So, any OL doubters turning into believers now?

**YorkRavensFan** · 09-11-2012, 08:59 AM

Birk may be the weak spot, but without his knowledge and leadership, would this young line be nearly as good?

**leachisabeast** · 09-11-2012, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by YorkRavensFan

Birk may be the weak spot, but without his knowledge and leadership, would this young line be nearly as good?

No.

**wickedsolo** · 09-11-2012, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by YorkRavensFan

Birk may be the weak spot, but without his knowledge and leadership, would this young line be nearly as good?

No way. He makes all of the line calls and adjustments.

**YorkRavensFan** · 09-11-2012, 09:05 AM

My point exactly. Everyone talking about he's the weak spot and we need to move on from him is asking for trouble. You want to see missed assignments, put the young guy in there and see what happens.

**JAB1985** · 09-11-2012, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by wickedsolo

Oher and KO are better than McKinnie and Oher. Any way you slice it...I think this is the OL that they were hoping to achieve. Young, nasty, quick, and strong.

Originally Posted by Dirt1

I thought Oher played well too. I still don't like how much ground he gives up in pass protection. A few times last night he got pushed back into Flacco, but for the most part he looked good. Oher is also a much better run blocker than McKinnie. I'll reserve judgment until after the Eagles game. The Eagles have a good pass rush, so let's see how they play in that game.

I think thats the only way it is better. Say what you want about McKinnie, but hes probably the best pass protector on the team. So any way you slice it? no. although as long as Flacco can get the ball out that quick, his deficiencies will be masked and his strengths magnified, which is exactly what you want and what were hoping for.

As far as Birk, hes the best option we have, and yeah he got mauled from time to time, but we were facing a top 10 defense with Peko and Atkins on the inside. He did a good job. the entire line did.

**wickedsolo** · 09-11-2012, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by JAB1985

I think thats the only way it is better. Say what you want about McKinnie, but hes probably the best pass protector on the team. So any way you slice it? no. although as long as Flacco can get the ball out that quick, his deficiencies will be masked and his strengths magnified, which is exactly what you want and what were hoping for.

As far as Birk, hes the best option we have, and yeah he got mauled from time to time, but we were facing a top 10 defense with Peko and Atkins on the inside. He did a good job. the entire line did.

McKinnie may be the best pass protector on the team...when he feels like it.

In this offense and if this is the type of offense that they want to run, then Oher/KO is the best option.

**Dirt1** · 09-11-2012, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by wickedsolo

McKinnie may be the best pass protector on the team...when he feels like it.

In this offense and if this is the type of offense that they want to run, then Oher/KO is the best option.

I saw a no huddle offense last night, not a hurry up offense. The Ravens are still using almost all of the play clock before snapping the ball. They are just using the no huddle offense to prevent substitutions by the opposing teams. There has never been an issue with the effort that McKinnie puts out in games. The coaches have issues with him in practice, but don't overstate that criticism. I haven't seen enough yet to say that Oher/KO is the best option.

**The Excellector** · 09-11-2012, 09:46 AM

It's called a Sugar Huddle.

**JAB1985** · 09-11-2012, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by wickedsolo

McKinnie may be the best pass protector on the team...when he feels like it.

even when he doesnt hes still better in that aspect alone. In this offense, that we had no idea how it was going to perform, they seem to be better for the reasons i listed. minimizing the pass protection length means run blocking is more important factor. theres no question Oher is much better than McKinnie in that aspect.

**scottie b** · 09-11-2012, 09:53 AM

havent read thru the whole thread,but do u guys think that the ravens were hiding Harewood thru the preseason as to not tip their hand?

**Dirt1** · 09-11-2012, 09:53 AM

I think the thing that helped the OL out the most last night was that Flacco looked way more decisive going through his progressions last night then he did last year. Flacco got rid of the ball faster, maybe because he had more guys open then he had last year. The routes that the Ravens ran seemed a lot more dynamic then last year. If Flacco continues to get rid of the ball as quickly as he did last night, that will go a long way towards hiding any deficiencies in the OL.

**deuce** · 09-11-2012, 09:53 AM

I was admittedly in panic mode about the o-line. Happy to be wrong, at least week 1.

**Terpsfan82** · 09-11-2012, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by scottie b

havent read thru the whole thread,but do u guys think that the ravens were hiding Harewood thru the preseason as to not tip their hand?

I remember when they drafted Harewood how they raved about his athleticism as a former soccer player. I have to admit I gave up hope he would contribute after being injured the last two years.

**2gigch1** · 09-11-2012, 10:16 AM

Re: Birk - regardless of the fact he was pushed back a few times what we can't see is how much his leadership helped the new o-linemen. I suspect it was and will be a significant contributing factor to the play of the youngsters. In numeric terms, even if Birk was physically playing 20% weaker than a better center, his leadership may very well have added +20% to the play of the other 4 alongside him, which nets a huge benefit overall. He may be playing his last year in the NFL but as a teacher to the students I hope he plays it out until the end.

**Lee Van Cleef** · 09-11-2012, 10:25 AM

The second sack was stupid. Rice picked up the blitzing DB, but Oher blocked a guy that stunted inside to Harewood and Birk, letting the LB come through untouched. Looked eerily similar to the infamous Polamalu sack.

**wickedsolo** · 09-11-2012, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by Lee Van Cleef

The second sack was stupid. Rice picked up the blitzing DB, but Oher blocked a guy that stunted inside to Harewood and Birk, letting the LB come through untouched. Looked eerily similar to the infamous Polamalu sack.

Well, for starters, that wasn't a linebacker at all. It was a cornerback blitz and they overloaded that side. Rice got his man, Oher and Harewood handled the stunt exchange. they just overloaded that side and I think it was Pacman Jones was left as a free runner. That is more on Flacco not recognizing the overload and either calling an audible or getting the ball out to a hot receiver to counter the blitz.

Not even close to the Polamalu blitz.

**Lee Van Cleef** · 09-11-2012, 10:47 AM

You're right, Rice picked up the LB, Howard who was coming off the edge, it just happened that he got pushed into the path of Pacman who was blitzing in from the same side. Rice was outnumbered, Oher stuck with Johnson who stunted inside leaving Birk watching Atkins (who didn't rush), and Harewood having time to go order takeout.

**JAB1985** · 09-11-2012, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by wickedsolo

Well, for starters, that wasn't a linebacker at all. It was a cornerback blitz and they overloaded that side. Rice got his man, Oher and Harewood handled the stunt exchange. they just overloaded that side and I think it was Pacman Jones was left as a free runner. That is more on Flacco not recognizing the overload and either calling an audible or getting the ball out to a hot receiver to counter the blitz.

Not even close to the Polamalu blitz.

true that Jones was free but Thomas Howard, the OLB, got there first and was awarded the sack. iirc Jones actually didnt even touch Flacco just pushed rice into him.

Originally Posted by Lee Van Cleef

You're right, Rice picked up the LB, Howard who was coming off the edge, it just happened that he got pushed into the path of Pacman who was blitzing in from the same side. Rice was outnumbered, Oher stuck with Johnson who stunted inside leaving Birk watching Atkins (who didn't rush), and Harewood having time to go order takeout.

so in other words, Oher should have picked up Howard, Harewood Johson and Rice Pacman.

**bmorecareful** · 09-11-2012, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by JAB1985

true that Jones was free but Thomas Howard, the OLB, got there first and was awarded the sack. iirc Jones actually didnt even touch Flacco just pushed rice into him.

so in other words, Oher should have picked up Howard, Harewood Johson and Rice Pacman.

Correct. That is how the stunt should have been blocked. It's hard to know who fouled up, but stunts really test the communication and mental preparation of the OL. You have to have confidence that if your assignment breaks away from you, the guy next to you can be trusted to pick it up.

Although our line was physically dominant, there were several miscommunications of this sort last night. It will improve in time.

**Stealthbirds80** · 09-11-2012, 11:32 AM

I think the coaches graded the top linemen from the preseason and started accordingly. Especially considering the up tempo offense.

Also Birk isn't a weak spot, he was facing a pretty good interior D line of the Bengals and will not have those problems every week. Gino should be ready next year after a year in the filmroom and weight room.