The New Mentality Has Not Fully Set In Yet.

**The Excellector** · 09-18-2012, 08:43 AM

Here is my issue with the offensive play-calling. In the first half, the tempo was not as fast as in Cincinnati, but Philadelphia did have an issue making substitutions. Actually, part of the reason why Rice was ringing off ten yards a pop was, because they had Philadelphia spread out and the Eagles were expecting the pass. So, the middle was wide open for Rice.

When the second half began, I figured that the Ravens would really increase the tempo and go for the throat. Joe made one mistake with the ball and they just went otherwise. I will admit that they did abandon Rice momentarily in the third. However, when they did go back to him, they were in heavier, more obvious running packages. Yet, they still hadn't done much to wear down the Eagles D. I figured that they would do more to wear them down before going to that, but they didn't. Philadelphia just closed in.

From there, it was Rice on first and second down, from the predictable I (There is an unpredictable I), putting Flacco in the gun on third.

Now, you can say that they should have ran on third and short. You can say that Joe should have made better throws and if you are talking about the throw to Pitta on 3rd and 2 I agree.

However, I don't think that Joe has the power to immediate shift to the up-tempo Sugar Huddle. That is the sideline's call. It was like it has been in the past. They try to open things up, but the minute Joe makes one mistake and the game gets tight, the coaching staff curls.

Now, I'm not saying that Joe played great, but he played much better with the first half, offensive game plan, as did Rice.

This coaching staff has to stop panicking on the road, on both sides of the ball.

**Captain Silver** · 09-18-2012, 08:48 AM

Here goes and I stick by this. We have a good head coach. That's it.

We are a good team. We will always be a "good" team while he is coach.

We will never be a "great" team with him as coach. People are satisfied with making the playoffs every year.

In the end, we will not win a Super Bowl with John Harbaugh as coach. His brother with the 49ers will win one before he does. Bank on it.

**The Excellector** · 09-18-2012, 08:53 AM

It wasn't just about letting Joe throw or putting Joe in the gun. It was the reality that they hadn't weakened the pass rush at all, took their sweet time, and left him back there to deal with arguably the best four man rush in the league. Meanwhile, when they did run, it was with far more predictability. No first down play action, no motion. No spread formations. So, his ten yards a pop turned into three, and sometimes four (which was bad I guess).

Like I said, you can argue that they should have kept running on those 3rd and shorts, but it was even clearer that the run was more effective, in fewer snaps, in the first half with the sugar huddle.

**Terpsfan82** · 09-18-2012, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Captain Silver

Here goes and I stick by this. We have a good head coach. That's it.

We are a good team. We will always be a "good" team while he is coach.

We will never be a "great" team with him as coach. People are satisfied with making the playoffs every year.

In the end, we will not win a Super Bowl with John Harbaugh as coach. His brother with the 49ers will win one before he does. Bank on it.

**redmike34** · 09-18-2012, 08:59 AM

You may be right, but... personally, I think that the play calling probably should have changed for the second half. You're up 10 points in the opponent's stadium, and all they've been able to do is score one TD on a short field when you turned the ball over. To me, that's the point in a game where you go into ball control mode. Run the ball, run time off the clock, get first downs, and try to get the game over.

Granted, that's a very 20/20 hindsight strategy, but if we had done that I think we win the game. Our three 3-and-outs in the third quarter only ate up 2:33 of game time. One was only 28 seconds. If we'd just run the ball and let the clock run, there might not have been time for Vick to get the winning score.

What just kills me about this game is continuing to put Flacco in the situation of having to pass when he clearly was off. If he was actually injured... why not game plan around his injury by running the ball more? Or put Taylor in? I know many around here are not high on Taylor's play, but considering Joe was what, 6/28 with a pick in the second half, I doubt Taylor could have done much worse. In fact, a mobile QB who's a threat to run may well have neutralized a lot of what Philly was doing to us in the 2nd half.

Just my .02...

**Ravenswintitle** · 09-18-2012, 08:59 AM

The defense was winded and they had to stay on the field, that's why they didn't go with a hurry up offense. Those last couple of offensive possessions though were head shakers.

And the D let them drive the length of the field for the winning TD. I said all week I was worried about this game and the results don't surprise me but they could've won it.

Can't win em all, there are more teams at 1-1 right now than there have ever been in history. Ever. It's not the end of the world for the Ravens

**The Excellector** · 09-18-2012, 09:00 AM

Again, this wasn't about run or pass, so much as it was about how they were doing it. In the first half, in the sugar huddle, Joe was pretty darn accurate. Ray Rice was ripping ten yards a pop and the only thing that kept the Ravens from dropping twenty in that half was an illegal contact penalty on Rice that wasn't called on a third down.

This going conservative the minute Flacco makes a mistake stuff is starting to get old. Obviously, Joe has more control of the offense in the Sugar Huddle and, even in the first half, he did a great job of recognizing when to call Rice up the middle. He made one mistake, knew it as soon as he left the field. At some point, I think we need to let our offense persevere. They had Philly on the ropes.

**leachisabeast** · 09-18-2012, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by Captain Silver

Here goes and I stick by this. We have a good head coach. That's it.

We are a good team. We will always be a "good" team while he is coach.

We will never be a "great" team with him as coach. People are satisfied with making the playoffs every year.

In the end, we will not win a Super Bowl with John Harbaugh as coach. His brother with the 49ers will win one before he does. Bank on it.

Wow we lose one fucking game, and people are reacting like this?

So Lee Evans makes that catch and we're in the SB, and Harbaugh is all of a sudden a future HOFer?

You guys need to get over this loss, there is such thing as losing to the Philadelphia Eagles on the road by one point, it doesn't warrant us to all think we are no longer a SB contender.

I actually agree with Ex here, we needed to keep the up tempo going.

**The Excellector** · 09-18-2012, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by redmike34

You may be right, but... personally, I think that the play calling probably should have changed for the second half. You're up 10 points in the opponent's stadium, and all they've been able to do is score one TD on a short field when you turned the ball over. To me, that's the point in a game where you go into ball control mode. Run the ball, run time off the clock, get first downs, and try to get the game over.

Granted, that's a very 20/20 hindsight strategy, but if we had done that I think we win the game. Our three 3-and-outs in the third quarter only ate up 2:33 of game time. One was only 28 seconds. If we'd just run the ball and let the clock run, there might not have been time for Vick to get the winning score.

What just kills me about this game is continuing to put Flacco in the situation of having to pass when he clearly was off. If he was actually injured... why not game plan around his injury by running the ball more? Or put Taylor in? I know many around here are not high on Taylor's play, but considering Joe was what, 6/28 with a pick in the second half, I doubt Taylor could have done much worse. In fact, a mobile QB who's a threat to run may well have neutralized a lot of what Philly was doing to us in the 2nd half.

Just my .02...

My point is that they still could have run the ball from the sugar huddle, moved the ball better and ran off clock. That's how effective it was in the first half. Philadelphia might have become desperate and it would have been a play action waiting to happen.

**The Excellector** · 09-18-2012, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle

The defense was winded and they had to stay on the field, that's why they didn't go with a hurry up offense. Those last couple of offensive possessions though were head shakers.

And the D let them drive the length of the field for the winning TD. I said all week I was worried about this game and the results don't surprise me but they could've won it.

Can't win em all, there are more teams at 1-1 right now than there have ever been in history. Ever. It's not the end of the world for the Ravens

I still think that this team will win this division, but the defense blowing two leads is worrisome.

**Lime in the Coconut** · 09-18-2012, 09:03 AM

I know it's only two games and we've played two formidable offenses but the Ravens currently are 27th in total defense. 20th against the run and 26th vs the pass. I hope this trend doesn't continue, but we play some pretty high octane offenses and one of them is this Sunday night.

**The Excellector** · 09-18-2012, 09:04 AM

The crazy thing is that the run defense improved yesterday. The only big run that McCoy had was when Jimmy tried to tackle with his head down. That was forty yards right there.

**Ravenswintitle** · 09-18-2012, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by The Excellector

I still think that this team will win this division, but the defense blowing two leads is worrisome.

My concern is the schedule - it's brutal. I penciled them in to lose the Philly game and I think they will win the next two at home. That would be 3-1.

Then it's at KC, Dallas at Houston
back half has them at Pitt, at San Diego, Pitt, at Washington, Broncos, Giants... they'll be lucky to make the playoffs this year it's just reality. I think they win 9 or 10, 9 won't cut it but 10 probably will. Just my hunch at this point of the season

**Captain Silver** · 09-18-2012, 09:08 AM

Hey, this is just my observation over the years. Coaches are hard to find. But I look at his record, his demeanor, and we are Philly South. We are always going to be good, but I feel like greatness is just a hair beyond John Harbaugh's reach.

This isn't over reaction to one loss either, this is a collection of performances of games the Raven's should have won. Not home games where life is easy, road games that are so close that all you can say is a little better game management and we would have won some of those closer games.

Unless this team catches fire like the Giant's did last year, I see a repeat of the great statement "John Harbaugh has made the playoffs 4 (soon to be 5) years in a row.

At some point this must not be "good enough", I want better. Hey, Dungy got the axe in Tampa for this exact reason and Chucky put them over the top, anyone got him on speed dial???

**Raveninwoodlawn** · 09-18-2012, 09:10 AM

The bottom line is that this team has to stop beating itself.

The common theme in all our big losses are unforced errors by us in crunch time.

I don't know what we need to do, but it's almost becoming comical and we are becoming the Eagles of the last decade...really good team that just makes mistakes at the worst possible times.

**redmike34** · 09-18-2012, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by Lime in the Coconut

I know it's only two games and we've played two formidable offenses but the Ravens currently are 27th in total defense. 20th against the run and 26th vs the pass. I hope this trend doesn't continue, but we play some pretty high octane offenses and one of them is this Sunday night.

...but 6th in points allowed.

**pslholder96** · 09-18-2012, 09:12 AM

I agree that the ravens need to stick with the same tempo they showed against cincinnati and didn't have a problem with the calls to come out passing in the 3rd quarter but at some point they should have recognize on all those 3rd and shorts that they need to add Ray Rice to the mix.
Just remember that price of being pass heavy and up tempo is more 3 and outs this year and we saw some of that in the Eagles game. I feel Joe needs to be in shotgun more than half the time regardless of whether the call is for a pass or run

**pslholder96** · 09-18-2012, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by redmike34

...but 6th in points allowed.

Bingo and that my friend is what you call the "bend but don't break" defense. This is what we are going to see this season. Alot of yardage but hopefully fewer points.

**GOTA** · 09-18-2012, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by Captain Silver

Here goes and I stick by this. We have a good head coach. That's it.

We are a good team. We will always be a "good" team while he is coach.

We will never be a "great" team with him as coach. People are satisfied with making the playoffs every year.

In the end, we will not win a Super Bowl with John Harbaugh as coach. His brother with the 49ers will win one before he does. Bank on it.

Could be. John Harbaugh seems to be a lot like Andy Reid. They are both very good coaches but always seem to fall short when it counts most.

**pslholder96** · 09-18-2012, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Captain Silver

Here goes and I stick by this. We have a good head coach. That's it.

We are a good team. We will always be a "good" team while he is coach.

We will never be a "great" team with him as coach. People are satisfied with making the playoffs every year.

In the end, we will not win a Super Bowl with John Harbaugh as coach. His brother with the 49ers will win one before he does. Bank on it.

You know the ravens have a 24 hour rule. Maybe we need to make it a week for you? I understand your frustration however these kinds of emotional responses 2 days after a loss are an overreaction. Were you saying this after we beat the bengals?