Week 9 GDT: Ravens @ Colts or something idk

[diamondbull424]

2 hours ago, drd23 said:

Wait, not being a fan of Joe Flacco makes you a troll?

If that is the case, you might have a troll as a mod 😅

I always knew something was wrong about you. I should’ve used special veto powers to keep you from succeeding Ravens5255 as my co-mod.

Perhaps we need to put your mod prospects before a board. Considering @coordinator0 @SalvadorsDeli and myself are the only active former/current mods, we may need to have a discussion. 😂

But no I’m just saying, there were a few that didn’t like Flacco, there were a few that grew to like him less and less with each passing season (myself and many others I’m sure), but none quite as consistent and dedicated as AFS.

I’ll be honest I was biased against him as a poster for some time. I didn’t realize this until @AFlaccoSeagulls changed his forum name from whatever It was before (what was it?) and I was shocked because I found the new guy to be so reasonable and logical for months before I knew who he used to be. So I realized it was likely my perception that was biased And not necessarily just what he was posting. Forced me to do some soul searching and try and look at things a bit more open minded here. Anyways I’m ranting, but point is, I don’t think you were ever on the same level. But you also came on the scene a bit later, sort of like AFS. The veterans had to live through Kyle Boller and Trent Dilfer and such QBs. So by comparison Flacco was a quality QB. So I can understand, in retrospect, how if AFS is watching Russell Wilson every week, how terrible and uninspiring Flacco and our offense must’ve looked each week by comparison. If I got to watch Lamar every week and then had to root for Kirk Cousins every week, I’d probably be pretty pissed myself.

[AngusMcFife]

1 hour ago, paraven said:

I just want to make sure everyone knows how I feel on this particular topic 

Ok but why Super Bowl MVP rather than League MVP? League MVP is much more of an elite club. Super Bowl MVPs include:

Julian Edelman
Nick Foles
Malcolm Smith
Deion Branch
Dexter Jackson
Larry Brown

Anyone who follows NFL should know plenty of average players have won that award. It's a right time, right place award, not indicative of someones overall skill. 

[diamondbull424]

1 hour ago, DreamKid said:

PA's issues with Lamar are layered, but the one main point many forget is that he was crazy for DJ Moore that draft. When we missed out on him, he was pretty much going to hate on or harshly look upon any other player.

@paraven If we trade a first for DJ will you learn to love Lamar 🤔...

Well if it’s that simple, screw trading for DJ Moore for a 1st pick and just select Rondale Moore in the 1st round of the draft this year. They’re almost the same player and they both have the same last name, they could be cousins or something, who knows. 😂

They both have that Steve Smith type of playing style. Though hopefully Moore isn’t more Percy Harvin with regard to durability. Otherwise he should certainly be a stud.

[Danand]

9 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

Also I’m not saying Mekari or our OL had a great game. I’m simply saying that considering the talent of their opposition, I felt they performed admirably. Not good, but an average to mediocre looking showing for them against an elite front 7 isn’t anything to be ashamed of.

Now I will agree that we’re missing a dominant interior OL player though. Someone like a Osemele, Yanda, or Mulitalo.

Whether it is Mekari, Skura, Bozeman, Phillips, they have some issues at times which lead to plays being blown up on a regularly basis. Even if they play 60 snaps and only make 5 egregious mistakes, when those total 15 snaps happens on 15 different plays, then there are only 45 "good" snaps for runningbacks/Lamar. 

It is of course made up numbers, but my point is, that those 15 bad snaps are an increase compared to when we had Yanda on the inside. 

Consistency on oline is key for consistent perfomance on offense, so we don't experience these big ups and downs in a game from drive to drive. I believe that is a well known fact/opinion. If we have 5 guys who on a scale from 1-10 plays like a 7 for every single snap, that oline will provide better results than an oline that plays from a 3-10 range throughout the game.

Another thing is, I noticed several times, that on 4 rushers vs. 5 blockers, we have a guy who is not occupied by a blocker, who makes a bad decision on who to help.

A recent example was the sack given up my Skura against the Steelers, where Bozeman did not face a blocker, he covered grass to make sure there was no delayed blitz - that was fine, but he did not have the awareness to see that Cam Heyward never committed to a rush, while both Mekari and Skura struggled to hold their blocks. With better awareness, Bozeman helps either of them and Lamar either gets more time or he had a freeway to run up the middle. Bozeman never looked to his right though and eventually committed to help block Heyward, who was never a threat. I want better awareness from my olines in those situations.

[drd23]

Makes you wonder what the purpose of activating Dez was if they weren't going to use him.  Was it purely for a PR angle?

Also not a fan of Bowser getting so few snaps, especially when you end up doing stupid **** like having Judon in man coverage on a TE in the slot 10-15 yards down field

 

[paraven]

9 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

Well if it’s that simple, screw trading for DJ Moore for a 1st pick and just select Rondale Moore in the 1st round of the draft this year. They’re almost the same player and they both have the same last name, they could be cousins or something, who knows. 😂

They both have that Steve Smith type of playing style. Though hopefully Moore isn’t more Percy Harvin with regard to durability. Otherwise he should certainly be a stud.

DJ Moore would be wasted in this offense.. I just hate run first QBS, which is what Jackson is...

[M.10.E]

Road win after struggling in first half vs team with 5-2 record - CHECK

Next game vs Patriots on SNF - CHECK

I SEE A PATTERN!!!!

Edited November 9, 2020 by M.10.E

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

14 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

While I have half a mind to agree with you, I also know that @AFlaccoSeagulls used to be as virulent against Joe Flacco and many here believed him to be a troll.

However time has proven otherwise. Turns out he just really was not a fan of Flacco. Yet he goes to bat for Lamar on many occasions. Though will also criticize him on others.

That said, I do have half a mind to agree because at least AFS would own up to things if Flacco had a good game or something, which is certainly fair. Lamar won a unanimous MVP and I’ve still yet to hear a single good thing about Lamar from @paraven. Perhaps he really was away the entire time and actually had plenty of good things to say, only we couldn’t read them? I doubt it, but we’ll see. Time reveals all. If Lamar wins a SB MVP and he just disappears again until Lamar has a 4 INT day or something, then we’ll guaranteed have our answer then.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

11 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

I always knew something was wrong about you. I should’ve used special veto powers to keep you from succeeding Ravens5255 as my co-mod.

Perhaps we need to put your mod prospects before a board. Considering @coordinator0 @SalvadorsDeli and myself are the only active former/current mods, we may need to have a discussion. 😂

But no I’m just saying, there were a few that didn’t like Flacco, there were a few that grew to like him less and less with each passing season (myself and many others I’m sure), but none quite as consistent and dedicated as AFS.

I’ll be honest I was biased against him as a poster for some time. I didn’t realize this until @AFlaccoSeagulls changed his forum name from whatever It was before (what was it?) and I was shocked because I found the new guy to be so reasonable and logical for months before I knew who he used to be. So I realized it was likely my perception that was biased And not necessarily just what he was posting. Forced me to do some soul searching and try and look at things a bit more open minded here. Anyways I’m ranting, but point is, I don’t think you were ever on the same level. But you also came on the scene a bit later, sort of like AFS. The veterans had to live through Kyle Boller and Trent Dilfer and such QBs. So by comparison Flacco was a quality QB. So I can understand, in retrospect, how if AFS is watching Russell Wilson every week, how terrible and uninspiring Flacco and our offense must’ve looked each week by comparison. If I got to watch Lamar every week and then had to root for Kirk Cousins every week, I’d probably be pretty pissed myself.

SnA ExclusiVe used to be my tag, back when it was my XboxLIVE name. Then it was DarthPees, and now I've settled into my "forever" name.

Quote

So I can understand, in retrospect, how if AFS is watching Russell Wilson every week, how terrible and uninspiring Flacco and our offense must’ve looked each week by comparison.

This is the root of my angst against Flacco-led offenses. Going from watching the Seahawks and how exciting they were as a team, and offense, with Wilson leading them, to watching Flacco check down a million times per game and in general have zero inspiration to do anything special was next-level painful.

However, I was also a lot more...let's say "fiery" back then than I am now. I still get heated from time to time (like the Pittsburgh loss), but on the whole not nearly as bad as I was 8 or so years ago when I first joined.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

1 hour ago, drd23 said:

Makes you wonder what the purpose of activating Dez was if they weren't going to use him.  Was it purely for a PR angle?

Had to have been, I watched the two snaps he was on the field and there wasn't even a chance he was getting the ball.

1 hour ago, drd23 said:

Also not a fan of Bowser getting so few snaps, especially when you end up doing stupid **** like having Judon in man coverage on a TE in the slot 10-15 yards down field

Absolutely agree with this. It seems like every time Bowser starts to flash, we reduce his snaps for literally no reason and I don't get it. Ferguson played well last week but this week he STRUGGLED. Bowser is also much better in coverage than Judon.

[M.10.E]

Regarding Dez, I don't think he gets called up if Moore doesn't get hurt. I think Bowser got hurt the most by "missing" practice all week. If his snaps are low next week then I'll be worried.

[diamondbull424]

8 hours ago, Danand said:

Whether it is Mekari, Skura, Bozeman, Phillips, they have some issues at times which lead to plays being blown up on a regularly basis. Even if they play 60 snaps and only make 5 egregious mistakes, when those total 15 snaps happens on 15 different plays, then there are only 45 "good" snaps for runningbacks/Lamar. 

It is of course made up numbers, but my point is, that those 15 bad snaps are an increase compared to when we had Yanda on the inside. 

Consistency on oline is key for consistent perfomance on offense, so we don't experience these big ups and downs in a game from drive to drive. I believe that is a well known fact/opinion. If we have 5 guys who on a scale from 1-10 plays like a 7 for every single snap, that oline will provide better results than an oline that plays from a 3-10 range throughout the game.

Another thing is, I noticed several times, that on 4 rushers vs. 5 blockers, we have a guy who is not occupied by a blocker, who makes a bad decision on who to help.

A recent example was the sack given up my Skura against the Steelers, where Bozeman did not face a blocker, he covered grass to make sure there was no delayed blitz - that was fine, but he did not have the awareness to see that Cam Heyward never committed to a rush, while both Mekari and Skura struggled to hold their blocks. With better awareness, Bozeman helps either of them and Lamar either gets more time or he had a freeway to run up the middle. Bozeman never looked to his right though and eventually committed to help block Heyward, who was never a threat. I want better awareness from my olines in those situations.

I’m not sure but I think we’re saying the same thing. Or something close to it.

My point is that this unit was not horrible this game. Horrible is how they looked in the first 4 weeks of the season.

Today I think they looked solid. They had battles they won, battles they lost, but overall they were probably their most consistent overall on the year. They also did well in their consistency against the Steelers once Philips left the game.

They didn’t dominate the Colts (or Steelers) in any capacity, but they were about a 6.5 all game long vs the aggressive switch between games earlier in the year where they would go from an 8 down to a 4 and back up to a 7 and down to a 3. While our OL had been overwhelmed on occasion in both this and last game, it was overwhelmed by top notch talent. That happened to Yanda last year as well and he’s one of the best. So of course these guys getting overwhelmed is going to happen. What can’t happen though is the implosion that was happening weeks 1-4 where the line falls apart in less than 2 seconds because Brown Jr can’t reach the block, or because they don’t know how to handle stunts as a group, etc. Lamar looked far more comfortable passing and navigating the pocket because he had enough consistency to do so. They afforded him enough time to get a picture of the defensive coverage and then move around to make plays when things went to crap after two seconds. Without elite OL talent along the IOL, I think what they did yesterday is about as much as you can ask for in pass protection against an elite front 7. This isn’t the mid 2010s Cowboys OL, so I think expectations have to be adjusted as to what is “pass” vs “fail.”

Personally I believe Mekari has helped to stabilize the consistency of product out there. The OL has looked far better against stunts. He’s also been a great option at pulling from his spot. He was defeated quickly by Grover on a couple plays by a nice swim move, but he’s had less than 10 starts in his career and he’s bounced around from center to guard to OT; if any of our OL deserve a pass for play I’d give it to him... especially when outside of a few notable losses, he also balanced them out with wins. I’d say his performance was reminiscent of James Hurst that first year he was at guard before the back injuries. Great at pulling and generally holds up. Not elite, but not bad either. It’s not the same level as rookie Yanda, but it’s IMO the same level as rookie Ben Grubbs.

Yanda is a possible HOF OL, there’s nothing that says we’ll find a comparative replacement for him. Elite players don’t grow on trees. Most teams are left with OLs very similar to what we’re trotting out there. So while I’d love an elite OL, we can win with a unit like this if guys can just not play like complete and irredeemable trash and I think there isn’t a true turnstile on our OL at this point, just a bunch of JAGs that love to run block.

The Colts length and speed is a bad matchup for our OL in the run blocking, but they still put together great effort and eventually wore the Colts defense down some. They gave Lamar solid time to pass and so I’ll give them a passing grade. It’s not an A or B, but in a “P/F” curriculum, they earn a pass from me.

[diamondbull424]

4 hours ago, paraven said:

DJ Moore would be wasted in this offense.. I just hate run first QBS, which is what Jackson is...

I don’t think so. I think his YAC ability would’ve been ideal. Some of those passes that Hollywood have had where he goes straight down, DJ Moore as a dog could probably break a few and gain an extra 20 or so yards. He also has the speed to go deep. Sort of like AJ Brown, DJ Moore would be about as ideal a fit for a receiver in this offense as you could have.

Whats more I think some of the disgust you have for Lamar should be geared towards Roman for not utilizing him as a passer in capable offensive sets more often. Roman is the one having Lamar passing out of 21 and 22 formations. It’s hard to play QB in the NFL but even more difficult when your primary check down is Patrick Ricard and another guy you’re asking to win is Nick Boyle.

This isn’t to say that Boyle is a bad TE, he’s a capable receiver and he is one of the best blocking TEs in the league. However the defense can put speed rushers out there and just play off and we don’t have enough speed on the field out of such alignments to get the ball out quick.

Lamar in a spread offense at Louisville showed he could sling it. He also showed that he operated best in a uptempo passing attack that focuses on the short passing game. Sort of like what Tom Brady and Drew Brees have made a career of doing. Lamar won’t ever have Brees type accuracy, but him reaching a Matt Ryan level isn’t impossible. We just need to spread defenses out more. Because he’s truly not a “run first” QB. He sits in the pocket looking to make plays. This isn’t Mike Vick or Vince Young who tucks it at the sign of the slightest bit of pressure.

[diamondbull424]

4 hours ago, drd23 said:

Also not a fan of Bowser getting so few snaps, especially when you end up doing stupid **** like having Judon in man coverage on a TE in the slot 10-15 yards down field

 

 

2 hours ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

Absolutely agree with this. It seems like every time Bowser starts to flash, we reduce his snaps for literally no reason and I don't get it. Ferguson played well last week but this week he STRUGGLED. Bowser is also much better in coverage than Judon.

 

2 hours ago, M.10.E said:

Regarding Dez, I don't think he gets called up if Moore doesn't get hurt. I think Bowser got hurt the most by "missing" practice all week. If his snaps are low next week then I'll be worried.

We all knew this was going to happen. We traded for Yannick Ngakoue. It was only a matter of time before the coaches used the Covid-19 thing to reduce Bowser’s snap count for the worthless Judon.

I do think if Bowser was able to practice they would’ve had less excuse, Judon making that play to close out the game will all but give them more confidence to act like idiots and continue playing him so many snaps to justify that terrible franchise tag deal. I feel bad for Bowser, he deserves the playing time... especially in a contract year for himself. Hopefully he decides to sign back with us for at least one more prove it type deal that gets him paid elsewhere after he explodes. Unfortunately the Cowboys defense is too bad for me not to see him signing there and the Jets are too bad and have so much to spend and love former Ravens to not sign him... which just makes me think we’re absolutely just wasting him right now.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

8 minutes ago, diamondbull424 said:

We all knew this was going to happen. We traded for Yannick Ngakoue. It was only a matter of time before the coaches used the Covid-19 thing to reduce Bowser’s snap count for the worthless Judon.

I do think if Bowser was able to practice they would’ve had less excuse, Judon making that play to close out the game will all but give them more confidence to act like idiots and continue playing him so many snaps to justify that terrible franchise tag deal. I feel bad for Bowser, he deserves the playing time... especially in a contract year for himself. Hopefully he decides to sign back with us for at least one more prove it type deal that gets him paid elsewhere after he explodes. Unfortunately the Cowboys defense is too bad for me not to see him signing there and the Jets are too bad and have so much to spend and love former Ravens to not sign him... which just makes me think we’re absolutely just wasting him right now.

I wouldn't be as upset about Bowser's usage if I didn't already see Judon trying to cover people in space or things that Bowser is clearly better at doing. As it stands, it seems like the coaching staff have pre-determined that Bowser is inferior to Judon/McPhee/Ferguson (for some forsaken reason!) and obviously Ngakoue.

Honestly, I hope he goes and flourishes elsewhere. It's clear the coaching staff here doesn't want him, and would rather continue to try to hype up Judon's incoming massive contract with another team. That leaves us next year with basically nothing on the edge except Ngakoue. I have no idea why the coaching staff continues to believe Jaylon Ferguson is some stud OLB.