FILMSTUDY: Offensive line model and notes vs. Steelers 12/2/12

[TL24x7]

Did the Ravens throw the ball deep too often on Sunday?

To answer that we’d need to understand both the circumstances and results. Realizing, of course, that the outcome alone does not justify the gamble, let’s start by reviewing all the balls Flacco threw 20+ yards downfield:

1. (Q1, 14:22) In the face of Polomalu’s blitz, Flacco threw deep between the numbers and left hash for Torrey Smith. Smith turned and came close to hauling in the on-target throw, but Taylor stripped the ball. The Steelers’ CB limped off the field and would not return with a broken bone in his foot.

2. (Q2, 11:19) Smith had a step on Cortez Allen at the goal line between the hashes, but Allen was tracking the football. The ball was underthrown by perhaps 6 yards and Smith had to pull the ball free to avoid an interception. Simms commented that the ball could have been thrown to the outside as well to give Smith a chance to make the catch uncontested.

3. (Q2, 10:38) Allen tugged on Smith’s arm to prevent him from separating at the 10-yard line. A 30-yard PI was assessed when the ball fell incomplete in the end zone. Smith and Flacco have had success with long pass interference penalties because of the combination of Joe’s arm and Smith’s speed. Last year, they combined for the 3 longest PIs drawn in the NFL (50, 50, and 60 yards).

4. (Q2, 4:01) Flacco launched the ball down the left sideline for Boldin who caught it for a gain of 31 (24 in the air + 7 YAC) with Allen again in coverage.

5. (Q2, 3:23) On the very next play, Flacco threw a nearly identical pass from the same formation. Allen was again in coverage 27 yards down the left sideline and began to tackle Boldin just before the ball arrived. Boldin nonetheless hauled it in and fell forward for the TD.

6. (Q3, 8:24) Flacco threw for Jacoby Jones 25 yards down the right sideline. The ball was overthrown by approximately 2 yards, but JJ got a tip that avoided any possibility of an interception by Keenan Lewis.

7. (Q3, 5:08) Flacco threw deep left to the goal line where Smith had plenty of room to haul in the ball behind Allen, but he dropped it. Flacco was visibly upset.

8. (Q4, 15:00) On 3rd and 15, Flacco threw 44 yards down the right sideline for Jones. Lewis had position underneath and leapt to deflect the ball for a PD.

9. (Q4, 6:43) The Ravens zone blocked left as Flacco booted right. Leach missed the block on Worilds, which forced Joe to throw on the run. He launched a 48-yard artillery shell between the hashes. Smith anticipated an underthrow, but the ball went long over him and Lewis.

Flacco was 2 of 8 for 58 yards plus a 30-yard PI with a 1 TD, 0 INT on his deep balls
With Taylor’s injury, Flacco picked primarily on Cortez Allen. He had trouble finding the football.

The absence of LaMarr Woodley meant Dick Lebeau had to scheme more for pressure, which left more Steelers backpedaling from the line of scrimmage and inviting the long ball.
Flacco had Ample Time and Space (ATS) on 24 of 37 dropbacks. Consistent ATS is an incentive to try for longer pass plays.

The long throws were generally on target and not dangerously misthrown. Smith had a drop and another on which he might not have been stripped.

The Ravens threw a number of deep balls because the Steelers, due to both injury and defensive scheme, dared them to do so. While the result wasn’t a Ravens’ win, I’d be much more concerned if the team was unwilling to take such risks.

The Ravens had 56 snaps (excluding Flacco’s first-half kneels) and the starting linemen played every snap:

For the individual scoring and other offensive notes click HERE

[bacchys]

Another great jog, Film.

Some folks 'round here aren't going to like this:

The long throws were generally on target and not dangerously misthrown. Smith had a drop and another on which he might not have been stripped.

[landspeed]

Another great jog, Film.

Some folks 'round here aren't going to like this:

No, Joe is very bad, you stop that

[Ravenswintitle]

Another great jog, Film.

Some folks 'round here aren't going to like this:

that's a backhanded insult if you ask me. not dangerously misthrown? In other words no one could catch them

[Tspot-D-Ravenator]

that's a backhanded insult if you ask me. not dangerously misthrown? In other words no one could catch them

It looked to me as if Joe was told to not make a mistake. I thought that most of his throws were off mark and only where the receiver could make a play on the ball. If a QB is told to not make a mistake, he probably will make a mistake or he will not be effective. This is what I think our coaching staff tells Joe.

[landspeed]

It looked to me as if Joe was told to not make a mistake. I thought that most of his throws were off mark and only where the receiver could make a play on the ball. If a QB is told to not make a mistake, he probably will make a mistake or he will not be effective. This is what I think our coaching staff tells Joe.

They need to tell him to just go out there and sling it

or stop fucking with the head of a 5 year proven QB

[houstonravensfan]

Film, this was even better than usual.

Back OT . . . the OL. Very poor performance from Birk and Oher. I suppose we can BLAME CAM, because he is in charge of the O overall and thus is Moeller's boss, but forget the blame. The OL is the foundation and our is cracked. Sure, Joe takes too much time to throw, but the O line sometimes gives too little time for ANYONE to throw. And the O line is partially to blame for too many 2nd and 8s and 9s -- Rice often runs into a wall instead of a hole, because there ARE NO holes. Then Joe is forced to throw,and the D knows it, and the O line can't give him enough time, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Assuming we resign Flacco (I'm for it) we need to give him even better suppport than he has now. That means a better O line.

[landspeed]

Film, this was even better than usual.

Back OT . . . the OL. Very poor performance from Birk and Oher. I suppose we can BLAME CAM, because he is in charge of the O overall and thus is Moeller's boss, but forget the blame. The OL is the foundation and our is cracked. Sure, Joe takes too much time to throw, but the O line sometimes gives too little time for ANYONE to throw. And the O line is partially to blame for too many 2nd and 8s and 9s -- Rice often runs into a wall instead of a hole, because there ARE NO holes. Then Joe is forced to throw,and the D knows it, and the O line can't give him enough time, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Assuming we resign Flacco (I'm for it) we need to give him even better suppport than he has now. That means a better O line.

McKinnie - KO - Birk - Yanda - Oher

But regardless of whether or not we need a new O-line, having long developing pass plays is completely ass backwards

[Justlovemybirds]

Good to see Jah showing improvement.

[bacchys]

that's a backhanded insult if you ask me. not dangerously misthrown? In other words no one could catch them

I didn't read it that way. It means the passes weren't the wildly misthrown balls that one would think reading some critics of Flacco here.

Some of the overthrows and underthrows aren't either. They're miscommunications between the QB and receiver.

[Paintballguy]

McKinnie - KO - Birk - Yanda - Oher

But regardless of whether or not we need a new O-line, having long developing pass plays is completely ass backwards

I think the McKinnie ship has sailed some time ago. He doesn't even try when he comes on the field.

[landspeed]

I think the McKinnie ship has sailed some time ago. He doesn't even try when he comes on the field.

Hes 33, he played pretty well last year, in no way deserved to lose his job and even dedicated himself to staying in shape this offseason. Of course hes going to be pissed and see no hope in trying hard. If he can lose his job for.... doing his job.. then why would he want to be on the field for us?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...re-ravens-camp

So how do they respond? Jared Gaither all the fuck over again.

They move an incapable LT over to the LT spot rather than keeping the line how it was.

Literally, the only change we should have had this offseason on the O-line was grubbs replacement.

With that said, I have seen no evidence of him "not trying" when hes on the field. You cant make that evaluation when hes on the field for, at most, 3 snaps/game

[wickedsolo]

I think the McKinnie/Gaither crowd may be some of the most dramatic posters I've ever seen.

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[JustaslowZ06]

I think the McKinnie ship has sailed some time ago. He doesn't even try when he comes on the field.

And he's still better than Oher. Oher is garbage. Look I understand finding a great LT is hard, almost as much as finding a good QB. But damn I'd even take middle of the road at this point and unfortunatly Pher isn't even that. He's bottom third. I would've rather they tried KO or Reid over there than move Oher back.

[JustaslowZ06]

I think the McKinnie/Gaither crowd may be some of the most dramatic posters I've ever seen.

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The problem is. Oher cant hold either of their jocks.

[landspeed]

I think the McKinnie/Gaither crowd may be some of the most dramatic posters I've ever seen.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Forum Runner

Oh really? I just see it more as John Harbaugh trying to force his 1st round draft pick into becoming Jon Ogden

[Paintballguy]

And he's still better than Oher. Oher is garbage. Look I understand finding a great LT is hard, almost as much as finding a good QB. But damn I'd even take middle of the road at this point and unfortunatly Pher isn't even that. He's bottom third. I would've rather they tried KO or Reid over there than move Oher back.

I agree that oher isn't a lt. He has a lot more bad games then good.


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[wickedsolo]

Please, show me where I was wrong in anything I said.

Im becoming a broken record asking that damn question. Everyone around here literally just has some derogatory remark about something, but never backs up their "argument." Its basically, "youre wrong, Im right - because I said so."

Hang on there chappy.

I didnt say you were wrong or right.

Literally everyone on this board who is pro McKinnie and/or anti Oher has some over the top conspiracy that they are either purposely not playing him to avoid paying more money to him OR because they dont like him and dont want him playing in their sand box anymore.

Fact - they wanted him to lose more weight and get into better shape than he was last year.
Fact - he didnt achieve that. That is why they held him out during OTA's.
Fact - he not only failed to show up on time to training camp, but the guy also didnt even notify them of what was going on.
Fact - he had his chiropractor call Harbs and tell him that he would report soon and was resting his back because he slipped and fell right before training camp.
Fact - when he reported to training camp he was not in good shape and was still hurt, ergo he couldn't practice nor play in any games until the 3rd pre season game IIRC.
Fact - KO played pretty damn well at RT during pre-season. They werent expecting that. They were expecting him to play LG.
Fact - Oher played pretty well this pre-season at LT and unlike McKinnie was in excellent shape and could handle the rigors of a high paced up tempo offense.
Fact - McKinnie is by far the better tackle, but hasnt put forth any effort whatsoever to make the coaches reconsider the starting OL.

Those are the real reasons why McKinnie is riding the pine. Whether or not folks want to accept it, that's the way it is.

Is Oher great? Hell no. But he is in great shape, wants to get better, and is reliable. He has also improved greatly in a lot of aspects.

Again, I think if Harbs or Cam or whoever were to just straight up go with the sugar huddle O, we would all see that Oher is a fairly decent LT in that style of offense.

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[wickedsolo]

Oh really? I just see it more as John Harbaugh trying to force his 1st round draft pick into becoming Jon Ogden

Haha. Ok.

You're probably right. Why would any coach actually want to field the best team? To hell with that. If you are not one of the boys, you dont play. Doesn't matter how much effort you put into it because if the coach doesnt like you then you wont play.

Makes sense.

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[landspeed]

Hang on there chappy.

I didnt say you were wrong or right.

Literally everyone on this board who is pro McKinnie and/or anti Oher has some over the top conspiracy that they are either purposely not playing him to avoid paying more money to him OR because they dont like him and dont want him playing in their sand box anymore.

Fact - they wanted him to lose more weight and get into better shape than he was last year.
Fact - he didnt achieve that. That is why they held him out during OTA's.
Fact - he not only failed to show up on time to training camp, but the guy also didnt even notify them of what was going on.
Fact - he had his chiropractor call Harbs and tell him that he would report soon and was resting his back because he slipped and fell right before training camp.
Fact - when he reported to training camp he was not in good shape and was still hurt, ergo he couldn't practice nor play in any games until the 3rd pre season game IIRC.
Fact - KO played pretty damn well at RT during pre-season. They werent expecting that. They were expecting him to play LG.
Fact - Oher played pretty well this pre-season at LT and unlike McKinnie was in excellent shape and could handle the rigors of a high paced up tempo offense.
Fact - McKinnie is by far the better tackle, but hasnt put forth any effort whatsoever to make the coaches reconsider the starting OL.

Those are the real reasons why McKinnie is riding the pine. Whether or not folks want to accept it, that's the way it is.

Is Oher great? Hell no. But he is in great shape, wants to get better, and is reliable. He has also improved greatly in a lot of aspects.

Again, I think if Harbs or Cam or whoever were to just straight up go with the sugar huddle O, we would all see that Oher is a fairly decent LT in that style of offense.

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Fact - they wanted him to lose more weight and get into better shape than he was last year.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...re-ravens-camp

It seems as if the ravens organization doesnt think LT's are allowed to be injured