The Offense

**dweezil22** · 05-10-2012, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by Ravens44

Yes, and add in the fact that no one on the Pats defense could keep up with Torrey Smith...I would have been throwing deep UNTIL the Pats did something to take it away.
The way the Ravens came out against the Rams is the way they should have come out against the WORST defense in the league.

I'm not sure how much they could throw deep with Vince Wilfork running rough-shod over the line interior...

**Dirt1** · 05-10-2012, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by dweezil22

I'm not sure how much they could throw deep with Vince Wilfork running rough-shod over the line interior...

That was a point of frustration I had throughout that game. Wilfork was blowing Birk up all game long. Why didn't the Ravens put Gurode in at Center? I was screaming for them to do that after the first quarter. Gurode is a 335 lb Center that would have held his ground better than Birk could at that point in the season against Wilfork.

**Ravens44** · 05-10-2012, 03:46 PM

That's called adapting DURING a game. Cam doesn't do that.

Recall the 2000 Raven defense. The longer the game went, the less likely a team would score.
And that was because after every series they would pull the noose tighter.
They would adapt during the game to take away what the other team was trying to do.
Of course they were beating them to death the whole game, but you see the point I was trying to make.

If something works, do it some more or use that to make other things work.
If it DOESN'T work, don't KEEP doing it over and over again expecting it to suddenly work.
If you can't block a certain player, try something different or try a different player...BUT DO SOMETHING.

The Pats STILL don't know where Torrey is, but it didn't matter becaue we stopped going there.
Meanwhile, when we HAD to throw on the last drive, OH LOOK, Boldin couldn't be stopped....by the midget wideout assigned to cover him ALL GAME. GEEEEEEESSSSH!! I threw up AGAIN!!!!

**seraph** · 05-10-2012, 04:35 PM

Man if Andre Gurode wasn't dead we would have beat the Patriots.

**The Excellector** · 05-10-2012, 05:51 PM

A few notes here:

1.) I really think that the Ravens would have pursued Norv Turner if he had been let go by the Chargers.
2.) I think that Jim Caldwell is the OC in waiting. I think the Ravens' front office likes the offensive 'system', because they are rather risk averse. Bisciotti admitted that he would rather win a game in the teens than in the forties. This time, if they want to get rid of Cameron, they'll already have his replacement.

We have to think about the 'who' and the 'what' here. Does Cameron want to run the ball or pass it? For example, when the Ravens threw the ball fifty times, during those two or three games, who wanted that? When they went back to running the ball more, on whose order was that done?

**seraph** · 05-10-2012, 06:03 PM

Cam was never going to be let go. He was at the Senior Bowl this year with the rest of the coaches.

And Jesus I don't want Jim Caldwell to handle anything important with the Ravens.

**steelerhater** · 05-10-2012, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by seraph

Man if Andre Gurode wasn't dead we would have beat the Patriots.

Something must be up with Gurode. A 5-time pro-bowler can't see any game time when the inside of our line is getting man-handled? Add to it, that he hasn't even been mentioned (as far as I know) to replace Grubbs or Birk.

**wickedsolo** · 05-11-2012, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by steelerhater

Something must be up with Gurode. A 5-time pro-bowler can't see any game time when the inside of our line is getting man-handled? Add to it, that he hasn't even been mentioned (as far as I know) to replace Grubbs or Birk.

He's not a great fit for a zone blocking scheme. Granted, a lot of the Ravens' OL last year wasn't a great fit, but Gurode was especially exposed. I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure the Cowboys weren't employing a ZBS before he was cut from their team, so not only were the concepts entirely new, but playing a different position on a new team where it's highly important to be athletic in a ZBS...he was kind of set up for failure, IMO, from the get go.

**BigPlayReceiver** · 05-11-2012, 08:55 AM

FWIW...Caldwell has never OC'd at any level.

**wickedsolo** · 05-11-2012, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by BigPlayReceiver

FWIW...Caldwell has never OC'd at any level.

That doesn't mean that he can't or won't have an understanding of gameplanning with the offense.

I'm not saying that he'd be an ideal replacement for Cam if the season should go that way, but Caldwell's understanding of the passing game and the QB far exceeds anyone else on the coaching staff right now. His experience of gameplanning with Peyton and his understanding of how Peyton worked the offense on the field, IMO, is going to really open up some doors for Flacco and the offense.

**Ravenswintitle** · 05-11-2012, 09:00 AM

I think they did Caldwell a favor like they did for Zorn a couple years ago; he is not going to be anything more than a QB coach in Baltimore. He'll likely be gone after one year

**LC_Ravens_87** · 05-11-2012, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by Boulderraven

Pretty much agree. Everyplay seems to take so long to develop. Also, until the 2nd half of the Affcg they never tried to roll Joe out of the pocket, once they did they moved the ball. Cam just is so hard headed, and unimaginative. It's really boring football.

Not really the case. Just rewatched the game yesterday (more brutal when you know what's coming), and their first big drive after 3 punts was a 1st down PA Bootleg to Smith 40 yds downfield. He was Wide Open, and that was 100% a great play call by Cam.

Also, they worked the **** out of Edelman on that last drive, which was how they got down to red zone. Beyond Boldin against Edelman, I think Pitta and a dumpoff to Rice were the only other guys to make a catch on that drive. Can't remember seeing Edelman on the field besides that last drive either. Biggest problem for the Ravens in that game was obviously Vince Wilfork and the general inability of the O-Line to run Block. Couple key pressures of Flacco as well on 3rd downs. My one other observation was how great Joe moved around and out of the pocket in the game. Kept plays alive, avoided several sacks, and grabbed a couple first downs on the run as well. At this point, his movement is a little underrated for me.

And for me that goes to the real issue of 2011 (and 2010), which was the inconsistent O-Line. Leaving Cameron and whatever idiosyncracies we have come to hate after 4 years, this O-Line is what held back the offense last year. You can easily put the Jacksonville, San Diego (defense too), New England, and maybe Tennessee games on the O-Line. Too many sacks/pressures; no push in the running game; overall bad offensive performance. Also that debacle against Houston even though they won. Bad O-Line play is like the hidden stench in your car. It's not always obvious, but if it persists, its hard to overcome. Ask Pittsburgh.

Somebody posted the Ravens highest scoring season was 2009. What's happened to the O-Line since then?

Gaither--Gone [replacement: McKinnie]
Grubbs--Gone (injured for what 1/3 of the year in 2011) [replacement: Rookie or 2nd year converted Tackle]
Birk--3 Years older
Oher--Slight Progression maybe???

And their 3 weakest O-Line spots last year were all next to each other last year, same will probably be true this year. Hopefully, this latest O-Line rebuild by Ozzie will be close to as successful as the last one in the 2007 Draft which netted Grubbs, Yanda, and Gaither (what an O-Line draft)