The dismal 12-7 loss to the Jaguars provides many things to many people. First, you have to give a bit of credit to the Jaguars, they were ready to play. It also gives a negative writer some meat to their article writing, the ones who get paid for this need the attention and the Flacco and Cam bashers have plenty of fuel to burn all week on.
I would like to point out that these very same Jaguars took the Steelers to task at Heinz Field and lost by only 3, the Jaguars are really not as bad as their record. They never have been; they just had bad breaks the entire time Jack Del Rio has been coach. I have witnessed the Jaguar defense nearly shut down Peyton Manning on occasion.
I can see the end of the world coming on message boards and radio shows. Last year, I would be having BBQ’d John Harbaugh. Blame is easy to spread. Not sure I can blame the defense for anything last night. Twelve points is a heroic effort. Also, I defend John’s decision to onside kick. Without a giant pass interference call, the offense wasn’t moving that ball anywhere down field. They came within a half yard of pulling it off. Might as well try something crazy the way the offense played.
Get to the nuts and bolts of the issue, aside from a terribly officiated game; the offense stunk on just about every level. The offensive line was atrocious. Good thing Hollywood has no plans to make a sequel to “the Blindside”; if they did they could give yellow flags as a promotion. While in the theater for this horror show, we could also get Ray Rice to promote Butterfinger candy bars. Think of it, we could show up as either a Butterfinger bar or a ref flag for Halloween. Seriously, if you live in Michael Oher’s neighborhood, go get a yellow blanket and cut some eyes, you’ll scare the hell out of him if you trick or treat at his house.
Illegal formation? How does the team not line up correctly? I learned that in kindergarten. Brendon Ayanbadejo gets kicked out for punching a player in the helmet. If that was not stupid on a professional level, it is pretty stupid on the human level; fist versus helmet, which wins? I guess physics and anatomy where never his strong point.
Keying on our quarterback, I would like to give an example of how Peyton Manning does a couple things that Flacco will not do that can change the outcome of a game like Monday’s. First, Manning yells at the refs. If I am Flacco, I start lobbying over the illegal contact the Jaguars were clearly getting away with after five yards on our wide receivers. Seriously, one illegal contact call might have loosened up the coverage enough to complete more passes. Additionally, Manning would be screaming at his offensive line if he was being harassed by a 4 man rush! I do NOT buy Joe Flacco’s comment that looking at pictures of what the defensive alignments mean nothing. If Brady, Manning, Brees, and Rivers are looking at them, and he is a top quarterback by his own proclamation, then he better damn well do what the top quarterbacks do.
Hell, fake it. At least the people who are assigned to watch the game for the other team might tell the defense “uh-oh he’s figuring it out.” Diversion, smoke screen! At the very least it would have kept my word count down on this blog, throw a brother a bone!
If it is truly a quarterback driven league, then Joe needs to DRIVE the offense, steer the refs, and get in your linemen’s faces!
As for Cam Cameron, maybe it is time for a new perspective? Seriously, the commentators mentioned his offensive play card looked like a menu, a menu from the Double T Diner maybe. Cam runs the Air Coryell type offense. Do you know when this offense works? The team must have an offensive line that can muscle (think the Redskins/Gibbs Hogs) and not get pushed around by a four man rush; also one of the wide receivers needs to be dangerous, not a rookie who had one stellar game against a bad St. Louis Rams team. A good run game with a back who doesn’t put the ball on the ground and a quarterback with decent accuracy are critical.
What I mean by perspective is a change of scenery, too much has been invested and there have been too little returns. It is the way of the game; someone needs to be held accountable.
So where do the Ravens go from here? Not sure I have the answer; that is what John Harbaugh gets paid to do. The real issue here is what happens after the Ravens maul the Cardinals here next Sunday, which they will. What is this team going to do on the road? There is not going to be a division title or a home playoff game if you cannot beat the teams you should beat on the road.
I am no turncoat, but I look at the bigger picture, the fact is, right now, if the Ravens played the best team in football, the Green Bay Packers, what would happen? They would be annihilated. That is the measuring stick, what a team aspires to be, the team to beat. Right now, they cannot beat the Jaguars in their half empty stadium. I shudder to think what awaits us in Cincinnati. I double dread Pittsburgh, they could feast on the Ravens like Steeler Girl does on a ham sandwich.
