Anyone still want to call Oher a good left tackle?

**ActualSpamBot** · 09-28-2012, 05:54 AM

Mike isn't a great LT by any stretch, but he's young, athletic, a hard worker, and a team player. He's going to give his all every snap of every game. If I can't have Jon Ogden or Joe Thomas, I'll take an effort guy who you can count on to be serviceable.

**steelerhater** · 09-28-2012, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by ActualSpamBot

Mike isn't a great LT by any stretch, but he's young, athletic, a hard worker, and a team player. He's going to give his all every snap of every game. If I can't have Jon Ogden or Joe Thomas, I'll take an effort guy who you can count on to be serviceable.

No one cares about any of that if he can't get the job done. I'd rather have a lazy slob playing the position if he can keep guys off of Flacco.

**Lee Van Cleef** · 09-28-2012, 06:13 AM

Originally Posted by steelerhater

I'd rather have a lazy slob playing the position if he can keep guys off of Flacco.

Sounds like someone we know.... heh.

**ActualSpamBot** · 09-28-2012, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by steelerhater

No one cares about any of that if he can't get the job done. I'd rather have a lazy slob playing the position if he can keep guys off of Flacco.

Joe's current sack rate is .054 or 1 out of every 20 drop backs. Joe's career sack rate is .065. Michael Oher is currently keeping guys off Flacco better than he's ever been protected in his career.

**bmorecareful** · 09-28-2012, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by Haloti92

The O-line was dubious, but we again wasted many plays where there was great protection. Every game, by miracle or skill our O-line walls off the pass rush for 5+ seconds, and way too many times, we don't do jack chit on those plays; we settle for some BS checkdown or toss into double coverage eventhough we have all day. Doing nothing with those plays makes the other plays (where the O-line is sieve-like) stand out more.

Have you ever considered that the good protection and lack of open receivers downfield might actually be connected in some way?

Rush 4, drop 7 into deep zones, and if the coverage is good you WILL force a checkdown or a throw into a tight window. That seems to be what we've TRIED to do frequently over the past few games, but our defense hasn't been able to execute. The Browns last night executed VERY well in downfield coverage. It's not BS, it's football.

Trust me, the OL doesn't need any help standing out. To my eyes, they are far and away the weakest unit on the field at this point, including anybody on defense.

Originally Posted by ActualSpamBot

Joe's current sack rate is .054 or 1 out of every 20 drop backs. Joe's career sack rate is .065. Michael Oher is currently keeping guys off Flacco better than he's ever been protected in his career.

If you think the decline in Joe's sacks has anything to do with the OL, you're crazy. First of all, while Joe has been sacked less, I highly doubt his total pressures, QB hits, and sacks have declined. He's certainly not seeing cleaner pockets than he has in past years. Second of all, despite facing similar or worse pressure, Joe's pocket presence has been markedly better this year. He's buying time inside and outside of the pocket and getting the ball out before the rush gets home.

The improvement in our passing game this year has nothing to do with our OL and is probably occurring in spite of our OL.

**AirFlacco** · 09-28-2012, 08:00 AM

Mikie Prestone gave Oher and the entire O-line a grade of D+ and said they went
backwards after improving Sunday night.

Betcha Film Study says the same thing.

**palukaraven** · 09-28-2012, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by ActualSpamBot

Joe's current sack rate is .054 or 1 out of every 20 drop backs. Joe's career sack rate is .065. Michael Oher is currently keeping guys off Flacco better than he's ever been protected in his career.

Let's not confuse the number of sacks with the number of hits, hurries, and flushes Joe takes throughout the game. Going by the number of sacks is an easy argument because its a commonly document statistic. If you want the game to see how often pressure comes from the left side through Oher and Harewood, it's evident there is a problem with the quality of pass protection Flacco is receiving.
Another thing to consider, is that Flacco is getting throwing the ball away or getting rid of the ball often as he is getting bulldozed. This also does not show up in the "sacks" statistics.

**Bhcforlife** · 09-28-2012, 08:57 AM

Since everyone was ready to crucify McKinnie after one mistake last week, this is an appropriate thread.

Oher was just plain bad last night but it is what it is. He has improved at LT this year from how he played previously but I don't think he's ever going to be a consistent blocker week in and week out. It is unfair to just pick on him though, on a night that Osemele looked like O'neil Cousins and Harewood and Birk both played poor too. I have come to accept this too, that given the age of Birk and the inexperience of Osemele/Harewood, the results are going to vary wildly from week to week...

**esmd** · 09-28-2012, 09:03 AM

Knee jerk alert! Look, it was one bad game for Oher and the rest of the line. If it becomes a trend, then this thread will be more appropriate.

**Ravens420** · 09-28-2012, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by leachisabeast

You all seem to forget that playing left tackle is one of the hardest positions in all of sports on this planet. It's like QB, only around 10 guys on this planet can play at a high level in the NFL. Right now Oher looks like a young athletically gifted LT who is average and has plenty of room to grow. I still think that he has shown a lot of progress this year from where he was in 2010. He has to improve on his mental lapses, and some issues as a pass blocker, but you can't just throw him out because of a mistake here and there, lots of OT's make mistakes, but teams deal with it and move on. Hell the Giants won the SB with David Diehl starting at LT, who may well be one of the worst right tackles in football right now.

What you call progress, everyone else calls the same old ish...stupid penalties, missed blocks and killed drives. Its year four, and he is still making the same mistakes. He is overmatched against elite players, and sometime against not so elite players like last night. It is funny how some manage to literally bend over backwards to defend his play for reasons i cannot fathom. Is it that damn movie? Because no other player on the roster gets a continuous free pass for poor play than this guy. Nothing but excuses for the same crappy play. Open your eyes and accept what they tell you and everyone else. Michael oher - great guy, hard worker, medicocre at best player at this position. This is on the coaches for continually truing to force this issue.

**alien bird** · 09-28-2012, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by esmd

Knee jerk alert!

This.

I actually think this whining, bitching and crying about Oher this week will be a good thing and he will have a great game the next time out. I know this because Cary Williams was last week's whipping boy on this board and he made the game changing play last night; the week before everyone was on Birk's case and he played well against New England and kept Wilfork off Joe. Keep it up boys.

**JMUpurkfool** · 09-28-2012, 09:23 AM

We can only hope that they are a little better than this by the end of the year. They can't get worse. It is literally impossible for them to get worse.

Joe still hasn't been sacked nearly as often as in previous years. That's mostly due to his awareness though.