Kyle Boller blows the game

**weirddave** · 09-10-2007, 11:26 PM

That's the angle all the Boller haters are going to take, isn't it? They are going to ignore the horrible play of the McNair led offense that led us to this point, it's all Boller's fault, right? (For the record, I think McNair should be our starting QB, but I also think that Boller has shown a nice progression and is ready to be a capable starting QB next year. He had 3 bad years, then he had a veteran to learn from, and now he's ready to come into his own.)

For the purpose of this thread, forget McNair. He had a horrible game. It's a miracle that we were in it as late as we were. That doesn't matter. With 4:42 left in the fourth, Ravens down by 7, Boller trotted onto the field. I think he did just fine, but through the miracle of TIVO, I'm gonna analyze his play, snap by snap, and post my conclusions. Of course, you are free to disagree.

4:42 left, 1st and 10, ball on Cincy's 24 yard line: McGehee runs for 2.

2nd and 8: Nice outlet pass, leaves us in 3rd and 3

3rd and 3. Shotgun. Boller under pressure, nobody blocked the DE. He throws over the middle and it's knocked down

4th and 3. Crowd is going insane. Boller throws to Mason on the 3 yard line. Nice pass, outside the reach of any defenders but Mason grabbed it. 1st and goal

1st and goal. McGehee to the 1.

2nd and goal. Under a lot of pressure (is nobody blocking DEs in our scheme??) Boller throws off his back foot for Darling. The pass is batted down.

3rd and goal. McGehee runs to the 1.

2 minute warning

4th and goal. A complete BULLSHIT call on Heap. ABSOLUTE COMPLETE BULLSHIT! The defender clearly had a fistfull of Heap's jersey, but the call is on Heap. That leaves us in..

4th and goal from the 11. Boller has a defender in his face from the get go. He desperately throws it up to avoid the sack and....miracle of miracles, we get a flag! Defensive holding, we have it 1st and 10 at the 5!!!!! Whahoo!!!

1st and goal. Run to the two.

2nd goal. Boller drops back and throws the ball off his back foot to McClain. It's right in LaRon's hands and he drops it. Boller certainly didn't look good on that throw, but he got it there, it's McClain who muffs it, a pro makes that catch.

3rd and goal. Boller fires it across the middle to Heap in the endzone and HEAP BATS IT! Cincy catches it on the fly and that's all she wrote!

Game over.

But I still have one question for the haters: How was that Kyle's fault? He hit Heap right in the numbers. No matter how hard he throws that ball, it's Heap's job to catch it (and 99 times out of a hundred he does). Boller proved himself capable today, why do the haters find that so hard to accept?

**evade6317** · 09-11-2007, 12:55 AM

He got robbed.

**Sephy** · 09-11-2007, 01:25 AM

Why would anyone blame this on Boller? He was only even in for like, 8 plays!

**evade6317** · 09-11-2007, 08:28 AM

I'll say this much about the game. Had Boller thrown that high pass to Mason that ended up getting picked, the hugger clan would have blamed Mason for not catching the ball and allowing the pick.

McNair blew that throw.

**RavenDavey** · 09-11-2007, 08:47 AM

On the play right before the high throw and the INT, did McNair's groin injury cause him to not see the play clock run out and we had to call a time out to avoid a penalty????

**RavenDavey** · 09-11-2007, 08:55 AM

Continuity and momentum...

It gets the crowd more pumped by causing the offense to call a time out. A mental error by McNair that upset the tempo of the drive.

**UKRavenStockers** · 09-11-2007, 10:47 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091002706.html

^Mike Wilbon does what even Tex won't do, what a complete jackass.^

**jonboy79** · 09-11-2007, 12:02 PM

wow... astonishing stockers... did he even watch the game? As far as my scapegoat list, Boller would be abotu player 45 of 45.... with all of the coaches and ref's in front as well...

ha ha just for kicks, my scapegoats in order:
The Ref, that made THE CALL... wow... still confused.
McNair. - Whether he was hurt and that was why he couldn't throw the ball or navigate the pocket... Doesn't matter to me. Was his thumb hurt? He should not have been on the field.
Billick- He called a masterful game, until Boller stepped on the field. McNair's last throw was a suspect call, but the playcall worked, well. It was the execution that failed us there, Mason was open, and YET again McNair was nowhere near him. But, 5 passes in 8 downs with goal to go, 7 inside the 5... that's just wrong, even if you are the Colts.
Heap- "the best TE in the league with the best Hands" I hear it all the time on these boards. But, in this case, he was the culprit of one of the worst calls ever, but the call was made for a reason, he did push off, he always does. The defender held his jersey, so it was a bad call, btu he did push off. Worse then that, was the complete DROP off his numbers. I don't care how fast that pass was, it was straight, on target and in time. That is a catch unless the receiver drops it. Heap did worse then that, he tipped it up, to be caught.
JO- He should not have been active. His inability to play cost the Ravens to have one of the following active(Figures, Lloyd, Barnes, Burgess) all would have been more influencial to the game(Though we may have had to Miss Reed's PR).

Boller belongs way down here past the guys that didn't do so hot (Yanda) and the players that did fine(most), probably even past players that did very well(JJ, Musa MCG). He Belongs in this last group with Reed... and maybe noone else. Boller put his teammates in the position to win, and the effort failed through no fault of his own. Reed even had a costly PI call, but I guess he gets a mulligan on that...

**Gwaihir** · 09-11-2007, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by jonboy79

wow... astonishing stockers... did he even watch the game?

Since when are Reporters required to watch the game, especially from the Post? From my experience, it appears as if they never watch any games and just write about whatever agenda it is they're trying to push!

**Ravenator** · 09-11-2007, 02:04 PM

I like Wilbon but are you kidding to say he blew it? I mean he put the team in position to win as stated by an earlier poster. He made an NFL throw on 4th and 3. What I mean by this is a throw to the outside 20 yards down field. These were passes he had trouble with a few years ago. Now I will say I think he still needs to work on his footwork because he is still throwing off his back foot even when there isnt pressure on him.

Down inside the goal you go with a run play no questions asked but Billick went with a pass. If we are going to pass the ball why dont we try a roll out? Boller is not exactly slow as he has played behind a terrible offensive line when it comes to pass plays...He can escape and i feel if you give him the option to run it or pass it down on the goal you give yourself a better chance of scoring. One thing Boller showed me during the preseason is his awareness to throw the ball away when on the run. I truely believe he wouldn't force it down on the goal line on second down.
Just my opinion though.

**Greg** · 09-11-2007, 02:38 PM

LOL, so the question is, is Tex a real person or an automated script written by some Browns fan to torment us with scripted responses?

Boller rolls out fine, both ways. After the long pass to Wilcox in the pre-season he followed it up with a roll to the left and hit Wilcox again, right between the numbers WHILE ON THE MOVE.

**crazyraven** · 09-11-2007, 02:58 PM

I'm not going to kill boller, I feel he did what was necessary and should have had a few plays he could point to as reasons why he should stay here.

Sigh, But what ax does Wilbon have to grind with Boller. He's just echoing what has been said about Boller for years. Its just not the haters on the board, radio land or people on the streets of Baltimore, its much of America that feels this way about the kid. No matter which way you slice it, the kid is just a sad sack loser, plain and simple. If last night wasnt proof of it nothing else will ever convince you.

**Greg** · 09-11-2007, 03:36 PM

How is he a sad sack loser, he played fine and got f***ed by the officials and then had the best hands he could throw to let one bounce away.

How in the world you can turn last night into a downer for Boller is beyond me. Wilbon just blows.

**crazyraven** · 09-11-2007, 03:46 PM

How is he a sad sack loser, he played fine and got f***ed by the officials and then had the best hands he could throw to let one bounce away.

winners win. Losers lose. With a chance to win a big game, the boy just came (or comes) up empty handed. Does he have heart. Yes! Did Boller lose this game. No! But he didnt win it. When you go to your most trusted receiver twice in the end zone for sure touchdowns and he comes up empty handed. Both Times.....Sorry but Wilbon is right. lets be honest.

Seriously Im not knocking him. He has the heart of a lion.

**Greg** · 09-11-2007, 03:54 PM

LOL, TexScript v2.0!

**crazyraven** · 09-11-2007, 03:59 PM

Come on greg you never answered my question legitimately. Really, what ax does Wilbon have to grind with Boller. He could care less how the ravens play. What agenda does he have against him? None, and thats why you think he blows.

Again I'm not here to beat on Boller. I admired what he did but you cant take what wilbon wrote with a grain of salt. That piece is the epitome of Boller.

**Greg** · 09-11-2007, 04:04 PM

Wilbon blows because he is taking a position out of ignorance. He claimed Boller couldn't get the touchdown then sentences later notes how a bogus call cost him the TD. That is just plain stupid. Boller can not control the referees.

**jonboy79** · 09-11-2007, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by crazyraven

When you go to your most trusted receiver twice in the end zone for sure touchdowns and he comes up empty handed. Both Times.....Sorry but Wilbon is right. lets be honest.

WOOOAAAHHH
you ddint' actually flip that back on Boller did you? Yes he went to our "most trusted receiver" twice in the Endzone, and twice threw perfect strikes. The fact that our "most trusted receiver" got hosed on an obvious hold(where he DID push off, but was held). The second strike was dropped, PERIOD. That throw was fast, but that is NOT on Boller, that's all Heap. I don't care how fast the ball is, if it hits you in the numbers you catch it. Especially when you are paid as a TOP flight TE, and are a liability in the run game. Quite Simply, Heap was paid to catch that ball and didn't. If a single player is going ot be blamed, based on those last series', it's Heap, no question. That said, I think it's ludicrous to bring it all on one person(even 4 T/O McNair).

**darb72** · 09-11-2007, 07:16 PM

Wait a minute. Winners win, is that what Crazy just said?

Uhmmm.... you do realize that McNair lost us the play-off game last year right? And I'm willing to bet his four TOs last night didn't help us win the game.

**crazyraven** · 09-11-2007, 07:47 PM

Wait a minute. Winners win, is that what Crazy just said?

WHOOAA. Darb is back. Nice to see you back on the site.

Uhmmm.... you do realize that McNair lost us the play-off game last year right? And I'm willing to bet his four TOs last night didn't help us win the game.

There is no doubt that Mcnair is crossing into this territory, or to some he may even be knee deep in it. I dont disagree with either view. After watching last nights game mcnair haters have some very legitamate points. The thing is that doesnt excuse boller for coming up short. I can admit Mcnair sucks at times, it happens. yes, Mcnair has fallen a yard short of the super bowl and has blown other big games. Well if I you can see this ain Mcnair its shouldn't be too hard to see the Black Cloud that is hovering over Boller everytime he touches the damn ball.