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ExtremeRavens: The Sanctuary

Bazooka Joe


varaven45

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For all of his detractors and naysayers (myself included at times)Joe came of age in that final drive.

To have persevered the failed drive (2 minutes earlie) and come back and stick it in was awesome.

 

Joe grew big time yesterday. He and the O just need to grow more and continue the success. Denver will not be a pushover !

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I'm not sure people realize who the the Raven's have gone up against so far and on the road. The one "easy" team they played. Joe had his best passing game ever against. I mean the Jet, Cinny, and pittsburg on the road. to be 2 and 1 and the only bad showing was cinny. I'm not bothered by Joe or the offense's production

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Dammit. I think Joe's the best qb the Ravens have ever had, Vinny included. He's tough, makes the hard throws, is cool, poised and solid. I'm tired of all the nitpicking and whining by some of the fans. No he's not Peyton Manning but he doesn't need to be. We've got ourselves a franchise quarterback after many years in the wilderness and I'm behind him!

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I don't think its nitpicking or whining to want Joe to improve and better read coverages and find secondary targets. So far I don't think he is very good at those things and think he gets confused when his primary target is covered - unless he has Rice to dump it to. He also still often locks onto his target alerting everyone where its going and has thrown floaters off his backfoot. These are rookie mistakes that need to stop.

 

With my criticisms I do acknowledge that its still just his third year and he should be getting better at those weaknesses. If he does, the sky is the limit. If he doesn't then he will just be a middle of the road QB if that.

 

Though I don't think he was anything better than OK yesterday, the final drive was a beauty and hopefully this will be a big step going forward.

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Spen, I definitely agree that Joe has a ways to go... but I don't think he was just OK yesterday. I think lots of pieces of this offense were just ok - the run game, the play-calling, the receivers even at times.

 

I also think that in another post you said you expected to see more, even against 3 strong defenses on the road. I think that's asking a ton.

 

The Steelers, Jets and Bengals all have the capability to shut down some of the most prolific offenses in the league right now. We're hardly prolific. We're still getting our feet settled. So to see any improvement at all and to see this team starting to find its form is great.

 

Personally, I saw so many drives working so well on Sunday... and then just a few plays that killed them. And I wonder what's going on there. Where as the Housh route all game long? We run that out or comeback so frequently, where was the fake on it all game long? Did it simply not exist or did we not exploit it. I'm inclined to believe we didn't exploit it and I think that falls on Cam. I just can't believe that it's something with Joe - every time - that stalls our drives.

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Spen, I definitely agree that Joe has a ways to go... but I don't think he was just OK yesterday. I think lots of pieces of this offense were just ok - the run game, the play-calling, the receivers even at times.

 

I also think that in another post you said you expected to see more, even against 3 strong defenses on the road. I think that's asking a ton.

 

The Steelers, Jets and Bengals all have the capability to shut down some of the most prolific offenses in the league right now. We're hardly prolific. We're still getting our feet settled. So to see any improvement at all and to see this team starting to find its form is great.

 

Personally, I saw so many drives working so well on Sunday... and then just a few plays that killed them. And I wonder what's going on there. Where as the Housh route all game long? We run that out or comeback so frequently, where was the fake on it all game long? Did it simply not exist or did we not exploit it. I'm inclined to believe we didn't exploit it and I think that falls on Cam. I just can't believe that it's something with Joe - every time - that stalls our drives.

 

My posts might have read like that a few times but I don't feel that way. I have had some problems with other aspects of the offense both on and off the field.

 

I don't feel like I am generally a negative fan, with the upgraded weapons I just expected both Joe and the offense to be better and so far I don't think either of them have been.

 

I'm going to be more positive for a while, that late win earned that. I don't like having doubts about what I have seen and I don't like to argue against the team; so I wont for a while. Hopefully no more for a long time.

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And I wonder what's going on there. Where as the Housh route all game long? We run that out or comeback so frequently, where was the fake on it all game long? Did it simply not exist or did we not exploit it.

 

I can't say I noticed that the Fakes were open all day long dc but I did notice the coverage on the first pass to Housh. My wife was watching with me and I was explaining to her the route that Housh just ran was an out to get out of bounds and stop the clock. The CB was in deep coverage but he moved on the ball very quickly. There was no help over the top because the CB was so deep and I told her the Ravens might try the out and up while drawing an imaginary route so she knew what I was talking about. She gave me a look after Joe threw the TD like how the hell did I know that was coming.

 

So I can't say that play was there all day but it was definitely there at the end with the coverage the Steelers were playing. I also thought we started to pick up the blitzes quite well but there was still too many times that the Steelers were on a 5 yard sprint to the line before the ball was snapped and timed it just right. I still think we need to get to the line quicker in the those cases so that we can use the hard count more often.

 

I also had to agree with Simms in that we need to get Joe into Shotgun more often when he is passing and then run Rice off the draw out of that formation.

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I also had to agree with Simms in that we need to get Joe into Shotgun more often when he is passing and then run Rice off the draw out of that formation.

 

I think Simms is right too. We should use the shotgun more. I think I read somewhere that Cam said a few weeks ago that the shotgun will get more usage as time goes by.

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I can't say I noticed that the Fakes were open all day long dc but I did notice the coverage on the first pass to Housh. My wife was watching with me and I was explaining to her the route that Housh just ran was an out to get out of bounds and stop the clock. The CB was in deep coverage but he moved on the ball very quickly. There was no help over the top because the CB was so deep and I told her the Ravens might try the out and up while drawing an imaginary route so she knew what I was talking about. She gave me a look after Joe threw the TD like how the hell did I know that was coming.

 

but... that's exactly my point!

 

we run that little out route all the time. it's the derrick mason special. and boldin and housh run it a lot too.

 

so why don't we more frequently use the bait of the out and then push further? joe's pump fake on the TD pass was a beaut. where's that all game long? joe? cam? anyone?

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but... that's exactly my point!

 

we run that little out route all the time. it's the derrick mason special. and boldin and housh run it a lot too.

 

so why don't we more frequently use the bait of the out and then push further? joe's pump fake on the TD pass was a beaut. where's that all game long? joe? cam? anyone?

 

I can't answer that dc but I'll take a guess.

 

Joe was in a zone at that point in the game....like it all came together for him....all the stuff they've been practicing, teaching...plus he had time to let the play develop. Bouldin is new for him and he's only been around Haush for a month....he's still learning how to use and connect with them.

 

What we saw in that drive was the goal that's been set for this offense....what they have been working toward as a unit...and all 11 players actually hit it.

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Another reason not to use it is because you need to focus on that one target the whole play and it takes a great pass protection, so it's a risky play to run at times. I do agree it should be done more often, particularly if we can give Joe Boldin or Mason crossing underneath Housh and Rice coming out of the backfield, plenty of quick options on the same side of the field should limit the risk of a sack.

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