The Defense, the Offense, and the Crabtree....

[JO_75]

Is it safe to say everyone isn't mad we lost to the Browns, as we knew the day would come the two easy wins would be no more. More so safe to assume mad at the play calling, how the offense performed and the case of the drops by Crabtree?

I'm not mad we lost, just how we lost. Best Kicker in NFL and we lose a Field Goal battle? The play calling just had to be a bit better and we could have won just with Tucker if we got into his range.

 

[allblackraven]

Is it safe to say everyone isn't mad we lost to the Browns, as we knew the day would come the two easy wins would be no more. More so safe to assume mad at the play calling, how the offense performed and the case of the drops by Crabtree?

I'm not mad we lost, just how we lost. Best Kicker in NFL and we lose a Field Goal battle? The play calling just had to be a bit better and we could have won just with Tucker if we got into his range.

You see, I am pissed at play calling today but I'm more pissed that in 11th pro year our quarterback depends on play calling so much. Can he ever read what D is doing and adjust according to that? Is he actually capable of doing that but not allowed to? I am really tired of that crap. I mean guys in their 2nd and 3rd year are regularly seeing stuff and confusing defences. How is he at 6'6" throwing so many passes into D line hands? That crap is just driving me mental.

 

[RavensPunkXVX]

A lot of mistakes in this game. Credit to the defense for keeping as close as they did.

Dropped passes, poor play calling, and the special teams better fix their mistakes. The return game is still a problem. Pressure on field goal attempts is at an all time high.

The Ravens left points on the board, when they had great field position. They gave this game away.

With that being said, I’m not worried about the offense. Not sure if this is a mental thing with Crabtree, said it was concentration, but he can overcome it. Hopefully.

I just hope Hurst gets more involved. They have Boyle, Hurst, and Maxx. Those guys need to have play calls and play sets specifically for them.

 

[TheCity5]

Yeah I think the big talk and plan from the beginning was to try to feature Crabtree as our #1. Brown has become much better than anticipated and Snead can certainly be effective in the slot. Need to forget about having a true #1 and work a plan to feature the TEs, use our strengths and attack rather than simply trying to maintain possession.

Today it often seemed they were playing to not lose rather than playing to win. As we’ve seen in the past that’s a losers game plan. I’m mean really, if we’re going to fail at least do so trying. Our offense today was mostly an easy read and easy to defend. What happened to the imaginative play calling from most of last week? Seems they went conservative late in that game and just continued the theme today.

I will say though things looked decent at the start, crisp rhythm and moved the ball pretty well, only to have the drive killing drops on 3rd down. Seemed to just suck the life right out of the game.

I don't know why anyone would ever want him as their #1. He's never been that. I think they had high hopes on John Brown and it has indeed paid off, so I have to conclude that he was the #1 they were looking for, but Crabtree has been treated as an elite #2 when he's not who he once was, even back then he had issues with drops and being on the same page with Carr. Those issues has followed him here and it's seriously going to get to the point where you have to look elsewhere. I feel like Joe is losing confidence in him already.

 

[cdp]

Can anybody explain to me why we run certain plays where a player does nothing. Imho this leads to a 10 vs 11 disadvantage and it wasn't intended to cause confusion on the browns defense.

 

[cobrajet]

It’s freaking Monday morning and we lost a game we should have won yesterday.....life sucks right now

 

[Tank]

I don't know why anyone would ever want him as their #1. He's never been that. I think they had high hopes on John Brown and it has indeed paid off, so I have to conclude that he was the #1 they were looking for, but Crabtree has been treated as an elite #2 when he's not who he once was, even back then he had issues with drops and being on the same page with Carr. Those issues has followed him here and it's seriously going to get to the point where you have to look elsewhere. I feel like Joe is losing confidence in him already.

Yeah, that’s probably more accurate. There were obviously reasons Oakland dumped him for Jordy at basically the same cap hit, but I think the Ravens were in a bind, had to sign someone and Crabtree was the last chance. Still hold out hope he can fix his issues but like you say they are not new and it’s hard for Joe to have any confidence in him. Could end as another bum in a long line of WR busts.

 

[Darklight1216]

Is it safe to say everyone isn't mad we lost to the Browns, as we knew the day would come the two easy wins would be no more. More so safe to assume mad at the play calling, how the offense performed and the case of the drops by Crabtree?

I'm not mad we lost, just how we lost. Best Kicker in NFL and we lose a Field Goal battle? The play calling just had to be a bit better and we could have won just with Tucker if we got into his range.

No, it's not safe to say that. The Browns aren't as bad as they were before, but they are still very bad. They have won 3 games in the last 3 seasons.
The last time they won against an AFCN opponent was in 2015... against Baltimore and the Ravens went on to lose 11 games.
Sure "the day is going to come", but that day should not have been their rookie qb's first home start on an afternoon when it took them 70 minutes to score 12 points.
If they had actually won against Pittsburgh (even the struggling Steelers didn't stop that low) and maybe beaten the Saints or Panthers or an actual football team then maybe I'd be more upset at how Baltimore lost, but as it stands:
No one who is any good loses to Cleveland.

 

[ravenslord]

I watched Joe's pass to Carbtree for what should have been a game winner and I dont get how he missed it.

It just bounced off his hands. He had the corner beat.

 

[arnie_uk]

You see, I am pissed at play calling today but I'm more pissed that in 11th pro year our quarterback depends on play calling so much. Can he ever read what D is doing and adjust according to that? Is he actually capable of doing that but not allowed to? I am really tired of that crap. I mean guys in their 2nd and 3rd year are regularly seeing stuff and confusing defences. How is he at 6'6" throwing so many passes into D line hands? That crap is just driving me mental.

Asked that last question myself. There must be a reason for that.

On a side note. When brandon Williams for example does it, do you say good play brandon or criticise the opposing qb?

Dont think blocked passes at the LOS is something you can hold a qb accountable for. Its just good defense

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Asked that last question myself. There must be a reason for that.

On a side note. When brandon Williams for example does it, do you say good play brandon or criticise the opposing qb?

Dont think blocked passes at the LOS is something you can hold a qb accountable for. Its just good defense

Full agreement here. Joe wasn’t smart to try to throw it away at the goal line and do anything but air the fuck out of it, but the other batted passes are just good defense. People don’t realize how often a qb has to adjust their release to get around or over a defender at the line, and how often a defender st the line is mere inches away from having his hands in the right spot, it often comes down to whether or not the defender puts his hands up in the right place

 

[arnie_uk]

Full agreement here. Joe wasn’t smart to try to throw it away at the goal line and do anything but air the fuck out of it, but the other batted passes are just good defense. People don’t realize how often a qb has to adjust their release to get around or over a defender at the line, and how often a defender st the line is mere inches away from having his hands in the right spot, it often comes down to whether or not the defender puts his hands up in the right place

Flacco actually took a sack in the game from tucking a ball just before he released because a defender at the line jumped up. If he didnt tuck it god know where it would have went.

Lets not forget he's 6 6 while brees is like 6 foot.

Maybe we don't hold the centre of the jerseys like other teams do which allows the defenders to jump

 

[DeVito52]

Yeah, that’s probably more accurate. There were obviously reasons Oakland dumped him for Jordy at basically the same cap hit, but I think the Ravens were in a bind, had to sign someone and Crabtree was the last chance. Still hold out hope he can fix his issues but like you say they are not new and it’s hard for Joe to have any confidence in him. Could end as another bum in a long line of WR busts.

Oh stfu he’s already not a bust. He’s our freaking leading receiver alongside Brown. The guy is productive. His drops are overblown.

Funny that Crabtree can’t do anything right in your eyes and you call him a bum but when Flacco has a bad game you blame everything and everyone else

 

[cdp]

Oh stfu he’s already not a bust. He’s our freaking leading receiver alongside Brown. The guy is productive. His drops are overblown.

Funny that Crabtree can’t do anything right in your eyes and you call him a bum but when Flacco has a bad game you blame everything and everyone else

amen!

 

[29BmoreBird22]

Oh stfu he’s already not a bust. He’s our freaking leading receiver alongside Brown. The guy is productive. His drops are overblown.

Funny that Crabtree can’t do anything right in your eyes and you call him a bum but when Flacco has a bad game you blame everything and everyone else

I'm thoroughly disappointed in the drops and the dropped TD was especially heartbreaking, but Crabtree still led the team in yards and catches this game.

On the two drops that I saw outside of the end zone one, they wouldn't have made a difference in a first down or putting the Ravens in field goal range, so it's not massively consequential. I will say, he appeared to be running before he caught the pass. Just play backyard football and try to catch the ball without watching it in; you'll drop FAR more than you'll catch.

And as far as the dropped TD goes, why were the Ravens even in a position for that to matter that far into the fourth quarter? As someone else said, you have the best kicker in the league and arguably the greatest kicker of all time and you can't win a FG battle? And you know what's really sad? The amount of times that the Ravens started at their own like 40+. They just have to move the ball about 20 yards to be in JT range.

I mean, we're going to sit here and blame Crabtree for his dropped TD, but does anyone remember Joe's goal line interception? Does that not matter? Had Joe not thrown that, the Ravens get a FG and the win. It's a two way street.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

And seriously, re-watch that Joe Flacco interception. The Ravens are on the two yard line and a free rusher is incoming. What does Joe do? Throws with only one foot on the ground and throws with his body contorting. It was incredibly awkward and a horrendous decision. It was REALLY bad.

So before anyone wants to assign all the blame to Crabtree, and I agree it was a bad drop, even if it was a tough catch, assign equal blame to Joe because that was UGLY.

 

[DeVito52]

And seriously, re-watch that Joe Flacco interception. The Ravens are on the two yard line and a free rusher is incoming. What does Joe do? Throws with only one foot on the ground and throws with his body contorting. It was incredibly awkward and a horrendous decision. It was REALLY bad.

So before anyone wants to assign all the blame to Crabtree, and I agree it was a bad drop, even if it was a tough catch, assign equal blame to Joe because that was UGLY.

Seriously. Just throw it out of the damn end zone

 

[cdp]

And seriously, re-watch that Joe Flacco interception. The Ravens are on the two yard line and a free rusher is incoming. What does Joe do? Throws with only one foot on the ground and throws with his body contorting. It was incredibly awkward and a horrendous decision. It was REALLY bad.

So before anyone wants to assign all the blame to Crabtree, and I agree it was a bad drop, even if it was a tough catch, assign equal blame to Joe because that was UGLY.

Most of his endzone throws were awkward. Throwing into traffic with 3 Browns surrounding one Raven

 

[DeVito52]

What the hell is it going to take to get Orlando Jr in at RT? We have to get the run game going and he just might be the answer, along with putting Hurst at RG.

 

[RavensMania]

I'm thoroughly disappointed in the drops and the dropped TD was especially heartbreaking, but Crabtree still led the team in yards and catches this game.

On the two drops that I saw outside of the end zone one, they wouldn't have made a difference in a first down or putting the Ravens in field goal range, so it's not massively consequential. I will say, he appeared to be running before he caught the pass. Just play backyard football and try to catch the ball without watching it in; you'll drop FAR more than you'll catch.

And as far as the dropped TD goes, why were the Ravens even in a position for that to matter that far into the fourth quarter? As someone else said, you have the best kicker in the league and arguably the greatest kicker of all time and you can't win a FG battle? And you know what's really sad? The amount of times that the Ravens started at their own like 40+. They just have to move the ball about 20 yards to be in JT range.

I mean, we're going to sit here and blame Crabtree for his dropped TD, but does anyone remember Joe's goal line interception? Does that not matter? Had Joe not thrown that, the Ravens get a FG and the win. It's a two way street.

and lets not forget the blocked K. Special Teams also killed us. Yesterday we didn't lose the game because of Crabtree. We actually were in position to win the game because of him on the last drive.