Deploy Duvernay

**John Reglarperson** · 09-26-2020, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by Unibomber

I think you're right, and it may be a blessing in disguise. When the playoffs come around these guys could be heating up rather than hitting the rookie wall.

the playoffs.

The Ravens went 14-2 in the regular season last year and didn't win a playoff game.

The Ravens don't need to unleash all the firepower they have in the first game in order to win by more than 5 TDs in every game in the regular season. They need to win every game in the playoffs to win the Super Bowl.

Whatever helps to win in the playoffs is best, if it's practicing things in the regular season, that's cool, if it's showing things in the playoffs for the first time, that's cool, whatever wins in the playoffs.

**HotInHere** · 09-26-2020, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by John Reglarperson

the playoffs.

The Ravens went 14-2 in the regular season last year and didn't win a playoff game.

The Ravens don't need to unleash all the firepower they have in the first game in order to win by more than 5 TDs in every game in the regular season. They need to win every game in the playoffs to win the Super Bowl.

Whatever helps to win in the playoffs is best, if it's practicing things in the regular season, that's cool, if it's showing things in the playoffs for the first time, that's cool, whatever wins in the playoffs.

To quote the Prophet Herman, "You play to win the game."

I know it seems right now that we are unbeatable, and can roll past any non-KC team by 20-40 points as we so desire. But the reality is that the playoffs are not a given. And even if they were, seeding matters, and one game could be the difference between the division and a wildcard berth. Stranger things have happened.

I want this team to do what it needs to do each and every week. Focus on winning this week's game, and nothing more. Worry about the playoffs if and when you get in to them.

It's fine for fans to think about the playoffs now, but if a coaching staff is planning for the playoffs two games into the season, that is a recipe for disaster. Ask the Rams how that worked out for them last season.

**Dirt1** · 09-26-2020, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by John Reglarperson

the playoffs.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-oSFYxDGKy8

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**John Reglarperson** · 09-27-2020, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by HotInHere

To quote the Prophet Herman, "You play to win the game."

I know it seems right now that we are unbeatable, and can roll past any non-KC team by 20-40 points as we so desire. But the reality is that the playoffs are not a given. And even if they were, seeding matters, and one game could be the difference between the division and a wildcard berth. Stranger things have happened.

I want this team to do what it needs to do each and every week. Focus on winning this week's game, and nothing more. Worry about the playoffs if and when you get in to them.

It's fine for fans to think about the playoffs now, but if a coaching staff is planning for the playoffs two games into the season, that is a recipe for disaster. Ask the Rams how that worked out for them last season.

I know that conventional wisdom is fight hard to win every game. And I know that what I'm suggesting is not conventional wisdom.

I'm one who thinks that the Ravens should've won the Super Bowl in 2018 and should've won the Super Bowl in 2019. But they didn't win a single playoff game.

Getting regular season wins with Lamar Jackson as starting QB has never been a problem. And I don't think that will be a problem this year. I'm guessing that Lamar has the best record start in NFL history. But 0-2 in the playoffs is not good at all for a team/QB that went 19-3.

Ordinarily, yes, getting regular season wins is difficult and should be a top priority, for an ordinary team. But the Ravens (and the Chiefs, too) are not an ordinary team.

My thinking is that the Ravens should make decisions based on improving the odds of a playoff win.

The Ravens could go into the playoffs with a 16-0 record. This upcoming Chiefs game is the most likely loss, and if the Ravens win, 16-0 is a real possibility. Same I'd think is true for the Chiefs.

16-0 teams probably have more pressure on them to win in the playoffs. Is having additional pressure something that's going to be helpful to the Ravens? There's a bunch of "football gods" stuff that most people including myself don't really understand, and it might not even be there, but it gets talked about. I think we're in that area.

**BearArms** · 09-27-2020, 04:49 PM

Deploy Dobbins and Duvernay. Dobbins looked faster than I thought he was. Both he and Duv have speed that translates to the field unlike many timed track guys who just dont play to their times.

**AQKingRaven** · 09-27-2020, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by BearArms

Deploy Dobbins and Duvernay. Dobbins looked faster than I thought he was. Both he and Duv have speed that translates to the field unlike many timed track guys who just dont play to their times.

That move Dobbins put on the saftey on his long run at the end of the Hou game, the defender caught flat footed by Dobbins accelration 15 yards down field. That was special.

The extra 3 yards Duvernay got on that screen and i was sold.

Some nice looking rookies

**JimZipCode** · 09-27-2020, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by John Reglarperson

My thinking is that the Ravens should make decisions based on improving the odds of a playoff win.

Improving your playoff seeding, so that your first opponent is a lower seed, improves the odds of a playoff win.

Getting home field improves the odds of a playoff win.

Both of those happen from winning games.

**John Reglarperson** · 09-28-2020, 04:45 AM

Originally Posted by JimZipCode

Improving your playoff seeding, so that your first opponent is a lower seed, improves the odds of a playoff win.

Getting home field improves the odds of a playoff win.

Both of those happen from winning games.

Yes.

And there are other things that could be done that increase the odds of winning even more.

When we look at the Ravens, specificially, the team that we're talking about, we find that having the TOP SEED led to a first round loss.

When it comes to the Ravens, the real facts show that having that TOP SEED did NOT help.

It is true that someone could site statistics that show that the top seed is more likely to win.

It is also true that someone else with a lot of data can show that a lot of different things cause the likelihood of a win to go up.

I'm just saying that the Ravens should make decisions at least in part based on increasing the likelihood of winning all the playoff games. They should've won the Super Bowl last year and the year before.

And again, top seed last year = no playoff wins last year. I would want to go in a direction that wasn't completely ineffective last year. Whatever it is that's most effective.

Here's a scenario.

Ravens go 16-0. Home field advantage. Top seed. Week of rest for Lamar who broke all the rushing records again as did the Ravens. Greg Roman has 3-5 interviews for head coaching jobs, and in each case, the interviewer expresses concern that Greg Roman can only do run first offenses with running QBs. Greg Roman assures the interviewers that he can do quite fine with normal passing offenses. Then in the playoffs, the Ravens pass more than they did in the regular season, and there are a couple of missteps, and the Ravens lose. That's basically what happened last year, except with 16-0, there would be more attention, more pressure, more sideshow. I do think the Ravens could go 16-0, but I'm not as sure that it would be the best thing. I do think that the Ravens could do everything they possibly could to beat the Chiefs, and more than likely would succeed. But does that help the Ravens beat the Chiefs in the playoffs? If you show the Chiefs everything you have that is bit of a surprise that could beat then in the regular season, you will have nothing to surprise the Chiefs with in the playoffs. I'm not necessarily saying that "surprise thing" is such a critical thing to have, I'm just pointing out one thing out of many possible things that might go against a regular season win in favor of a playoff win.

**Raven Roller** · 09-28-2020, 06:21 AM

5-0 turnover margin (including turnovers on downs) will lose a game every single time.

Won't happen again.

Ravens had drives that ended at the:

Titans 36
Titans 31
Titans 4
Titans 18
Titans 31
Titans 15
Titans 16
Titans 21

And finished with 12 points.

Won't happen again.

The average Titans drive began on their 34-yard line. Ravens? Their own 20.

DEFINITELY won't happen again.

Like a certain election, the outcome of this contest was a fluke. We could lose in the playoffs, but it won't be till the AFC finals.

**Iamjacks** · 09-29-2020, 04:07 PM

Duvernay is going to get steadily more snaps and targets every game for the rest of the season. He's going to be WR1 before season end.

Did he even have a drop yet?

Harbaugh will love the kick return, look at his stats in the passing game and deploy him a little more at WFT. He will go up little by little each game if he continues to make steady catches. If he makes big plays the pace of integration will accelerate.

They won't hold him back any longer. Harbaugh wants playmakers (except this year at RB for some reason) and he has taken notice who the productive person was last night. No more jet sweeps, he could have caught the one Hollywood was overthrown on.

Get him in fantasy now while he's cheap.

**John Reglarperson** · 09-29-2020, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by Iamjacks

Duvernay is going to get steadily more snaps and targets every game for the rest of the season. He's going to be WR1 before season end.

Did he even have a drop yet?

Harbaugh will love the kick return, look at his stats in the passing game and deploy him a little more at WFT. He will go up little by little each game if he continues to make steady catches. If he makes big plays the pace of integration will accelerate.

They won't hold him back any longer. Harbaugh wants playmakers (except this year at RB for some reason) and he has taken notice who the productive person was last night. No more jet sweeps, he could have caught the one Hollywood was overthrown on.

Get him in fantasy now while he's cheap.

"No more jet sweeps"

Why no more jet sweeps?

The Ravens have the great running game, led by Lamar. So far in Lamar's career, haven't seen the Ravens run game stopped. Have seen the Ravens go away from the run game, the Ravens act as if the run game was stopped.

Duvernay did well as that jet sweeper guy, and maybe he's the top jet sweeper guy on the Ravens, a good high quality 3rd run option, fast and outside version. Maybe Hollywood is better at that, maybe Duvernay, but we saw Duvernay do great at kickoff return and plenty solid at jet sweeper. Jet sweeper guy doesn't need to be limited to jet sweeper guy. The Chiefs used Tyreek Hill at jet sweeper guy and had a big run doing that. But Hill does more than that obviously. Duvernay could do both.

**Iamjacks** · 09-29-2020, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by John Reglarperson

"No more jet sweeps"

Why no more jet sweeps?

The Ravens have the great running game, led by Lamar. So far in Lamar's career, haven't seen the Ravens run game stopped. Have seen the Ravens go away from the run game, the Ravens act as if the run game was stopped.

Duvernay did well as that jet sweeper guy, and maybe he's the top jet sweeper guy on the Ravens, a good high quality 3rd run option, fast and outside version. Maybe Hollywood is better at that, maybe Duvernay, but we saw Duvernay do great at kickoff return and plenty solid at jet sweeper. Jet sweeper guy doesn't need to be limited to jet sweeper guy. The Chiefs used Tyreek Hill at jet sweeper guy and had a big run doing that. But Hill does more than that obviously. Duvernay could do both.

Maybe it's last night talking but they seemed telegraphed. Maybe just use them less. Duvernay's hands (to my eyes) are worthy of more targets in the passing game.