“In the National Football League system, run-first offenses and sustained winning models are considered especially heinous. In Baltimore, Maryland, the dedicated fans who support the front office and coaching are members of an elite squad known as the Purple Patrol. These are their stories.”
DUN DUN.
Let’s start by reiterating what the ideals behind Purple Patrol are… and are not. We are not expecting the team to go 17-0, and we are truly realistic about both the floor and the ceiling. We are most certainly not going to quickly point fingers and place blame on our scapegoat du jour. We are going to be fair in our assessment of issues, and we are going to be reasonable by not using our predetermined notions to place words (or lack thereof) in the mouths of players and coaches to help drive narratives in our favor.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s have a chat about coaching, shortcomings, and the shame/blame game.
We all know what happened on Sunday. Let’s not go over it again.
The easy answer – and the one barraging the Ravens Flock Twitterverse – is to blame the issues from Sunday on Greg Roman. The feelings were so strong, that the Ravens announcement of a Monday presser not long after the game had folks instantly assuming it was to fire Roman and hire a new Offensive Coordinator.
Y’all are silly…
The reality here is that those who’d like to place the blame in this game on Roman and nobody else, are clearly showing their bias.
How so? Well, let’s talk about some of the other evident ‘truths’ in this game that seem to be disregarded…
Rashod Bateman had not one, but two crucial drops in this game that killed drives, and missed a substantial chunk of time in the second half of the game (due to injury) when he was needed the most. Lamar Jackson missed a few wide open receivers, including Devin Duvernay in the back of the end zone on the 4th and goal interception, and his ‘backpedal and heave it’ approach to the game was more detrimental than beneficial. We’ll also throw in that John Harbaugh opted not to take the points on the 4th and goal play late in the game (see? Coach blaming!).
If you want to look at the other side of the ball, we can also add in Patrick Queen’s dropped interception – his second in as many weeks – that seemed destined for a pick-six and ended in a 14-point swing, when that pick six became a Bills touchdown instead a few plays later.
Lots of factors going against Baltimore, but let’s talk about Roman now, as he too shares blame in this game.
The offense went dark in the second half. It felt like the Bills defense made adjustments, while the Ravens O just stuck to their gameplan and said ‘you won’t force us to change our plan, we’ll force you to adjust again’ except… that didn’t work. It backfired massively to the tune of a second-half goose egg and an eventual loss.
Do you want my honest opinion on Roman as it stands today?
I believe that being angry with Roman’s approach is 100% justifiable, and that a second game in just four outings this season where his offense showed an inability to adjust should have Roman a little hot around the collar right now. Moreover, I genuinely believe that a continuation of this ‘lack of adjustment’ could easily lead to his ousting (although as we recall from previous PP Reports, we’d just get an internal hire with the same playbook for the remainder of ’22 so don’t get your hopes super high!).
See that? Not afraid to call out those who are actually responsible, and that my friends is the Purple Patrol way!!
But bringing it back to the original point here: to suggest that the offensive play-calling and lack of adjustments were a major factor is absolutely fair game, and really, an issue we’ve seen twice now in just four games; however, if we want to strictly place blame in Roman’s lap and refuse to shake the finger at others who contributed to the eventual loss versus Buffalo is the equivalent of blinders in rush hour and thinking only your lane is congested.
6 Responses
Roman answers to Harbaugh and takes orders from him and Harbaugh has a lengthy history of bad game day decisions that have cost this team games!
We have alot of issues to address so I will try to skim over some of the major ones. First we have some very talented players on this team but where is the leadership? We start at the top and it trickles down. EDC, need to seriously look at making changes after the season if not sooner. Harbs is third in seniority among head coaches(Tomlin,Bellichek). None are considered offensive oriented coaches and possibly more old school and somewhat set in their ways. There were issues early on with Harbs and some vets(Reed comes to mind immediately). Harbs got rid of them because he has his ways. Who are the leaders, especially on the defense? Now the coordinators. Roman is a big question mark. The offense has been stagnant and not very flexible. If Roman were so good, why are other teams not knocking on his door and pleading for him to come to their teams? Loyalty is one thing but when is Harbs going to consider what is best for the team? And now we have MacDonald on defense. There’s not enough of a sample size but it appears in my opinion that this was a major mistake. So young and very little experience as a coordinator. I haven’t seen much-few adjustments, lack or utilization of players talents and skills, poor decision making, lack of leadership. Leadership? We have many young players on defense and the lack of leadership has shown up on occasions and many were major occasions. This is not the Ravens of old with Ray and Ed on defense. There is little leadership on the field and not much from MacDonald. We have had many talented players come through Baltimore and move. Many have moved on and been quite productive. Some could have been kept if a good offer were made to keep them. We paid alot for Stanley and Boyle to name a few, When’s the last time we have seen them on the field? Some mismanagement and poor decision making. We have been trending several years now in a bad place. We have a very talented team but have many holes. What happened to wrapping up on a tackle instead of whiffing and let an opponent run by you? Why would you go for it on 4th down instead of taking the sure 3? Why would you try to run the ball up the middle repeatedly instead of opening up the offense. If the passing game is working, i.e. Miami in the 1st half, why change and start running the ball up the middle when the pass is working? Is Harbs the right coach now or should we move on? In my opinion, this team is not living up to expectations. We have to start somewhere. We deserve better. At the end of the season, EDC has to make that decision. CHANGE. This all ties in to Lamar’s decision. Lamar goes out and adds weight in the off season. He gets help to improve his performance from outside the team. He’s a winner. Does EDC/Steve keep him or franchise him. Most importantly, if we continue on this trend of failing to live up to potential and falling short, does Lamar move on? Lamar is all about winning. While the money is great, winners thrive to be the best they can be. CHANGES. There is a coach out there who has the background who has said he would be open to returning to the sidelines. EDC, let’s assess the situation and make the change after the season if necessary. By the way, I think most of us would be very happy to see Sean Payton on the sidelines, leading us upward again. Let’s start the ball rolling and see if Sean is possibly interested next season before he’s gone. Right person, right time, right place-perfect fit.
I agree with poor decision making on offense and defense. There’s enough to go around and it starts at the top. Harbaugh has been here going on 15 years and things have going downward the last few years. Look at Belichick and Tomlin, senior coaches who are defensive minded. What has their records been recently? It appears they are all trending down. If you look at the NFL, it appears that most teams are going offense and hiring offensive minded head coaches. We have a a offensive coordinator who no one is running to bring in as a head coach. We have a defensive coordinator who is so far unproven and may be a big liability because of his inexperience. This ties in to Lamar’s situation. While the money is great, I also think winning is very important to Lamar. If we should end up franchising Lamar and don’t shake up the coaching after the season, I could see him moving on. WHY? I see us continuing this ongoing trend of being good but not great, losing in the playoffs, and never reaching our potential and a Super Bowl victory. Assess the situation after the season and make the appropriate moves. There is a very good coach out there who is ready to return to the sidelines if the right situation appears. Try contacting Sean Payton, he has a proven track record and is a proven winner. I think this is right person, right place, right time situation. Let’s start the ball rolling and see if he is interested in coming to Baltimore next season. He is a proven offensive coach with good decision making and could easily bring along some talented coordinators and coaches. I am always positive but also a realist. To be the best, you have to beat the best. We aren’t beating the best although we are competing. Close isn’t good enough. Let’s go out and get a winner. This is just my viewpoint and after the season, we will see.
The crazy thing is that the “go for the TD over the sure FG” scenario is NEVER mentioned by Harbaugh. He only sites that analytics from the NFL numbers. The real stats for the Ravens doing it that was are FAR worse. Just go back and track it and you the success rate is maybe 33%…if not worse. Again, somebody call Sean Payton.
Couldn’t agree more, Scot! The first 4 letters in ANALytics says it all! And, to do it continuously expecting different results only exemplifies……insanity!
Sean Peyton …Please!