The Good, the Bad, and The Wind

[cdp]

How many snaps did Bozeman miss and was Grasu an adequate replacement for him? I think our oline should be Stanley Hurst Bozeman Yanda and Brown. I was pleasantly surprised with Bozeman's performance.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Marty has been relatively decent this year, he has moments of brilliance, and outside of the browns game he seems to call 3 strong quarters every week, and there’s always a moment, usually when we have a close lead, where Marty calls a series that makes you hang your head and basically chalk it up as an impending loss. He had that moment vs Pitt, vs Denver, and now vs the saints, and it stood out more than ever in this game, because you KNEW the saints offense found their stride and that we weren’t gonna win if we couldn’t put up some points on that drive, and we came out with an absolutely hideous 3 play calls.

Marty’s inability to extend a lead late in the game when the pressure is on the offense to keep the defense off the field, is holding us back. If we can’t start turning a 7 point lead into a 10/14 point lead, or even a 6 into a 9, then we’re gonna be in trouble. We’re putting way too much pressure on the defense and Marty deeerves a lot of that blame, because when we’re moving the ball and scoring points, he always suddenly calls some boneheaded shit, like the Flacco to Collins option, and the stretch play, and we just can’t have it. I don’t know what it is about Marty but he just hates putting close games out of reach.

Until we are able to take a lead like we had towards the end when the saints were heating up, and increase that lead by a possession, we will struggle. Marty is holding us back with the situational play calling.

 

[TheCity5]

So I’m mixed on that because I think our OL held up pretty well. I think some of our WR let us down, like Snead and Hurst, but I also put it on the QB because while Joe had a statistically good game he could’ve thrown a couple INT—at least two—that didn’t end up as INT. I also don’t think Joe had good placement on that ball to Hurst and led him too much into coverage and a tackle and have to agree with the announcers on that one sadly. I’ll agree that maybe a bad game is a bit much so I’ll take it back but I don’t think Joe had a stellar game. The play calling was the worst part about our offense though

This might be a side note, but honestly, after 7 games, I'm starting to feel like this OL's performance is a little overrated at this point. Last year we managed to keep Joe upright most of the time, but we also managed to run the football. This year we've done a better job at pass protection but we've gone completely backwards running the ball and it's starting to unravel itself. We couldn't establish the run against the Broncos, Bengals, and Browns who teams average 5.3, 5.0 and 4.5 yards per carry and are all top 5 in rushing yardage given up. We struggled badly offensively in both games against the Bengals and Browns in which we couldn't even establish the run, especially considering that we did both last year.

Last year, I felt like we did a good job of not only keeping Joe upright, but we had a strong run game to go along with it and that was without the threat of a passing game at all. This year, while the Ravens have been great pass protecting, they've been equally as bad run blocking and it kind of showed this game. I understand it was against the Saints who are the best run D, but when you don't have a threat of a run game at all, then it's easy to roll coverage over the Brown, play zone and defend PA. I feel like the lack of a run game could cost us the postseason down the stretch. There's two phases to an offensive line and I can't feel like I can give them high praise when they're equally as bad in the run game as good as they are protecting Joe.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

I 100% recall it. I even remember going on Zrebiec's twitter when he announced it and plenty of people were upset. I even recall people being really pissed at Carr even after that Steelers game as well. I even remember people who pointed out why they never understood the hate for Carr among our fanbase last season.

As far as Pees go, it's easy to put heat on him when the defense has been choking leads for 4 years in a row. I mean think back to the 2015 divisional playoffs, or even the way our season ended in 2016? I'm not suprised that he got his fair share of critisicm.

I don't think it's on the level of Jimmys, though again that's built up IMO like Pees, but I do think it's above what Crabtree dealt with.

I remember Reddit and I even went back and looked at the thread from last year. You were like one of three people to initially post an overreaction to Carr saying he should be benched (This was an overreaction more so based on who would actually play? The Ravens were dangerously thin with no Canady and no Young) (I think Lost might have been the only one I saw that said to cut Carr and you know how he is), and then several people, like Rosi and myself, asked if anyone was actually surprised that Carr got beat by the best corner in the NFL and the answer was "no."

Whether Pees deserved the criticism or not is irrelevant to what I'm saying; the point I'm making is that people were more upset with Pees leaving Carr on Brown when Humphrey was having himself a stellar night. That was the much bigger story line rather than Carr getting beat by Brown. No one was surprised it was going to happen to the point that people didn't understand why he was left on Brown.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

I love the accountability of Jimmy Smith and Justin Tucker. There are players that will go out there and make excuses, blame the referees, or flat out say they have no idea what happened, but neither of these two did any of that. Both owned up to very poor performances that made the Ravens chances of winning that much harder.

With Jimmy, he was playing fine the first two games in limited snaps and then had an absurdly hard task in his first game back as a starter. He'll (hopefully) get his legs back under him and turn it around.

With Tucker, as much as going for two might have looked like the appealing option because of how gassed the defense was, did anyone actually expect Tucker to miss? I was thinking to myself, "Here we go with OT." The chances of converting a two point conversion on the final play of the game are probably about as good as the odds of Tucker missing an extra point- incredibly slim.

The Ravens are certainly shooting themselves in the foot and making it incredibly hard to make the playoffs, but this team could do some damage if they avoided these mistakes.

 

[Oldfaithful]

I think Jimmy will be fine once he gets back into football shape. Certain criticism here will make you think Jimmy doesn't care(like a certain member who chastised Crabtree for the same damn thing, while Crabtree has been fine since then).

It sucks that we had to shoot ourselves in the foot but all we need to do is get it together. This team can be dangerous if that happens.. I do agree with @JoeyFlex5 though. Marty is holding us back with bad situational playcalling. This game wasn't all bad and the rookie olinemen looked good, so hopefully we see more of them going forward. Runs up the middle were generally effective.

It's a dissapointing loss but not one to truly harp over.

 

[Edgar]

The conversion to Michael Thomas late in the third quarter was without question a pivotal moment.
I haven't seen the all 22 but this wasn't a case of Drew Bree's making an outstanding play. It wasn't a case of an in sync, Michael Thomas realizing his Quarterback was in trouble and coming back to the ball. This was a cross underneath with what appears to be an abject failure to cover a receiver......he is wide open from the snap. there is nothing special about this completion and it appears based on the tv angle that he is unaccounted for. It is a breakdown in assignment.
Had Tavon Young run with him, even if the pass is completed, Thomas likely comes up short.

this happened with The Ravens ahead 17-7 and with under a minute and a half to play in the third quarter.

 

[RL52TheGreatest]

• Once again, put in a position to establish ourselves as a serious playoff contender, we fail to take advantage of the opportunity. This team never likes to make things easy, it seems.
• That being said, the Saints are one of the best teams in football and they barely came out on top. I like our chances of beating any team in the league as long as we stop shooting ourselves in the foot.
• Tucker should have made the extra point, but I put more blame on the offense for not being able to put the game away. We had a 10 point lead and could have essentially iced the game, but Marty's playcalling turned to ass. The best defense against the Saints is to keep off the field and we couldn't do that in the 4th quarter.
• Hill was the unsung hero of the Saints' offense yesterday. He was constantly picking up chunk yards and critical first downs and we had no answer.

 

[cdp]

After reading Filmstudy's defense report it's good to see that someone else also noticed how the refs spotted the ball an extra yard on multiple occasions.

 

[ravenslord]

This could be the best Ravens team to never make the playoffs in Ravens history .
I hope I’m wrong .

 

[Grim]

This might be a side note, but honestly, after 7 games, I'm starting to feel like this OL's performance is a little overrated at this point. Last year we managed to keep Joe upright most of the time, but we also managed to run the football. This year we've done a better job at pass protection but we've gone completely backwards running the ball and it's starting to unravel itself. We couldn't establish the run against the Broncos, Bengals, and Browns who teams average 5.3, 5.0 and 4.5 yards per carry and are all top 5 in rushing yardage given up. We struggled badly offensively in both games against the Bengals and Browns in which we couldn't even establish the run, especially considering that we did both last year.

Last year, I felt like we did a good job of not only keeping Joe upright, but we had a strong run game to go along with it and that was without the threat of a passing game at all. This year, while the Ravens have been great pass protecting, they've been equally as bad run blocking and it kind of showed this game. I understand it was against the Saints who are the best run D, but when you don't have a threat of a run game at all, then it's easy to roll coverage over the Brown, play zone and defend PA. I feel like the lack of a run game could cost us the postseason down the stretch. There's two phases to an offensive line and I can't feel like I can give them high praise when they're equally as bad in the run game as good as they are protecting Joe.

Yeah the OL hasn’t been stellar at run blocking but as you said they’ve been very effective in pass pro. I think our run woes are evident but that’s not why we are losing games. We are still very competitive even when teams know we want to throw so that speaks a lot about the team. We could use better run blocking though for sure.

I love the accountability of Jimmy Smith and Justin Tucker. There are players that will go out there and make excuses, blame the referees, or flat out say they have no idea what happened, but neither of these two did any of that. Both owned up to very poor performances that made the Ravens chances of winning that much harder.

With Jimmy, he was playing fine the first two games in limited snaps and then had an absurdly hard task in his first game back as a starter. He'll (hopefully) get his legs back under him and turn it around.

With Tucker, as much as going for two might have looked like the appealing option because of how gassed the defense was, did anyone actually expect Tucker to miss? I was thinking to myself, "Here we go with OT." The chances of converting a two point conversion on the final play of the game are probably about as good as the odds of Tucker missing an extra point- incredibly slim.

The Ravens are certainly shooting themselves in the foot and making it incredibly hard to make the playoffs, but this team could do some damage if they avoided these mistakes.

It was definitely nice to see from both and Crabtree also did the same thing after his Dropfest game he had. These guys are very good football players—this isn’t Judon who hasn’t proven anything or consistently messes up, so I give them a lot more room for mistakes. Crabtree’s Issues was annoying because it just got really bad one game but I’m glad to see him tighten it up and I’m sure Tucker and Jimmy will get their act together. We definitely missed Humphrey and it is apparent why we eased Smith back into the game. I forgot all about his Achilles so that really does explain his struggles. I hear you on Tucker and while I wanted to go for 2 I can’t fault them for not trusting arguably the best and most accurate kicker in history. I just didn’t want to put the defense out there against Brees in OT. It’s clear we were gassed by that point on defense so I felt like it was win or lose on that play. Tucker just had a bad game though even his FG seemed off

 

[Grim]

The conversion to Michael Thomas late in the third quarter was without question a pivotal moment.
I haven't seen the all 22 but this wasn't a case of Drew Bree's making an outstanding play. It wasn't a case of an in sync, Michael Thomas realizing his Quarterback was in trouble and coming back to the ball. This was a cross underneath with what appears to be an abject failure to cover a receiver......he is wide open from the snap. there is nothing special about this completion and it appears based on the tv angle that he is unaccounted for. It is a breakdown in assignment.
Had Tavon Young run with him, even if the pass is completed, Thomas likely comes up short.

this happened with The Ravens ahead 17-7 and with under a minute and a half to play in the third quarter.

I don’t know if I am remembering the right play but do you mean the one where Jimmy was on him? I felt like Thomas just ran the right route and Brees threw a perfect ball and the play was perfect to defeat us on that play, unless I’m thinking of a different one

 

[arnie_uk]

The conversion to Michael Thomas late in the third quarter was without question a pivotal moment.
I haven't seen the all 22 but this wasn't a case of Drew Bree's making an outstanding play. It wasn't a case of an in sync, Michael Thomas realizing his Quarterback was in trouble and coming back to the ball. This was a cross underneath with what appears to be an abject failure to cover a receiver......he is wide open from the snap. there is nothing special about this completion and it appears based on the tv angle that he is unaccounted for. It is a breakdown in assignment.
Had Tavon Young run with him, even if the pass is completed, Thomas likely comes up short.

this happened with The Ravens ahead 17-7 and with under a minute and a half to play in the third quarter.

Do you think the new rules affected the play? Jefferson tried to wrap brees and spin him over onto his own body instead of just coming in and smashing him. I think it allowed brees to get the ball away.

 

[David Rockefeller]

Hometown fans will

I think Jimmy will be fine once he gets back into football shape. Certain criticism here will make you think Jimmy doesn't care(like a certain member who chastised Crabtree for the same damn thing, while Crabtree has been fine since then).

It sucks that we had to shoot ourselves in the foot but all we need to do is get it together. This team can be dangerous if that happens.. I do agree with @JoeyFlex5 though. Marty is holding us back with bad situational playcalling. This game wasn't all bad and the rookie olinemen looked good, so hopefully we see more of them going forward. Runs up the middle were generally effective.

It's a dissapointing loss but not one to truly harp over.

Hometown fans will always have a more glorified image of their team than the rest of the NFL will. It's human nature.

 

[gtalk12]

If we cant run the ball well on the goalline then I want Lamar Jackson in at QB

 

[Oldfaithful]

Hometown fans will always have a more glorified image of their team than the rest of the NFL will. It's human nature.

We won a super bowl with the rest of the world doubting us at damn near every step of the way. I don’t care what the media thinks they’re just as dumb as I am. I’m not saying we are guaranteed champs 2019. I don’t even think it’s our year but I do think we are a better than mediocre team. You’re entitled to your opinion but so am I

 

[DeVito52]

I love the accountability of Jimmy Smith and Justin Tucker. There are players that will go out there and make excuses, blame the referees, or flat out say they have no idea what happened, but neither of these two did any of that. Both owned up to very poor performances that made the Ravens chances of winning that much harder.

With Jimmy, he was playing fine the first two games in limited snaps and then had an absurdly hard task in his first game back as a starter. He'll (hopefully) get his legs back under him and turn it around.

With Tucker, as much as going for two might have looked like the appealing option because of how gassed the defense was, did anyone actually expect Tucker to miss? I was thinking to myself, "Here we go with OT." The chances of converting a two point conversion on the final play of the game are probably about as good as the odds of Tucker missing an extra point- incredibly slim.

The Ravens are certainly shooting themselves in the foot and making it incredibly hard to make the playoffs, but this team could do some damage if they avoided these mistakes.

Right after we scored the TD I honest to god did think that he would miss it. I knew that would be something that happens to us.

 

[DeVito52]

Do you think the new rules affected the play? Jefferson tried to wrap brees and spin him over onto his own body instead of just coming in and smashing him. I think it allowed brees to get the ball away.

Idk but if that’s the case you need to freaking wrap up their throwing arm so that can’t happen.

 

[Edgar]

Do you think the new rules affected the play? Jefferson tried to wrap brees and spin him over onto his own body instead of just coming in and smashing him. I think it allowed brees to get the ball away.

You know. it hadn't occurred to me to watch for that but you're right; He does sort of wrap and roll rather than drive.

 

[Edgar]

Right after we scored the TD I honest to god did think that he would miss it. I knew that would be something that happens to us.

I wasn't on it that quickly but I honestly said to my wife, "These announcers are going to jinx Tucker into missing this..."