517 replies to this topic

[bmore_ken]

Yeah, no. And I was at one time a Harbaugh skeptic. Hes hands down a top 5 coach in this league.

I'm going to humbly disagree. No top 5 coach goes for it on 4th down in the 1ST QUARTER with no score. No top 5 coach goes for a 2 when you have the chance to tie the score against the#1 team in the NFC with:42 left.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Another way you can choose to look at it, and IM not saying this approach cant be flawed, we were in this game because of the offense. The defense stunk. Like stunk stunk. The offense deserved the chance to get the win right then and there. Granted the defense still wouldve needed to hold for 40 sec but you understand my point.

[Ravens2006]

Neither defense was exactly dominating the game.  The Packers punted three times.  The Ravens punted once.  For all practical purposes, both teams were legitimately stopped THREE times on offense.  The Ravens took a knee to end the first half, and the Packers took a knee to end the game.

 

The Ravens turned it over on downs twice.  Once at the Green Bay THREE yard line (forgoing basically three guaranteed points in the process), and once at their own 29 yard line (basically gifting the Packers an almost guaranteed 3 points before they took their first snap).  This is the game management stuff, the situational management stuff, I think the staff (Harbaugh) WAY too often falls on the short end in big games, vs. better competition, etc.

 

Heard Sandusky defending the decision to go for two because if you get to OT and the Packers win the toss... it's paraphrasing "probably game over" because of all the defensive injuries / secondary personnel.  But you could make the same argument the other way... if the Ravens win the OT toss, they had just as much chance of scoring a TD based on performance in the first 60 minutes.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

The game wasnt mismanaged. My goodness do people love to play hindsight. When youre an 11 point dog you take risks. The Packers had a 14 point lead late. Rodgers missed a gimmie TD that wouldve put it out of reach with what 10 min left. So you cant stop them to save your life. Youre down 11 in the 4th and we are really going to criticize not punting the ball back to them when at that point they had scored on like 4 straight possesions and were clipping us at a rate of 9 yards per on 1st down. Its just bitching to bitch and being disingeniuous. Fine, Ill give you that we spotted them the 3 by going for it from our 30. Lets not consider we are down 11 with 12 min left and they are moving the ball at will. Lets go 3 and out and punt the ball right back to them so that in a best case scenario for us they take 3 or 4 more min off the clock before we get it back with 8 min left down 11. Again thats the best case scenario. They more likely score while chewing clock and now its a 14 or 17 point game with maybe 3 or 4 min left. Whats so freaking hard to understand that the offense was the best unit by far we had yesterday and giving them the ball as much as possible was the best chance we had to win.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

If if you say it wasnt hindsight. I wouldve kicked the FG early and punted at the 30 and kicked tge XP then youre being way too conservative and so far from optimal. Youre likely never getting to the position to tie or win the game at the end

[Mike in STL]

I'm going to humbly disagree. No top 5 coach goes for it on 4th down in the 1ST QUARTER with no score. No top 5 coach goes for a 2 when you have the chance to tie the score against the#1 team in the NFC with:42 left.

A top-5 coach that would do these things, their teams would actually convert. 

 

There has been a lot of Coach of the Year talk surrounding Harbs cause of the Ravens injury situation. That's gotta stop. He's putting unnecessary pressure on his guys to make one play, or lose, and have lost twice.

 

To be honest, It's very possible the Ravens finish below .500. Injuries or not, you don't get coach of the year for that. 

 

It's like the people that wanted Buck to get manager of the year all the time cause of "what he had to work with". Yeah. When he got it he deserved it (2014) and otherwise he didn't, and he didn't. 

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Like everyone else he has flaws but I dont know what to say if you dont think hes a top tier coach in this league.

[ivanbalt]

Like everyone else he has flaws but I dont know what to say if you dont think hes a top tier coach in this league.

His decision making has been terrible and predictable as Tomlin said.  Going on 4th on the first drive reminded me of past Chiefs games where Harbaugh plays scared and thinks you can never kick a field goal against a good offense.  And then once again being scared of going to OT.  Sends a great message to the team.

[Mackus]

His decision making has been terrible and predictable as Tomlin said.  Going on 4th on the first drive reminded me of past Chiefs games where Harbaugh plays scared and thinks you can never kick a field goal against a good offense.  And then once again being scared of going to OT.  Sends a great message to the team.

 

I think this part, which has been alluded to by others, is a demonstrably untrue claim.  The team sees to love the guy and love playing for him.  Look how they played today.  They play like that every week.  The 2nd half against Cincy stood out starkly because of how atypical it is to see a Ravens team not have a strong effort. However much the fans are not in on many of these decisions, the players are on board. Whatever message Harbaugh has been sending to the team, they're buying in.  I don't think we'll hear any complaints about the decision from the locker room, on-the-record or otherwise.

[makoman]

I think this part, which has been alluded to by others, is a demonstrably untrue claim.  The team sees to love the guy and love playing for him.  Look how they played today.  They play like that every week.  The 2nd half against Cincy stood out starkly because of how atypical it is to see a Ravens team not have a strong effort. However much the fans are not in on many of these decisions, the players are on board. Whatever message Harbaugh has been sending to the team, they're buying in.  I don't think we'll hear any complaints about the decision from the locker room, on-the-record or otherwise.

Yeah, and in any event in general I think players love going for it. Lamar didn't say "Hell yeah coach, let's kick it." I think there's definitely reasons to disagree with the decision making but the message isn't one of them. 

[ivanbalt]

I think this part, which has been alluded to by others, is a demonstrably untrue claim.  The team sees to love the guy and love playing for him.  Look how they played today.  They play like that every week.  The 2nd half against Cincy stood out starkly because of how atypical it is to see a Ravens team not have a strong effort. However much the fans are not in on many of these decisions, the players are on board. Whatever message Harbaugh has been sending to the team, they're buying in.  I don't think we'll hear any complaints about the decision from the locker room, on-the-record or otherwise.

If that's the case, the players better be on board for an early start to their vacation.

[Mike in STL]

Like everyone else he has flaws but I dont know what to say if you dont think hes a top tier coach in this league.

He is a top tier coach. He is a bottom tier game manager.

He is among the best at getting the most out of young players, coaching up a deep roster. But his giant flaw undoes that work when it contributes directly to Ls.

Take the good with the bad I guess.

[Mackus]

I'm usually on board with the aggressive decisions but disagreed with the 1st drive and the final drive decisions this week.  Very strongly on the latter.  Also disagreed with going for it before the false start and eventual FG.

 

Didn't mind going for it from our own 30.  

 

4th and 1 from GB20

4th and goal from GB3

4th and 1 from GB15 (prevented by penalty)

4th and 6 from BAL29

4th and 6 from GB14

2 point conversion attempt

 

5 decisions, 2 of which worked out and 3 of which did not.  Plus one that didn't get the opportunity.  One of the decisions was clearly obvious when down 14 with a few minutes left.  Can't kick a FG there.  I don't think I'd have made any of the other choices.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Green Bay was 100% going to kick the game winning FG in regulation had they needed to, so it doesn't really matter, but I think going for 2 was the right idea.  And they had Brown wide open in the end zone, but Huntley didn't see him.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I was out during the game last night, and not paying attention to the game thread. 

I looked at it a little bit last night after getting home, and just stopped. 

You guys know the few basic rules we have, please respect that. 

Beyond that, don't troll each other.  Don't have to like everyone.  Don't have to engage everytime either. 

Most importantly, just discuss the points people make without going personal. 

 

It's Dec. 20th, in the spirit of the season...  aim for kindness. 


That's all I intend to say here.  Let's just move on. 

[Biggsy]

Ok, I can recognize sarcasm when I see it. I don't think the two situations are exactly the same. I think there may be something about number of rings vs. number of playoff wins that could factor into that.

But yeah, what New Orleans showed is how much having a defensive line that can pressure a QB without having to bring the house on an all out blitz every play means. Wonder if the Ravens FO and Martindale noticed that?

Heavy on the sarcasm.

Also, two completely different defensive systems. Wink's system is designed to create pressure from the edges and through exotic blitzes.

Let's not forget we're down Campbell AND our whole secondary.

With that said I don't necessarily disagree. We need to get younger on the front end. If you're EDC, you're in a tough spot. Do you pray your secondary can come back healthy and play like they did in the 2019 and 2020 seasons? If so you can focus on the lines almost exclusively. If you don't like where the secondary is, you need to make some moves there, and then pick and choose where to upgrade along the lines.

[Steve55]

Green Bay was 100% going to kick the game winning FG in regulation had they needed to, so it doesn't really matter, but I think going for 2 was the right idea.  And they had Brown wide open in the end zone, but Huntley didn't see him.

 

Yep, same as game 1. Carr had 37 sec & no timeout. Rogers had 42 and one. As for Crosby he was kicking well all game. His yips games are the ones where he misses an XP or FG early.

 

I 'd not be feeling safe with Rogers having the ball and Robert Jackson covering Davante Adams.

[Nigel Tufnel]

What would it take to sign Bashaud Breeland for the rest of the year?

[Ravens2006]

Maybe Crosby had made all his kicks up to the end yesterday, but 4 were XPs and one was a 29 yard FG (shorter than an XP). 

 

On the season, Crosby is 4-for-8 on FGs from 30-39, and 4-for-8 on FGs from 40-49.  He's 3-for-4 at 50+ (not sure how long those 3 made were).  So overall, the dude is 11-for-20 on FG attempts beyond 30 yards this season.   

[bmore_ken]

Another way you can choose to look at it, and IM not saying this approach cant be flawed, we were in this game because of the offense. The defense stunk. Like stunk stunk. The offense deserved the chance to get the win right then and there. Granted the defense still wouldve needed to hold for 40 sec but you understand my point.

Rodgers makes a lot defenses stink. Just saying.