Originally Posted by
JimZipCode
I just couldn't bear to check in with this board yesterday. Even today I still dread having to parse the same old bitterness we've been wading thru here, these past several months. Does anyone mind if I skip the existing threads, and just post some random thoughts, that are probably covered elsewhere? I'll start poking thru threads, I guess, but I wanted to note some things down first.
1.
The FWO got more ammunition for their point of view, I caught myself thinking, during one series in the first half. Maybe the 2nd or 3rd offensive series? On first down Mike Wallace failed to haul in the long bomb down the left sideline that was in his hands briefly; then on third down Ryan Jensen gave a bad snap and failed to pass-block effectively, leading to Joe being sacked, giving Jensen the rare "two bad plays in one snap". Ex & Co had to be thinking "SEE! WTF more can Joe do?!??"
2.
Alex Collins: the talent is real, and the fumbling problem is real. Holy shit that one big run of his is exactly what we need. Holy shit if he keeps putting the ball on the turf you can't keep him out there. The Ravens offensive situation is dire enough that he'll get another opportunity. But man, he needs to clean that shit up.
(How nice would it be to have him and Dixon as our one-two punch this year?? Damn these injuries.)
3.
The O-line gave up interior pressure on Joe. I saw Hurst get plowed backward on one replay; I saw the Illuminator in at RG on one play and give up a "pass rush event", I forget what. This observation that the O-line isn't good tends to be a FWO argument, and it tends to be used to criticize Ozzie. "Ozzie didn't devote enough resources" etc. But from what I saw, most of the pressure events came from the INTERIOR O-line. The tackles played decently, for the most part. And the interior is the one area that Ozzie stocked! We lost our top 3 or 4 guards, depending on if you count Urschel.
It's frustrating. But this is one thing that you can't blame Ozzie for, or Harbaugh. This line looks different if you add Alex Collins or Nico to it; certainly if you add Yanda.
4.
Joe's gotta play better. I don't care if you are in or out of the FWO, he can't throw INTs in 10 straight games. He can't stare down his receivers like that. He can't be slow like that. He can't sail passes like that. If this game provided ammo for the FWO, it also provided fodder for the Flacco haters.
The Ravens O is sort of a Rorshach blot: you can see whatever you want to in it. The FWO sees justification for its arguments, and the Flacco-haters do too. Can we arrive at some sort of compromise? All of these things can be true at the same time: (a) there is not enough talent around Joe; (b) not all of that is bad planning by Ozzie/Harbaugh, a lot of it is injuries; (c) Joe is not doing all the things that are in his control to play as well as we need him to or as he should.
5.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, ugh. We didn't really have a chance at him, unless we passed on Bowser, and Bowser seems like a great player. Just, ugh.
6.
Did the D play "well"? I guess they did what they do: hold Pittsburgh to FGs, until the turnovers put them in bad spots. You can absolutely make the case that, if a Ravens offense shows up to this game, we win. But they gave up that 10-min drive in the first quarter. Bell had 185 yards from scrimmage. The backup RB averaged 6.5 ypc. Ben was only sacked once. The Ravens D did not "control" this game, at all.
Not trying to "blame" the D, because the offense lost this game not the defense. But, this was not the dominant D that was advertised.
7.
The team that humiliated us in London, just lost to the Jets. The Jets! This season is fucking CRAZY so far, all around the league. Things will shake out and settle down, and we'll see where we're at. I'm not ready to write off the season yet.
There were some signs of life yesterday. That deep ball to Wallace (that he dropped): that was a good play design and an open receiver and a catchable ball. That long run by Collins was electric. (Is it just me, or does the O-line seem to "perk up" and block with more vigor when Collins is carrying?) We did some 4- and 5-receiver sets and ran some sugar huddle. I feel like Joe threw it a little deeper this game, than earlier in the season.
Ha, the Ravens offensive Rorshach blot comes into play here too. If you believe that the offense was going to be a "work in progress" for the first ~month of the season, while Joe worked himself back into shape and conducted his own personal training camp, then you could find some positives yesterda to infer that things are improving. If you believe that the unit is a joke, too hapless to put 10 points on the board at home against any half-decent defense; well, there's plenty of evidence for that too. We look at the same things and see what we expect to see.