Week 10: Baltimore Ravens (6-2) @ Seattle Seahawks (2-6)

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

A steady QB that can actually put together a few games in a row where he's producing decent numbers and play? Like this: http://www.pro-football-reference.co.../gamelog/2011/ Do you see that in this production? http://www.pro-football-reference.co.../gamelog/2011/ Now if that's primarily the fault of the OC, then shoot him too, but I think it's a bit of both going on. Flacco/the offense is inconsistent and the OC isn't using the talents of the team correctly. Flacco? Air it out? No way. I say treat him almost like we treated Dilfer. Throw it about 20-25 times and let the run game and defense work. He's better than Dilfer so those throws should result in better production, but none of this 35+ times passing stuff.

Sooooo, you basically said the same thing I did. So if you don't want Flacco to prove he's elite like Cam is trying to force him to do, then you're not who I'm talking about, right?

Alex Smith's production is a direct result of the way they're managing games. Smith, Dilfer and whatever other example you/me/we can think of is exactly what I said. Gore (Rice) should be the center of the offense and the team around him is good enough that the QB doesn't need to be Peyton Manning for them to be successful. I accept who Flacco is right now... sounds like you do too. The difference is I refuse to blame him for trying to successfully execute a crappy gameplan. If the OC tells him to throw the ball 50 times then that's what he has to do. If the OC tells him to hand it off 30 times and throw 20 times, that's what he'd have to do. When the best player on your offense is a top 5-10 RB in the league, the 2nd option should be clearly the best. I see no reason to blame Flacco for Rice getting 5 carries in a game. Like LBz said, Flacco didn't have a bad game. He did fine for the horrible gameplan put in front of him.

[guaps]

Did anybody hear/read Harbaugh's excuses for the pass/run ratio?

1. They were behind early. Ok, fair enough. That calls for more passes, but not to abandon the running game.

2. Ravens only had five possessions in the first half so they couldn't build the running game. Hmm.. on those five possessions Cam called 24 pass plays and 7 run plays, so they never really gave the running game a chance, despite getting 7.4 yards per carry.

3. The Seahawks were committed to stopping the run and lined up extra linebackers and safeties at the line of scrimmage. If that's the case, how come Joe Flacco needed 50+ passing attempt to get 250 passing yards? Was it Cam's play calling? Flacco's inaccuracy? Receivers not getting open? Or a combination of all three things?

Mark Twain once said experience comes from making bad decisions, which is why it bothers me that this happens just a few weeks after the loss to Jacksonville. Somebody in the Ravens organization must have learned something from the Jacksonville loss...

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by guaps

Did anybody hear/read Harbaugh's excuses for the pass/run ratio? 1. They were behind early. Ok, fair enough. That calls for more passes, but not to abandon the running game. 2. Ravens only had five possessions in the first half so they couldn't build the running game. Hmm.. on those five possessions Cam called 24 pass plays and 7 run plays, so they never really gave the running game a chance, despite getting 7.4 yards per carry. 3. The Seahawks were committed to stopping the run and lined up extra linebackers and safeties at the line of scrimmage. If that's the case, how come Joe Flacco needed 50+ passing attempt to get 250 passing yards? Was it Cam's play calling? Flacco's inaccuracy? Receivers not getting open? Or a combination of all three things? Mark Twain once said experience comes from making bad decisions, which is why it bothers me that this happens just a few weeks after the loss to Jacksonville. Somebody in the Ravens organization must have learned something from the Jacksonville loss...

I really don't want to pile on but man it's so freaking frustrating. Like I said earlier, the Ravens are one of the best run defenses in the league. Without knowing the rankings anyone would consider them better than the Seahawks. So why did Lynch get 30 carries? Because they were up early? Please. I think you mentioned Rice's average per carry when he did get the ball. Hell, they didn't even run it on the freaking 1 yard line. They could've saved that trick pass play for another game... or how about at least 2nd down.

Either Cam thinks these "easy" games are good for practice and showcasing how great Flacco is (which is really turning out to highlighting that he's not THAT guy at least at this point) or is overthinking what the defense is doing. Let them put 8 in the box all game... you still run your best player and then use the play action for what should be big, wide open plays. I hate jumping on the coaching staff but they've gotta give me something to work with. This crap they're spitting out either sucks or isn't consistent on a weekly basis with what we see on the field.

[JayBee74]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

I really don't want to pile on but man it's so freaking frustrating. Like I said earlier, the Ravens are one of the best run defenses in the league. Without knowing the rankings anyone would consider them better than the Seahawks. So why did Lynch get 30 carries? Because they were up early? Please. I think you mentioned Rice's average per carry when he did get the ball. Hell, they didn't even run it on the freaking 1 yard line. They could've saved that trick pass play for another game... or how about at least 2nd down. Either Cam thinks these "easy" games are good for practice and showcasing how great Flacco is (which is really turning out to highlighting that he's not THAT guy at least at this point) or is overthinking what the defense is doing. Let them put 8 in the box all game... you still run your best player and then use the play action for what should be big, wide open plays. I hate jumping on the coaching staff but they've gotta give me something to work with. This crap they're spitting out either sucks or isn't consistent on a weekly basis with what we see on the field.

It seemed to me that Flacco made some decent decisions but just flat out missed some throws. Sprinkle in a few drops and those are drive killers.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayBee74

It seemed to me that Flacco made some decent decisions but just flat out missed some throws. Sprinkle in a few drops and those are drive killers.

No doubt, and the int was a bad decision. But Boldin also dropped a pass for an important 1st down that hit him right between the numbers. And for the bombs Smith has caught, most of the "overthrown" passes to him looked instead like he slowed his stride almost not expecting the ball to be coming to him. He's a rookie... and the 2nd best wr/te on the team. And the best has seemed to drop one big pass every week. There's legit blame for all of them, but this has been them all season. Meanwhile, Ray Rice has been a beast all season. Who should the offense be modeled around?

Flacco is better than many are giving him credit for, but he's not good enough to make his WRs better. And none of them are good enough to make him better. I think people feel like he's getting worse, when at worse he's the same... just throwing 50 passes now when before it was closer to 25.

[da ThRONe]

I really don't get why Cameron doesn't matter just to hand the ball off more. As a Saints fan I can understand and we have one of the best Qb's in the league.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by da ThRONe

I really don't get why Cameron talks to hand the ball off more. As a Saints fan I can understand and we have one of the best Qb's in the league.

Yeah... and some forget how great the running game was the SB year just bc of how great Brees is. But I don't think that's the problem. In a perfect world, Flacco completes passes on first and second down and the run is mixed in from there. That's part of why I think he's seen as inconsistent. Sometimes that works, and Rice gets touches underneath to help both their numbers too. But a QB at Flacco's level shouldn't be expected to successfully run that gameplan throwing the ball 40 times. He's good enough to do it, but not good enough to do it consistently. And the guys he's passing to aren't good enough to help him bc they're inconsistent too.

In NO the passing game is good enough to set up the run. It's not in Baltimore, and the running game is good enough to set up the pass. Blah, I'm venting again.

[da ThRONe]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

Yeah... and some forget how great the running game was the SB year just bc of how great Brees is. But I don't think that's the problem. In a perfect world, Flacco completes passes on first and second down and the run is mixed in from there. That's part of why I think he's seen as inconsistent. Sometimes that works, and Rice gets touches underneath to help both their numbers too. But a QB at Flacco's level shouldn't be expected to successfully run that gameplan throwing the ball 40 times. He's good enough to do it, but not good enough to do it consistently. And the guys he's passing to aren't good enough to help him bc they're inconsistent too. In NO the passing game is good enough to set up the run. It's not in Baltimore, and the running game is good enough to set up the pass. Blah, I'm venting again.

I get what your saying, but Rice has to have more than 5 carries. The Seahawks did just the opposite ran too much and in to many obvious situations and almost lost a game where you guys for a large stretch were just trying to hand the W to them.