When Jake Arietta was on the Orioles staff it was pretty obvious that he had filthy stuff. Yet for some reason, he couldn’t put it all together and eventually the Orioles brass ran out of patience and traded him to the Chicago Cubs.
The rest as they say is history.
Yet I always wondered if Arietta was somehow tipping his pitches. How could a nasty slider that dropped in out of the sweet zone be hit with such authority?
What does this have to do with the Ravens?
I’m wondering why the team suddenly can’t run the football.
They have the same personnel, the same offensive line coach and yet the results are vastly different. In 2014 they averaged 126.2 rushing yards per game (ranked 8th) and 4.5 yards per carry (ranked 6th). So far in 2015 the Ravens are averaging 72.7 rushing yards per game (ranked 27th) and 3.3 yards per carry (ranked 28th).
Is Joe Flacco tipping the run somehow through his cadence or the way he waves his arms pre-snap? Are the linemen positioned or set differently during run plays. Or is it a combination of poor execution and high caliber competition?
It’s something to watch but given the consistency in personnel a 42.4% drop off in rushing yards per game is tough to explain.
Listen To The Music
Or maybe not…
Apparently the lack of enthusiasm at M&T Bank Stadium stems in part from a less than ideal DJ. At least that’s what one fan opined in an email to The Sun’s Mike Preston.
I did find the picture featured in the article to be somewhat telling (below) and it has nothing to do with AJ Green beating Jimmy Smith for the game winning score. It has to do with the number of fans dressed as purple seats in the upper deck.
There’s 2:13 left in the game and the outcome in the balance and so many fans have bailed?
WOW!
I will say that the queuing into the stadium was less than ideal with those metal detectors. Last season seemed to be the best in recent years in moving the crowd through. This week seemed like such a cluster!
Suddenly the comfort of my living room seems so much more appealing.
Photo Credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images
Where Did The Cred Come From?
I respect the work of Pro Football Focus and collectively we refer to their analysis often in our work here on Russell Street Report. Yet I have wondered, “Who are these guys and what makes them the apparent end-all-be-all?”
What credentials do their writers have, to have become such a benchmark in the quantitative analysis of NFL games?
At times I view their work as paralysis by analysis. They put the scope on every little nuance of the game and in doing so they become visually impaired by their statistics. Take for instance Aaron Rodgers performance on Monday Night against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rodgers was 24 of 35 for 333 yards, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions which adds up to a passer rating of 138.5. Yet Pro Football Focus wasn’t impressed.
Really?
In a result obvious for everyone who watched #Packers QB Aaron Rodgers last night, he scored a -2.3 rating from @PFF pic.twitter.com/C3b5o9AS3M
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 29, 2015
It’s A Long Season
Lastly, we all know that the Ravens playoff hopes have taken a severe dent given the (0-3) start. But things can change quickly in the modern NFL. Many, myself included, expected the Ravens to be (2-2) after the Thursday Night game in Pittsburgh – and that included a loss at Heinz.
Given the Ben Roethlisberger injury the Steelers season could go into a tailspin and it could start this week. If the Ravens can steal one (no pun intended) on Thursday they would be just one game off the projected (2-2) pace. Maybe they win another game or two that they aren’t supposed to like in Arizona or Cincinnati. And not that we’d wish this on any player but injuries are a way of life in the NFL. Perhaps the bug bites the AFC North leading Bengals and they begin to struggle.
The Ravens just have to take care of their own business and make those three plays missing from their first three games.
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
And don’t leave the stadium with 2:13 left in an undecided game.
