[News] The Breakdown: Eisenberg's Five Thoughts At Pittsburgh Steelers

[thegooddoc456]

How else can I sing this old song? The Ravens need a new beginning, Harbaugh and his cast of Philadelphia reject coaches need to go. Not just because of this loss(this sputtering team had no real chance of winning a SB), but because ours truly is a team that is good at nothing...that is our identity under Harbaugh. Offense is a dink and dunk, 2 yard-passing eyesore, defense can't stop a nosebleed...I don't care what the D was ranked, I don't know what style of defense it is, but I hate everything about it. Please, show Harbaugh the exit and start afresh or we'll be singing the same ole' song next season.

[smalljaws]

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory isn't the Raven way. Will wholesale changes be on the horizon ?

[law215]

Disagree with those pinning most of Ravens issues on Flacco. Joe wasn't responsible for Waller's TD drop, nor Perrimans multiple drops. Perriman has a steep learning curve and isn't representative of a starting WR let alone a 1st round pick.

Flacco is a good QB but he's a very system-typed QB. He can only succeed in a specific offensive system - notably Kubiaks. If Joe had that again, he would be tearing it up. The two glaring issues are lack of playmakers on receiving core (as previous post mentioned) and Offensive Coordinator playcalling. If Ravens fix those two things, I'd think we'd be shocked how good they can be.

Ravens have a better run game than the Broncos and how about that Broncos QB. Kubiak is a good coach but not a wizard it takes players and coaches. Joe's may have had stat but he still was not a 4,000 yard passer. He was effective because Ravens leaned on the run game and not passing 45+ times a game.

This season Joe passed 4,000 yards and Smith Sr. moved up on all time receptions list. But guess what, Ravens are not in the playoffs and Joe is not winning games.

Ravens need to get back to the smash mouth identity. Then maybe they could score in the red zone and close out a 4th quarter lead.

[law215]

Five Thoughts have nothing to do with the players on the field because I think those guys play and try as hard as they can to win games. It’s the front office and coaching that’s the real issue with this team

1. Playmakers: Steelers have a HOF QB in Big Ben and perennial pro bowlers and superstars in Bell and Brown in their prime. What does Ravens brass do
a. Rely on 37 year old Smith Sr to be a number one receiver. Even if he’s good, you have a limited window to be successful with him.
b. Bring in 35 year Ben Watson when they have 4 drafted and 2 converted TEs on the roster.
c. Have 3 young RBs and only run the ball 35% of the time. This is with a top 5 defense. No wonder they are worn out by the 4th quarter
d. As I watch ball bounce off Perriman hands, watch Pitta being unable to make the spectacular on-handed grab, or Waller to complete the play in the endzone. It reminded me that these guys are good, but not the consistent pro bowl players to take them to the next level. Gronk, Brown, AJ Green, Graham, makes those plays
2. OC Coordination:
a. Refusing to run the ball ultimately cost this team. Not only tonight but throughout the season. When Ravens were competing for championships, they had a respectable run game. They ran the ball as their bread and butter. Kubiak brought back the emphasis on the run and Joe had his best efficient year. Now it is just to trick the defense
b. A 4th quarter lead on the road demands running the ball effectively.
3. OZ/DeCosta:
a. Long list of draft picks not working
b. Inability to keep young players in their prime.
c. They let guys go to get more compensatory picks
d. Draft for quantity not quality
4. Coaches:
a. Would not be in this situation if not for head scratching decision in earlier games. It came back to bite the Ravens
b. Pees prevent style will not slow down top teams. They have playmakers and will not make mistakes. He needs to improve. But I give him credit for having a top?? defense given the talent he has
c. Marty. Where were the deep shots, crossing routes, red zone scoring. gotta go
5. Front Office:
a. Last year mention missing the playoffs was a blip. But now that blip is 3 out of the last 4 seasons. Is this the consistency needed?
b. Time to shake things up starting with scouts and draft philosophy and OC
c. Call Norv or one of these assistants that know to bring back the run game. 28th will not get it done when Joe is your QB.

[The Beak]

After taking a few hours to get over this loss, this is my take... The coaching staff needs an overhaul, start with JH , he is just too soft for Ravens football, doesn't seem to hold anyone responsible, same presser every loss. We need a head coach with a little nastiness and fire, win or lose show some guts. Dean Pees may be the most frustrating coach ever, he is so predictable , why not bring the house early on that drive , if they burn us well at least we have time to score again. Yes we have good players on D , and yes we need Pass rushers but Geez blitz every once in a while, get nasty. Oh and Marty the Wig "RUN THE BALL"....I love Oz , but alas may be time to turn over to Eric... Elvis left the bldg last year. Webby has no web, ...gerad POWERS, may have the most ironic name in football. And for gosh sake can we just acquire a decent Center.. , our OLine (outside of Zumama) looks good, we have good LBS ,We need a dynamic CB .... Thank SSS for being a True raven.....With this rant I will sign off----- Happy New year to all , Especially my Raven Brethren
MAYBE NEXT YEAR.

[sp3ctor]

The day after, watching the highlights, all I can say with any great certainty is that this is absolutely without a doubt the game of the year. The only other thing I can say with great certainty is that Lev Bell is the best offensive player in all of the NFL.

As much as I want to hum and haw about the loss, John Eisenberg is right. We had no business being in the post season this year. We need to go back to the drawing board, find a new OC, and work toward getting an offensive playmaker. And if Ozzie decides to, once again, focus his attention on the defense, then I think it's time to seriously consider moving on from the guy. They paid Joe tens of millions a year. Give the man an AJ Green or an Antonio Brown. The closest thing Joe has had to a #1 WR was Q and that was back when Joe was still developing. It's time for a philosophical change in Baltimore. Defenses may win championships, but they didn't win our last one. Joe did, along side Q, and Torrey, and Jacoby, and Rice, and Pitta. We have a top-tier LT whose paid for the next 4 seasons, we have the best damn FB in football, a whole host of young TEs that can contribute, a young up-and-comer in Dixon, and a whole crop of good WR that could fill out the depth-chart and then some. One playmaker away & I'll See you at the Super Bowl next year.

[law215]

The day after, watching the highlights, all I can say with any great certainty is that this is absolutely without a doubt the game of the year. The only other thing I can say with great certainty is that Lev Bell is the best offensive player in all of the NFL.

As much as I want to hum and haw about the loss, John Eisenberg is right. We had no business being in the post season this year. We need to go back to the drawing board, find a new OC, and work toward getting an offensive playmaker. And if Ozzie decides to, once again, focus his attention on the defense, then I think it's time to seriously consider moving on from the guy. They paid Joe tens of millions a year. Give the man an AJ Green or an Antonio Brown. The closest thing Joe has had to a #1 WR was Q and that was back when Joe was still developing. It's time for a philosophical change in Baltimore. Defenses may win championships, but they didn't win our last one. Joe did, along side Q, and Torrey, and Jacoby, and Rice, and Pitta. We have a top-tier LT whose paid for the next 4 seasons, we have the best damn FB in football, a whole host of young TEs that can contribute, a young up-and-comer in Dixon, and a whole crop of good WR that could fill out the depth-chart and then some. One playmaker away & I'll See you at the Super Bowl next year.

I agree with your point. The problem is that's not how OZ does business. Right now he is probably looking at other teams depth chart trying to predict which 30+ year old receiver is going to be cut. Ravens never have a home grown playmaking receiver. The guys they drafted high are Torrey, Mark Clayton, Perriman, Travis Taylor.

What the Ravens need is the return of a power run game. The zone system with Castillo is not working. When Ravens were a championship contender 2008-2012 (even with 2000 Jamal Lewis), they had a Sam Gash, O Neal, and Vonta Leach paving the way for Rice or Lewis. Inside the ten yard line, they scored touchdowns, they pounded out first downs in the 4th quarter, rested the defense, and setup play action cause the defense FEARED the run game.

This team does not run the well and not enough when Joe is just a good QB.

[balfan23]

1 hour ago, law215 said:

I agree with your point. The problem is that's not how OZ does business. Right now he is probably looking at other teams depth chart trying to predict which 30+ year old receiver is going to be cut. Ravens never have a home grown playmaking receiver. The guys they drafted high are Torrey, Mark Clayton, Perriman, Travis Taylor.

What the Ravens need is the return of a power run game. The zone system with Castillo is not working. When Ravens were a championship contender 2008-2012 (even with 2000 Jamal Lewis), they had a Sam Gash, O Neal, and Vonta Leach paving the way for Rice or Lewis. Inside the ten yard line, they scored touchdowns, they pounded out first downs in the 4th quarter, rested the defense, and setup play action cause the defense FEARED the run game.

This team does not run the well and not enough when Joe is just a good QB.

A much more recent version of a championship Ravens team involved the acquisition of one Anquan Boldin. That was the one true attempt at getting a playmaker on the outside. All else has involved underperforming draft picks and aged WRs to fill in. I'd really like to see us take that route again. Now - who would be available - I've no idea, but if such a person could be made available, then I'd love to see us take that approach again. 

[gtmaryland]

I think a lot of changes need to be made, but one of the biggest has to be a re-negotiation of Flacco's contract. The Ravens are sacrificing waaay too much of their cap space on this contract and not getting commensurate value. Flacco cannot carry a team by himself. He needs weapons around him. But his cap hit makes acquiring and keeping those pieces difficult at best.

Can anyone say that Flacco vastly outperformed the likely production of a Ryan Mallett this season? I like Flacco and I'd like to see him remain a Raven (with better coaching support and improved performance), but his contract is killing the team.

[balfan23]

20 hours ago, ByTheBay said:

Tough loss for sure but barring a miracle 2012 like playoff run this team was doubtful to make much noise in January. We have a bunch of veterans that probably wont be back next year and a bunch of promising young guys with a season under their belt. Joe didnt look like he felt comfortable until a week or so ago. Stanley is set to be a beast next year. We need to replace a few weak links in the secondary. Maybe we can land Norm at OC. He would be good for Joe. All in all we played better than last season and look set to make some real noise next year. Cant win them all and if we can once again be a perinial playoff team with only 2 down seasons that would be something most teams can only dream of. Go Ravens!

I understand the sentiment. We're most certainly flawed. However, that would depend on what you consider making noise. Outside of NE, who in the AFC should anyone be afraid of? I really could see the winner of this game making it to the AFCC. Unless you live in the world where only championships matter and if you can't get that, you shouldn't bother - I think that would be a nice feather in the cap for the 2016 season. 

[slowboater]

the front office is as much to blame as harbaugh. harbaugh will be here next season but his butt will be on the hot seat.

I thought his butt was on the hot seat this year? Until the organizations' philosophy changes, why get rid of Harbs. He has no issues with Joe passing 50 times a game and a bend but don't break (sometimes) defense. Only when Steve Bisciotti gets fed up with poor drafts, lack of on-field discipline (penalties), trying to make Flacco into Drew Brees, no pass rush and accepting an old defense that has nothing left in the fourth quarter will things change. This is a league set up for passing and the Ravens have no true weapons on offense and a defense that has shown it can't handle the good QB's.

[Couch jumper]

Has anyone mentioned the fact that Suggs repeatedly went inside, got beat, and didn't protect the edge. If he did his job, I believe we would have won this game.

[KidNme]

I for one do not think Harbs has lost anything. You have to remember what the coaching staff is working with here. We changed O coord in mid stream and brought up a guy in house and threw him in there. We also have a few aging vets that weren't playing at pro bowl caliber all season and a new WR in Perriman that has gone through a lot to get where he is today. Wallace was cut for a reason so expecting him to pull a SSS was also asking a lot. Many of you have to remember that every year, it's easy to tell our team to fire a guy, just remember that their family has to move across the country again, to start all over somewhere else, new schools, new routines ect and it may just be because they are "perceived to be" the reason things went wrong (or we weren't "perfect for 16 games"). Yes we have flaws, just like every other team. Some can be corrected, some may need new personnel but I guess I tend to side with the adage " Do unto others, as you would have done to you". We as fans know a lot about this game and our team but we do not know everything, especially enough in many cases, enough to cause a man to be fired.
Remember, we do have a lot of good things that came out of this season too! Stanley, Powers, Yong and even Shareese Wright is coming into his own. We'll be that much better next year and I think getting rid of all the coaches is throwing out the baby with the bath water.

[ByTheBay]

14 hours ago, balfan23 said:

I understand the sentiment. We're most certainly flawed. However, that would depend on what you consider making noise. Outside of NE, who in the AFC should anyone be afraid of? I really could see the winner of this game making it to the AFCC. Unless you live in the world where only championships matter and if you can't get that, you shouldn't bother - I think that would be a nice feather in the cap for the 2016 season. 

I understand the January Joe mantra and hold the belief myself that the Ravens are a team to fear in the playoffs every year but this team is just not there. We have a QB that is still not fully healed and confident, an OC that doesn't understand how a balanced attack is beneficial, a top 5 defense except for when they play top 10 offenses and a DC that consistently gives away games in the forth quarter by going into prevent instead of just continuing to do what has worked for the first 3 quarters. I am really starting to think that Harbaugh cant win without Ray and Ed. We willed ourselves to the SB in 2012 on flacco's arm and Ray and Ed's passion. We finished a sloppy 8-8 in 2013. Went to the Divisional round in 2014 thanks to Kubiaks system and fell on our faces in 2015 mostly due to injuries but every team has them. Hopefully they can right the ship next season. 

[ByTheBay]

On 12/26/2016 at 0:42 PM, Raven1995 said:

How do we not take shots with Wallace deep? Poor Blocking, West and KJ got Flacco blown up by missed blocks. We need a new Center , Left tackle and maybe a Right Guard if we lose Wagner to free Agency. Hopefully Joes Knee will be better next year, because he has to run or make the appearance of running to keep the defenses honest

I think you mean Center and left guard once Alex moves to replace Wagner at right tackle. Left Tackle is locked down for years to come

[Ravensfansince03]

After watching the replay of that Brown TD catch over and over again. The conclusion is this......Eric Weddle got straight up overpowered by Brown, he just stood him straight up to put the ball across the line. I thought that he just reached his arm out at first, but he actually had to stand up to reach his arm out. So yes, with Eric Weddle all over him, he pushed Weddle back a bit, and then reached his arm out. CJ Mosley also did not follow through with the tackle which led to our loss. I really cannot believe CJ did not follow through on that tackle, unlike Ravens players. Harbaugh has got to go, but not without a viable replacement.

[goldenboldin]

  On 12/26/2016 at 5:07 PM, law215 said:

I agree with your point. The problem is that's not how OZ does business. Right now he is probably looking at other teams depth chart trying to predict which 30+ year old receiver is going to be cut. Ravens never have a home grown playmaking receiver. The guys they drafted high are Torrey, Mark Clayton, Perriman, Travis Taylor.

What the Ravens need is the return of a power run game. The zone system with Castillo is not working. When Ravens were a championship contender 2008-2012 (even with 2000 Jamal Lewis), they had a Sam Gash, O Neal, and Vonta Leach paving the way for Rice or Lewis. Inside the ten yard line, they scored touchdowns, they pounded out first downs in the 4th quarter, rested the defense, and setup play action cause the defense FEARED the run game.

This team does not run the well and not enough when Joe is just a good QB.

A much more recent version of a championship Ravens team involved the acquisition of one Anquan Boldin. That was the one true attempt at getting a playmaker on the outside. All else has involved underperforming draft picks and aged WRs to fill in. I'd really like to see us take that route again. Now - who would be available - I've no idea, but if such a person could be made available, then I'd love to see us take that approach again. 

Ah yes Boldin was certainly Golden