Season in a microcosm....one play

[ERey]

As I reflect on one of the most horrific games in team history, it struck me that one play in the game really summarized the whole season at once.

The 4th and 1 from the 4.

It had all the elements of the 2013 Ravens.

Just the fact that we had to be in a 4th down situation there to begin with
A terrible play call
A terrible play call .... following a time out!
A hand off to Ray Rice who can't get a yard and a half.
The O-Line with no push
Futility
Failure

That play defines the 2013 Ravens for me.

Agreed.

I'd even say the 3rd down play with no one in the backfield. They essentially told the Patriots what they play call was. Joe then overthrows Pitta in the endzone.

[Corey]

The Ravens season is exactly what should have been expected. You dont face a mass exodus of talent, where you barely replace them and come back as strong as before. The roster turnover in itself was enough to do us in but you add the extra chefs to the kitchen... what did we really expect? For these guys to still be in the hunt speaks volume.

Failure is the 2 win Texans, or the 4 win Falcons, or how about those 3 win Redskins. I know we fell off but those three fanbases had an even bjgger harder fall. We can say a bounce here or abounce there and this is a different season, they cant.

[LukeDaniel]

I didn't have any problem with the audible call on 4th down. The call of the immobile QB roll out on 3rd after spitting Rice out wide, not even giving the hint of a run play was just dumb though. Especially if you know you're gonna go for it on 4th.

Bingo. The 4th down call would have been perfectly okay on 3rd down. It would have left 4th and an inch. The 3rd down call was the problem. There was no deception. It was a low percentage lob throw to the back corner of the end zone. Just terrible play calling.

That having been said, Harbaugh was wrong to have not challenged the spot on the Rice 4th down carry. That stop by the Pats D essentially ended the game. The ball was marked outside the 3 yard line. The replay on the jumbotron showed the ball in Rice's arms was inside the 3 when he came to the ground. There is no telling where/when his knee was down on the play, but when you are one inch short, what is to lose with a challenge? There was even a TV timeout and about 15 replays, but no challenge.

Harbaugh challenges some of the dumbest things, but didn't challenge that one, which was really tough to swallow.

[Haloti92]

Since 2008, the AFC East has 6 more wins, collectively, than the AFC North.

[ERey]

The Ravens season is exactly what should have been expected. You dont face a mass exodus of talent, where you barely replace them and come back as strong as before. The roster turnover in itself was enough to do us in but you add the extra chefs to the kitchen... what did we really expect? For these guys to still be in the hunt speaks volume.

Failure is the 2 win Texans, or the 4 win Falcons, or how about those 3 win Redskins. I know we fell off but those three fanbases had an even bjgger harder fall. We can say a bounce here or abounce there and this is a different season, they cant.

:word

Congrats, I'm nominating this for "Most Reasonable Post" award.

[bmorecareful]

Yeah, audibling to a run with no one over center isn't a bad decision. It's just that, once again, the O-line/Rice totally shit the bed.

And again, the Patriots were playing chess while the Ravens were playing checkers. The Pats lined up with no one over the center PRECISELY to provoke a run behind center. Right before the ball was snapped, they crashed the A gaps with a double blitz, and the run had no chance. Another example of the Ravens being outsmarted.

[LukeDaniel]

The Ravens season is exactly what should have been expected. You dont face a mass exodus of talent, where you barely replace them and come back as strong as before. The roster turnover in itself was enough to do us in but you add the extra chefs to the kitchen... what did we really expect? For these guys to still be in the hunt speaks volume.

Failure is the 2 win Texans, or the 4 win Falcons, or how about those 3 win Redskins. I know we fell off but those three fanbases had an even bjgger harder fall. We can say a bounce here or abounce there and this is a different season, they cant.

Agree for the most part, particularly about what truly constitutes "failure". However, I'm sorta curious about this "mass exodus of talent" to which you are referring.

Most of the talent that we lost was replaced with equal/improved talent. This wasn't about losing Reed, Kruger, Cary Williams, etc. Those loses really haven't hurt us.

This was about so many of our backbone veterans regressing at the same time, mainly on offense (Oher, McKinnie, Rice, Flacco, Yanda).

More than that, though, this season has been about utter failure by our coordinators. I've never seen the Ravens play so scared and conservatively and predictably. Yet, when the situation calls for conservative, unflashy play, they suddenly take a needless gamble.

In watching the Patriots yesterday, it was a reminder of how a well-coached team plays. Corner blitzes. Varied defensive looks. 6 yard passes on 3rd-and-4, not 20 yard passes. Attacking the middle of the field. The Ravens are so vanilla is annoying.

Lastly, yesterday was my first time watching Tom Brady live. Brady is remarkably good at not locking in on one receiver. He sees the field so well. If there is ever an open receiver, the ball is there timely and accurately. Flacco missed so many wide open receivers yesterday that it was agonizing. Even a few of his completions to Torrey Smith came when Smith was open for a full 3-4 seconds before Flacco finally found him. It resulted in a completion, but not a big play. Flacco was so inaccurate yesterday that when he did find an open receiver, the ball was frequently behind the receiver, causing him to slow down and reduce the YAC.

Oh yea, one last thing, in my mind, it's UN-fucking-excusable to not have Tyrod Taylor in on short yardage plays and ALL plays inside the 5 yard line. I really don't care about Flacco's ego. When our offense is struggling the way it did, and we have an instant energizer on the bench not being used, that's yet another coaching failure.

[BmoreBrawla]

As I reflect on one of the most horrific games in team history, it struck me that one play in the game really summarized the whole season at once.

The 4th and 1 from the 4.

It had all the elements of the 2013 Ravens.

Just the fact that we had to be in a 4th down situation there to begin with
A terrible play call
A terrible play call .... following a time out!
A hand off to Ray Rice who can't get a yard and a half.
The O-Line with no push
Futility
Failure

That play defines the 2013 Ravens for me.

In my opinion Flacco is audibling(sp) into these crappy runs. I don't believe that was the play call in this game or in the GB and other games.

[BcRaven]

Save that for the Texans. A team with a winning record is not defined by failure. My God, we have spoiled fans...

Ga, I just started reading this thread, and have to agree with you. Now of course the Ravens could have been better this year, but OMG aren't we lucky to be in the Harbaugh/Flacco era? I feel that 20 years from now we will look onto these seasons are a Golden Age in Ravens history. I feel sorry for those who don't see it because they're losing out on a historic, emotional period that should be admired by Ravens fans... Bc

[JohnBKistler]

Ga, I just started reading this thread, and have to agree with you. Now of course the Ravens could have been better this year, but OMG aren't we lucky to be in the Harbaugh/Flacco era? I feel that 20 years from now we will look onto these seasons are a Golden Age in Ravens history. I feel sorry for those who don't see it because they're losing out on a historic, emotional period that should be admired by Ravens fans... Bc

Personally...this is where I am at the moment...as painful and disappointing as yesterday's game...you don't get that disappointment and pain without being in the hunt in the first place with a lot on the line...and I am grateful they get one more meaningful game to get into the playoffs.

[Uli2001]

Save that for the Texans. A team with a winning record is not defined by failure. My God, we have spoiled fans...

The Ravens are a two-time SB winner franchise. Ravens fans have high expectations. It comes with the territory.

And I agree that the O-line futility on running plays defines this season. They are average in pass-blocking but terrible in run-blocking. And an O-line that can't run-block is demoralizing to the whole team. They should consider changing things on the O-line as the top priority for next year.

[RavensQB]

All I can say is......... When we work out of the huddle it is awful. When we work out of the NO HUDDLE we move the ball. Just sayin