34 replies to this topic

[Mike in STL]

BSL: https://baltimorespo...-of-our-misery/

 

Some random thoughts from the game. Have to think as close as they came, missing Jackson was key in missing the playoffs. Plus my thoughts on the big three coaches. One stays, one goes, the other, don't care.

[Ravens2006]

Yeah, I'd bet every penny that they win at least 2 of 6 down the stretch with Lamar at QB. I don't give much of a crap about how he looked the 4 or 5 games before his injury. Very confident that he would have made some of those plays "John couldn't find for them" to swing a couple of these last minute losses.

Huntley "looked better" for a short time. All the talk was how much faster his decision making was, etc. But he wasn't going through a variety of options. Granted, there is value in quick decisions. But you're putting that on film, and opponents study it... And they learn your tendencies really quick. You could see it as the last few weeks passed. Andrews became basically his ONLY option. He couldn't get them in the endzone at all in RedZone the last two games, and their only two TDs were a defensive return and a long rushing TD.

A good O.C., a good well-rounded O.C., one that can adapt... would add a little more easy decision stuff to the gameplan for Lamar next year. He can handle a lot, but don't ask him to do it ALL when the O line is so shaky in pass protection.

Again, it comes back to understanding what you're working with across all 11. Maximize their chances...

[cprenegade]

Jackson was missed, no doubt.  But he didn't perform that well in the last few games before he went out..  My opinion is the the OL is the biggest problem on this team.  KC lost the SB last year because their injured OL could not stop TB.  They went out and totally re-tooled it.  They are the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs and nobody would be surprised if they ended up in the SB again.  The Ravens need to rework their O-line or they will keep getting Jackson killed.  Their Oline sucks big time.  

[russsnyder]

Good article Mike.

I think the Jackson injury ultimately was the one that the team could not overcome. I think a healthy Jackson wills the team to a couple of victories, but we'll never know for sure.

Huntley was awful yesterday. My biggest concern going forward is his lack of arm strength. I say trade him if you get offered a third round pick. I doubt he has that much value right now. His best attribute is that he's a very ( close to broke) poor man's Lamar.

I think the injuries will buy the coordinators another year. I think Harbaugh will dig his feet in somewhat because 2022 is the last year of his contract. Like yourself, I think a change at Offensive Coordinator would be a step in the right direction.

The Ravens need OL help and a defensive playmaker in the worst way. I'd draft a tackle in the first round. Stanley has been too injury prone to be counted on. The defense forces no turnovers or big plays and their most consistent pass rusher tore his Achilles yesterday.

[Steve55]

After that miserable 1st half yesterday I was hoping to see Josh Johnson come out. The Steelers were ripe to get beat with their formula of late, play bad in the 1st half, grind it out in the 2nd. They still only had about 100 yrds of offense in the 3rd qtr.

[ivanbalt]

Is there something psychological with the Ravens when it comes to the Steelers?  In both games the Steelers' offense was pitiful most of the of the game, yet the Ravens were determined to even things up with terrible turnovers.

 

The defense played well most of the game but once again couldn't get off the field at the end.  Continually getting beat by a QB that could barely throw 5 yards is terrible.

[esporter]

A really disappointing end.

 

Hard to evaluate the year because of all the injuries and all the COVID, but damn... At some point you just have to beat a bad team, even with your backup QB. I can accept losing to the Packers and Rams, even though both wins were in our grasp. But failing against the Steelers twice and the second game to the Browns, both of whom really suck, is inexcusable.

 

We just need more talent on this team, and better coaching calibration on when to get hyper aggressive and when not to. The 2 pointer against Green Bay still kills me.

[85Knight]

A really disappointing end.

Hard to evaluate the year because of all the injuries and all the COVID, but damn... At some point you just have to beat a bad team, even with your backup QB. I can accept losing to the Packers and Rams, even though both wins were in our grasp. But failing against the Steelers twice and the second game to the Browns, both of whom really suck, is inexcusable.

We just need more talent on this team, and better coaching calibration on when to get hyper aggressive and when not to. The 2 pointer against Green Bay still kills me.

I'm with you on this. There's no excuse for losing all 5 of those games. This might be the worst stretch of losses in team history given the expectations. Maybe equalled only by the 9 game losing in Billicks last year here but I don't think expectations were quite as high then.

[makoman]

At some point you just have to beat a bad team...

Imagine having a win and you're (basically) in game against the team with the worst record in the league and getting blown off the field. At least we didn't have a whole lot of expectations going into yesterday. Must be a brutal day over at Indianapolis sports and life.

[ivanbalt]

Imagine having a win and you're (basically) in game against the team with the worst record in the league and getting blown off the field. At least we didn't have a whole lot of expectations going into yesterday. Must be a brutal day over at Indianapolis sports and life.

Fortunately with the NFL, there are always worse situations than what happened to the Ravens.

 

Imagine being a Giants fan these days.  Their offense has been beyond pathetic in recent weeks.

[esporter]

Imagine having a win and you're (basically) in game against the team with the worst record in the league and getting blown off the field. At least we didn't have a whole lot of expectations going into yesterday. Must be a brutal day over at Indianapolis sports and life.

 

I can't imagine....

 

But I can't help but think of a few years back when we had the Bengals, week 17, at 4th and 15 late in the 4th quarter. Get a stop, we go to the playoffs. And instead the worst possible thing happened. That was pain.

[Mackus]

Missing Lamar clearly kept us out of the playoffs.  1-4 in the 5 games he missed.  1-5 if you count Cleveland where he missed over half the game.  Only need to win one more of those games to dance, and I've got little doubt that he manages that even though he had played quite poorly immediately preceding his injury.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

We likely win the division if he stays healthy and getting the #1 seed was possible too. Let it be a reminder to the idiots out there who is the best and most important player on the roster

[Mackus]

I don't think Lamar being available for all the games gets them the division.  I don't think he makes a difference in the @Cincy game considering the state of the secondary.  Cincy also wins yesterday if they need the game, so they'd be 11-6 with 2 wins over Ravens.

 

 

Ravens would've had to win all 5 of the other games Lamar missed time (@Chicago, @Cleveland, GB, LAR, Pittsburgh) to get them to 12 wins.  Possible, or maybe Cincy somehow loses yesterday even if they're trying and you can drop one of those games.  But not likely.

[Slidemaster]

With how bad he was playing I don't think it's a foregone conclusion at all that they would have won any more games with him. Possible certainly, but by no means a given. He was playing like one of the worst QBs in the league prior to his injury.

[BSLChrisStoner]

With how bad he was playing I don't think it's a foregone conclusion at all that they would have won any more games with him. Possible certainly, but by no means a given. He was playing like one of the worst QBs in the league prior to his injury.

He was Top 5 in MVP consideration through his first 8 games, and then struggled over the next 4.   Some on him, some on the attrition around him, some on the coaching.   They lost by 2 at Cleveland, by 1 to Green Bay, 1 to the Rams, and 3 to the Steelers.   

Any reason to think he wasn't capable of outplaying his backup QBs?

[jamesdean]

He was Top 5 in MVP consideration through his first 8 games, and then struggled over the next 4.   Some on him, some on the attrition around him, some on the coaching.   They lost by 2 at Cleveland, by 1 to Green Bay, 1 to the Rams, and 3 to the Steelers.   
Any reason to think he wasn't capable of outplaying his backup QBs?

With a larger sampling, its pretty obvious Huntley isn't close to Lamar in talent and the dynamics he brings to the table. He certainly was struggling before getting hurt but I just don't see how anyone would prefer Huntley to be out there. His last two starts changed any possibility of me thinking otherwise.

[Slidemaster]

He was Top 5 in MVP consideration through his first 8 games, and then struggled over the next 4. Some on him, some on the attrition around him, some on the coaching. They lost by 2 at Cleveland, by 1 to Green Bay, 1 to the Rams, and 3 to the Steelers.

Any reason to think he wasn't capable of outplaying his backup QBs?

Partly because Huntley outplayed Lamar's performance from those 4 games in which Lamar began to struggle, but primarily because I think the team was so decimated at that point that nobody should expect them to win anything regardless of their qb. They were very likely the worst 52 man roster in the NFL by the end.

I don't think Huntley is a better qb than Lamar, but Lamar was not right after the Miami game, to the point where his play was unrecognizable.

[Ravens2006]

Team was 7-5 with Lamar at QB, 1-4 without him.  Bad O line the whole season, with and without him.  And he gets the CLE loss hung on his resume as one of those 5 losses, because he started the game.  Got knocked out on the first play of the 2nd quarter, while 4-4 passing for the nothing that's worth.  In games he fully played, they were 7-4 with him behind center.

 

Who led the team in rushing attempts?  Freeman tied him on Sunday, but Lamar Jackson.  Who led the team in yards rushing, and yards per rushing attempt?  Lamar Jackson.  Does anyone think that his absence didn't hurt more than it helped?

 

Lamar lost 3 fumbles in 11+ games.  Tyler lost 3 fumbles in 4+ games.  The two in CLE absolutely played a huge role in what became a two point loss.  The one Sunday vs PIT played a big role in what became an OT loss (PIT kicked a FG off that fumble recovery).  Tyler's drops helped cost them 2 out of the 5 games he played.  Lamar's fumbles helped cost them one of the 11 games he played.

 

Lamar had 4 fourth quarter comebacks / game winning drives on his resume, in 11 games.  If the Ravens defense can keep the Raiders from kicking a FG in the final 35 seconds of the opener, he'd have had 5 game-winning drives.   Tyler had 1 in his 4+ games (at CHI).  

 

One thing they both had in common... they got sacked too much.  The O line, and most specifically the tackle positions, hamstrung both of them.

 

We might not KNOW what would have happened, no more than we KNOW what the Jaguars record would have been with Tom Brady instead of Trevor Lawrence this year... but it's pretty safe to assume based on the evidence from both this season and prior seasons, that this team very probably does better down the stretch with a healthy-enough Lamar Jackson running the show.

[ivanbalt]

Partly because Huntley outplayed Lamar's performance from those 4 games in which Lamar began to struggle, but primarily because I think the team was so decimated at that point that nobody should expect them to win anything regardless of their qb. They were very likely the worst 52 man roster in the NFL by the end.

I don't think Huntley is a better qb than Lamar, but Lamar was not right after the Miami game, to the point where his play was unrecognizable.

Worst 52 man roster in the NFL?  Not even close.  Check out some of the offensive stats from the Giants over the last few games.