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GDT Week 9: Baltimore Ravens vs pittsberg steelers


DreamKid

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I agree with @Danand firing Harbaugh (right now) isn’t the solution. I wouldn’t be against keeping him for another season even. But we still have a shot at the playoffs. I think people forget that we usually split with the Steelers. If we lose to the Bengals after a bye week (where Harbaugh is typically at his best) than I think that about wraps it up.

I thought this game could go either way, but more importantly the post bye week allows us to heal up and get momentum going into the playoffs if need be. Gives the coaches time to adjust their philosophies, the OL some time to gel, and the team to regain its composure. I think moving forward I like our chances against:

Bengals

Raiders

Falcons

Bucs

Browns

Whats more we tend to play the Chiefs really well and so I could definitely see us shocking many with a win there and suddenly (like always) the media doesn’t know how to respond.

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I'm going back over this hoe drive by drive. 

On our 1st defensive series Za'Darius was Key. The first stop on the drive is ZDS swatting away an attempt at a TE screen, and right before that he kept connor's run down to 25 yards with a TD saving tackle. Running 20 yards down the field to catch him, great pursuit. Mosley blitzed to no effect, the LT got on Peanut, Suggs got turned around trying to spin out of a TE block, and Jefferson misplayed the ball while in the box. Leaving a lane all the way to the end zone if ZDS had quit on the play. 

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1 hour ago, DreamKid said:

I'm going back over this hoe drive by drive. 

On our 1st defensive series Za'Darius was Key. The first stop on the drive is ZDS swatting away an attempt at a TE screen, and right before that he kept connor's run down to 25 yards with a TD saving tackle. Running 20 yards down the field to catch him, great pursuit. Mosley blitzed to no effect, the LT got on Peanut, Suggs got turned around trying to spin out of a TE block, and Jefferson misplayed the ball while in the box. Leaving a lane all the way to the end zone if ZDS had quit on the play. 

lmk how many times you notice our guys diving at the feet of ball carriers and whiffing.

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9 hours ago, drd23 said:

So the solution to the ongoing mediocrity is to do nothing?

The solution is not a Raiders rebuild, as I have seen suggested (on twitter, not here). The team has to add wrinkles to get something going. The Seahawks and Russel Wilson had huge issues generating offense, the same with the Texans - they fixed their olines somehow, and suddenly they perform much better. Firings within a season rarely does anything positive, so let the current coaches get a chance to fix whatever is wrong now, and if it doesn't work, we can try something else.

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Just to make everything clear. I hate us playing the way we do and I do believe that coaching/scheming is an issue.

If we look at the offense – we have a Joe Flacco who throws the ball really well, and for all the fans who believe he just straight up sucks – look around the league and find quarterbacks who are not Brees, Brady, Rodgers, Wilson, Ryan, Mahomes who doesn’t struggle, when the wide receivers/tight ends can’t catch or when there is immediate pressure up the middle.

We have huge issues with that interior oline and have had for most of the season. Its all about consistency because there is on close to 50% of all plays an oline who loses his matchup which generate immediate pressure or running backs are hit in the back field or forced to bounce.

 This disrupts rhythm etc. and this is no different to other teams who have lost the same way.

Our defense seems slow now, and when we can’t play downhill with momentum, we struggle like we did last year.

This Steelers game is the closest to resemble Dean Pees defense with the inability to get to big ben or get off the field on 3rd down and that is a look I really hate.

Our special teams is average this year, not much to say here.

 

If we can somehow manage to get Stanley back at LT, move Hurst to LG, figure out how Skuras deficiencies can be corrected and get those two young tight ends integrated in the offense, we have the chance to put more points on the board and put our defense in better situations to succeed.

It will be difficult as hell, but if we put a 5-2 campaign together to finish the second half of the season, we go into the playoffs with a lot of momentum.

 

The more likely scenario is, that we are 7-8 going into the Browns game, which most likely will give us a full game with Lamar Jackson.

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8 hours ago, Danand said:

The solution is not a Raiders rebuild, as I have seen suggested (on twitter, not here). The team has to add wrinkles to get something going. The Seahawks and Russel Wilson had huge issues generating offense, the same with the Texans - they fixed their olines somehow, and suddenly they perform much better. Firings within a season rarely does anything positive, so let the current coaches get a chance to fix whatever is wrong now, and if it doesn't work, we can try something else.

You know how Seattle fixed their OL? They fired their OL coach. But Seattle's offense right now is run the ball and let Wilson do his thing on broken down plays. It's still the same formula, just with a new, washed up OC calling terrible plays and getting bailed out by Wilson throwing perfect passes into contested catches.

If the Seahawks didn't fire Tom Cable, they'd still be a giant mess on the OL.

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Finished reviewing the Offense and Defense in the 1st Half-

I'm probably going to do an entire summary of both phases, but here is a rundown of Flacco's throws in the 1st & 2nd Quarter to start.

 

Great Throws: 7

1. 2nd Pass of 1st Series- Perfect pass to Mark Andrews off rub concept, loved this play. 20 Yards. ATS.

Situation: 3rd & 9. Must avoid going 3 and Out on first drive. 

2. 1st Pass of 2nd Series- Flacco attacks coverage perfectly and delivers strike to Crabtree. 13 Yards.  ATS.

Situation: 2nd & 7. Routine.

3. 2nd Pass of 2nd Series- Flacco gives great ball to Chris Moore who makes the play. 30 Yards. ATS.

Situation: 1st & 10. Routine.

4. 1st Pass of 3rd Series- Flacco gets immediate pressure in his face because Skura gets blown up, and adjusts off balance to get check down to Alex Collins to pick up the 1st Down. 4 Yards. NO ATS.

Situation: 2nd & 3. Down 4, first drive after steeler touchdown.

5. 1st Pass of 4th Series- Bad play call. Play action with only 2 routes on same side of field, neither were quick developing either. My guess is they were trying to set up a bomb to Moore, but it wasn't there and the line didn't hold up. Flacco with pressure in his face, delivered a great ball to John Brown where it was his play to make or DPI. It ended up DPI. Flacco turned nothing into something. 33 Yards. NO ATS.

Situation: 1st & 10. We started at the 37 because of a great return by Moore, and at this point were down 14-3.

6. 2nd Pass of 4th Series- Perfect anticipatory spot throw by Flacco. Great catch by Mark Andrews as well, their rapport is really growing. 9 Yards. NO ATS.

Situation: 1st & 10. Play after the above throw(5), building on a great start to the drive.

7. 1st Pass of 5th Series- Love this play. Perfect route by Willie Snead and Flacco nails him in stride. Perfect linkup and Snead brings the YAC. 26 Yards. NO ATS.

Situation: 1st & 10. Down 14-6, 2 Minute Drill(Halftime) starting from 15. We needed a big play and got it.

 

Good Throws: 1

1. 2nd Pass of 5th Series- Flacco has to avoid early pressure and gets a throw off to John Brown with some space to run, but Brown dropped the ball. NO ATS.

Situation: 1st & 10. Right after the 26 Yard Willie Snead Completion. 

 

Okay/Passable Throws: 2

1. 3rd Pass of 2nd Series- 50/50 lob to Mark Andrews. Slightly under thrown but Andrews had a chance, not a bad ball. NO ATS.

Situation: 1st & Goal. First RedZone appearance by either team. 0-0 Score.

2. 3rd Pass of 5th Series- Throw to Buck in the flat. A staple of Marty's 2nd and long playbook. Flacco executed the play perfectly and the throw was good, but the play and call is so meh I have to rank it lower. ATS.

Situation: 2nd & 15. 2 minute offense, down 14-6. 

 

Bad Throws: 2

1. 3rd Pass of the 1st Series- Flacco is short on a throw to Crabtree that would have been a 1st Down. Just a wobbly bad ball. ATS.

Situation: 3rd & 8. First Drive of the day. I think this ball was a result of the pressure. He completed a great pass to Andrews earlier on the drive and then was immediately replaced by Jackson for 2 plays. A 10 Yard Gus Edwards run and then a fumbled hand off between Edwards and Jackson. Then Flacco was sacked and hit on the 2 next plays, before he threw out this duck. This a good example of the negative aspects of bringing in Jackson, Flacco didn't get a chance to get in a rhythm and then was put in a 3rd & long situation..where he fell short. Non of that is ideal, especially to start a game.

2. 3rd Pass of the 4th Series- Flacco is off on TD pass to Crabtree. ATS.

Situation: 1st & 10. RedZone. Down 14-3. Honestly this was a catch Crabtree could absolutely haul in, and nearly did, but the ball was off. It's close, and maybe Ken Mckusick would see it different but I scored ATS on this play. Flacco had about 3 seconds and was able to step into the throw. I don't know what happened. If it was tipped, it was an undetectable graze. He just kind of short armed it. It was just a weird result. I wasn't happy with the design either. 2 options on 1st Down, ehh that's doesn't do it for me. That's making it easy on the defense. 

 

Bad Decisions: 1

1. 4th Pass of 2nd Series- Flacco throws ball away at 5 yard line. NO ATS.

Situation: 3rd & Goal. Chance to go up a TD. I'm not going to beat up Flacco for not getting to his 5th read, but it was an easy TD he left on the field. My issue is the throw away. Yanda was getting moved back into his space, but I feel like Flacco could have done more. Andrews came open as he tossed the ball, and if he looked that way he would have seen Lamar Jackson. It wasn't a time to be conservative imo. He'll regret that one, and I'm guessing be more aware of Jackson next time. 

 

Bad Circumstances: 2

1. 1st Pass of 1st Series- Flacco wasn't on same page with John Brown/Throw Away. NO ATS

Situation: 1st & 10.1st play of the game. I say throw away, but the announcer thought Flacco was out of sync with Brown. Either way, both Brown and Crabtree were covered. 

2. 2nd Pass of 3rd Series- Flacco throws short of sticks to Brown. 5 Yards. ATS. 

Situation: 3rd & 10. Down 7-3. This is a heinous play call. It's 3rd and 10. The steelers just scored a TD. We go Empty Set and have 4/5 options on the play stop short of the sticks. The lone exception? Crabtree, our slowest receiver. This is the exact stuff I talk about. Everyone at the same depth, improper use of personnel, poor strategy. It's inexcusable. You can't pin it on Flacco, the receivers, or the line, it's all on Marty.

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34 minutes ago, DreamKid said:

2. 2nd Pass of 3rd Series- Flacco throws short of sticks to Brown. 5 Yards. ATS. 

Situation: 3rd & 10. Down 7-3. This is a heinous play call. It's 3rd and 10. The steelers just scored a TD. We go Empty Set and have 4/5 options on the play stop short of the sticks. The lone exception? Crabtree, our slowest receiver. This is the exact stuff I talk about. Everyone at the same depth, improper use of personnel, poor strategy. It's inexcusable. You can't pin it on Flacco, the receivers, or the line, it's all on Marty.

The play I referenced. This guy is from Baltimore Beatdown and also noticed it's absurdity, which wasn't hard. You can't hide from the ALL-22 Marty.

 

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11 hours ago, Danand said:

Some would say Flacco should take the chance on the deep route there from the top slot receiver

Even if you were in that court, why should our 3rd Down be reduced to a deep prayer to our slowest receiver?

I think the play is designed to have Crabtree carry the Slot CB, which doesn't happen because the CB knows how slow Crabtree is and doesn't have to worry.

Then you get the ball to Brown who hopefully shakes his defender off, while Hurst blocks out and Brown gets sprung for a big gain. 

The play would have a better shot if you switched Brown to the slot. The DB can't cheat him and Crabtree has a better chance of breaking that quick tackle.

All of it is bad and low percentage.

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46 minutes ago, DreamKid said:

Even if you were in that court, why should our 3rd Down be reduced to a deep prayer to our slowest receiver?

I think the play is designed to have Crabtree carry the Slot CB, which doesn't happen because the CB knows how slow Crabtree is and doesn't have to worry.

Then you get the ball to Brown who hopefully shakes his defender off, while Hurst blocks out and Brown gets sprung for a big gain. 

The play would have a better shot if you switched Brown to the slot. The DB can't cheat him and Crabtree has a better chance of breaking that quick tackle.

All of it is bad and low percentage.

I have had a huge discussion with some danes who have a podcast where they called Flacco out for having a bad game. I just reviewed the entire game, and Flacco has some bad throws. So has Big Ben but somehow Flacco plays worse. In the end, the 2 trips in the red zone where Flacco misses Lamar in the flat and the short armed throw to Crabtree is the missed throw and the bad throw that cost the game.

On the opposite side of the ball, Big Ben didn't have to make those throws as his playmakers caught short passes and then ran the ball into the end zone.

Edit: Also, there is a pretty big difference in the pressure provided by the two defenses. Flacco played under more duress than Big Ben did.

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42 minutes ago, Danand said:

In the end, the 2 trips in the red zone where Flacco misses Lamar in the flat and the short armed throw to Crabtree is the missed throw and the bad throw that cost the game.

You can't think like that. It's letting too many factors off the hook. 2 first half errors didn't cost us the game. Out of 10 plays in the RedZone in the 1st half, Flacco had 3 drop backs. The 50/50 ball to Mark Andrews on 1st & Goal, the throwaway on 3rd & Goal, and the miss to Crabtree on 1st & 10 at the 12. After the Brown play, we still went up 3-0. After the Crabtree play, we still had 3 Downs to get 10 yards. 

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7 hours ago, DreamKid said:

You can't think like that. It's letting too many factors off the hook. 2 first half errors didn't cost us the game. Out of 10 plays in the RedZone in the 1st half, Flacco had 3 drop backs. The 50/50 ball to Mark Andrews on 1st & Goal, the throwaway on 3rd & Goal, and the miss to Crabtree on 1st & 10 at the 12. After the Brown play, we still went up 3-0. After the Crabtree play, we still had 3 Downs to get 10 yards. 

That's 3 plays where Flacco should have converted touchdowns - the throw to Andrews is a TD with a better QB/throw, and the other two are obvious. Your QB literally costing you points like that is absolutely something worth bringing up, as comforting as it might otherwise be to just yell about the offensive line/running game/the weapons Matt Ryan has or whatever else we do. 

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