How are "inconsistent" and "predictable" a combination?

Some of that I agree with. On the road, the middle of the field doesn't exist. The Steelers seem to be the only road opponent, however, against which we become "run heavy," as the usual criticism after a road loss (and sometimes a road win) is Cam didn't run Rice enough.

To me, the problem is he tries to run the Coryell backwards. That offense is designed to work off of the run. You pound the rock, and throw for first downs as needed. You force the defense to give you shots downfield, because if you're moving the ball with the run game and (fairly) short passes, they have to move up. Cam too often starts out with the bomb. That, in and of itself, wouldn't be too bad, but when it doesn't work he seems determined to keep at it until it does. Flacco doesn't have time to get into rhythm, and the pass rush doesn't respect the run or worry about quick passes on third down: we don't seem to have any in our arsenal anymore.

When Kelly Washington was one of our receivers, we hit a few times on quick slants. I don't recall it ever gaining less than 5 yards. I don't see that play getting called anymore, even though we have guys who cause damage with the quick slant, especially if there's a missed/broken tackle.

I don't fault him as much for the lack of crossing routes, except when it looks like Flacco is getting good pass pro. Those are tough routes to defend. We've gnashed our teeth enough as other teams have made good yardage against our defense, after all. But those pages in the playbook seem to have gotten lost. Sometimes I wonder if Cameron hasn't caught whatever afflicted Cavanaugh: if a play works really well, he'll never do it again...