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

[tonyquintino]

That playing not to lose mentality. I can't stand it. If u get a first down on the pervious drive the game over. Do u see any other team with a Franchise QB playing not to lose. And please somebody tell The OC to draw up some plays that goes pass the sticks on 3rd down. Not to mention, calling a play that have more than one option on the two point conversion. A blind man can see all these common sense errors these coordinations are making in situational football. But still #Ravensnation!

[slowboater]

To the people wanting Top 5 draft picks, please elaborate on what good would that do. I truly believe this team is not short on talent. The coaching on the other hand is a debacle of epic proportions. Look no further, injuries every year, bad draft choices, penalties, paying too much money to average players, amateur play calling. After Ray, Ed and Birk departures Harbaugh's record has been below .500. Unfortunately for us, he'll ride the SB train for another year along with his good for nothing assistants before Biscotti decides to can him. I predict no playoff appearances for another 2-3 years if things remain status quo.

Cincinnati built their team by drafting high. Same with Oakland. Cleveland? Many of their players  came via the draft. This is not rocket science. The higher you draft, the better chance at a better player than the rest gets.

 

If you think this team will bounce back next year, I have waterfront property in the Everglades to sell you. This team will be rebuilding for years. You don't fix a secondary, wide receiver corps and depth by one draft. Short on talent? You bet. Draft high!

[ReginaldColeman1]

Joe's numbers not withstanding the offense looked dull. I guess Eugene's return kept Joe off his back while dumping the ball off to receivers with no YAC for the most part. Jimmy made some nice plays. Hargreaves is a lock next year.

[TheRavengers]

Why is our running game so mediocre as of late, my god.

[baru643]

I have to agree with Eisenberg’s article, but here are my Five Thoughts vs. the Jags. 

 

• What happened to the run game, only 14 times for Forsett to get the ball?  Trestman needs to go, let’s get a real OC that isn’t a recently fired HC and one that can produce a balanced game plan.

 

• Our secondary is pathetic, more dropped INTs and letting another team get big pass plays again.  I am hoping we can fix this problem in the draft since we will be on the clock soon.

 

• What’s up with all the penalties?  They are killing us and stalling drives on the offensive side and extending them on the defensive side.  This falls on the HC and staff, this needs to be cleaned up now because we aren’t the Raiders…LOL!

 

• Joe makes too many mistakes in a game that we could have easily won.  I am a Flacco fan and I am grateful that he is a Raven, but he is either pressing too hard or our OC just isn’t putting the team in good plays to be successful.  Probably a combination of both.

 

• The one bright spot is our TEs, they are continuing to improve and I think we will have a dangerous weapon at that position for some time.  I would love to see Pitta return, but I think he should seriously consider retiring and not risk any more injury to his hip. 

 

I am sure that my disappointment and shock to where we are so far this season is shared amongst most Ravens fans, but it is depressing to know that we will not be making the playoffs and probably finishing no better than 5-11.  I still love the Purple & Black and support the Ravens, I just want this nightmare season to be over and pray that Ozzie and company can fix this thing before next season starts.  Go Ravens!

[thecommish]

Five really disappointing thoughts: 1. At Home 2. Two weeks to prepare 3. VS one of the worst teams in the league 4. Can't close them out! 5.Another Loss!

[thecommish]

I dont think Trestman has done a bad job considering and I think that we will see vast improvement in year 2 (and with improved weapons). I think Pees has been horrible since he has got here and that our defense has progressively gotten worse under Pees to the point that no matter who we play... we will not be able to stop them or close them out. I believe that we can go out and get more DB's and we will still make excuses about how they aren't good enough. (Will Hill, Kyle Arrinington, K.Lewis,James Ihedigbo, DStewart, Asa Jackson, tray Walker, RMelvin are all proof of what I am saying). WHill, KArington, and KLewis came here with very high expectations.... and have been inconsistent at best. JIhedigbo, DStewart were brought here and then chased out -saying they werent good enough... Now they are playing at a probowl level with other teams. Asa, Tray Walker were drafted with expectations to be able to contribute a little... and both look like they dont belong in the NFL. RMelvin looked to be ready to take over for Webb in camp and was the bright spot in our DBackfield during our playoff run last season (seems soooo long ago). Now all of a sudden he cant play to the point we let him go???? Who is good enough to play DB in Dean Pees defense? Heck just last season Jimmy was considered one of the top 5 CB's in the NFL...(again seems so long ago)... now he seems to be average at best.... I have said it before and will say it again... We could sign Reevis, Sherman, Clinton Dix and Mark Barron as our DBs and we still wouldnt be able to stop the pass in tis Defense...nobody we bring in will be good enough until Pees is gone ... how much more proof do we need????? Pees gotta go!

[potomacpitbulls]

Bonehead plays aside, this loss squarely falls on the coaching staff. If they would have taken the points instead of going for it on 4th & 4 the ravens win. This team is what it is AAA players playing on a major league team.

[KidNme]

5-11 baru643? That's being pretty optimistic. If we can't beat Jacksonville, who's left on our schedule that we could pull out a win against?

Nope, time to develop the young guys and start filling our 2016 roster. The way to do that is to continue to try to win games. Use this time to make your playbook, a little more complicated. Teach our Offensive guys about defending a pass that you can't get to but the other guy just might. Teach a few of them that "Tackling" entails actually wrapping a man up, not just trying to hit him with your shoulder as he runs by. You might also want to remind the defense that giving up a bunch of first downs in a drive is the same as letting them get over the top of you for a score only, it takes more time off the clock. We're not getting IT's because our guys aren't confident (or talented) enough to jump a route. It's all they can do to keep their man in the same zip code.

Anyway,

No one likes to lose but, it will be nice to pick higher in the draft.

[trevorsteadman]

To those who don't understand why some of us want to draft high. #1: We are not a bad team. Losing every game in a situation we could have won doesn't make us like the Jaguars a couple years back being blown out every game. #2: Higher draft pick means better players/more players. The more chances and higher you draft, the better chance you will hit a good player. #3 we are 3 or 4 good players away from being good again. Losing by one score or less every game means we need more play makers. We need more turnovers on the defensive side of the ball. We need more offensive play makers.. I would rather have a top 5 pick then to be picking at #20 if we were to win out (which seems impossible because they keep saying they will win and the same mistakes happen every week)

[trevorsteadman]

Another thing is our great players are aging. Suggs, Dumervil, D. Smith, and Steve Smith all have two years left at most. When they all leave what position do you see this team if they do not get some play makers to replace them?

[drewskiravens85]

Another game they spent the majority of trying to give it away, and then managed to give it away at the end. Everyone in the stadium including me thought they had finished it off and Jax hadn't gotten the play off in time. If Dumervil would have just taken him down at the torso instead of face mask, we would be 3-6 right now.

[bozo]

I'm done watching the ravens games this year.

[bozo]

this is the saddest group of players I've seen.

[January J]

I'm done watching the ravens games this year.

so you only stick around for the good times huh

[stixfix69]

well, i'm very proud of our defense, all the turnovers by the offense, and they held them to what, 3 points from all the turn-overs....If the Jags had a decent offense we would have been blown away....Season is over, but the youngsters are getting valuable real game experience...This team will never stop fighting, and i will never stop rooting them on win or lose...Hurts, but it will make us better down the road...

[PurpleDoc]

Same ole thing, game after game; this year especially. Nothing done about the ridiculous amount of penalties. When is coaching going to address this problem?

[ravensnj]

the season is over, officially. Time to look at players like Brown to see who should be kept. This is a very big offseason coming up, the Ravens have to make the right moves to turn this around. The OC and DC should be gone, a new philosophy is needed.

 

I agree with the OC, but the DC makes adjustments and keeps us in games. The OC on the other hand makes idiotic decisions to have us lose games. You run the ball and pass to reliable players, the Te's! No more wasted deep shots!

[NCMan]

Another great article, John. I have no comment on the play of the Ravens and the coaching staff. Leave it at that.

[DBsRAVENS]

I think we have to blame this season on none other than ozzie newsome and the rest of the scouts. This is a what have you done for me lately league and their draft picks have been mostly bust and its starting to finally show. Theyve been great in the past at drafting solid players but theyve been terriable the last 4 drafts. No stars at all. Ozzie likes to draft all of these soft spoken players that are probably all afraid to yell in their own homes and wonder why when the team is down in a game theres no fight. Its because we have no one on the team that can rise up get in guys faces and fire guys up. Mosely? jimmy smith? matt elam? all soft spoken guys that wont do it. Upshaw, jah reid, matt elem, waller, tommy streeter, jernigan, terrance brooks, arthur brown, john simon, bernard piecrce, christian thompson all bust. Ozzies bad draft picks are finally starting to blow up in our faces

 

Ozzie didn't draft those type of players in the past which leads me to believe there's a Harbaugh influence somewhere in the past few drafts. Harbaugh wants soft spoken players with no attitudes or fire in their hearts. A football team is a reflection of their head coach. There's no fire in Harbaugh's heart. He's a cry baby type coach just like his brother. The future hall of famers are gone and this is the team Harbaugh chose as his 53 man squad. There are football players and then there are football players who play with an attitude. Football players with an attitude is not the John Harbaugh type. Name one Raven who plays with an attitude? I'll wait...

[jackrogers]

It's just bad karma. The football gods are punishing the Ravens, perhaps for their duplicitous actions revolving around Ray Rice and their handling of players that are abusive. A repentant Rice is still blackballed by the Ravens and the league while Suggs is held in high esteem even after he attacked his ex and child. According to the complaint made available, Williams [sugg's ex].said Suggs threw a soap dispenser at her head, hit her in the chest with his hand, and held a bottle of bleach over her and their 1-year-old son, which spilled on them and caused a rash. Baltimore City District Court Judge Ronald Alan Karasic wrote that a laceration was visible on Williams' chest. The Cowboys are also suffering because of bad karma around Hardy. Hopefully after a period of reflection and redemption the ball will start bouncing the Ravens way again. There is little hope for Jerry Jones. I learned all about karma from Earl Hickey.

[NCMan]

Another thing is our great players are aging. Suggs, Dumervil, D. Smith, and Steve Smith all have two years left at most. When they all leave what position do you see this team if they do not get some play makers to replace them?

Yes. Time for the once great Oz to ride off into the sunset and grab some extra horses, as he will have company. No, it's not all his fault, but he needs to hang it up. 

[ravenwildman]

117 yards in penalties, mainly from the defense, IMHO it's time to make Wink Martindale the DC. This will put in a top notch man and sent the message. Again, my humble opinion. GO RAVENS!

[Dorota]

What really hurt us is the penalties and the turnovers. Those lost us the game. Because, if you factor these out, we played lights out. Kamar Aiken had one big drop, but apart from that came up solid. All our TEs do their job and Juice is probably the highest producing fullback in the NFL. Especially I appreciated the big hits Juice and Maxx delivered. Juice does this every time. It looks like he really really wants to shake the defense up so that they are afraid to tackle. And I really appreciate that.

 

On the other side of the ball, the defense looked good as well. The secondary looks much improved and Webby, who's a guy I like as a person, really upped his game and came up with some nice highlights. Jimmy Smith is still inconsistent, but when he does well he does great. Our LBs had a good game and the hits Will Hill can deliver make me cringe and happy at the same time. From this perspective, all good yesterday.

 

All comes down to:

- protect the ball!

- don't commit bonehead penalties!

Edited November 16, 2015 by Dorota

[DBsRAVENS]

Discipline is not the responsibility of the DC, it's the responsibility of the position coaches. They are the ones that coach and teach proper technique, positioning, etc. Again, when you have a WR coach and a DB coach with NO prior coaching experience, you get these type of results on the field. Bobby Engram - good player, terrible WR coach. Chris Hewitt - not a good player, even worse DB coach.

 

I have been making this exact statement since this sorry season started to unfold. Harbaugh choices of position coaches is terrible. And if you look at the positions and the coaches you'll see why. Defensive line is fine no matter what player we bring in because the D-Line coach knows football. Hiring friends, friends of family and associates of family as coaches has to stop. Steelers can turn anybody into a good receiver because their receiver coach has 30 years of coaching just receivers. Harbaugh in my opinion is a very insecure head coach by the way he chooses his coaching staff.   

[trevorsteadman]

The Ravens need a play maker on both sides of the ball this next offseason and that will be very hard but can be done especially at where we are looking to draft. We need upgrades at both wide receiver and running back on the offensive side of the ball. Steve Smith and Justin Forsett are both aging and we need a young spark to get this offense going. Whether it is via draft or free agency. Once Flacco restructures and the cap gets increased we can probably sign a player like Alshon Jeffery if he were to want to come here. I also believe Reuben Randle will be and Travis Benjamin are a couple other solid receivers that can play a role here.

[LCB22]

Here's a thought. When it's third down and you have 7 yards to go, why are you calling a 4 yard pattern out to the flat that's 3 yards short? TRESTMAN NEEDS TO GO!

[thegooddoc456]

Oh please. One bad year of losing out of eight especially with a high amount of turnover, high amount of injuries and a huge amount of dead money not allowing you to sign anyone. And you do realize that Belichick was a joke of a coach for 5 years in Cleveland. Let's fire one of the best young coaches in the league - that's real smart. The Ravens should have fired Billick in 1999 right? After 3 straight losing seasons? While we are at it, why don't we just cut Flacco and save all that salary cap money. We can draft a QB and sign Alshon Jeffrey. Please. Have a little faith. And loyalty. Every team has a bad year.

That's where you're wrong buddy. The Ravens have been pulling this not showing up for games routine for a few years now under Harbaugh. There were the seasons where they consistently showed no life in the first halves, and then turn it on in the second half, and many people observed this maddening lack of focus. They gradually made a habit  of playing horrible football, and doing just enough to win games. Now, the well-rehearsed method of playing like crap the whole game, then scrambling at the end to pull out the victory is not paying dividends any more. Those ugly wins of years past have now morphed into perfect losses, and justifiably so. Given the lack of effort, it was only a matter of time. I maintain that I could embrace any outcome, win, lose or draw, as long as I see a team that plays with guts and intensity, and leaves it all on the field. What I would not accept is this persistent sleep-walking through games, regardless of the outcome too. I watch the Ravens play, then watch other games, and the glaring difference in intensity and sheer effort is mind-numbing. Even the pioneer Ravens teams under Billick that you referenced, played with great effort despite their glaring personnel deficiencies. They were as scrappy as can be. Besides, every situation is peculiar, pointing out coaches that eventually got it together has no bearing on Harbaugh's ineptitude. I could just as easily point out Coaches that never got it together or whose teams fared better after they were fired. At this point, it's plausible to say we've been hampered by injuries, but even before the injuries till this very moment, no one can honestly say this is a team that shows up and fights like heck for 60 mins. Far from it, they only play in spurts on both sides of the ball. Lastly, I never said anything about Flacco being relieved of his job, not sure where you manufactured that one from. He certainly needs a coach that would challenge him more and light a fire under him. Harbaugh has nothing else to offer the Ravens, never did. He was a figure head-coach under a Ravens team led by Ray Lewis, and whose timely arrival coincided with the arrival of Flacco and Rice to give the Ravens some stability on offense to go with an already stout defense. His primary job is to keep his team focused and determined, and he has failed to do that for a while now. Inevitably, he'll be fired....even if it takes one more horrible season. 

[budman]

Very Un-disciplined football. 9 penalties for 121 yards and most importantly not playing until the whistle blows. Players were leaving the field thinking that time had expired, even jumping up and down thinking that we won. Reminds me of the old bad Raider teams. Still SMH. This is a bad team right now. That is what we produce after a Bye week? wow.

[ellicottraven]

Yes, how do the patriots never leave the top tier?

As much as I hate to admit it, they have a really good HC and I must say it, an authentic, elite QB that makes the players around him better and inspires his team despite all their cheating episodes. We don't have what they have unfortunately.