32 seconds til the half, 3 time outs, and you're kicking away to open the 3rd quarter. What do you do?

[bmorecareful]

If you're John Harbaugh, you kneel out the clock. With 32 seconds left in the half and all 3 timeouts, having just given up a FG to the Steelers and kicking the ball away out of the break, Harbaugh refused to let his offense try to score. While we're talking about coaching failures, let's talk about this one that seems to have gone unnoticed. Sure, the Ravens offense wasn't lighting the world on fire, but you don't even TRY? You don't even hand the ball off to Ray Rice and see if he can break a big one? If he does, you call a timeout and see if you can put something together. If not, no big deal!

Contrast Harbaugh's complete lack of gumption with Andy Reid and the Eagles starting a ROOKIE vs. Dallas last week. 41 seconds, all 3 timeouts, they drove 58 yards and kicked a FG. Flacco might not be elite, he might not even be very good, but he's no raw rookie! Andy Reid knows his time is over, so he's coaching with nothing to lose. He might not be winning but at least he's trying.

Or contrast that with the Giants last night. 41 seconds, all 3 timeouts, 54 yards and a FG. Yeah, Eli Manning and the Giants offense is pretty good, but they too were playing a critical division game with a lot of implications, AND they were on the road.

Just another coaching failure to hang around Harbaugh's neck.

[Jsmoove]

thats when I know we were going to lose.

[TTRaven]

If you're John Harbaugh, you kneel out the clock. With 32 seconds left in the half and all 3 timeouts, having just given up a FG to the Steelers and kicking the ball away out of the break, Harbaugh refused to let his offense try to score. While we're talking about coaching failures, let's talk about this one that seems to have gone unnoticed. Sure, the Ravens offense wasn't lighting the world on fire, but you don't even TRY? You don't even hand the ball off to Ray Rice and see if he can break a big one? If he does, you call a timeout and see if you can put something together. If not, no big deal!

What if he fumbles? Then the Steelers have an opportunity to get points and get the ball to start the 2nd half. I have no issue with Harbaugh playing it safe there.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

If this is a reference to Tony's article, IMHO, I agree with what we did Sunday.

Now, LAST week, I was totally against playing for the FG at the end of regulation in San Diego. Totally. If you are inside the opponents 30 with 40 seconds and 2 time outs (I think it was 2...may have only been 1), and on the road, you should IMHO play to win.

[Jsmoove]

you play to win the game, no risk no reward just stagnation.

[RavensNTerps]

If this is a reference to Tony's article, IMHO, I agree with what we did Sunday.

Now, LAST week, I was totally against playing for the FG at the end of regulation in San Diego. Totally. If you are inside the opponents 30 with 40 seconds and 2 time outs (I think it was 2...may have only been 1), and on the road, you should IMHO play to win.

I don't know why it's so obvious to me and no one else but read what you said there and tell me that does not reek of a coach who does not fully trust his QB.

[Bhcforlife]

What if he fumbles? Then the Steelers have an opportunity to get points and get the ball to start the 2nd half. I have no issue with Harbaugh playing it safe there.

Rice has fumbled three times total in the past three years (48 games). "What if he fumbles" isn't a valid argument for sitting on the ball there, in my opinion.

[Jsmoove]

why draft Joe just not trust him? Something is not right here, but one thing is for sure, Cam, Harbs and Joe or not on the same page, the problem where does it lie? It always starts with the head coach.

[bmorecareful]

If this is a reference to Tony's article, IMHO, I agree with what we did Sunday.

Now, LAST week, I was totally against playing for the FG at the end of regulation in San Diego. Totally. If you are inside the opponents 30 with 40 seconds and 2 time outs (I think it was 2...may have only been 1), and on the road, you should IMHO play to win.

I don't know why it's so obvious to me and no one else but read what you said there and tell me that does not reek of a coach who does not fully trust his QB.

I don't read any of the articles posted on the main site except Filmstudy, but I went back and read the article by Tony Lombardi that Woodlawn mentioned and yeah, it's pretty much the same argument I'm making.

The Lombardi article has one critical error. Both the Eagles and Giants started off their drives WITH A HANDOFF TO THEIR BACK. YOU DON'T NEED TO "TRUST" FLACCO. Besides that, I doubt the coaches have no "trust" in their QB who has orchestrated quick drives for scores under pressure pretty much every time when asked over the years. I don't think it's a lack of trust, I think it's just a general close-mindedness to ANYTHING seen as "risky."

Ultimately yes, if you put a drive together, you are probably looking at moving the ball through the air, but there's no "rule" that says you can't run a draw out of the shotgun to catch the defense off guard (which, as I said, worked for both the Eagles and Giants.) Get that initial first down and see what happens. You have all 3 timeouts--did John Harbaugh forget that they don't carry over into the 2nd half? Almost every game he mismanages his timeouts.

I'm not even going to address those who say Harbaugh was correct because there was a chance somebody might fumble. By that logic, might as well start kneeling on the ball the instant you get a lead, even if it's 5 minutes into the first quarter!

[Cj34]

I don't know why it's so obvious to me and no one else but read what you said there and tell me that does not reek of a coach who does not fully trust his QB.

I think it's a coach that is afraid to take chances. I doubt if Harbaugh's approach would be any different if they had brought Peyton here in the offseason. Playing it safe is just his coaching style and personality. He'd rather sit back, play it safe and wait for the other team to mess up. It usually works in the regular season and is very successful against mediocre or bad teams. The problem is against good/great teams and in the playoffs the margain of error shrinks drastically.

[NCRAVEN]

I think it's a coach that is afraid to take chances. I doubt if Harbaugh's approach would be any different if they had brought Peyton here in the offseason. Playing it safe is just his coaching style and personality. He'd rather sit back, play it safe and wait for the other team to mess up. It usually works in the regular season and is very successful against mediocre or bad teams. The problem is against good/great teams and in the playoffs the margain of error shrinks drastically.

[AirFlacco]

thats when I know we were going to lose.

If you're a Ravens fan you start drinking heavily.

[Ravens44]

I don't know the exact answer to any of these things that happen behind close doors, that's for sure, I can only guess.

But here is something you can count on.
IF Boldin is not here next season, I would bet you, we will hear what is going on between the coaches and the players from him. While he is here, he is not saying anything. He tries to get Cam to listen but it doesn't sound like he listens much. I was surprised he finally took Boldin's word about what San Diego was doing defensively and actually implemented it.

As much as I could jump on this pile, there is the MORE pressing need to design plays to gain natural separation for our receivers. Every other team in the NFL and MANY teams in college do so.
Why not the Ravens? What is it that Cam doesn't understand?
Do ANY of our coaches see other teams' receivers running free and ask themselves how is that happening?
And let's at least look at the film afterwards to at least figure it out then?
And maybe WE should do THAT? rubs and triplets criss crossing all over the field, running free.

I believe THAT is the single, biggest problem of this team.
For if our receivers were running free and open by almost 3 yards or more, I believe Joe would have a field day and his confidence would grow with every completion and so would the entire organization and fanbase.
And our entire team would benefit with an offense that could move the ball up and down the field and keep our defense on the sideline. The talent on offense is there at the skill positions.

[PurpleApocalypse37]

What if he fumbles? Then the Steelers have an opportunity to get points and get the ball to start the 2nd half. I have no issue with Harbaugh playing it safe there.

If that's what our mindset is, with Ray Rice fumbling less than any other running back in NFL history (or close to that), then they were playing like bitches.

[Ravenswintitle]

I think he really needed to go to the bathroom so he had em run out the clock

[TTRaven]

If that's what our mindset is, with Ray Rice fumbling less than any other running back in NFL history (or close to that), then they were playing like bitches.

A fumble is just an example of what could have happened.

You're up against the #1 total defense, #1 pass defense, and #5 run defense in a close game. You really think the Ravens are going to be able to get in a position to score? Why take that risk in a game that you know is more than likely going to come down to a FG?

Now of course there's a small chance some plays are made an the Ravens get some points. It just wasn't worth the risk IMO.

[StingerNLG]

A fumble is just an example of what could have happened.

You're up against the #1 total defense, #1 pass defense, and #5 run defense in a close game. You really think the Ravens are going to be able to get in a position to score? Why take that risk in a game that you know is more than likely going to come down to a FG?

Now of course there's a small chance some plays are made an the Ravens get some points. It just wasn't worth the risk IMO.

But aren't we the same fan base that complains Ray Rice is our best offensive player and we don't give him the ball enough? But we not trust him in this situation? What if Rice busts through for a long gain?

I think if Rice is supposed to get the ball, that is a situation he gets it on.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

[Sua Sponte]

a team playing to win calls the timeout with a minute left on 3rd down and if they convert the still have a long ways to go to score. If they don't convert, which they didn't (and they probably would have ran to make us use another timeout and in all likely hood not gaining enough for the 1st and you get the ball back with 40+ seconds left.

[TTRaven]

But aren't we the same fan base that complains Ray Rice is our best offensive player and we don't give him the ball enough? But we not trust him in this situation?

It's not about not trusting Rice in that situation(I was just using him as an example). It's about knowing your opponent and what they've done to you defensively in the 1st half.

What if Rice busts through for a long gain?

Again, what if he fumbles the ball? I know it's not likely, but breaking off a big run against the #1 defense isn't likely either.

I would have had no issue if Harbaugh decided to try and get points. I'm just pointing out the other side of the argument.

[JMUpurkfool]

It's not about not trusting Rice in that situation(I was just using him as an example). It's about knowing your opponent and what they've done to you defensively in the 1st half.



Again, what if he fumbles the ball? I know it's not likely, but breaking off a big run against the #1 defense isn't likely either.

I would have had no issue if Harbaugh decided to try and get points. I'm just pointing out the other side of the argument.

It's another example of how Bi-polar this offense is.

We go conservative at the end of the first half by just taking a knee... and we spend the whole second half throwing with a lead.