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  1. #1
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    The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    The reality is that we need to calm ourselves, in regard to the missing pieces of the passing offense. The difference in the passing offense, between the regular season and the postseason, was not Dennis Pitta. It was not Anquan Boldin.

    It was Jim Caldwell and the offensive line. That remains intact.

    For the record, on the outside, Torrey Smith is the key piece to the passing offense. Torrey faced double teams almost all of last season and, his doing so allowed for one on one opportunities for both Boldin and Pitta. Torrey also, almost exclusively, took the top CB with him, which left Boldin to deal with nicklebacks and safeties, playing from the slot, as well as Pitta.

    As long as Torrey is in place, one on one opportunities will continue. As long as Flacco is throwing the ball, it will be delivered to the intended WR. As long as the offensive line is protecting him, he will continue to successfully throw the ball. As long as Jim Caldwell is calling plays, it will all come together.

    Until one of those pieces falls out of place, dare I say that there is no reason to panic about the passing offense.
    "Please take with you this final sword, The Excellector. I am praying that your journey will be guided by the light", Leon Shore





  2. #2
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    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    IMHO, the strength of rebounding from the loss of Pitta will be Jim Caldwell. I feel that he has the capacity to adjust the schemes for the personnel, both strategically and in-game. I think that he will make the calls that fit the strengths of the players, rather than always claim that his plays are best and it is the players who fail to execute them.

    The passing offense is as much dependent on the ability to run the ball as it is to have the personnel, and the stability of the OL makes the passing game more productive. All of the pieces have to be working together.

    I have faith that the plan will be in place as the season progresses.
    Captain Offense





  3. #3

    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    Joe Flacco isn't going to throw for 9.0 yards per attempt and 44 TDs to 0 INTs so those expecting the playoff performance to continue all year should probably cool their expectations and realize exactly how ridiculous that run was.

    We have no idea what Jim Caldwell is or isn't. The only thing we know is that Joe Flacco and Cam Cameron did not get along. It is fully possible that ANY change would have lit a fire under Joe's ass at that point in time. Let's wait and see.





  4. #4
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    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    Quote Originally Posted by RavensNTerps View Post
    Joe Flacco isn't going to throw for 9.0 yards per attempt and 44 TDs to 0 INTs so those expecting the playoff performance to continue all year should probably cool their expectations and realize exactly how ridiculous that run was.

    We have no idea what Jim Caldwell is or isn't. The only thing we know is that Joe Flacco and Cam Cameron did not get along. It is fully possible that ANY change would have lit a fire under Joe's ass at that point in time. Let's wait and see.
    This. Caldwell actually ran the ball more than Cam. In fact I remember the announcers saying how predictable he was with run, run, pass. The results speak for themselves but I give him more credit for allowing Flacco to audible and take control than I do for his play calling per se

    World Domination 3 Points at a Time!





  5. #5
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    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    I am happy to see that there can be a positive spin on the story of the demise our passing game. Highly optimistic to see the coach and OL overcoming the loss of our two best receivers ---- thanks for making me smile this morning!

    Here's hoping that Ray Rice's little legs are up to the challenge.
    In a 2003 BBC poll that asked Brits to name the "Greatest American Ever", Mr. T came in fourth, behind ML King (3rd), Abe Lincoln (2nd) and Homer Simpson (1st).





  6. #6
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    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    As long as Flacco is healthy there is nothing to worry about. The sky didn't fall when Webb went down or Ray went down or all those times that Boldin went down. It comes down to Joe. This is a QB league and the key is to keep your star QB healthy and productive.





  7. #7
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    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    Certainly no need to panic, but losing Boldin AND Pitta will have an effect. And as others have said, we weren't going to replicate the last 4 games over the next 16 regardless of personnel.

    I'm excited to see what we can do under Caldwell, but I think the key question mark is the o-line. I'm hopeful that they'll play well this year, but Oher and McKinnie will always make me nervous.





  8. #8
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    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    Quote Originally Posted by GOTA View Post
    As long as Flacco is healthy there is nothing to worry about. The sky didn't fall when Webb went down or Ray went down or all those times that Boldin went down. It comes down to Joe. This is a QB league and the key is to keep your star QB healthy and productive.
    :word
    Disclaimer: The content posted is of my own opinion.





  9. #9

    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    It's an overreaction to say that the passing game has met its demise. But it's just as much of an overreaction to say "no problem, next man up."

    Boldin and Pitta were the two best pass-catchers on our team. Torrey Smith is a nice player, but he is extremely inconsistent. You can't count on a guy who regularly posts 0 or 1 reception stat lines in 4 or 5 games a year to suddenly be the focus of your passing game. I expect him to have a good year, but if this offense is going to work we need proven threats running underneath of Torrey's deep speed. We lost both of the guys who really did that at a high level last year.

    Wasn't this board gleefully proclaiming the demise of the Pats from losing 2 of their 3 top targets last year in Hernandez and Welker? Now we've lost two players of comparable importance in our offense, AND we didn't make up any ground signing anybody like the Pats did with Danny Amendola.

    Signing Leach might be a good move if it allows Juszczyk to play plenty of a Pitta-esque H-Back role, but the team still has a big personnel problem at pass-catcher. Unfortunately, it's pretty unlikely that there's anybody on the FA market that's even worth pursuing, outside of maybe a big flyer on Austin Collie. Both of my proposed trade targets from earlier in the offseason, Jeremy Maclin and Golden Tate, are off the table now since Maclin is out for the year and Seattle won't part with Tate while Harvin's status is uncertain.





  10. #10
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    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    Quote Originally Posted by bmorecareful View Post
    Boldin and Pitta were the two best pass-catchers on our team. Torrey Smith is a nice player, but he is extremely inconsistent. You can't count on a guy who regularly posts 0 or 1 reception stat lines in 4 or 5 games a year to suddenly be the focus of your passing game.
    Torrey Smith and Dennis Pitta had exactly the same number of 0-1 reception games last season - four (and that includes the last game of the season vs. the Bengals when they mostly sat out).





  11. #11

    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    Quote Originally Posted by alien bird View Post
    Torrey Smith and Dennis Pitta had exactly the same number of 0-1 reception games last season - four (and that includes the last game of the season vs. the Bengals when they mostly sat out).
    Point taken, but if you bump the number up to 0-2 Torrey had 10 games out of 19 (excluding the 2nd Cincy game). Pitta had 5. I'm not trying to just move the goalposts just for the sake of argument. Pitta also split time with Ed Dickson while Torrey Smith played virtually every snap last season outside of missing part of the Denver game due to injury. He still averaged only 3.1 receptions per game. Pitta averaged 3.8.

    The point is that Torrey is a player who was much more prone to disappearing from whole games or stretches of games, balancing that out by taking over games at times. That's the kind of player he is... boom or bust. He's not a Calvin Johnson or Brandon Marshall kind of player that can just be an entire passing game by himself. He needs some help, and we don't currently have any help for him, unless things really change in camp.





  12. #12

    Re: The Foundation of the Passing Offense is still Intact.

    Anquan had several 0 to 2 catch, 0 TD games over his 3 years here.
    5 in 2010, 6 in 2011 and add in one with 1 catch and 1TD. And the ones Alien mentioned in 2012. That is just the regular season.

    I am going to beat this horse again, but it needs to be repeated, Anquan was a 65 catch, 4.33 TD a season guy while he was here. That may have changed had the Ravens had a better offensive coordinator, but the facts are the facts, Boldin's production while here, has been somewhat overstated by many. He wasn't irreplaceable. Could he have been an 80+ catch, 10 TD a season guy? Probably, but in the Cameron offense, he just wasn't. Neither was Pitta.





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