Stinger's Thoughts from the Back of the Boat: Week 2 - Ravens Vs. Browns

[StingerNLG]

I actually watched the game today on a little mini-TV on the back of a boat, even posting in the game thread from my Blackberry. It all started so wonderfully. My parents bought a nice new boat today, and my father and I are the only two in the family with experience driving boats. So at 8am we're heading across the bay to pick it up. We got back to our home slip literally just in time to fire up the TV on the back deck and watch the Ravens already down 7-0, and the Ravens offense hadn't even taken the field yet! Anyway, the long day ensued from there and we actually had to go back out on the Bay later in the afternoon just to put me in a good mood. I'm not in a good mood right now, so I apologize for what could be some angry thoughts.


So first, let's go around the league a little:

- HA HA. What a difference a week makes. Maybe they should just let McNabb wear those God awful yellow and blue uniforms all season, because he just doesn't seem to be able to do well in the green and white this year. Although right now he's got a drive going, the Giants pass rush has sacked McNabb 12 times already tonight, which ties the NFL record! Justice just couldn't protect McNabb at all tonight. And even through an illegal forward pass tonight. Rock on. Should make for some great radio this week, huh?

- Congratulations Brett Favre. You are now the touchdown king, and the pass attempt king. I said last week there was no way I could hate this man, and he once again gave me a reason not to. After the game in the locker room when the team congratulated him, Brett said he'd rather have the win than the stats, and he loved playing with his teammates. The man thinks about his team before he thinks about himself. I wish there were more like him in the NFL. Oh yeah, and now his Packers are 4-0. 4 and freaking 0!

- Tony Romo.........DAMN!!! The kid today made plays today that guys like McNabb used to make. I watched him take a snap over his head, kicked it himself once, picked it up 25 yards back, evaded TWO defenders, and threw a strike for a first down. Oh yeah, and they won the game as well.

- When the Chargers can't even beat the Kansas City Chiefs, something is very much wrong in San Diego. If I'm Marty Shottenheimer, how pissed are you to lose your job after the team makes the playoffs, only to hear your name chanted by the crowd during a home game? Congratulations to Tony Gonzalez for tying Shannon Sharpe for most TD receptions by a Tight End. Oh, and BTW, Philip Rivers isn't that good.

- Hey, the Saints didn't lose this week! That has to be a positive for the team. Oh yeah, it was their bye week. Well still, good things.

------------------------------------------------

Ok, let's get to the Ravens and Browns. Let me get a couple of things out of the way really quick:

- I am already tired of hearing and reading how we shouldn't have gotten rid of Derek Anderson. Ok, let's see how Derek "The Man" Anderson does against the New England Patriots. There's lots of football left to play.

- I also can't take a positive out of "Hey, we're still only 2-2". I'm sorry, but this is not good news to me. I understand the Chargers are 1-3. I don't care anymore. I don't want to be 2-2 looking up at Pittsburgh and look beside us at Cleveland. 2-2 means that if we can't beat the 49'ers next week, and Cleveland somehow pulls it out against NE, we'd be in at least 3rd place, maybe even last if Cincy wins tomorrow and next week. And we're 0-2 IN THE DIVISION!!!! Which means we pretty much need to run the table on the division the rest of the year, beating Cincy and Cleveland at home, and Pittsburgh both places. And we have BIG problems at 2-2.

Now, let's get to the specifics:

1) Our defense couldn't even wait until the 4th quarter to break down? And our big breakdowns came from our top guys on defense?? The Browns only punted THREE TIMES the entire game!! Well, on the other hand, the Ravens at least got enough pressure on Anderson to sack him zero ti.........wait did I type that correct?? ZERO SACKS???????? Not even Suggs could get a sack in. I miss Trevor Price. The only thing the defense could do this week was semi-stop the run. And not even that was good. Dwan Edwards had one tackle today. You remember Dwan don't you? High draft pick that somehow forgot how to play football when he got to the NFL? Now we all understand why he has stayed on the bench all this time.

And in the end, we got shredded by the pass.

The Raven's defense right now has serious problems. And I don't even think Rolle's absense has been the whole problem. While Dwan has sucked, aren't there 3 other guys on the defensive line? My answer right now seems to be no. And I feel like I somewhat want to give C-Mac a pass for his biting on the in-route on Braylon's TD. It sucked, but we all know that people rarely throw to McAlister's side because he's that good. I don't expect it to be the norm. Oh, and hey, any chance the defense could work on tackling before the 49'er game?


2) Matt Stover gets a pass this week too. He's saved us with his foot too many times in his career, and while he had a horrible day, he's only part of the reason we lost.


3) It's time for Kyle Boller to come back in the game. That's pretty much point blank how it needs to be. At least until McNair's groin is healthy and he can play without spending an entire quarter in the fucking Shotgun!! The dude couldn't even drop back after that tweak, so they had to keep him from going under center. And even before that he was horrible. And some of the decision making for McNair has been more than suspect. For the second week in a row McNair has decided instead of taking a sack, he'd rather try to force a throw. This week it actually cost him an intentional grounding call and a possible pick.

I'm wondering if Kyle was not brought in because it wouldn't have been fair to shove him in that position. But it's time to hand the ball over.

Look, I still maintain that Steve McNair's coming here was great for the team. He helped stabalize the offense last year. And at the same time, he seems to have helped Boller immensely by showing him how to play the position. So now it's time to see if any of this paid off. It is overly obvious that McNair can't take the field healthy. He's not the same McNair from 1999. He's not even the same McNair from last year, pre-Colts game. So until he can, it should be Boller's team. When Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason says Boller gives the team the best chance to win, then it's time to consider it.

And hell, if Boller can't do it then let Troy Smith have at it. I don't care at this point. McNair is done for a while, and possibly for good. So it's time to make the move.

BTW, the Cardinals beat the Steelers by subbing Matt Linart and Kurt Warner in and out today.


4) Once again Willis McGahee proves why it was better to have him than Jamal Lewis. Willis only had what, 104 yards today? The man can run. The man can catch. The man can also block. The Browns beat our asses today, but not because of Jamal.

4b) Is Brian Billick so in desire to prove he can be an offensive juggernaut again that he will see Willis run for 104 yards on 14 carries and then say to himself "Well that is nice. But let's throw the ball 53 times! Pulled groin on my QB? Well, I could pull him for our backup. Or I could just hand the ball to Willis more. NAAAAAA, I'll start chucking the ball around the field and see if I can turn those redzone FG's into not even that." My patience is starting to wear thin.

5) I should just cut and paste my receiver comments every week. Could we send Clayton or Demetrius downfield just a couple times a game? Once doesn't cut it! Even if McNair can't get the ball down there, at least it could clear out some route space for his dinking and dunking. Or hey, chuck the ball downfield. Even if you miss, it tells the defense you're willing to do it.

So where do we go from here? This wasn't just a bad loss on a bad day. We have issues on this team that are starting to catch up with us and opposing teams are starting to see it too. We are not going 13-3 as it stands right now. We've got San Fran, St. Louis, and Buffalo before the bye. The Buffalo game is not a gimme. The Rams might be the only sure win, and not the way this team is playing right now. After the bye we have to face Pitt, Cleveland, and Cincy back-to-back. I am a bit concerned right now.



Ok, as usual my requests for the thread. Please let's not fight with each other. And it is inevitable that we are going to have to talk about McNair and Boller. So can we please keep that part of the discussion intelligent?

Ok, the floor is open! I need to get some sleep and try to think about some other positives for the upcoming weeks.

[GreenWave52]

Stinger, great post. You and I disagree good naturedly from time to time, but I think you hit this dead on. If you don't mind I'm going to expand on your points and then add some of my own.

1. Our defense is a disaster right now. I don't know if it is the players or the scheme, but we look awful. Defense is our bread and butter and if it isn't working this team is not going far. Our offense was designed to complement the D, if we aren't holding teams under 20 (and really it should be around 13 to 17 points) then we aren't winning too many games.

2. Stover is still the man. Had he made all of his kicks we still would have been embarrassed.

3. I didn't think I would ever endorse this, but it is Kyle Boller time. He gives us the best chance to win. McNair never should have played against the Cards. Kyle plays well at home and he has improved as a QB. Maybe the extra time off helps Steve, because what I saw today was an old man who could barely move. I'm sure he is in tremendous pain and he is a warrior for playing through it, but right now McNair is doing more harm than good. We need to sit him until he is totally healthy. Unless Kyle lights it up Steve can get his job back when he can move like an athlete again.

4. McGahee was an improvement and I think has been worth the money, especially in light of the new inflated contracts.

4b. Unfortunately that doesn't mean he is being maximized. I really like Billick as a head coach and think he was phenominal last year. Even if we go 5-11 (not happening) I wouldn't call for his head. BUt right now it looks like we have regressed from last hear in some ways. Although I'm willing to suggest that the scaled back playcalling is a product of a young o-line and injuries to Clayton and McNair.

5. I'm a big fan of short passes and keeping the chains moving but you are correct, we need to be more vertical. Once again I have to assume it is a pass protection issue and that Billick is making sure the routes are short to keep what is left of his QB healthy.

Final Comments: Depressing loss, but not earth shaking. One, there are always a couple of games every year where it is obvious that you aren't going to win early on no matter what you do. This was one of them. Second, Cleveland has always played us tough in their house. The two division losses hurt, but it is week 4 and this season is far from over. We are just going to have more of a dogfight (thanks Vick!) for the division than we did last year. It is about what I expected. Once we straighten out the D (and we are far too talented not too) we will be fine.

Also, even though he fumbled I still really like Figurs as our return man. That fumble was a fluke and his speed can't be denied. McClain has been doing well too.

Can we try Gaither at right tackle? Or at least somewhere on the line.

It could always be worse, be grateful that we aren't San Diego or Chicago!

[camdenyard]

When Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason says Boller gives the team the best chance to win, then it's time to consider it.

I would never have thought those words would be uttered by Sharpe :179421:

I don't think the D is as bad as we are making it out to be. One TD was one LONG play. If CMac doesn't bite on that fake, it's probably incomplete. CMac will learn from this, or be coached to remember it. One other TD was a result of a short field. It was only the first drive that the D looked like it couldn't stop them.

The lack of a pass rush is making life in the secondary miserable. Rex & Co. need to find a way to bring pressure or it's going to be more of the same, and no hope at all against NE and INDY.

And unless McNair can push off with NO PAIN and get the ball downfield, I am all for putting Boller in - especially during these next 3 games.

[festivus]

Concerning McNair/Boller. . . That ball to Heap that got batted down in the endzone looked to my untrained eye like the *exact* route on which Boller hit heap for the non-TD at the end of the Cincinnati game, and many times before. The ball comes in high & hard right over the heads of the db's, and Heap goes up to get it. Except in this case the ball came in waist high, unlikely to slip all the way to the back line of the endzone.

There is plenty of blame to go around on this one. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching staff on the botched replay flag. . .

But concerning quarterback play *only*, I am now curious to see how Boller would look in there. As long as the official explanation is injury ("We think Steve aggravated the groin in the fourth quarter when he was hit as he threw. Steve is great, he's so tough in there it's hard to tell when he's hurt. But we want him to be our quarterback for a long time, and we think resting him now, until maybe after the bye week, gives the team the best chance in the short term and in the long term.") I don't have a problem with that.

I don't think the time has come to bench him for ineffectiveness, because that sends the wrong message, but as long as the 'official' explanation is injury, go for it.

Concerning Billick, I don't think X's and O's are his strength and he's probably not the Greatest Coach in the History of the National Football League. But he took over a losing team when he got here and we've mostly won since then, so all these Monday Morning Quarterbacks who want to throw him into a lake after a bad loss and a rough start to the season need to get a little backbone and show a little loyalty to their team and its people.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

Once again...I agree with eveything you've said

Something is really wrong with this team...and I'm not sure what it is. Could it be that they are arrogant and have been reading thier press clippings? Are there just too many injuries right now? Or is it what I think may indeed be...this team just all of a sudden crossed the line of being a vet team to just being old and over the hill?

2-2 at this point isn't good and being blown out against the Browns is never a good sign

Things that made me scream...

A: Billick not challenging that Jamal Lewis TD. What the hell? When you are getting your asses kicked and the other team scores a questionable TD, you challenge it ASAP. We have challeneged less obvious calls numerous times without hesitation...without needing to watch replays or know what down it is...what time of excuse was that? I knew right when the Ref rose his 2 arms in the air that it was a very questionable call. But of course, billick needed the replay on the jumbotron in order to challenge.

B: Where the hell is our pass rush? Terell Suggs...I know you don't have much help, but this is not the way to go to demand close to that rediculous Dwight Freeney deal. We aren't even getting close with our blitzes.

C: McNair has to sit until he proves he is healthy. Watching him move is just painful...on his one scramble attempt, he ran slower than my grandfather in crutches...the old McNair would have gotten at least 5, McNair took 2 steps past the LOS and got ran down by fatass Robaire Smith. I am closer and closer to the play Boller state of mind. As most are seeing...I think McNair is either hurt or done. He provided us with a lot last year...more than some are willing to give credit for, but he just looks like a man who is near the end of the road.

D: What is up with these dumbass 3 yard crossing patterns by our WR's? Does anybody realize that Derek Mason is tied with Antonio Gates for the lead in receptions with 33? That is terrific. But he is averaging 8.8 ypc...lower than most TE's, and in the neighborhood of most backs who run flare out's. I understand Mason is not all that fast anymore, but he still should be getting more than 10 ypc easily. It's like the only WR that actually goes down the field is D-Will...and the only routes he is basically running are comeback routes. Mason's ypc tell the entire story of this offenses inability to stretch the field...I see why he said last year he feels like a glorified TE. Like he said after the game...you have to use all your weapons to go deep...not just one person...Get Heap out there, Clayton and even Mason and stop just relying on D-Will for all your deep patterns.

E: Willis is a heck of a back and the difference between this years running game and last years is night and day...too bad Billick ignores him in the red zone and panics and gets away from the running game way too quickly.

All in all, this was just a terrible performance. Last years team had a very business like steady dominating mentality...this years team just looks unprepared and overconfident...yesterday remided me of 2005.

While the season isn't over, I think any hope of home field is gone as well as hope for the division is fading quickly and that puts our hopes for the playoffs...something almost all of us thought were close to a sure thing in question.

[metro]

While I agree that Brian Billick has done alot for the Ravens organization, I think that he has outlived his usefulness. With the talent on the roster, there is no reason that the Ravens should be 2-2 at this point. The Ravens should be 4-0. They are lucky that they are not 0-4.

Billick has no sense of the flow of the game. He passed in the second half of the Jets game when he should of run the ball. The Ravens needed to kill the clock. Instead, they gave the ball back to the Jets and sent a tired defense back on the field. There is no sense of urgency with this team. In the second half of the Browns game, the Ravens should have been in the two minute drill mode or no huddle. That is poor coaching and poor preparation. Also, why are the Ravens throwing the ball 53 times against the worst run defense in the league? They had success running. Why pass especially with a QB that has a sore groin? Again, this is another example of poor coaching.

The offense despite changes in personnel has been stagnant since he has been here. In order for the Ravens to win a Super Bowl, the offense is going to have to score points. They simply cannot rely on the defense and Matt Stover anymore.

[festivus]

Also, why are the Ravens throwing the ball 53 times against the worst run defense in the league?
That's what happens when your defense puts you in a 14-0 hole.

Not saying the coaching was great yesterday, as I have said repeatedly I cannot tell on a game to game basis what's going on with the coaching.

But I did notice a couple of things Brian Billick did poorly yesterday, and I will list some of them here:

It was unfortunate that Billick threw an ill advised pass for an early interception. Then it was compounded when Billick bit on a 'playground'-style (Mike McCrary's word) fake thrown by Braylon Edwards and got beat on a 65 yard td pass the following play. The seven penalties on Billick, including offsides on a field goal try, were also bad, and so was the underthrown ball to Todd Heap in the endzone. By Billick. Plus Billick threw that replay flag out too late (hey, waitasec). Also though Corey Ivy played well as a substitute for the injured Samari Rolle, clearly Billick is a *big* dropoff from the injured starter Trevor Pryce, and we didn't have much of a pass rush. Normally reliable Brian Billick also whiffed on two field goals. Who would have thought?

:D

Nobody gets a pass for the turd we dropped in Cleveland yesterday. Least of all the players, who were the ones actually pooping all over the field.

[metro]

Poor execution at that level is due to a lack of mental discipline. The Ravens repeatedly make stupid mistakes...false starts, offsides, etc. I attribute these repeated mistakes to a lack of discipline. The coaching staff has not corrected these repeated errors. The team appears to lack focus and direction. This is correctable by good coaching.

The Ravens have had a plethora of Pro Bowl players during Billick's tenure, yet they have only advanced beyond the first round of the play-offs once since the Super Bowl. The Ravens have underachieved. I'm not saying that Billick is the sole reason for the Ravens not being a more dominant team. However, it may be time for the Ravens to move in another direction coaching wise.