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01-22-2013, 06:36 PM #1
How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
My opinion? Simple, really:
Half Time Adjustments!
Caldwell has been extremely impressive with his half-time adjustments. I contend that Cam Cameron did not know how to analyze what was happening on the field and adjust to it at the half the way the best coordinators are able to do, and that was his fatal flaw. Meanwhile, Jim Caldwell has already proven that he has this ability in just 5 games as offensive coordinator (not really going to bother counting the Cincinnati game), he has already shown more ability to analyze events and adjust than Cam Cameron ever did even at his best moments.
Jim Caldwell is calling the games in such a way that it puts Joe Flacco in a position to succeed. Cam Cameron did not.
I believe that a major factor in what got Cam fired was that Joe Flacco posted a 146.5 QB Rating in the first half @WAS, but just a 59.8 QB Rating in the second half. This 86.7 point differential in QB Rating was the biggest second-half drop-off of the season for Flacco. Going from nearly perfect to well below average was what really killed him. Anybody with a brain should be able to understand that it wasn't a matter of Flacco suddenly becoming a bad quarterback, it had to be that the offensive coordinator did not come back from half-time with an effective gameplan. This is where the illusion of Flacco's "inconsistency" stemmed from.
Under Caldwell, Flacco has seen a huge improvement in stats after half-time in 3 out of 5 games. The common theme with these three games was that we NEEDED to come back after half-time and put up points if we were ever going to win the game. The only two exceptions where Flacco's numbers didn't see huge improvements in the second half were the @DEN playoff game, where his second half numbers were basically identical to his already impressive first half numbers (133.2 vs 124.6) and the NYG game where he went conservative in the second half due to already have a huge lead and just needing to run clock down for the win.
So as far as I'm concerned, Caldwell has a 100% track record of coming back from the half-time break with the best appropriate gameplan.
Now, for some numbers:
Under Cam
1st Half: 150/235, 1648 Yards, 11 TD, 6 INT --> 89.5 QB Rating
2nd Half: 111/200, 1489 Yards, 7 TD, 3 INT --> 84.8 QB Rating
Under Caldwell
1st Half: 47/84, 678 Yards, 4 TD, 1 INT --> 93.3 QB Rating
2nd Half: 50/86, 730 Yards, 8 TD, 0 INT --> 116.9 QB Rating
Half-Time Adjustments
Cam: -4.7 QB Rating
Caldwell: +23.6 QB Rating
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01-22-2013, 06:53 PM #2Veteran Poster
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
I don't think it is halftime adjustments. In the Broncos game they made offensive adjustments that nearly cost them the game. Joe lobbied for them to open up the offense.
In my opinion there are a couple of things that happened:
1. Caldwell got Joe moving around. Whether moving the pocket or getting him outside of the pocket. For whatever reason it has really improved Flacco's pocket presence. He steps up better than he ever has.
2. He made some subtle changes to the routes. Like the TD pass to Torrey to open the Broncos game.
3. Oline - Playing McKinnie and bringing in Castillo as a consultant. Not sure when that all happened but the line has been much better.
4. The offense has been most successful when they have spread out the defense and stopped using the fullback.
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01-22-2013, 06:59 PM #3Legendary RSR Poster
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
(1) Someone (Harbaugh, Bisciotti, someone else?) had the intelligence and guts to fire Cam.
(2) IMO that made Flacco happy, more at ease, and was able to play up to his maximum.
(3) Reshuffling of the Oline (McKinnie/KO/Oher) provided protection for Joe that he hadn't had
in 2012 before.
... Bc
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01-22-2013, 07:30 PM #4Legendary RSR Poster
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
Caldwell in my opinion has helped Flacco and the team with his knowledge of:
1. He was playing against these teams for a while now. How many times did the Colts play the broncos and pats
2. Anything after cam was an improvement. Joe can work with Caldwell.
3.These last games were a team effort. Caldwell is a team coach who isn't afraid to listen to others. Hell, him and peyton did very well together. Can't wait for next year, Caldwell will have the off season and pre-season to work with Joe and the offense.
4. Any one notice how Flacco is releasing the ball quicker. Receivers are just turning to look for the ball and it is already in the air. Peyton had one of the quickest release . Jim Caldwell is a godsend, he alone will make the media pay more attention to Joe Flacco and maybe the talking heads will watch the whole Raven game instead of printing what someone else said or heard.
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
A donkey shitting on a white page could be used to draw up better halftime adjustments than Cam Cameron.
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
That's the routes Caldwell is putting in. I'm convinced (now) that Cameron didn't want Flacco to do much moving around in the pocket. He wanted him to wait for the routes to open up downfield. With the O-line play we've had most of the season, that wasn't a good strategy. I seriously doubt the lightbulb suddenly switched on for Flacco with respect to pocket presence because he's looking more like he did his rookie season in that respect than he has in three years.
The only change: Cameron isn't holding the Denny's menu.
Cameron might be the General McClellan of the NFL: great at organizing and setting up a offense (army), but terrible on gameday (the battlefield).
We can definitely see it in the red zone. All three of Flacco's touchdowns against the Pats were in the middle of the end zone. With Cam calling the plays, we usually saw fade or out routes, and never a quick pattern. We have big, strong receivers, especially Q and Pitta. We didn't use those strengths under Cam.
That seam route to Pitta that got us moving against the Broncos (3rd and 13 deep in our own territory) has been part of the Ravens offense since Heap became the starter. Under Cam, it pretty much disappeared.
I think the OP is correct. Flacco's "inconsistency" has been more about the playcalling and the play of the offense as a whole than Flacco's ability, to include consistency. He is a consistent QB, and a consistently good one. But if he's not put consistently in a position to succeed, he's not going to consistently have success.
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01-23-2013, 08:31 AM #7Legendary RSR Poster
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
I would guarantee that if Cam was calling plays against the Pats, we would've lost. I was watching some of the all 22 last night, and the Pats effectively doubled Torrey for most of the game. They played a lot of 2 man coverage and kept 1 safety over Torrey at all times. You could tell that Belicheat drilled it into the db's heads to not get beat deep. So what did Caldwell do? He went 11 personnel and exploited the man - man coverage on Pitta and started working the middle of the field with slants, digs, crossing and in routes. Flacco basically found the weakest point in the defense and completely shredded them up and down the field. Cam would've kept calling 9 routes all game.
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01-23-2013, 08:37 AM #8
It seems pretty clear to me, also, that Cam was completely clueless on how to use Boldin. He neutered him, didn't have him playing to his strengths. Caldwell takes over and suddenly Boldin is the beast everyone knew he really was.
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
given the proper amount of time Joe has always been able to carve up defenses. his inconsistencies, even in Cams offense, routinely go with the inconsistencies of his O-line. I will say the protections, moving pocket, and play calling in general has improved greatly. Not so much for Joe but for our WRs. Theyve been able to get open, or at least gain an advantage on the defender, a lot more than i have seen over the years. routes where Boldin uses to be covered with a defender behind watching the play develop are now plays where boldin is hip to hip and being the one able to turn around and see the play while the defender is trying to keep up. Its little differences but its enough. I also agree halftime adjustments seem to be better but compared to non-existent it doesnt really take much.
-JAB
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01-23-2013, 08:41 AM #10Legendary RSR Poster
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
:word
All you need to do to realize this is look at Boldin's numbers since coming to Baltimore. His last two years in AZ he went from 80+ receptions and 1,000+ yards to 3 seasons with approximately 60 receptions and never reached 1,000 yards.
In fact, the Ravens under Cam, no receiver reached 1,000 yards except for Derrick Mason, who also averaged nearly 20 more receptions than Boldin as a Raven.
It's weird to think that Mason was, theoretically, more effective in Cam's offense than Boldin was. I wonder why Cam seemed to know how to use Mason...but not Boldin?Disclaimer: The content posted is of my own opinion.
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01-23-2013, 09:12 AM #12Veteran Poster
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Re: How Jim Caldwell Elevated Joe Flacco to Elite Status and Saved Our Season
Because he is the type of coach who has a system. He is going to force the player to fit his system, not taylor his system to fit the strengths of the players available. That is the same thing Gary Williams used to do with Maryland basketball. Square peg round hole...
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