The Defence, the Offence, and the Tucker

[Simba]

My thoughts:
1. Tucker sucks right now, and I'm not sure what the solution is. Doing an open competition during the bye week makes a ton of sense. I know there's folks that will say "well there's nobody better", but there are multiple teams who have signed kickers off the couch this season alone to replace injured kickers, and as far as I can see, basically all of them would be more accurate than Tucker right now.
Kicking is mostly mental. All of these guys have legs, and most are pretty accurate with them. He has a short runway to get it right, otherwise, they can't finish the year with him.
The challenge is I don't think they can cut him either, which means they either need to fake an injury and put him on IR, or roster two kickers, which isn't ideal. Though we don't have many injured inactives right now, so that may not necessarily be impossible.
2. Think we need to do same at kick returner. Have a lot of guys that can do it. Can't just assume Wallace can.
3. Lamar's stats were fine, but he wasn't very good. Took a couple horrible sacks on plays he had ample time to throw it away, missed several very make-able throws, and generally just refused to run.
4. We got bullied up front. Our Oline got pushed around practically all game. Eagles have maybe the best front in football, and it showed. And I thought their Oline did pretty well in pass protection.
5. Thought the defense was otherwise very stout. We did a pretty good job until mid-4th quarter stopping the run, and this might have been the second best defensive performance of the year, given the context of the opponent.
One long-term concern... I like the switch to Washington and Hamilton playing two-high, BUT, against a team like Philly, who can run the ball well, it exposes a bit the weakness of not having him in the box more. Not a lot of teams will be able to expose that, but I think there's some playoff teams that can.

At a macro-level, might be the most concerning game of the year for me. Plenty of the other losses like Raiders, Steelers, Browns, etc felt like games where we beat ourselves. Sloppy penalties, turnovers, etc. Didn't really have much of that yesterday. Bad special teams play hurt, but otherwise, we got bullied by a more physical team. Not something we're used to seeing.

Per usual, not really the time to overreact. Definitely hurts our chances of winning the division, but playoffs aren't really in doubt at this point, and we have a much more favorable schedule the last four weeks (and Pittsburgh's is very tough). What happens in January, who knows.

1. We can always add a guy to the PS and use up 3 elevations (which then reset in the playoffs) for the time being. There are 4 games left in the regular season, so maybe if a guy comes in and outperforms Tucker, you may have to make a move in week 18. We can be flexible for now.

2. Agreed here. Wallace is not a good PR. I know people have some disdain for Deonte Harty, but maybe there's a world where him coming back from IR makes sense again. He's not super explosive anymore but he at a minimum makes good decisions and isn't afraid to field a ball back there.

 

[OURavensFan]

My thoughts:
1. Tucker sucks right now, and I'm not sure what the solution is. Doing an open competition during the bye week makes a ton of sense. I know there's folks that will say "well there's nobody better", but there are multiple teams who have signed kickers off the couch this season alone to replace injured kickers, and as far as I can see, basically all of them would be more accurate than Tucker right now.
Kicking is mostly mental. All of these guys have legs, and most are pretty accurate with them. He has a short runway to get it right, otherwise, they can't finish the year with him.
The challenge is I don't think they can cut him either, which means they either need to fake an injury and put him on IR, or roster two kickers, which isn't ideal. Though we don't have many injured inactives right now, so that may not necessarily be impossible.
2. Think we need to do same at kick returner. Have a lot of guys that can do it. Can't just assume Wallace can.
3. Lamar's stats were fine, but he wasn't very good. Took a couple horrible sacks on plays he had ample time to throw it away, missed several very make-able throws, and generally just refused to run.
4. We got bullied up front. Our Oline got pushed around practically all game. Eagles have maybe the best front in football, and it showed. And I thought their Oline did pretty well in pass protection.
5. Thought the defense was otherwise very stout. We did a pretty good job until mid-4th quarter stopping the run, and this might have been the second best defensive performance of the year, given the context of the opponent.
One long-term concern... I like the switch to Washington and Hamilton playing two-high, BUT, against a team like Philly, who can run the ball well, it exposes a bit the weakness of not having him in the box more. Not a lot of teams will be able to expose that, but I think there's some playoff teams that can.

At a macro-level, might be the most concerning game of the year for me. Plenty of the other losses like Raiders, Steelers, Browns, etc felt like games where we beat ourselves. Sloppy penalties, turnovers, etc. Didn't really have much of that yesterday. Bad special teams play hurt, but otherwise, we got bullied by a more physical team. Not something we're used to seeing.

Per usual, not really the time to overreact. Definitely hurts our chances of winning the division, but playoffs aren't really in doubt at this point, and we have a much more favorable schedule the last four weeks (and Pittsburgh's is very tough). What happens in January, who knows.

At the same time I didn’t see anything that says we can’t beat the Eagles if we don’t make the mistake of fielding two punts that pin us inside the 3, and miss 7 kicking points + the yielded field position it gives

 

[CanadianRavensFan]

You are not gonna win close games with Tucker missing 3 kicks in a game .

Just not gonna happen and the players know this too .

Tucker will be replaced next year but he will likely cost us in the playoffs in cold weather .

Are we sure sure that Tucker is the problem and not Stout. Given Tuckers former greatness and Stouts questionable punting AND holding I'd like to see us bring in another holder before we get rid of Tucker and he turns back into himself on another team

 

[All_black_everything]

I like this. I’ve been saying for weeks that LJ needs to run when it’s there but he’s refusing to. Maybe this is the spark we need. The D seems to have figured it out. Just need to fix our ST problem

 

[OURavensFan]

I like this. I’ve been saying for weeks that LJ needs to run when it’s there but he’s refusing to. Maybe this is the spark we need. The D seems to have figured it out. Just need to fix our ST problem

It’s hard to watch Bengals games and our games when you compare the balls Higgins and Chase catch. If they paired with Lamar’s improvisation and extension abilities we’d be even more unstoppable, Agholar let us down. I think this Lamar needed to run more sentiment is accurate to a point, but we’ve had some of our best plays this season because of it as well.

 

[Simba]

The eye test says that the interior OL (Linderbaum included) is not going to like today's film review. The Ts did fine, and I think Rosengarten has been taking steps up for weeks now. Mekari isn't a terrible player but his penalties have been costly. Faalele is still an enigma, but he doesn't seem to have much room for growth. He kind of is what he is.

 

[Militant X 1]

I think we're certainly in a position to go 3-1 or 4-0 in our last four. This team can beat anybody when it all comes together.

Obviously the two things I want to see is a) what happens with Tucker (my guess is nothing) and b) if they make any changes to the interior Oline. I would bet we'll see Vorhees, likely at a LG, when we come out of the bye.

Again, I agree! But they struggle with things coming together. And Harbaugh said he is not moving away from Tucker and doesn't want to entertain the idea of bringing in another kicker. Unfortunately MJ, I can see them dropping 2 of our last four. I highly doubt they will beat the Steelers even though that game is in Baltimore. And, there is a possibility that they will fall to the Texans or even the Browns again (due to their defensive front).

 

[Baltimorican]

I like this. I’ve been saying for weeks that LJ needs to run when it’s there but he’s refusing to. Maybe this is the spark we need. The D seems to have figured it out. Just need to fix our ST problem

Sounds good! What's Tucker's mom up to?

 

[Militant X 1]

I like this. I’ve been saying for weeks that LJ needs to run when it’s there but he’s refusing to. Maybe this is the spark we need. The D seems to have figured it out. Just need to fix our ST problem

Don't believe the hype! Sure, Lamar's mom cussed him out and he expressed his eagerness to get back to doing him (running when he has the lanes to do so) in the next game vs the Giants (in 2 weeks) but UNTIL YOU SEE IT HAPPEN IN GAMES, don't believe the hype.

 

[Baltimorican]

At the same time I didn’t see anything that says we can’t beat the Eagles if we don’t make the mistake of fielding two punts that pin us inside the 3, and miss 7 kicking points + the yielded field position it gives

We outgained them. Hurts threw for 118 yds. They had a slight advantage at the LOS but well within the margin for our Qb and weaponry to win the game.

 

[ravenslord]

It’s hard to watch Bengals games and our games when you compare the balls Higgins and Chase catch. If they paired with Lamar’s improvisation and extension abilities we’d be even more unstoppable, Agholar let us down. I think this Lamar needed to run more sentiment is accurate to a point, but we’ve had some of our best plays this season because of it as well.

So where’s Johnson ?

 

[Sooky]

I bashed Bateman before the season, but I am genuinely concerned if he misses time that it will revert to the Ravens offense of the previous years that stalls because of lack of receiver threats on the outside.

 

[OURavensFan]

I bashed Bateman before the season, but I am genuinely concerned if he misses time that it will revert to the Ravens offense of the previous years that stalls because of lack of receiver threats on the outside.

What’s the word on him, guess we’ll hear soon

 

[rmcjacket23]

We outgained them. Hurts threw for 118 yds. They had a slight advantage at the LOS but well within the margin for our Qb and weaponry to win the game.

Slight advantage at the LOS? You mean their Dline vs our Oline? Yeah that wasn't a slight advantage. It was a massive one. They physically manhandled our Oline all game, and they rarely blitzed.

Easily the biggest talent and execution disparity in the game.

 

[OURavensFan]

Harbaugh said Bateman’s knee was sore, too sore to go back in the game. That doesn’t sound like season ender to me

 

[OURavensFan]

Eagles stayed in 2 safety looks because their D line dominated, but Lamar still evaded a lot of their rushes but he tried to let routes develop and the WRs weren’t winning and not catching them when they had opportunities. I look forward to the sword on RSR ranting about WRs.

This should be a wake up call to Lamar as this is usually how the offenses stall out in the playoffs

 

[rossihunter2]

I said it ALL offseason- the offensive line is an absolute issue. I don't trust EDC to consistently build a strong team.

i mean i do
i cant imagine EDC thought that Cleveland would be in the doghouse like this or that Faalele would be the RG

eddie jackson didnt work out, but how can you possible expect marcus williams to fall off a cliff the way he has

 

[Dom McRaven]

It’s hard to watch Bengals games and our games when you compare the balls Higgins and Chase catch. If they paired with Lamar’s improvisation and extension abilities we’d be even more unstoppable, Agholar let us down. I think this Lamar needed to run more sentiment is accurate to a point, but we’ve had some of our best plays this season because of it as well.

Bro you're an ABSOLUTE GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT LMAO. Unless they're playing us or they're on RedZone, I simply don't like watching games featuring a team I dislike.

 

[rossihunter2]

The eye test says that the interior OL (Linderbaum included) is not going to like today's film review. The Ts did fine, and I think Rosengarten has been taking steps up for weeks now. Mekari isn't a terrible player but his penalties have been costly. Faalele is still an enigma, but he doesn't seem to have much room for growth. He kind of is what he is.

mekari had a brutal game to go along with all the penalties

 

[gtalk12]

Think most of us are ignoring the glaring issues. We knew we struggled against fronts like this.

Enough. Expecting Lamar to constantly evade and make the right throws is nuts. Henry getting hit in the backfield multiple times is NUTS.

Our O-line isn’t good and it hasn’t been good but bc Lamar and Henry exist it looks like it’s good.

Secondly, special teams pinning us back multiple times and missing field goals.

I don’t want to hear nothing about our defense, Lamar, or the receivers right now.