The debate has just begun: arm strength

**Raveninwoodlawn** · 08-26-2006, 01:43 PM

If anything, that gave Tampa a blueprint...just overload the middle and continue with 8 in the box.

Our OL was embarassed...and lost almost every single one-on-one battle. Now Minny does have a DL with a lot of talent...3 1st round picks with perhaps their best run stopper undrafted...but we will be seeing the same when we play Tampa. And Tampa has a vastly superior defense IMHO.

I just lost a ton of optimism watching them last night as I saw what I have been seeing for the past 4 or 5 years...and add to the fact that they just seem to fall apart on the road adds up to some serious doubt.

What are they going to do In Tampa in the heat against that outstanding defensive line? Or In KC which has a historically terrific home field advantage? Or Denver? Or New Orleans with thier pass rushing ends? Or even Tennessee with what happened last year?

They can turn it around, but they need to show something and stop it with teh "blind leap of faith" that everything is going to be ok.

**BirdFan** · 08-26-2006, 01:51 PM

Again, when bad things happen with McNair the fingers point all over the place, when Boller does it is all his fault. On top of that, many guys are discounting Boller's play the last few games any way they can, including saying that he made a bunch of mistakes despite no picks and very nice statistics.

I have to agree with Greg on this. It's what ticked me off so badly during the Boller wars. Every offensive bumble is Boller's fault, but none of them are McNair's. :grbac:

I think the TRUTH lies somewhere in between. All QBs make mistakes; shit happens. The real problem is that the offense sucks as a whole. Until the underlying problems are fixed, it doesn't matter who's under center. In fact, it's amazing how Boller-like McNair has looked the last two weeks. I don't think McNair's skills have deteriorated that much. I think our offense produces "Bollers".

**skimmy** · 08-26-2006, 02:10 PM

I've mentioned in the past the about McNair underthrowing deep passes even when he was a Titan... it's not like he just lost his arm this year. It isn't a huge deal though, because when their offense changed under Heimerdinger (sp?) to throwing more downfield he was still successful in that system. From what I remember of McNair he lived in the short and intermediate area even very early in his career and was successful then as well.

I think that Fassel and the offensive coaches have put the cuffs on the offense making sure the QB gets rid of the ball quickly and on time instead of going downfield all the time. I actually thought this was a smart thing to do in order to protect our suspect offensive line. I personally can't see McNair coming out of the opening game healthy if all he does is 7 step drops all day against Tampa and Simeon Rice.

I'll agree that McNair doesn't have all that much arm strength but I really don't think he ever did. Also we've had QB's that could get the ball downfield (Banks, Blake, Boller, etc.) and that didn't work out all that well for us either. Now we have a QB that can put the ball in the right spot for yac on short passes and isn't afraid to throw the ball to the intermediate routes. I think we'll finally see the ball go more downfield after the Ravens have established the running game and use the play-action pass to their advantage. I just don't think the Ravens are going to get all tricky and try to play this card yet. All you had to was look at Brad Johnson last night for an example of a QB with a suspect arm that has been successful even into his late 30s.

We have to look at the Ravens as a team that is going to methodically drive the ball down the field in order to score. They'll have to stop the penalties and mental mistakes in order to sustain drives like that. We got spanked last night, but still did pretty well in time of possesion which if it carries forward to the regular season should lend itself well to keeping our defense fresher.

**Drkraven** · 08-26-2006, 04:27 PM

The fact that the entire team was off last night,even though the D pulled their crap together by the second quarter, leads me to believe that the flight may have shook them up pretty bad. Not making excuses, but I don't think McNair ever played good in preseason and he was trying to make things happen. Last night was also JO's first game back and maybe that created some kind of glitch in chemistry. That game was just painful to watch and I hope it served as a wakeup call.

**RavenFanatic2k6** · 08-26-2006, 04:39 PM

I'm going to ask again, how do you know that McNair can't throw deep when he hasn't had the opp. If the OL can't block for more than 1.5 seconds, and Udeze was frequently in the backfield before that last night, you simply can't throw deep. It can't be done, period. The plays can't develop.

I also doubt you'll see the same bland offense come Week 1. With Tampa running the same defense and having scouts there, I'm sure Billick and Fassel didn't want to show off much. No, they obviously didn't tell the OL to suck, but they didn't do much with the playcalling to help them out. It was straight up drop back passes. If we get blitzed or pressured as much in Week 1, Fassel will (hopefully) call roll outs, screen passes, etc, to slow the D's rush down a bit.

**BirdFan** · 08-26-2006, 04:46 PM

I'm going to ask again, how do you know that McNair can't throw deep when he hasn't had the opp.

Actually, we've seen him try it twice...once in the scrimmage against the ***skins and once in the 1st preseason game. Both attempts were butt ugly.

**RavenFanatic2k6** · 08-26-2006, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by BirdFan

Actually, we've seen him try it twice...once in the scrimmage against the ***skins and once in the 1st preseason game. Both attempts were butt ugly.

I know, I saw those two, but I figure most would agree with me when I say that two throws are most definitely not enough attempts to come to the conclusion that he can't throw deep!

**BirdFan** · 08-26-2006, 04:57 PM

Disagree...those two were enough that the coaches took deep throws out of the playbook. We haven't even seen an attempt since then.

**Art-Florida** · 08-26-2006, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by Mista T

How about we just all stick to the script here on the new board and debate the opinions expressed, not going after the person who expressed them.

Can I get an 'amen' ? I have said this before here and it bears repeating...

Avoid the use of the second-person singular, and the civility quotient will stay high.

**StingerNLG** · 08-26-2006, 10:51 PM

The ignore list works well too. :)

BTW, something that should motivate everyone to keep it civil. Look over at our former board and see the absolute cluster-fuck that it has become in the last 24-36 hours. It's an absolute embarassment to watch so-called Ravens fans tear into each other like they are.

I just know I'm glad I'm here.

**Drkraven** · 08-26-2006, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by StingerNLG

The ignore list works well too. :)

BTW, something that should motivate everyone to keep it civil. Look over at our former board and see the absolute cluster-fuck that it has become in the last 24-36 hours. It's an absolute embarassment to watch so-called Ravens fans tear into each other like they are.

I just know I'm glad I'm here.

Its funny reading

:bag:

**Heap86** · 08-26-2006, 11:45 PM

This team will run a ball controlled Offense, why does McNair need to be throwing 40 or 50 yard bombs. McNair does not have Boller's arm. Do you guys forget who won us the Superbowl? Dilfer had no arm strength. We will run a similar Offense centered around our running game. McNair has been throwing some accurate deep passes in practice and in camp, he hit Mason in mini-camps for a TD torching C-Mac a few months ago. He did'nt lose substancial arm strength overnight.