[News] Late For Work 9/19: 7 Game Takeaways, Including Why Browns Fans Can't Be Too Upset With Refs

[BR News]

If you’re a Ravens fan, this is no time for skepticism. Joe Flacco must learn important lesson in win. Ravens have to be ‘alarmed’ by inability to run. Dennis Pitta is all the way back. Clarence Brooks named Coach of the Week. Special teams wins the game for Ravens.

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[RavenLunatic]

Let's not forget this week is the first week that Flacco and Perriman get to practice together, during the regular season. Hopefully they can improve their timing.

The run blocking should be a big priority this week.

[merryjman]

Why are they doing so many runs from the shotgun formation? This exact same thing happened the last year Caldwell and Rice were on the team, and everybody knew what they were up to. HB draw plays are only going to work so many times in a game before DCs start scheming for them.

And this, despite Trestman's reassurances that he wasn't going to change Kubiak's stretch zone scheme. Did the Ravens coaching staff forget that it took Castillo almost two years to get that thing working with the offensive line? How long are they willing to wait before the O line gets this one right?

Edited September 19, 2016 by merryjman

[bioLarzen]

" Ravens Have To Be ‘Alarmed’ By Inability To Run "

 

The Ravens have to be alarmed by a lot of things. The O-line, the secondary, Flacco's apparent scare of contact, the total lack of creativity and the surprise element - thus total predictibility - of the offensive play calling... you name it.

 

In the NFL things may go north or south week by week... What looked terrific today may be a total failure the next week (see Shareece Wright) and vica versa. So, the fact that the Ravens currently have a lot to worry about doesn't mean these problems won't be fixed - and maybe even soon. Also, we are extremely lucky with the schedule... these problems may get fixed by the time the really rocky games come...

 

But RIGHT NOW this isn't a playoff caliber team. Easily the worst team of the NFL has made play on us making it look insultingly easy. Also, this really bad team with a hurt backup QB came this close to beating us. If this isn't a cause for concern, I don't know what is. Concern, not panic of course. But still. Let's not pretend that being 2:0 is the only thing that matters... These first two games were like a prolonged pre-season.

Edited September 19, 2016 by bioLarzen

[billiejean]

Let's not forget this week is the first week that Flacco and Perriman get to practice together, during the regular season. Hopefully they can improve their timing.

The run blocking should be a big priority this week.

Pass blocking too. Joe rarely had a clean pocket. He wasn't able to step into throws a lot of the time. I wouldn't mind seeing him role out a few times. Stanley and Lewis are doing an admirable job for rookies but there is a lot of pressure coming from the left.

[billiejean]

On another note how terrible were those broadcasters. Whenever they mentioned a player or a unit they were always either the best in the league, top 3 or top 5.

[huntrgathrr]

Getting out of Cleveland with a win is all that really matters. There were a lot of bright spots despite the dismal 1st quarter. The return of Pitta is a real shot in the arm. The shut down performance by the D in the last 50 minutes was exceptional. The emergence of Pierce bolsters an already deep and strong front seven. The secondary is greatly improved from last year. Special teams play was outstanding. Tucker was money and Hester looked great.
IMO the offensive line and the running game need to improve but they should be able to step up in the weeks to come.
This team still looks good to me. They have time to work on and improve the areas of weakness and doing it while 2-0 is a luxury.

[terpmaniac]

I’m not sure if they’re a Super Bowl contender at this point but they don’t need to be. Not until January, anyway. And right now, there’s nothing to suggest that this team can’t win 10 games this season and be involved in the tournament. It’s as good of a start as is possible.”

Good point!

[TheRavengers]

I'm gonna assume our rookies on the O-line will get better as the weeks go on, otherwise the run game will be as existent as Manti Te'o's girlfriend.

That "taunting" on Terelle was just awful and unwarranted. But 2-0 is 2-0 so....I won't complain.

[jravens1313]

Jerry Rosburg needs more respect! How does he do it? Don't forget he produced Hauschka and Gano. Signing Hester was the right move. Reliable, with a big play threat.

[4everraven]

Two games played, two wins. Can't do better than that. Biggest concern, one that has hindered the team since the SB win is slow starts. Some thing has to be done to overcome them. Perhaps no huddle or run 2 minute offense just to get something going early.

Also, Flacco should get sharper as the season progresses. Had he thrown to Perriman's inside ahoulder instead of outside on that deep throw, Perriman would have scored. He also under threw Perriman in the end zone. 

Trestman dinks and dunks too much in his play calls. More downfield throws are needed, especially early in the game, which would help avoid the sluggish starts and get Joe in the groove early.

OL should improve as season progresses. Hope Dixon is the spark that gets the ground game going. On to JAX. Get the win, whether by shootout, defensive dominance, late game score, or late game defensive stand. Doesn't matter, just win.

[ravenscavecreek]

" Ravens Have To Be ‘Alarmed’ By Inability To Run "

 

The Ravens have to be alarmed by a lot of things. The O-line, the secondary, Flacco's apparent scare of contact, the total lack of creativity and the surprise element - thus total predictibility - of the offensive play calling... you name it.

 

In the NFL things may go north or south week by week... What looked terrific today may be a total failure the next week (see Shareece Wright) and vica versa. So, the fact that the Ravens currently have a lot to worry about doesn't mean these problems won't be fixed - and maybe even soon. Also, we are extremely lucky with the schedule... these problems may get fixed by the time the really rocky games come...

 

But RIGHT NOW this isn't a playoff caliber team. Easily the worst team of the NFL has made play on us making it look insultingly easy. Also, this really bad team with a hurt backup QB came this close to beating us. If this isn't a cause for concern, I don't know what is. Concern, not panic of course. But still. Let's not pretend that being 2:0 is the only thing that matters... These first two games were like a prolonged pre-season.

2-0 is the only thing that matters. Just win baby!

[whobilly]

Two games played, two wins. Can't do better than that. Biggest concern, one that has hindered the team since the SB win is slow starts. Some thing has to be done to overcome them. Perhaps no huddle or run 2 minute offense just to get something going early.

Also, Flacco should get sharper as the season progresses. Had he thrown to Perriman's inside ahoulder instead of outside on that deep throw, Perriman would have scored. He also under threw Perriman in the end zone. 

Trestman dinks and dunks too much in his play calls. More downfield throws are needed, especially early in the game, which would help avoid the sluggish starts and get Joe in the groove early.

OL should improve as season progresses. Hope Dixon is the spark that gets the ground game going. On to JAX. Get the win, whether by shootout, defensive dominance, late game score, or late game defensive stand. Doesn't matter, just win.

There are 7 teams right now that are 2-0. Last year 12 teams got out of the gate at 2-0 and 9 of them made the playoffs. Translated: Better to be 2-0 instead of 1-1 or 0-2. Reading a lot of the comments, I get the feeling a great number of Ravens Fans(?) think we are 0-2.

[Minionhunter]

Can someone please post a pic on twitter of the guy who pushed off on Perriman (right in the back with arm extended) to make that interception. It was why Breshad didn't make the catch and the Browns guy did. Flagrant, the only reason for the interception, and not called. I want to show that to Browns fans when they are whining about the taunting.

[whobilly]

On another note how terrible were those broadcasters. Whenever they mentioned a player or a unit they were always either the best in the league, top 3 or top 5.

Not to mention they never really questioned that Coleman's foot was 3 inches on the white and was given a TD.

[whobilly]

" Ravens Have To Be ‘Alarmed’ By Inability To Run "

 

The Ravens have to be alarmed by a lot of things. The O-line, the secondary, Flacco's apparent scare of contact, the total lack of creativity and the surprise element - thus total predictibility - of the offensive play calling... you name it.

 

In the NFL things may go north or south week by week... What looked terrific today may be a total failure the next week (see Shareece Wright) and vica versa. So, the fact that the Ravens currently have a lot to worry about doesn't mean these problems won't be fixed - and maybe even soon. Also, we are extremely lucky with the schedule... these problems may get fixed by the time the really rocky games come...

 

But RIGHT NOW this isn't a playoff caliber team. Easily the worst team of the NFL has made play on us making it look insultingly easy. Also, this really bad team with a hurt backup QB came this close to beating us. If this isn't a cause for concern, I don't know what is. Concern, not panic of course. But still. Let's not pretend that being 2:0 is the only thing that matters... These first two games were like a prolonged pre-season.

Life in the NFL. I'm sure the Seahawks Fans had them winning yesterday in LA.

[January J]

51 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

" Ravens Have To Be ‘Alarmed’ By Inability To Run "

 

The Ravens have to be alarmed by a lot of things. The O-line, the secondary, Flacco's apparent scare of contact, the total lack of creativity and the surprise element - thus total predictibility - of the offensive play calling... you name it.

 

In the NFL things may go north or south week by week... What looked terrific today may be a total failure the next week (see Shareece Wright) and vica versa. So, the fact that the Ravens currently have a lot to worry about doesn't mean these problems won't be fixed - and maybe even soon. Also, we are extremely lucky with the schedule... these problems may get fixed by the time the really rocky games come...

 

But RIGHT NOW this isn't a playoff caliber team. Easily the worst team of the NFL has made play on us making it look insultingly easy. Also, this really bad team with a hurt backup QB came this close to beating us. If this isn't a cause for concern, I don't know what is. Concern, not panic of course. But still. Let's not pretend that being 2:0 is the only thing that matters... These first two games were like a prolonged pre-season.

I don't think the browns are the worst team in the NFL- but that's just me. They are a young and fast up & coming team with a great coach who are MUCH better off with Mccown under center. They're in the bottom half of the league which is cause for concern- but any team can come out and quickly put a few scores on the board. The fact that we literally shut them down for 3 quarters after that tells me all I need to know. Were fine, just really need to get the running game goin and get doom back so him and sizzle can feed off one another.

Edited September 19, 2016 by January J

[dirtybird66]

the fan's warned all week that the offense can't start out flat,i guess they weren't listening.about the run game,theyr'e starting 2 rookies that wern't known to be great bulldozers so what should they expect? mabey they can rotate in o-lineman on first and second down that can run block,like any other position,have the best player on the field for the right scheme.it won't happen,but why not,everyone else rotates.on the other hand i think the the o-line had 0 sacks yesterday,thats awesome.

[dirtybird66]

now another team that we always play down to on the horizon.

[ellicottraven]

So how are we going to play another 0-2 team that is hungry for their first win in their stadium. We cannot afford to lay 3 eggs in the first quarter again, because this team is loaded with young talent. Absolutely loaded and motivated. So, we better get off to a quick start and keep the pressure on for a full 60 minutes if we want a W.

[Godfather A]

Last year's first two games included incomplete touchdown attempts to Steve Smith and Crockett Gilmore in the opener and a non-existent penalty on a Will Hill interception to seal the Oakland game. Bottom line 0-2 start.
If we had won both of those games, we would have seen the same whining about the competition being poor and we barely beat them.
A win is a win even if it is close. Last season should have taught us that if nothing else.

[sami]

Getting out of Cleveland with a win is all that really matters. There were a lot of bright spots despite the dismal 1st quarter. The return of Pitta is a real shot in the arm. The shut down performance by the D in the last 50 minutes was exceptional. The emergence of Pierce bolsters an already deep and strong front seven. The secondary is greatly improved from last year. Special teams play was outstanding. Tucker was money and Hester looked great.
IMO the offensive line and the running game need to improve but they should be able to step up in the weeks to come.
This team still looks good to me. They have time to work on and improve the areas of weakness and doing it while 2-0 is a luxury.

if the O-line improves the run game will improve plus the passing game will improve. It all starts with the O-line.

[sami]

I'm gonna assume our rookies on the O-line will get better as the weeks go on, otherwise the run game will be as existent as Manti Te'o's girlfriend.

That "taunting" on Terelle was just awful and unwarranted. But 2-0 is 2-0 so....I won't complain.

The refs giveith and the refs takeith away

[budkretz]

Yes, the officials are back to their old selves. Last week the officiating seemed good, yesterday questionable. The taunting penalty was not the most flagrant , but when Pryor flipped the ball it did hit Webb's helmet. To the referee running in it looked like taunting. If it doesn't hit him or he doesn't filp the ball no call would have been made. No doubt it made the Browns last effort harder and i can understand their angst.. On Cleveland's first TD although there wasn't a great angle if you saw the replay at slow motion as his second foot came down white chalk/grass came up. Since he was the only player in that vicinity that means he had to kick it up and his foot did not slide. I don't know what the replay officials do in new York or wherever they are but how can you not see this, the chalk flying up had to tell you he was on the line; therefore, out of bounds. So that first TD should not have counted and if they don't score or settle for a FG it puts a different slant on the game. Another big gaffe came when the Ravens defense was called offside. One of our players went into the neutral zone , but did not make contact and got back on side. Their guard while staying in his stance made an arm gesture . In order to be drawn off by the defense the OL must stand up and move. This did not occur, the side referee needs to learn the rules. It did not hurt/impact the game, but it's a simple call and side referee should know and the head refer could have overruled and pulled the flag. I know it is a hard job, but these two call were fairly obvious and the NFL continues to have part time people when they have the resources to have full-time well-trained officials.

[Space11jams]

we have a chance to be undefeated going into our bye week. In order for us to do that, we need to tighten up on the offense and play lock up defense ALL four quarters and not the last two. Theres no reason Flacco is through 45+ passes in a game! He's not that type of QB and we're not that type of team. We need to establish the run and get our O-line a lot more aggressive on the run than what they are. We didn't crack 100 yards in the run game and in our division we MUST run the ball. If this does't change, we will not beat Pittsburg or Cincy and we need to beat those boys. Especially Cincy! No more predictable plays! That's what I loved about Kubiak when he was here in Baltimore. You never know where he was coming and it always was deception with his play calling. You think we're running this way but its a fake PA. Or delayed HB draw. WR screen. Bootlegs. We don't do any of this type of stuff and we have the players for it. We can't rely on sending our WR deep every single play. Get guys coming across the field. RB peel on off of chip blocks. I should't be able to call a running play every time we run because we're passing to much and we're not moving the ball.

[hen826957]

In Jacksonville, there probably gonna be a lot of Ravens fans there; maybe half of the statium. You saw how they were many fans in Miami and Tampa so this might give a boost as well as hoping Doom come back for the passrush. I do see the Ravens win vs the Jaguars. I'm hoping for (3-0) start going back home. ?

[FloridalovesRavens]

On another note how terrible were those broadcasters. Whenever they mentioned a player or a unit they were always either the best in the league, top 3 or top 5.

I did hear some nice comments about Flacco though. Couldn't see the whole game but had to settle for Red Zone.

[CodeSpyder]

Defenses seem to be loading the box. We need to open up with passes to loosen it up for the run. We've been too lethargic on offense. Trust Flacco's arm, then run.

[HomeoftheBRAVENS]

“We saw this at times last year and to a greater degree in 2013, but a Joe Flacco-led offense simply does not work without some kind of running game to set up play-action opportunities.”

So were going to judge how well a Flacco led offensse works based off of the two years we had no weapons at WR and TE?Everyone Flacco threw to in 2013 beside Torrey and Dickson are out of football and even with the inexperienced players he was throwing to last year we still had a top ten offense before he went down.This year Joe has weapons and even without the run game hes still doing his thing and I believe he'll continue to do his thing.

Edited September 19, 2016 by HomeoftheBRAVENS

[Edug27]

1 hour ago, 4everraven said:

Trestman dinks and dunks too much in his play calls. More downfield throws are needed, especially early in the game, which would help avoid the sluggish starts and get Joe in the groove early.

I don't think there is anything wrong with dinking and dunking if you are executing properly. The Pats will dink and dunk you to death, which opens up their shots down field. It makes Edelman so dangerous for them. Our dinks are checkdowns to Forsett for a loss of yards.