Flacco's bad day

**phatboy** · 11-22-2009, 10:41 PM

I am going to get grilled for this but.... He is only looking at two options on most plays. Rice or Mason. Several times today Smith, Williams, Heap and Clayton were running free but every time he would check down to Rice or force it into Mason. The Steelers can and will shut down the Rice/Mason option. Early in the year he really spread it around to multiple people. We need to get back to that now.
We are getting into the danger zone of predictability from the Billick days.

**RockyMRaven** · 11-23-2009, 03:10 AM

Originally Posted by phatboy

I am going to get grilled for this but.... He is only looking at two options on most plays. Rice or Mason. Several times today Smith, Williams, Heap and Clayton were running free but every time he would check down to Rice or force it into Mason. The Steelers can and will shut down the Rice/Mason option. Early in the year he really spread it around to multiple people. We need to get back to that now.
We are getting into the danger zone of predictability from the Billick days.

Well I, for one, can't fault you. I was saying the same thing all through the game. Spread the ball around more, Joe, like you did early in the year. The more he zeroes in on Mason and Rice, the more dangerous it becomes. The defense doesn't have to stay honest. Something has to change before next Sunday night, or the Steelers will make us pay.

**Lee Van Cleef** · 11-23-2009, 06:03 AM

I'm wondering if some of the hits he's taken has made him hurry his reads. As cool as you can be, getting smacked around is going to have some kind of mental affect.

**Beerracuda** · 11-23-2009, 06:15 AM

That's the difference right there. Flacco had the luxury of playing behind a good O-line for the first part of this year, and last year. For the past several weeks, they haven't been protecting Joe nearly as well, and because of that, he's taken some hits, and has also had to get rid of the ball in a hurry. Now, even when he does have good protection, he seems to have the mindset that he has to get rid of the ball right away.

I think that was the main problem with Boller. He was thrown in as a rookie behind a terrible O-line, with no real receivers to throw to, and got the shit knocked out of him. This went on for 5 years, and probably has ruined him as a QB.

Of course, Flacco's far more talented than Boller, so I'm not comparing the two.

**HoustonRaven** · 11-23-2009, 06:57 AM

You all are smoking some pretty good stuff.

8 different players caught a pass so he clearly spread it around.

He had one bad pass and certainly did not have a bad day. He was productive, stayed off his back and was hit only a few times.

The O line held them without ANY sacks. Big kudos to Oher for helping that stat line.

Where some of you come up with this stuff is ponderous.

**Galen Sevinne** · 11-23-2009, 09:26 AM

I think Flacco had an alright day...as usual he became better as the game wore on. He had time to throw yesterday, I don't think Indy was hurrying him too much. I agree he only sees Mason and then Rice. Yeah 8 guys caught balls but 6 of those 8 were only responsible for 7 grabs. That is really not spreading the ball around effectively at all.

**UKRavenGordon** · 11-23-2009, 09:33 AM

The good news with Flacco it is fixable. It's not like the situation we had with Boller. But he's definately not been Joe Cool the past few weeks.

**ravensnhokies** · 11-23-2009, 10:28 AM

1 pass to Clayton and 1 pass to Washington is not spreading the ball around. I was at the game and could see the whole field, so unlike on TV, I could see who was open. There were several times that Clayton, Washington, Heap, and even LJ Smith were wide open and Flacco did not even look their way when he had time in the pocket. Joe is getting into a bad habit of fixatating on Mason first, and then the Rice screen. Its bad. Cam and Hugh have to get Joe off this security blanket immediately, or I could see a 3 INT game against Pitt. Maybe it was Mason bitching again after the 1st Cincy game like he did at the end of 2006 (2007 Colts game) that got into Joe's impressionable head. Honestly I think Clayton's worst attribute being a NFL receiver is that he doesnt care whether he gets thrown to. He doesnt have that 'I want the ball all the time' attitude that all the great NFL receiver have. If you have 3 guys bitching to Joe that they dont get thrown to enough, then Joe probably will want to satisfy everyone being only a sophomore NFLer. With only Mason whining like a primadonna, I feel sorry for Joe. This is where Harb as the head coach needs to have the I'm the coach and you are my player speech, and I know whats best for the team. Instead after the 1st Cincy game, all I heard was Cam saying 'We gotta get the ball to Mason... We gotta get the ball to Mason'.

I know some of you will all say that Mason is the only good WR... Yes but what happened, yesterday... The Ravens took away Clark, so Manning went to Santi, someone who didnt catch a pass this whole year. The great QBs spread it around, and b/c of this, the best WR on the team gets more open looks. You cannot force it into the best wideout all the time from the start.

**RAVENOUS52** · 11-23-2009, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

You all are smoking some pretty good stuff.

8 different players caught a pass so he clearly spread it around.

He had one bad pass and certainly did not have a bad day. He was productive, stayed off his back and was hit only a few times.

The O line held them without ANY sacks. Big kudos to Oher for helping that stat line.

Where some of you come up with this stuff is ponderous.

One bad pass my Alpha-Sierra-Sierra...

I can think of at least three passes besides the one that was actually intercepted in the red zone that went right into the other team's hands-- One was masterfully wrestled for by Mason and the other two bounced out of Indy hands harmlessly to the ground.

Joe has been regressing when we need him to be getting better lately. And he still doesn't have that signature game after close to 30 starts (including playoffs) against elite competition that tells me he's ready to be a force in this league.

I started out a huge Harbaugh fan, but now I'm beginning to wonder how far along Flack would be if Shanahan had been developing him. There's no way a diamond like Flacco shouldn't be polished to perfection, given his physical tools. I'm having a hard time believing that Harbaugh can bring out Joe's full potential right now.

**psuasskicker** · 11-23-2009, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by phatboy

I am going to get grilled for this but.... He is only looking at two options on most plays. Rice or Mason.

A) No he's not, he's looking all over the field and... Oh? What's that? Not finding an open receiver?!?!?!?!? How is that POSSIBLE?????

B) Rice and Mason are his only viable receiving threats. Gee, pretty tough to figure out why he's looking their way most of the time.

- C -

**Purpleguy** · 11-23-2009, 03:07 PM

When you hit guys in the numbers or the hands and they don't make the catch, especially on fourth down, you lose faith in them. We all knew this team had a huge weakness at receiver. We all knew that was the reason we didn't go to the Superbowl last season. Nothing was done about it and these are the results. I'm not going to throw Flacco under the bus just yet. He will bounce back, but for crying out loud, our GM needs to wake the hell up and find a competent wideout for him to throw to. Look at Matt Ryan's recent numbers, and he has Roddy White. It is hard enough being a young QB in this league. It's even harder when you have no weapons.