Ravens road woes on offense should be blamed on Harbaugh

[alienrace]

The ROAD WOES is way exaggerated. They are 3-2 and should be 4-1 if not for A BOGUS PI call On Jocoby Jones. Old saying is play .500 on the road and clean up at home. If they beat SD on Sunday they go 4-2 with 2 game remaining @WASH and @Cincy. They do seem to play more conservative on the road, not to turn it over IMO. This might be due to basically 2 rookies on the oline. They seem to try NOT to lose on the road more than at home. If it was for a horrible officials call @philly this thread wouldnt exist.

Man I agree with this 1000%.

[alienrace]

I think the thread says "road woes on offense"... Just sayin'

2 Rooks on the O-line is the gist of his point. We are hugely limited because of their inexperience.

[alienrace]

It shouldn't have been that close. Conservative first quarter play calling was awful...

If by "conservative play calling" you mean Harbs called for Birk to get steamrolled by Wilfork the entire quarter, then yeah.

[arnie_uk]

"Joke claim?" No, just an opinion. I thought that's what forums are for...exchanging them.

We'll see how far playing not to lose takes the Ravens.

my post was directly to the part of blaming flacco for not throwing the ball in that situation. When coaches say unless its 100 percent completion don't risl it, then you do risk it and its incomplete. That's going to be on Joe. Imagine then pitts go up and score. Joe would be run out of town especially when it came out he was told not to take a risk, then threw to dickson of all people..

Your "joke claim" was trying to lay not passing on flacco when it was a direct order from above not to throw a risky pass. Any pass to dickson is risky, period. So he chose not too. How's that his fault? Please enlighten me?

That was a bad game for Joe overall. but taking a sack there was probably the best decision he made all game.

[Terpsfan82]

my post was directly to the part of blaming flacco for not throwing the ball in that situation. When coaches say unless its 100 percent completion don't risl it, then you do risk it and its incomplete. That's going to be on Joe. Imagine then pitts go up and score. Joe would be run out of town especially when it came out he was told not to take a risk, then threw to dickson of all people..

Your "joke claim" was trying to lay not passing on flacco when it was a direct order from above not to throw a risky pass. Any pass to dickson is risky, period. So he chose not too. How's that his fault? Please enlighten me?

That was a bad game for Joe overall. but taking a sack there was probably the best decision he made all game.

Thats the point. You don't give franchise quarterbacks that kind of directive with the game hanging in the balance. He should already know what to do. Having to be reminded not to screw things up is something I would bristle at, especially in my fifth year in the same offense, not to mention that it was the quarterback's play in the waning seconds that won games the prior two trips to Heinz Field.

[TL24x7]

my post was directly to the part of blaming flacco for not throwing the ball in that situation. When coaches say unless its 100 percent completion don't risl it, then you do risk it and its incomplete. That's going to be on Joe. Imagine then pitts go up and score. Joe would be run out of town especially when it came out he was told not to take a risk, then threw to dickson of all people..

Your "joke claim" was trying to lay not passing on flacco when it was a direct order from above not to throw a risky pass. Any pass to dickson is risky, period. So he chose not too. How's that his fault? Please enlighten me?

That was a bad game for Joe overall. but taking a sack there was probably the best decision he made all game.

If you read the article you would know that I am placing the "joke claim" more on the coaches than Flacco.

[arnie_uk]

Thats the point. You don't give franchise quarterbacks that kind of directive with the game hanging in the balance. He should already know what to do. Having to be reminded not to screw things up is something I would bristle at, especially in my fifth year in the same offense, not to mention that it was the quarterback's play in the waning seconds that won games the prior two trips to Heinz Field.

hows that the point?

His whole post, not the blog, but the post from the blog, is bashing flacco for not throwing to dickson. Explain how or why that's joes fault and how that is an argument for joe not being able to lead us to a Super Bowl?

[The Excellector]

To me, the opinion loses ground when it suggests that a wide open Ed Dickson is a sure first down. Those are his toughest catches to make and it's clear as day that Joe does not trust him.

[Terpsfan82]

hows that the point?

His whole post, not the blog, but the post from the blog, is bashing flacco for not throwing to dickson. Explain how or why that's joes fault and how that is an argument for joe not being able to lead us to a Super Bowl?

His whole post is not bashing Flacco. That's not how I interpreted it. He was explaining that the dysfunction that exists on the offensive side has to be blamed at Harbaugh, and it seems that he's been given a free pass in all of this. I was responding to that. I don't know why Flacco didnt throw to Dickson, but it's starting to seem that our coaches don't trust him fully, especially given the directive not to scew up in that situation.

[arnie_uk]

His whole post is not bashing Flacco. That's not how I interpreted it. He was explaining that the dysfunction that exists on the offensive side has to be blamed at Harbaugh, and it seems that he's been given a free pass in all of this. I was responding to that. I don't know why Flacco didnt throw to Dickson, but it's starting to seem that our coaches don't trust him fully, especially given the directive not to scew up in that situation.

Thats not how interpreted that game plan. I seen it more as, if we don't turn the ball over there's no way they win cause they won't score. I don't think the play calling and gameplan would have been remotely similar if Ben was playing.

It would have been more attacking. Even on third downs, I think there was only one pass that was threw beyond the marker. The rest were short of first downs. We've never done that before ever. That's to me signals a one of game plan, rather than a gong into the future trust issue with the quarterback.

[TL24x7]

hows that the point?

His whole post, not the blog, but the post from the blog, is bashing flacco for not throwing to dickson. Explain how or why that's joes fault and how that is an argument for joe not being able to lead us to a Super Bowl?

You've completely missed the point of the blog.

[Captain Silver]

Harbaugh?


....get a rope.

[Ravenswintitle]

His conservative style has worked pretty well for him, hard to argue otherwise.

[bacchys]

Thats the point. You don't give franchise quarterbacks that kind of directive with the game hanging in the balance. He should already know what to do. Having to be reminded not to screw things up is something I would bristle at, especially in my fifth year in the same offense, not to mention that it was the quarterback's play in the waning seconds that won games the prior two trips to Heinz Field.

Then it's a dumb point. It's better to make the obvious observation and make sure than to *assume* everyone is on the same page. Flacco wants the game in his hands. He has (rightfully) a lot of confidence in his ability to win games. If I'm Harbaugh, I don't care if he bristles as long as he *remembers* the game situation, and that it's better to eat up a few more seconds and take a sack than have a Dickson drop the damn ball.

The OP is right though: it is on Harbaugh. As head coach, everything is his responsibility, and Cameron's efforts to reverse the Coryell- or, perhaps a better analogy, try to start it in fourth gear- are on Harbaugh. He needs to correct Cameron when he's trying to force the ball deep without getting Flacco and the offense into a rhythm.

As for the complaints here about being "too conservative" early in games: please. I'd rather see them come up and try to jam Rice into the line three straight times and then punt for a few series than the 9 route incompletes on second or third and short in the first quarter. Those runs, even if they don't go anywhere, can pay dividends as the game goes on. An offensive line, especially a big one like ours, wears down a defense with the run game. It's like throwing body shots early in a boxing match. You don't expect to get a knockout from them, but you know it's going to weaken his legs as the round count goes up.

Rice didn't have great numbers in Pittsburgh this year, but he was *effective.* We gained positive yards and forced the pass rush to worry about the run. It's better to be in third and six than third and ten (or longer), so even two rushes for a total of 4 yards is a positive, however slight. Cameron finally did on the road what he needs to *always* do on the road: pound the rock, and try to get Flacco in the offense in third and manageable. Then it's up to Flacco and the receivers to develop that rhythm, and then you can take your shots downfield. Too many too early only sets the offense up for failure.

[rlh445]

Wait, wasn't it Joe who wanted the ball and came up with the whole, 'If I see a guy and a guaranteed shot I'll take it, otherwise Ima take a sack,'? I don't think it was Harbs or Cam, I think Joe wanted the rock. Remember, 'The Replacements,' where Keanu Reeves' character said he wanted the ball and Gene Hackman the coach said, 'Winners always do,'. Welp, Joe won!

[leachisabeast]

we won the game didn't we?!!!

[CRZA938]

If by "conservative play calling" you mean Harbs called for Birk to get steamrolled by Wilfork the entire quarter, then yeah.

No, more like starting the game with two straight runs when everyone in the world knew they were going run Rice. For example...

[Ravensghost]

What if Cam is trying to cover up Flacco's faults... Its just too easy to Keep blaming cam alone.. look at your
Qb body language when things are going bad.. Flacco looks lost. He gets that deer in the head lights look and then
its over for the offence. Now dont get me wrong. Cam sucks big time, but what if we have a trifecta going on here.. Joe, Cam and Harbaugh...

[purplepoe]

I asked the same question 2 months ago about when the Cameron bashers would start aiming their anger at Harbaugh.

The buck stops with him.

PP

[purplepoe]

They sure seemed to trust him last year in the road...in Pittaburgh...on a last minute drive ...

Sent from my DROID X2 using Forum Runner

Significantly different situations wouldn't you say?

PP