Moving Forward and Press Conference

[edsopafan]

Thinking over the season and the Fall from Mid Season, with each game exhibiting more intensely the issues and depth of the problems, the Ravens press conference should be interesting. 

 

Harbaugh will throw anyone necessary under the bus to save his Corporate Job. This is the essential part of the problem, Harbaugh is a Corporate Executive not a NFL Head Coach. 

Joe Flacco has put Harbaugh in a corner with his defense of the OC (comments suggesting no change is needed). I think with the Known Conflict with Castro, Joe would not object to Castro being released. The OL schemes conflicted with plays and were a mess. 

 

We have additionally problems with payroll via free agents, escalating contracts and aging. Add to this the need to Draft Better to improve the constant turnover of talent with future stars and winners. This part has been handled poorly. A philosophy change and investigation of scouting reports for the talent in draft. We are missing talent with regularity.

Our problems are obvious and foundational. We need Coaching and Leadership with an influx of Young Star Like Talent. The organization is splintered and filled with Yes People of Corporate mentality.

 

Steve Biscotti has some very tough choices to make. We are an Organization in a state of denial.

[rmcjacket23]

1 minute ago, edsopafan said:

Thinking over the season and the Fall from Mid Season, with each game exhibiting more intensely the issues and depth of the problems, the Ravens press conference should be interesting. 

 

Harbaugh will throw anyone necessary under the bus to save his Corporate Job. This is the essential part of the problem, Harbaugh is a Corporate Executive not a NFL Head Coach. 

Joe Flacco has put Harbaugh in a corner with his defense of the OC (comments suggesting no change is needed). I think with the Known Conflict with Castro, Joe would not object to Castro being released. The OL schemes conflicted with plays and were a mess. 

 

We have additionally problems with payroll via free agents, escalating contracts and aging. Add to this the need to Draft Better to improve the constant turnover of talent with future stars and winners. This part has been handled poorly. A philosophy change and investigation of scouting reports for the talent in draft. We are missing talent with regularity.

Our problems are obvious and foundational. We need Coaching and Leadership with an influx of Young Star Like Talent. The organization is splintered and filled with Yes People of Corporate mentality.

 

Steve Biscotti has some very tough choices to make. We are an Organization in a state of denial.

Examples of any of these things actually happening in the real world?

And its Castillo, not Castro. Its hard for people to take you seriously when bashing a coach (who's done a good job) when you don't even know the coaches name.

[ellicottraven]

Well John is talking the same old talk again. It is tiresome to watch him go on about how we need to do better and we will. Trying really hard to rationalize keeping all his coaches except add more players. I think we are doomed for 2017 if he keeps his coordinators. Just said explicitly that he is going to keep the coordinators. We are screwed and he must go in my view! This is just such a bummer because Marty is going to stay.

Marty and I both believe in running the football! He is so full of 'dung' it is unbelievable. He's keeping Marty simply because Flacco and Pitta put pressure on this guy coupled with his loyalty to his assistants.

I don't know about you, but I'm just dejected with the Ravens brass at this point.He also just said the players believe in him (I'm assuming he means Flacco and Pitta) and he believes in Marty too (loyalty I suppose). Same old cliches such as 'Get good at what we do', 'we are going to go to work', 'we are just a few plays away', 'we're fighting every single day to be great at what we do', etc.

We are going to have another failed season if nothing changes and that isn't forthcoming based on every cliche I've heard from John Harbaugh. I feel defeated as a fan by the team that I adore and by the owner I hold in high esteem.

Edited January 3 by ellicottraven

[Dr. Kelley]

Well, it doesnt look like anything is going to change for next season.  Good to know the ravens are standing strong in their continued commitment to mediocrity going into next season.

 

What a joke

[codizzle]

lol can't wait to read all the hot takes in here 

[Purple_City39]

So what's the OP's opinion now that Harbaugh has kept all coordinators and basically thrown nobody under the bus?

[Perfekt]

Yeah I get to look forward to watching Flacco regress more and 4 quarter blown leads.

[Rav'n Maniac]

We are only 3 days into the new year and already filled with disappointment and low expectations. Still, is anyone really surprised?

[RavensPunkXVX]

Well, two outcomes fall with the decision to keep the coordinators. We excel next year and live up to our potential and make the playoffs or we fail again and Harbaugh goes down with his coordinators because it was his decision to keep them.

[ellicottraven]

7 minutes ago, RavensPunkXVX said:

Well, two outcomes fall with the decision to keep the coordinators. We excel next year and live up to our potential and make the playoffs or we fail again and Harbaugh goes down with his coordinators because it was his decision to keep them.

The latter the more likely outcome simply because Marty's offense is just too pass happy and isn't going to yield success. It may yield another Flacco 4000 yd season and another record for most pass attempts by a QB record, but won't get us more wins, perhaps even less. I think the idea that continuity is important may come back to haunt Bisciotti.

[ellicottraven]

Now that Mr. John 'Cliche' Harbaugh has decided to stick with his coordinators and use his full repertoire of cliches to ward off the tough questions, we are back where we started and 8-8 team not trying to get better. What's that cliche John uses time and again? If you are not improving you are getting worse? Well, status quo isn't improving John! So are we destined to get worse Mr. Cliche Man??

[GrimCoconut]

I said it in the other thread but if we're sticking with Marty then build the offense to pass the ball and air it out all day and use the pass to set up the run. Get rid of Zuttah or make him a backup by signing Tretter or drafting a center high and instill more weapons at WR. 

I'm probably in a minority but I'm glad Pees is sticking around. I think his defense could be great if we actually gave him a good young pass rusher and another quality CB across from Jimmy for once. I like Young but I'd rather have Jones and Smith outside and Young inside. Regardless we need more talent back there. The defense wasn't bad it just got exposed for its old pass rushers. 

[terrynjulia03]

I can kinda see the reasoning behind keeping Marty on for continuity and not having a 5th new OC in Joes career. But why Pees? What's the excuse of having the #1 D until mid season and than sliding week after week back? Jimmy was hurt? You can't say Doom because he was out when we were ranked 1st. The only player we lost to significant time on the back end of the season in which we looked horrible was Jimmy. The vaunted run D got shredded for over 100 the last 4 games. With the same front 7. Sorry but that's not the players, that's he scheme that failed. 

[OUravensfan]

6 minutes ago, GrimCoconut said:

I said it in the other thread but if we're sticking with Marty then build the offense to pass the ball and air it out all day and use the pass to set up the run. Get rid of Zuttah or make him a backup by signing Tretter or drafting a center high and instill more weapons at WR. 

I'm probably in a minority but I'm glad Pees is sticking around. I think his defense could be great if we actually gave him a good young pass rusher and another quality CB across from Jimmy for once. I like Young but I'd rather have Jones and Smith outside and Young inside. Regardless we need more talent back there. The defense wasn't bad it just got exposed for its old pass rushers. 

The last 5 weeks is super concerning on defense, our vaunted run defense literally vanished. And sure, maybe no one cared last Sunday, but we let Rex Burkhead run for over 100 yards on us. We let Rex Burkhead run for over 100 yards on us.....Rex Burkhead. Or whatever his name is. 

I will agree, we have seen it demonstrated timeless times, we need another CB to compliment Jimmy as his health is unreliable. Pass rusher was an obvious need that became crucially clear down the stretch. 

 

[terrynjulia03]

We finished 7th in D. After being 1st at the mid point. What catastrophic losses did we have personnel wise?

The silver lining is I don't have to spend money on the Sunday Ticket next year. 

[ellicottraven]

4 minutes ago, OUravensfan said:

The last 5 weeks is super concerning on defense, our vaunted run defense literally vanished. And sure, maybe no one cared last Sunday, but we let Rex Burkhead run for over 100 yards on us. We let Rex Burkhead run for over 100 yards on us.....Rex Burkhead. Or whatever his name is. 

I will agree, we have seen it demonstrated timeless times, we need another CB to compliment Jimmy as his health is unreliable. Pass rusher was an obvious need that became crucially clear down the stretch. 

 

Its never how we started but how we ended that foretells how the future is going to be... disastrous mistakes by retaining all coordinators. Poor Bisciotti has been bamboozled by John.

[Purple_City39]

16 minutes ago, GrimCoconut said:

I said it in the other thread but if we're sticking with Marty then build the offense to pass the ball and air it out all day and use the pass to set up the run. Get rid of Zuttah or make him a backup by signing Tretter or drafting a center high and instill more weapons at WR. 

I'm probably in a minority but I'm glad Pees is sticking around. I think his defense could be great if we actually gave him a good young pass rusher and another quality CB across from Jimmy for once. I like Young but I'd rather have Jones and Smith outside and Young inside. Regardless we need more talent back there. The defense wasn't bad it just got exposed for its old pass rushers. 

I'm right there with you.  Pees showed he could have a top 3 offense with one legit CB and no pass rush.  That CB got hurt and everything went to hell.  Give him a real pass rush and another legit CB and the defense will shine.

I'm not losing my mind of retaining Mornhinweg but I'm not super excited about it either.  I'm giving it a "wait and see" approach

[AsianRice]

18 minutes ago, GrimCoconut said:

I said it in the other thread but if we're sticking with Marty then build the offense to pass the ball and air it out all day and use the pass to set up the run. Get rid of Zuttah or make him a backup by signing Tretter or drafting a center high and instill more weapons at WR. 

I'm probably in a minority but I'm glad Pees is sticking around. I think his defense could be great if we actually gave him a good young pass rusher and another quality CB across from Jimmy for once. I like Young but I'd rather have Jones and Smith outside and Young inside. Regardless we need more talent back there. The defense wasn't bad it just got exposed for its old pass rushers. 

and injured Jimmy......

 

I totally agree Pees can take this defense to the top if we draft him young pass rusher and a real back up to Jimmy....

 

However, we need to look for a real safety when Weddle's contract is up....

[RayRayRaven]

10 hours ago, edsopafan said:

 

 

Steve Biscotti has some very tough choices to make. We are an Organization in a state of denial.

 

9 hours ago, Dr. Kelley said:

Well, it doesnt look like anything is going to change for next season.  Good to know the ravens are standing strong in their continued commitment to mediocrity going into next season.

 

What a joke

yah, we lost 3 of last 4, embarrassed by a decimated Bengals team, couldn't stop the run, couldn't run the ball, couldn't score, lacked depth at key positions and we are standing Pat but for the Draft and Free Agency !

I love my Harball! 

Does anyone other than our owner seriously believe that a whopper of a draft can turn this all around?  Come on Stevie you're killin  us

 

[January J]

On ‎1‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 11:07 AM, ellicottraven said:

Well John is talking the same old talk again. It is tiresome to watch him go on about how we need to do better and we will. Trying really hard to rationalize keeping all his coaches except add more players. I think we are doomed for 2017 if he keeps his coordinators. Just said explicitly that he is going to keep the coordinators. We are screwed and he must go in my view! This is just such a bummer because Marty is going to stay.

Marty and I both believe in running the football! He is so full of 'dung' it is unbelievable. He's keeping Marty simply because Flacco and Pitta put pressure on this guy coupled with his loyalty to his assistants.

I don't know about you, but I'm just dejected with the Ravens brass at this point.He also just said the players believe in him (I'm assuming he means Flacco and Pitta) and he believes in Marty too (loyalty I suppose). Same old cliches such as 'Get good at what we do', 'we are going to go to work', 'we are just a few plays away', 'we're fighting every single day to be great at what we do', etc.

We are going to have another failed season if nothing changes and that isn't forthcoming based on every cliche I've heard from John Harbaugh. I feel defeated as a fan by the team that I adore and by the owner I hold in high esteem.

Flacco and pitta had nothing to do with it.. Their comments had no bearing on the decision whatsoever...

And if you think that Ozzie and bisciotti didn't have just as much of a say in the decision as harbaugh then you haven't watched them do business over the last 8 or 9 years. This is a tight knit group that doesn't make decisions unless everybody's on board. There weren't many other options- certainly none that were any better, and yet ANOTHER change and ANOTHER mindset coming in could have been even more detrimental to the team. So that had to be weighed with the option of letting the guy who already has a relationship with his players actually get a full off season to do his thing.

As far as the decision to keep Dean- I mean its hard to argue against somebody who had a top 5 unit in that many different categories. This is a smart guy who's been around for a lonnng time. He knows what needs to be done- and we need to get him some pass rush to work with.  He has gotten the most out of some very mediocre groups and made lemonade when given lemons. Hes been put in some very tough situations and had to game plan for some of the biggest games without our #1 corner. Lets get him some real depth to work with.  I wouldn't have been surprised or opposed to a change at either of these positions... But at some point  its on the players to execute and produce.

On ‎1‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 11:11 AM, Dr. Kelley said:

Well, it doesnt look like anything is going to change for next season.  Good to know the ravens are standing strong in their continued commitment to mediocrity going into next season.

 

What a joke

Or how about a commitment to continuity? Nothing wrong with being loyal and trusting your guys to get things right. I'd rather carry on with the same group who knows the mistakes they made and know what they need to improve as opposed to hitting the reset button and taking a chance on the unknown. We obviously aren't far away as we missed the playoffs by 1 game , nearly won the north and almost all the games we lost were only by one score or less. We're a player or two away.. Commit to pass rushing and having a more balanced offense and we're right there.

[Edgar]

On 1/3/2017 at 11:44 AM, GrimCoconut said:

I said it in the other thread but if we're sticking with Marty then build the offense to pass the ball and air it out all day and use the pass to set up the run. Get rid of Zuttah or make him a backup by signing Tretter or drafting a center high and instill more weapons at WR. 

I'm probably in a minority but I'm glad Pees is sticking around. I think his defense could be great if we actually gave him a good young pass rusher and another quality CB across from Jimmy for once. I like Young but I'd rather have Jones and Smith outside and Young inside. Regardless we need more talent back there. The defense wasn't bad it just got exposed for its old pass rushers. 

What makes you think airing it out all day will work next year?

[reed20]

We have the running backs, the full back, and the right guard to make this a very dangerous ground game and it'll all go to waste without a more run oriented coordinator.

Edited January 5 by reed20

[nextgen_RavensFan]

On 1/3/2017 at 11:18 AM, Purple_City39 said:

So what's the OP's opinion now that Harbaugh has kept all coordinators and basically thrown nobody under the bus?

He did not have to, they said nothing was going to change so he needed not attack anyone. So be happy with another losing season with awful QB play, a TE who has no idea how to find a first down marker and a coach who pulls points off of the board time and again year after year. Flacco is the most frustrating QB in the league with zero pocket presence and really bad decision making. Pitta is his go to guy which says  A LOT to our losing trend for drives not being extended. 

As far as getting a decent receiver, why would they come here knowing what others have went through. Their numbers will drop, they will lose more often and Joe does not care, nor does Harb's. I could go on and on but why. The bulk of Ravens "company" seems happy as long as their pockets get filled.

[Neal Could Block the SUN!!]

I would really love to see Harbaugh, Mornhinweg, and Flacco all get in a room and watch when and how other teams use time outs.  I cannot stand the number of times we're calling time out in the first quarter because the wrong personnel are in, or the play never materialized, or Flacco just didn't see to realize that a play clock existed.  Every time this happens it comes back to bite the team later on when we are down >3 pts and running under 2 minutes.  Just ridiculous. 

 

Not even going to get started on the 6 minutes of wasted time in the New England game.  Zero hustle back to the line, no play call existing, and no hurry up in place.  Just like we were winning the game.  Sadly, we do this far too often and act like we are winning and fail to manage the clock.

Would really look professional or like the team cared if either of these two issues could be fixed in the off season.

[Rav'n Maniac]

41 minutes ago, Neal Could Block the SUN!! said:

I would really love to see Harbaugh, Mornhinweg, and Flacco all get in a room and watch when and how other teams use time outs.  I cannot stand the number of times we're calling time out in the first quarter because the wrong personnel are in, or the play never materialized, or Flacco just didn't see to realize that a play clock existed.  Every time this happens it comes back to bite the team later on when we are down >3 pts and running under 2 minutes.  Just ridiculous. 

 

Not even going to get started on the 6 minutes of wasted time in the New England game.  Zero hustle back to the line, no play call existing, and no hurry up in place.  Just like we were winning the game.  Sadly, we do this far too often and act like we are winning and fail to manage the clock.

Would really look professional or like the team cared if either of these two issues could be fixed in the off season.

I can agree that this team seriously lacks a sense of urgency with the clock winding down. Would like to know what you feel they need to do to fix it?

[JoeyFlex5]

CASTILLO doesn't scheme. he teaches technique and develops players and he has done a hell of a job at it. 

[rmcjacket23]

Am I the only one who finds it comical when somebody creates an entire thread just to create some sort of narrative, and then doesn't come back to defend any of their points when they are challenged on them?

[Neal Could Block the SUN!!]

35 minutes ago, Rav'n Maniac said:

I can agree that this team seriously lacks a sense of urgency with the clock winding down. Would like to know what you feel they need to do to fix it?

Aahhh- I see it's the you found the problem so you have to fix it mentality- fair enough and since you asked-

1) Be aware of the play clock.  I see other teams pump their hands towards the sky and get the play clock reset when applicable.  I have never seen Flacco or any other O' player make this motion.  If not able to reset the clock, at the very least be aware that you either have 40 or 25 seconds to run a play.  Flacco, in his 9th year, should be highly cognizant by now that he does not have limitless time to stand around and then run a play at his desired time.

From a coaching stand point- be aware that a play clock is running and if you're $120M QB is ignorantly standing around, radio in, send a player, burn a flare, do something to wake him up and get moving.  For the QB and coaching staff to miss the play clock all together and have to take a time out <2 minutes into any game or quarter is ridiculous.

 

2) Excessive clock waste while losing is just unpalatable from a fan standpoint.  The game in New England was not over, yet the Ravens entire staff allowed 6 minutes to burn off the clock.  Why?  Not like they were struggling for a play.  Time and time again, players were jogging to the line or the line was set and Flacco would take his time getting into formation.  Makes no sense.  Run the no huddle or the sugar huddle.  At the very least burn less than half the play clock between plays.  This starts with the coaching staff and needs to run through the players.  A sense of urgency when losing.  Simply controlling the clock and realizing that a large amount of the 4th qtr has burned off and you have not moved the ball should put a fire under their collective butt.  Not to mention, we had already wasted time outs early in the 2nd half because of point 1.

Either way- be aware that this is a clock management game.  Whether its game or play clock, be aware of it.

 

Edited January 5 by Neal Could Block the SUN!!

[rossihunter2]

1 hour ago, Neal Could Block the SUN!! said:

I would really love to see Harbaugh, Mornhinweg, and Flacco all get in a room and watch when and how other teams use time outs.

i know you think we misuse timouts and we do sometimes but other teams "waste" them too but you just dont watch as closely see andy reed, hue jackson, marvin lewis, or in qb terms i saw a few times this season brady calling timeout with the playclock winding down - every team has these issues and to be honest i thought the ravens cleaned up their act significantly this season in that regard - the obligatory timeout and pointless challenge that became memes in the 2015 season surprised me when they happened in 2016 because we went long stretches without them happening

[rmcjacket23]

2 minutes ago, Neal Could Block the SUN!! said:

Aahhh- I see it's the you found the problem so you have to fix it mentality- fair enough and since you asked-

1) Be aware of the play clock.  I see other times pump their hands towards the sky and get the play clock reset when applicable.  I have never seen Flacco or any other O' player make this motion.  If not able to reset the clock, at the very least be aware that you either have 40 or 25 seconds to run a play.  Flacco, in his 9th year, should be highly cognizant by now that he does not have limitless time to stand around and then run a play at his desired time.

From a coaching stand point- be aware that a play clock is running and if you're $120M QB is ignorantly standing around, radio in, send a player, burn a flare, do something to wake him up and get moving.  For the QB and coaching staff to miss the play clock all together and have to take a time out <2 minutes into any game or quarter is ridiculous.

 

2) Excessive clock waste while losing is just unpalatable from a fan standpoint.  The game in New England was not over, yet the Ravens entire staff allowed 6 minutes to burn off the clock.  Why?  Not like they were struggling for a play.  Time and time again, players were jogging to the line or the line was set and Flacco would take his time getting into formation.  Makes no sense.  Run the no huddle or the sugar huddle.  At the very least burn less than half the play clock between plays.  This starts with the coaching staff and needs to run through the players.  A sense of urgency when losing.  Simply controlling the clock and realizing that a large amount of the 4th qtr has burned off and you have not moved the ball should put a fire under their collective butt.  Not to mention, we had already wasted time outs early in the 2nd half because of point 1.

Either way- be aware that this is a clock management game.  Whether its game or play clock, be aware of it.

 

1. LOL. For starters, a QB pumping his hands to the sky doesn't make the play clock reset. All he's doing is asking the officials to reset it... players don't have the power to reset it themselves. Typically this is when a QB thinks the officials should have reset the play clock and didn't. If you'll also notice, oftentimes QBs or players do this, and the play clock does NOT reset, because their interpretation of the need for it to be reset is wrong.

Also think you are greatly exaggerating how often we take timeouts early in games. Would love to see some sort of factual backing for this theory.

2. The Patriots games is a really poor example of your case, mostly because it was by design to take that long. The reason? Our defense. Nobody actually wanted to see us give the ball back to Brady, because once that happens, its game over. He made our defense look silly for most of the game, and there was zero faith in our defense stopping them.

So you take your time, score, and attempt an onside kick to keep it out of his hands, which we did. We just didn't recover. 

I mean its easy to say "well just score quickly" when you don't actually have to put the drive together yourself and make that score, but again, there really isn't anybody that can logically think we would have gotten the ball back. It was a four minute drive. If it was a two minute drive, all that would have happened is Brady would have milked 4 minutes off the clock instead.

Again, game context matters in these cases. Can't just go to the boxscore and look at things in a vacuum.