[News] Eisenberg: What Ravens' Repeated Use Of The F-Word Means

[BR News]

The theme of the offseason has been building a team that can 'finish.' But how do you teach a team to do that?

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[sami]

it all starts with the offensive and defensive lines.

[Rob from Ellicott City]

How about using more players during the game so players wont be so gassed in the 4th quarter. Coach JH has been attacked in the past for his too large doghouse; maybe he should try to encourage his "dogs" a bit more by taking chances with playing time. One example would be Kamalei Correa. He was a ball-of-fire until Pitta hurt his finger then he went into the doghouse and was never seen again. Coach JH is one of the best but everyone has weak points. perhaps Mike Preston's theory of too much alpha crushing may be an issue.

[griffrb]

Simple answer to a difficult problem to solve: explosive players with a killer instinct and edgy attitude. You can't teach either. We simply don't have enough of them on our team.

[RavensBaltimore]

Obviously it helps to simply be "better", but for the defense, there's no reason that a unit that plays so well throughout the game should keep crumbling in clutch situations. In the last 2 years, the Ravens lead the league in games lost when the offense had a 4th qtr, go ahead drive. I think the main problem there is the soft, scared coverage they play late in games. They're so afraid of giving up the big play, they just let the qb play pitch and catch down the field. Dean Pees acknowledged that the DBs were playing too far off on that last drive in pitts, so why not do something about it? The secondary staying healthy would go a long way as well. The offense just needs more playmakers. Rodney Harrison was right last year. It's not good when your best playmaker by far is a 37 year old coming off an Achilles tear.

[The Beak]

It starts with Coaching.......Finish ( Mr morningweg - the worst call ever)

[Raven1995]

The best way to finish the game is to Run the ball which they gave up on. It tires the other defense and keeps ours fresh.

[RavensFlockNorth]

They should try some high stakes 2 minute drill and red zone Offense vs Defense drills if they don't do this already. Maybe have the D captain ( Weddle) and O captain (Flacco) have to do something if their unit loses, with bragging rights on the line each week or something. Some kind of "best on best" challenge that goes on throughout the year should make everyone better and make both units play for pride in practice and games.

Either way, they need to up the ante when they work on these in practice and I think having it reflect on the captains should help motivate them as leaders even more and better prepare them and their units mentally for game days

[Ravenous_Ravens]

Football is a game of endurance, especially when any play can alter the course of a game within seconds, regardless of situation. I agree that consistency is the principle goal to bettering a team/player. It is the only thing one can control is a game that is constantly challenging you in different and unique manners and situations.

[rmcjacket23]

The best way to finish the game is to Run the ball which they gave up on. It tires the other defense and keeps ours fresh.

Pros and cons on both sides of this.

If you're running the ball a lot and aren't effective at it, you're just wasting time and not accomplishing anything.

Ravens weren't very effective at running the ball last year when they did it, so entirely possible that our defense would have been even more tired if we used this methodology.

There were instances where we abandoned the run for no reason, and there were instances we abandoned the run for plenty of good reasons (lack of effectiveness, game flow and score, etc.).

[CaliRavenFan]

4 hours ago, sami said:

it all starts with the offensive and defensive lines.

In a way I agree 100% but its also falls on our coaching staff to put the players in the best position to win. I can honestly say looking back at last year that it was the coaches that let us down and not the players. 

[sizzlingdoom]

  13 hours ago, sami said:

it all starts with the offensive and defensive lines.

In a way I agree 100% but its also falls on our coaching staff to put the players in the best position to win. I can honestly say looking back at last year that it was the coaches that let us down and not the players. 

Agree 100%

[whobilly]

Simple answer to a difficult problem to solve: explosive players with a killer instinct and edgy attitude. You can't teach either. We simply don't have enough of them on our team.

How about we start with bringing "Q" back. His edgy attitude would be great to have back, not to mention the 65 catches, Red Zone presence, and great blocker.

[Drinkmore Beer]

Where did the Ravens rank in time of possession? Because of our pass-happy offense, probably near the bottom. Which means our D was on the field too long and gassed by the 4th quarter. There goes the pass rush and the finish.

[Somerset Ravens]

12 minutes ago, Drinkmore Beer said:

Where did the Ravens rank in time of possession? Because of our pass-happy offense, probably near the bottom. Which means our D was on the field too long and gassed by the 4th quarter. There goes the pass rush and the finish.

In 2016 we were tenth in the league in time of possession. That was probably a result of our dink and dunk offense. A strong running game would be a big help with finishing drives with touchdowns instead of settling for field goals.

[gettin real]

Coaching and play calling had a lot to do with it also. Example if you're up by 10 points in the 4th quarter run the ball. if you're down by 10 points in the 4th quarter, passes out in the flat on 3 and 8 won't get it. 

[letitgosometimes]

How about the "S" word: "Start" fast in the game. How about the "I" word: "Imagination" in play calling? How about the "M" word: "Momentum" in capturing and keeping it on both sides of the football? How about "F" word: "Fans" losing interest football?

[GENE2407]

Losing close games means you have enough to hang in the game but no playmakers to "finish". Get some more playmakers and stop dicking around by drafting a horde of "depth" and "role" guys.