.

[Fastynart]

While I agree with the assessment (something pretty rare for me), that still doesn't address why in the heck the Ravens are not using the tight ends more as solutions. The columnist says nothing about them. Just unbelievable. They all can catch and move the chains. Instead we see dump off passes, behind the line of scrimmage, to the backs. A quick hit to the tight ends would be much more effective.

[NCMan]

Good QB's and OC's make teams pay for stacking the box and/or blitzing. We have neither, so.....

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Ultimately the best way to win is to inflict your will on the opposing team on both sides of the ball for 60 min and all that starts with the lines. If the o-line blocks well and gives Joe time to scan the field and find the right guy and opens lanes for Forsett and Allen to run threw then the offense can hang with anyone. Same on the defense if the d-line gets pressure on the QB and makes him uncomfortable that takes pressure off the LB's and DB's and helps them do their job and make plays. It is nice to run a balanced attack and keep the defense honest.

[omar586]

when ever we run less than we pass we struggle or lose game.

[Queen City Savior]

Terrance West has been cut by the Titans. I know this is his second cut of the year. That being said the Ravens could use some depth at the RB position and use the rest of the year to see if he might be worth keeping around. Who knows, it could be the opportunity the local kid needs.

[Crusader]

Last year at the bye Ravens were 6-4. Marc is not the answer as OC but we'll have another year of losing season before they figuure that out.

[Crusader]

Thats easy BETTER COACHING!

[Purple Dawg 96]

This bye week came at the rite time! I hope Joe invite all the WRs out to dinner over to the house and BOND! The Ravens will finish 2nd in the Division because they have not been blown out in all those games, they were close and it's the year of the TE so we got three "Prize Bulls" I call them and the Ravens can use them in the redzone like the pats and bungles are doing! Defense is fighting and I appreciate their efforts even Pees they just shakin off the rust and missing some important parts but they will be fine its just time for the Offense to STOP DEPENDING on the Defense and put these teams away! LETS GO!

[RavensBaltimore]

Good QB's and OC's make teams pay for stacking the box and/or blitzing. We have neither, so.....

We just did on Sunday. Our offense is ranked 10th in the league despite the complete lack of dangerous weapons. When has a qb/oc ever done any better with an undrafted PS castoff as their #1 receiver? In today's pass happy, high scoring league, when you have a top 10 offense with this receiving corps, somebody must be performing at an extremely high level.

[RavensBaltimore]

Anyone who "lambasted" the play calling Sunday is clueless. The offense did exactly what they should have done. They took advantage of single coverage, consistently moved the ball and put points on the board with the passing game, and in the 4th qtr, the Chargers wore down and loosened up a little, and then we hit them with some big runs. Anyone who disagrees with that approach doesn't understand football. You don't just force more runs just to get the ratio to even out.

In fact, even going back to last year, in every single one of our games where we scored more than the season average, we were extremely pass heavy until we had a comfortable lead. At the end of those games, we ran it a lot to control the clock, which gives the ILLUSION of balance. But make no mistake, when the Ravens are consistently moving the ball and putting up points, they are pretty much never balanced.

[ravensrock007]

Remeber when we were one of the leaders in the league on number of passes thrown beyond 20 yards?

[ravensrock007]

I thought Antone Smith would have been a good fit here. I smell a resurgence in second half of season. Go Ravens!

[Flamengo1265]

Not a single mention of using the TE's more.

[Jim Giampaoli]

We may not make it to the playoffs, but if we do it would be in the category of the US hockey team beating Russia for the gold a few years back. We're going to have to defeat a few very good teams. This season could be special. No matter what, the Ravens will play their hearts out.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Jim Giampaoli

[FloridalovesRavens]

Its funny that the stuff some fans hear year after year has gotten us to the playoffs many of those years. Look people this season is a combination of many things. Injuries, new OC (again) and players who usually do not start (because of injuries). So this season has been trying to say the least. These Ravens will continue to fight and win or lose you must admire their grit. Go Ravens.

[Raven_Don]

As much as you try to put the burden on the offense.. its not their fault... there are only to games where the offense failed to put up 20 points... against the Broncos and Cards... every other time we have scored enough points to win... other than the Broncos and Cards... the defense has let us down... so forget about the balance argument.. and concentrate more on the defense ability to get off the field on third down... we are near 50% conversion rate... I am tired of seeing DB's play 10 yds of on 3 and 5... and giving up underneath routes and missing tackles... the things we aren't use to seeing... so until we learn to fix that I don't care who we have on the other side of the ball... it doesn't matter until we sure up the D

[ellicottraven]

I think we've won games where there were no turnovers at crucial times. When you give the ball away when you're driving to win the game or equalize it, where is the question of balance? Don't give the ball up and take balls away from the opposition you win. Simple.

[Crusader]

We will see how good your so called offense plays now with out their crutch SSS but I bet we hear more excuses than answers. This second part of the season is all about coaching cause these are the guys Ravens picked and made the team so let's see what you can do with them.

[Zeus]

Does Harbs still believe we can win out? Haaaaa that's funny

[law215]

I wonder when it's going to sink in that the Ravens are not as talented as in the past. The most of the good players on the roster are over 31 yrs old. Ravens need to run the ball to keep the opposing offense off the field since the defense can't stop anybody. Hopefully Perriman gets in to see what he can do. I like the speed Givens bring to the table so give him more opportunities. Hopefully Ravens land in the top 10 of the draft so the team can bring in young talent on both sides of the ball.

[20306cab]

I wish occasionally Joe would just pull the ball down and take off. Even if he only gets a yard or two, gets out of bounds or goes down before he gets hit, it helps to keep the defense honest. Also, could help eliminate any errant throws. Live to play another down.

[CQ1]

We are 2-6. Balance?.....perhaps at 4-4, and or in a 'perfect world'. It does not take

a rocket science to see the main issues, however, we could scrutinize every aspect of the team if we want to achieve "balance". If we want to, we can even figure out the balance of great drafting the last few years vs the many years prior...yeah, right. I might even say that our receivers may be a lot better than how they are perceived if Flacco would run a handful of times- either when to evade a massive rush or when they give him half the field. Why?, you might say. The secondary will be apt to watch the QB and back off the receivers (a bit)when knowing he MAY run- BUT....this rarely ever happens. Most other QBS do it. Most all of the QBS that we have lost to, to date have successfully ran to where it has helped them enormously. Enough of beating a dead horse, there. Whatever, is perceived as "balance" I sure hope we find it. We are 2-6.

[CQ1]

@2036cab: GREAT TIMING. I did not read your post until after I had posted mine. Here here.....or great caw !!!!

[BmoreB]

We may not make it to the playoffs, but if we do it would be in the category of the US hockey team beating Russia for the gold a few years back. We're going to have to defeat a few very good teams. This season could be special. No matter what, the Ravens will play their hearts out.

 

We actually beat Finland for the gold medal, but I get what you're saying. Also, 35 years is a bit more than "a few years back"... lol