The New Mentality Has Not Fully Set In Yet.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

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.

Get used to it.

I said this in the preseason...as did a couple others...this defense is nowhere near the defense we are used to.

[The Excellector]

Get used to it.

I said this in the preseason...as did a couple others...this defense is nowhere near the defense we are used to.

That is what was weird about yesterday. As sloppy as the offense played in the second half, they still put up 23 and gave the defense two separate leads. Usually, when you talk about sloppy offense with the Ravens, you are talking 10-13 points at best. They still put up twenty three, giving the defense a ten point lead that it blew, followed by a six point lead that it blew.

[redmike34]

Get used to it.

I said this in the preseason...as did a couple others...this defense is nowhere near the defense we are used to.

First two games of 2011... Ravens D allowed 33 points and 744 yards.

First two games of 2012... Ravens D allowed 37 points and 808 yards.

Considering all the personnel turnover on the defense, and the fact that the 2012 Eagles seem to be a much better team than the 2011 Titans, do you really think 4 more points and 64 more yards is THAT big of a deal?

[The Excellector]

First two games of 2011... Ravens D allowed 33 points and 744 yards.

First two games of 2012... Ravens D allowed 37 points and 808 yards.

Considering all the personnel turnover on the defense, and the fact that the 2012 Eagles seem to be a much better team than the 2011 Titans, do you really think 4 more points and 64 more yards is THAT big of a deal?

We'll find out when New England comes to town.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

First two games of 2011... Ravens D allowed 33 points and 744 yards.

First two games of 2012... Ravens D allowed 37 points and 808 yards.

Considering all the personnel turnover on the defense, and the fact that the 2012 Eagles seem to be a much better team than the 2011 Titans, do you really think 4 more points and 64 more yards is THAT big of a deal?

You campare the start last season to this year all you want...this defense is going to give up a lot of yards this year...they are going to struggle against the pass and we face a ton of terrific QB's...or at least fantasy QB's.

The key to the defense this year is to not break when teams march down the field...I think they can do a good job of forcing TO's and holding in the red zone.

But the yards...I'm telling you, the vast majority of this year is going to be a struggle stopping passing attacks.

[Ravenswintitle]

^especially with the schedule and so many teams running the no huddle = more possessions

[Captain Silver]

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?

No, I wrote a blog that was not used, You'll have to ask TL why, but I said the Bengals are likely worse than we are good.

*** Unused Blog ***

Temper the enthusiasm.

Okay, before the Ravens are to become the Redskins North, you know the champions of the NFL before the test, let us take a step back.

Sure the Bengals were a surprise playoff team last year, does anyone recall they won not one game last year against any playoff team? I was at last night’s game and I am taking nothing away from the Raven’s performance, but that is what a great team must do to inferior teams, obliterate them.

We played two inferior teams last year on the road. The Seahawks and Jaguars. Both beat us. When I see last night’s performance repeated several times in other teams stadiums, then I may feel like there is something special.

Do what I did after the game, I went digging through the garbage; that is Bengal fans message boards. If you want to know about a team, go look at their fans. Here at the Russell Street Report are some of the most knowledgeable fans about the NFL and our team. Do the same to the opponents and you will be amazed the things you find.

Very few, if any gave Baltimore too much credit, they were very homer friendly. But many of the observations they made about their team was very telling:
• Rey Mauluga is being savaged for biting on every play, having poor instincts, and being knocked on his back more times than anyone cares to count.
• Marvin Lewis was being torn apart for being complacent as a steward of a team not expected to go anywhere.
• Andy Dalton has been “figured out” and that A.J. Green is a beast, but cannot always be counted to bail Andy out.
• The loss of Dhani Jones as intelligence was a bigger loss than imagined as well as the replacement of Johnathan Joeseph with the likes of Nate Clements or Terrance Newman has been a bad idea.

Now, you can dig deeper if you want a laugh, but the fact is the Ravens won big to a team I think will be lucky to finish 7-9. Additionally, it was a home opener, Monday Night, and we said goodbye to Art Modell.

Perhaps this is the change needed. The Baltimore Ravens shined brighter than I recall in a long time on a prime time stage.

Let’s just not start minting rings just yet, it is a long season. Teams that win it all generally have the great luck and health to accompany them and there are 15 more grueling games to go before the dance starts all over again.

Savor the victory Baltimore, but the real challenges are still huge and lie just ahead, and not the least two hours north in the “City of Brotherly Love”.

*** END ***


So no, my response is not emotional and posters like GOTA who have known me for years will attest to my disdain of John Harbaugh's effectiveness in terms of being great.

[redmike34]

Which is kind of the Achilles heel of the no-huddle, pass-intensive game. Like I said in my earlier post, if we played more ball control football Sunday and ran time off the clock, Philly probably doesn't get the opportunity to hang 486 yards on us. But when your offense can't stay on the field... and doesn't take time off the clock due to a bunch of incompletions... Bottom line, we lost the TOP battle. We actually lost it against the Bengals too, but the offense was much more efficient, and it was a home game. Easier to recover from that in friendly territory...

Also, they got 14 points off of our turnovers, on short fields. We got what out of our four turnovers? I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure it was less than 14 points.

I'm not that worried about the defense. I think the offense let them down in the second half. If any of those three 3-and-outs in the 3rd quarter was a five minute drive, even if it didn't score, I think the game ends differently.

[alien bird]

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?

Not to speak for Captain Silver, as he is quite capable of speaking for himself, but this is pretty much in line with what he's been saying for a few years now. I don't necessarily agree with him fully, but it isn't an emotional response on his part.

[PerpetuallyBored74]

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.

Jim Harbaugh seems to see the forest.
John, so far, can't seem to get past seeing only the trees. He got way too caught up in getting the officials to start throwing the flags on the Eagles DBs for blatantly holding & interfering with our WRs. And in the process failed to notice the momentum had shifted back to the Eagles and that the game was slipping away.

While a 10 point lead is too small to start thinking about going ball-control, Cam, John & Joe should have recognized that the Eagles had the edge in time of possession, which meant the D was in danger of wearing down--which it eventually did.

That's why they needed to run the ball on 3rd & 2 to sustain the drives, if only to even up the time of possession and keep the D fresher.

Until John learns how to be a complete head coach, he can't compete with the Belichicks, Paytons, McCarthys, Coughlins, etc in the NFL. He'll even continue to lose winnable games to the Reids and Turners. Right now he's a shade below those 2, at least he is once the games begin, because of his inexperience.

[pslholder96]

Not to speak for Captain Silver, as he is quite capable of speaking for himself, but this is pretty much in line with what he's been saying for a few years now. I don't necessarily agree with him fully, but it isn't an emotional response on his part.

I disagree. He flat out said that we will never win a superbowl with Jim Harbaugh. That's an emotional response.

[pslholder96]

Jim Harbaugh seems to see the forest.
John, so far, can't seem to get past seeing only the trees. He got way too caught up in getting the officials to start throwing the flags on the Eagles DBs for blatantly holding & interfering with our WRs. And in the process failed to notice the momentum had shifted back to the Eagles and that the game was slipping away.

While a 10 point lead is too small to start thinking about going ball-control, Cam, John & Joe should have recognized that the Eagles had the edge in time of possession, which meant the D was in danger of wearing down--which it eventually did.

That's why they needed to run the ball on 3rd & 2 to sustain the drives, if only to even up the time of possession and keep the D fresher.

Until John learns how to be a complete head coach, he can't compete with the Belichicks, Paytons, McCarthys, Coughlins, etc in the NFL. He'll even continue to lose winnable games to the Reids and Turners. Right now he's a shade below those 2, at least he is once the games begin, because of his inexperience.

So the definition of a complete coach is winning championships?

[Justlovemybirds]

Considering the fact the main reason the Ravens weren't in the Super Bowl last year was because two players failed to execute simple moves that they've been doing since Pop Warner (kicking and catching) I can't buy into Harbaugh being Andy Reid.

At the end of the day (last year at least), he wasn't outcoached, players failed make the necessary plays.

[Ravenswintitle]

Considering the fact the main reason the Ravens weren't in the Super Bowl last year was because two players failed to execute simple moves that they've been doing since Pop Warner (kicking and catching) I can't buy into Harbaugh being Andy Reid.

At the end of the day (last year at least), he wasn't outcoached, players failed make the necessary plays.

I agree, look at Andy's record from last year; Harbs at least always has had a team go deep in the playoffs. Players have to make plays

[Haloti92]

Harbaugh is fine. I don't think he is as great as people who tout our record claim, but he is clearly a signinficantly above-average HC who lets his coordinators cooridnate. To me he is very very similar to Mike Tomlin in terms of quality and contribution to the team. Comparing him to Andy Reid isn't very helpful because Andy is fully in charge of the offense.

I also agree that, so far, Jim Harbaugh has added more to his teams total performance than John has added to ours. San Fran has very good (but relatively young) defensive talent, but I still think they outperform that talent level a bit. And on offense it isn't even debatable, the output far far exceeds the talent level, and it started doing so the instant he arrived.

[s.r.genovese]

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.

I don't see many similarities. Andy Reid is a guy who calls the offensive plays, calls a west coast offense, often gets caught up in his own genius and passes too much (to his own detriment), and more importantly, is the de facto GM for the team. And he's soft-spoken,

Harbaugh doesn't do any of those things. And he's loud an boisterous to boot. And he wants to play power air coryell football. Other than the "falling short" portion, they aren't really all that alike.

[PerpetuallyBored74]

So the definition of a complete coach is winning championships?

The definition of a complete coach includes being one who makes the correct decisions during close but winnable games. Harbaugh continues to come up short in that department. Last season alone: Titans, Jets, 1st Texans game, Jaguars, Seahawks, Chargers and both Texans & Patriots in playoffs, Harbaugh showed an inability/unwillingness to act when needed and the Ravens lost or could have lost those games as a result, at least in part because of Harbaugh.

[s.r.genovese]

The definition of a complete coach includes being one who makes the correct decisions during close but winnable games. Harbaugh continues to come up short in that department. Last season alone: Titans, Jets, 1st Texans game, Jaguars, Seahawks, Chargers and both Texans & Patriots in playoffs, Harbaugh showed an inability/unwillingness to act when needed and the Ravens lost or could have lost those games as a result, at least in part because of Harbaugh.

The Cardinals game was a close and winnable game. Did Belichick make the wrong decisions? Is he a complete coach?

[PerpetuallyBored74]

The Cardinals game was a close and winnable game. Did Belichick make the wrong decisions? Is he a complete coach?

I didn't see the game, so I don't know if he made the right decisions or not. But even great coaches will make the wrong decision on occasion; Sean Payton last year against the Packers made the wrong play calls on the final goal line stand of the game. And the Saints lost.

[pslholder96]

The definition of a complete coach includes being one who makes the correct decisions during close but winnable games. Harbaugh continues to come up short in that department. Last season alone: Titans, Jets, 1st Texans game, Jaguars, Seahawks, Chargers and both Texans & Patriots in playoffs, Harbaugh showed an inability/unwillingness to act when needed and the Ravens lost or could have lost those games as a result, at least in part because of Harbaugh.

So when Coughlin and the Giants stumbled to a 7-7 record last year, was he an incomplete coach at the time only to become a complete coach when he won it all? The ravens won a few close games last year, was he a complete coach then. I realize you are trying to define what a good coach is but leave the word complete out. It's ridiculous and suggests that a complete coach has to be perfect which no one is.