[News] The Breakdown: Eisenberg's Five Thoughts vs. New England Patriots

[BR News]

Baltimore wasn't nearly good enough. Ravens failed to maintain the offensive momentum gained against Dolphins. Don't blame all of the defense's struggles on losing Jimmy Smith.

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[hen826957]

The road to seven straight wins starts now. LOL

[TheConquerorWorm]

1. Why is Devin Hester still on this team?
2. Please don't use Juice as a fullback anymore - he can't run block. I don't know how a lead fullback gets stood up 2 yards inside the endzone on a run play (Vonte Leach available?). Just line Juice up in the flat since you are going to throw it to him there anyway.
3. As much as I would like to pile on Elam, it definitely looked like it was Tavon Young and Eric Weddle that were out of position. Tavon handed off Mitchell (or was just beat badly), so Elam went to cover him (the underneath WR). Typically the slot CB takes the underneath guy breaking across and the outside corner & other safety cover the deep middle.
4. Something's amiss with the WRs. I don't know if it's the play designs or route running but they only get open when there's a blown coverage by the defense. Flacco had plenty of time in the pocket but had to settle for the checkdown - every single time. That tells me that no-one is gaining separation. Like Leslie Frazier - it's time for a real WR Coach!
5. Dixon is the real deal.

[03tsal]

Devin Hester was a waste of money.  He has done absolutely NOTHING to help this team.

[The Greek]

hester stinks, flacco was awful in the 1st half and too inconsistent as usual, receivers struggled to get separation in the 1st half and have for a few years now. running game?  jimmy is always hurt and oz has failed to upgrade the cb depth. we have gotten nothing out of the return game all season. keenan reynolds would be a much better option. to be honest im not sure this team is worth watching in the playoffs especially if brittle jimmy is out. perriman and correia were dominant once again

Edited December 13, 2016 by The Greek

[mizeatwizad52]

"Don’t Blame All Defense’s Struggles On Losing Smith"...why not? The secondary has been atrocious without him...

[TSizzle00]

"Don’t Blame All Defense’s Struggles On Losing Smith"...why not? The secondary has been atrocious without him...

ikr LOL I mean its not ALL his doing but damn it seems like overall its better when he's in there.

[law215]

Devin Hester was a waste of money.  He has done absolutely NOTHING to help this team.

Agreed.

Dude looks like he wanted one more season of pay before he hangs it up. OZ gotta quit with this one player away mentality and getting vets instead of developing young guys. Campanero, Asa, Reynolds, could be on the field watching the ball bounce.

[law215]

Five Thoughts

1. I Don't think the Ravens are that far away from being a contender. The Pats exploited their weaknesses (ie the secondary and Flacco). The secondary lacks true cover guys (especially when Smith went down). Also, they need a rangy safety. Brady diagnosed their coverage and shredded them. They adjusted coverages and front and had Flacco confused.

2. Flacco has to study more. This offense can not run through him. He does not read the coverage and adjust. This is probably the biggest reason for 3 and outs. After 9 years and 5 OCs, he still can't read a defense. Calls whatever play was called. Ravens have the pieces to shred Pats. Get a vet to push him

3, Where is the run game? Ravens carry 4 backs and rarely use them. SMH

4. Poor execution and penalties. Can't happen on the road against this team and expect a win.

5. Offseason priorities: Fix secondary, push Flacco and force him to study film and exploited coverages, add depth to o-line, and commit to the run.

[RaRaRavens]

Exactly as I suspected - the Dolphins game was a fluke for the offense. It's the same thing nearly every year. Flacco and the offense play crappy all year around, then they have 1 good dominant game and every fan, pundit and "expert" start blaring how this was the breakout game the offense needed to get jumpstarted, the entire league better look out. Only to have Flacco and the offense go out next game and look like high school team.

[bioLarzen]

I guess this game gave us the perfect answer to the question whether the O's production v the Dolphins was an aberration or the start of some spectacular improvement...

Let's hope someone can finally convince Ozzie / the owner / whoever needs to be convinced that the biggest obstacle between this team and real playoff hopes is a legitimate OC. Actually, I'm a bit shocked it isn't apparent to everyone in the Castle - 2014 wasn't so long time ago...

[bioLarzen]

  2 hours ago, 03tsal said:

Devin Hester was a waste of money.  He has done absolutely NOTHING to help this team.

Agreed.

Dude looks like he wanted one more season of pay before he hangs it up. OZ gotta quit with this one player away mentality and getting vets instead of developing young guys. Campanero, Asa, Reynolds, could be on the field watching the ball bounce.

Campanaro (not Campanero) gets injured by breathing and donning a gameday jersey; Asa Jackson can make two types of plays: genuinely brilliant ones and boneheaded - usually mental - blunders my grandma wouldn't make; Reynolds showed in the pre-season that he's nowhere near making an impact yet.

Why do you think Ozzie would keep Hester on the roster is there was a viable replacement in house at his disposal?

[Zeus]

The same reason Oz keeps Elam here, he wants to prove he was right to draft him.

[RaRaRavens]

Couple of thoughts:

1. Getting outcoacched was painfully evident. Harbaugh is a solid HC, but no mastermind like Belichick. From the way NE went uptempo early in the game and completely exhausted out our league lading D-line which allowed them to push us around with the run game the rest of the day, to couple of trick plays just at the right time, and even to the last play before 2 minute warning in the end of game, where they passed since it the clock was gonna stop anyway and caught the entire defense off guard - our team was just not ready for anything in this game. And the saddest part is, our entire team from coaches to players seemed to be baffled and surprised by the things NE did. As if we haven't seen it year in and year out. Our Harbaugh&Boys just got schooled, period.

2. Flacco and Brady both veteran QBs, yet one of them is capable of reading the defense, detecting weaknesses in coverage, audibling to a right play to take advantage of those weaknesses and make the defense pay for their play call. The other dumps the ball off to the closest receiver, usually near the line of scrimmage.

3. It was actually pathetic to see Ravens attempt nohuddle uptempo offense next to Brady and Cheat-a-lots. NE was on the line scrimmage ready to snap 10-20 seconds from the end of last play and our defense could not even get into their stances. Our "uptempo" offense never managed to get a snap off with considerably more than 10 seconds on the clock. Absolutely no urgency late in the game, we just wasted time between plays. And when running our regular offense, our guys got lined up with 10 second on play clock. How in the hell if Flacco, even if he is capable of that, make any audibles with so little time remaining?! How in the hell can other teams get ready to run a play at least 10 seconds faster than us?! That puts our offense in a disadvantage even before the snap, damn it!

[The Greek]

the offense is sloppy and the routes the receivers run are middle school. i watched the gb/sea game and the packs receivers run routes i never see our guys run. our receivers rarely come back for the ball aside from sss. need a new receivers coach. for as big as juice is he is useless in the running game blocking. once again we lose brittle jimmy and the secondary falls apart. this offense is painful to watch and in some ways i am hoping philly delivers the knockout blow to us at home.

[The Mom Gene]

I guess this game gave us the perfect answer to the question whether the O's production v the Dolphins was an aberration or the start of some spectacular improvement...

Let's hope someone can finally convince Ozzie / the owner / whoever needs to be convinced that the biggest obstacle between this team and real playoff hopes is a legitimate OC. Actually, I'm a bit shocked it isn't apparent to everyone in the Castle - 2014 wasn't so long time ago...

O's production? So are we calling out yet another OC?
I always try and find at least one good thing... As badly as I wanted to win, I was glad we held Blount to 72 yds.

[BigUgly]

Well, at least this should seal the fate of Martyball. I only hope they toss Castillo with him; the O-line looks confused at times, has poor technique and gets flagged way too often. The new OC needs to be able to install a complete system. This Kubiak-Trestman-Marty hybrid is a mess that the Pats D totally exploited.

[catgirl54]

Really disappointing game by the offense. No one we were watching the game with understands why Joe keeps throwing these balls that are barely above the line of scrimmage or sometimes, even behind. The Ravens looked as confused and bumbling as they did sure-footed against the Dolphins. Sorry I stayed up for it!

[MadStorkSociety]

the offense is sloppy and the routes the receivers run are middle school. i watched the gb/sea game and the packs receivers run routes i never see our guys run. our receivers rarely come back for the ball aside from sss. need a new receivers coach. for as big as juice is he is useless in the running game blocking. once again we lose brittle jimmy and the secondary falls apart. this offense is painful to watch and in some ways i am hoping philly delivers the knockout blow to us at home.

"i am hoping philly delivers the knockout blow to us at home."

Wow, I may be a homer, but i root for us to win, not lose.

[mendii]

54 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

I guess this game gave us the perfect answer to the question whether the O's production v the Dolphins was an aberration or the start of some spectacular improvement...

Let's hope someone can finally convince Ozzie / the owner / whoever needs to be convinced that the biggest obstacle between this team and real playoff hopes is a legitimate OC. Actually, I'm a bit shocked it isn't apparent to everyone in the Castle - 2014 wasn't so long time ago...

I think Ozzie realizes that, we replaced our OC midseason already! 

[catgirl54]

Couple of thoughts:

1. Getting outcoacched was painfully evident. Harbaugh is a solid HC, but no mastermind like Belichick. From the way NE went uptempo early in the game and completely exhausted out our league lading D-line which allowed them to push us around with the run game the rest of the day, to couple of trick plays just at the right time, and even to the last play before 2 minute warning in the end of game, where they passed since it the clock was gonna stop anyway and caught the entire defense off guard - our team was just not ready for anything in this game. And the saddest part is, our entire team from coaches to players seemed to be baffled and surprised by the things NE did. As if we haven't seen it year in and year out. Our Harbaugh&Boys just got schooled, period.

2. Flacco and Brady both veteran QBs, yet one of them is capable of reading the defense, detecting weaknesses in coverage, audibling to a right play to take advantage of those weaknesses and make the defense pay for their play call. The other dumps the ball off to the closest receiver, usually near the line of scrimmage.

3. It was actually pathetic to see Ravens attempt nohuddle uptempo offense next to Brady and Cheat-a-lots. NE was on the line scrimmage ready to snap 10-20 seconds from the end of last play and our defense could not even get into their stances. Our "uptempo" offense never managed to get a snap off with considerably more than 10 seconds on the clock. Absolutely no urgency late in the game, we just wasted time between plays. And when running our regular offense, our guys got lined up with 10 second on play clock. How in the hell if Flacco, even if he is capable of that, make any audibles with so little time remaining?! How in the hell can other teams get ready to run a play at least 10 seconds faster than us?! That puts our offense in a disadvantage even before the snap, damn it!

You are so right.

[The Greek]

Well, at least this should seal the fate of Martyball. I only hope they toss Castillo with him; the O-line looks confused at times, has poor technique and gets flagged way too often. The new OC needs to be able to install a complete system. This Kubiak-Trestman-Marty hybrid is a mess that the Pats D totally exploited.

dont forget the wr coach as well

[The Greek]

  53 minutes ago, The Greek said:

the offense is sloppy and the routes the receivers run are middle school. i watched the gb/sea game and the packs receivers run routes i never see our guys run. our receivers rarely come back for the ball aside from sss. need a new receivers coach. for as big as juice is he is useless in the running game blocking. once again we lose brittle jimmy and the secondary falls apart. this offense is painful to watch and in some ways i am hoping philly delivers the knockout blow to us at home.

"i am hoping philly delivers the knockout blow to us at home."

Wow, I may be a homer, but i root for us to win, not lose.

i did say in some ways. just venting some but if brittle jimmy is out than the secondary will give up a ton of points to real qb's and we will end up with a bottom of the 1st draft pick that oz may blow.

[Purple Dawg 96]

This should be the Ravens 3rd loss redskins cowboys and pats! Those other games were winnable and make no sense beating ourselves up let's learn from this win out and see what happens!

[The Mom Gene]

55 minutes ago, MadStorkSociety said:

"i am hoping philly delivers the knockout blow to us at home."

Wow, I may be a homer, but i root for us to win, not lose.

The guy does this every year.... rarely do I agree with him... and he's often construed by many as a troll.  Just trying to rile folks up.  Call me an eternal optimist, but I had to log off last night.  Some of these guys were just ridiculous.    I was wondering how long it would take before someone started on the OC train....  2 weeks.  It's really sad.

[ravensnj]

Couple of thoughts:

1. Getting outcoacched was painfully evident. Harbaugh is a solid HC, but no mastermind like Belichick. From the way NE went uptempo early in the game and completely exhausted out our league lading D-line which allowed them to push us around with the run game the rest of the day, to couple of trick plays just at the right time, and even to the last play before 2 minute warning in the end of game, where they passed since it the clock was gonna stop anyway and caught the entire defense off guard - our team was just not ready for anything in this game. And the saddest part is, our entire team from coaches to players seemed to be baffled and surprised by the things NE did. As if we haven't seen it year in and year out. Our Harbaugh&Boys just got schooled, period.

2. Flacco and Brady both veteran QBs, yet one of them is capable of reading the defense, detecting weaknesses in coverage, audibling to a right play to take advantage of those weaknesses and make the defense pay for their play call. The other dumps the ball off to the closest receiver, usually near the line of scrimmage.

3. It was actually pathetic to see Ravens attempt nohuddle uptempo offense next to Brady and Cheat-a-lots. NE was on the line scrimmage ready to snap 10-20 seconds from the end of last play and our defense could not even get into their stances. Our "uptempo" offense never managed to get a snap off with considerably more than 10 seconds on the clock. Absolutely no urgency late in the game, we just wasted time between plays. And when running our regular offense, our guys got lined up with 10 second on play clock. How in the hell if Flacco, even if he is capable of that, make any audibles with so little time remaining?! How in the hell can other teams get ready to run a play at least 10 seconds faster than us?! That puts our offense in a disadvantage even before the snap, damn it!

Being prepared to play, kinda sums things up. This isn't the first time we were schooled by Josh Mcdaniels, now, Matt Patricia has taken his game to a new level and their defensive side of the ball is ascending to the upper elechon. So, we really need to hit the books, or we will continually be outclassed and embarrassed.

[Rich McG]

Elam can hardly walk down a street without falling down. One of the worst 1st round draft picks ever. Hester has been a bust from day one with the Ravens. He was afraid to catch the ball and back-off while not trying to block a defender. Both should be ex Ravens....now. Weddle in complete la la land with the game on the line. Weddle positives do out weigh his ageing negatives. Miami just laid a egg last week and made us look far better than we are. Steelers probably favored by 4 1/2 on Christmas day, and rightfully so. Could be 7 1/2. Ravens far to ridged on both offence and defense. They run the play, as to winning teams that adjust to current conditions, hence.....big plays. Dumervil, the most over paid player in football. Go Ravens!

[PurpleRainBlackVeins]

My 5 Thoughts:

1. Once again Harbaugh and his infamous "dog-house" has bit us in the butt yet again. West must have done something because he was barely on the field, and yet Devin Hester has been a liability all season and remains on this team because of Harboo's man crush on him. Cut useless Taliafero already and bring up Camp to run back punts.

2. Juice needs to be converted into a tight end. He catches the ball well but his run blocking skills are atrocious.

3. 9 years later and Flacco still cannot read defenses pre-snap. I don't care how many OC's he's had, if you are paying a QB 120 mil he should be able to carry a team on his back. No audibles, no adjustments to coverages. He said they played more man to man than expected yet he did nothing to adjust to it.

4. Jimmy Smith cannot be trusted to play a full 16 game season. This is why he should no longer be our #1 corner. Maybe if Oz puts more effort into drafting secondary players as he does D-line maybe we would finally have some quality DB depth.

5. I don't know what happened to our 2 minute offense but this has become a serious problem all season. They wasted a legit 2 minutes fiddling around at the end of the game when we were down 2 scores. No hurry up, no sense of urgency, no nothing. That's on Joe and Harbaugh. Time management has been piss poor.

I appreciate all that Harbaugh and Flacco has done, but I think it's time to move in a different direction. This team has become a shell of it's former self and I'm not sure we will ever get our swagger back with the 2 of them running this team.

[fusuymada]

This should be the Ravens 3rd loss redskins cowboys and pats! Those other games were winnable and make no sense beating ourselves up let's learn from this win out and see what happens!

We have what we have. We continue to show improvement and we will be divisional leaders if we win out. We can and have beaten the Steelers and Bengals and the Eagles will be a win also. I said we should blow this team out and considering the history, I should have known better. Joe is just an average, at best, qb. I have tried to defend him, but he just refuses to put any energy into what he is doing. I think a little sit on the bench for a couple of downs might fire him up a bit. Remember when Suggs was pushing for our own wildcat with Troy Smith and Flacco about freaked out that he was not the one under center. Lets take a couple of practices and have Mallett run the offense or let him come in on the second drive of the game. If Flacco can't motivate himself it is incumbent on the coaches to motivate him. Nothing up to now seems to work so exceptional times require exceptional measures. Will Harbaugh have it in him to do this, probably not, but that is what he needs. He is playing like a diva, he acts like he doesn't want to hurry up, that the game moves at his speed, I would let him test the speed of the bench in that case. Maybe he would study a little more film or learn how to read defenses in that spare time.

One more thing... The Hester experiment is OVER!!!! If he is still on this team at the end of this week and Campanaro isn't called up, then Ozzie and John are idiots. Its a shame the fans have known for weeks what 2 highly paid football executives just can't seem to figure out. We have now become that footnote in Hesters career where people say, yep, he should have quit while he was ahead, but he sure soaked Baltimore for a couple mil.

[whobilly]

This should be the Ravens 3rd loss redskins cowboys and pats! Those other games were winnable and make no sense beating ourselves up let's learn from this win out and see what happens!

Your are what your record says you are. The Ravens are a middle of the pack team.