Opportunities Wasted

[OutsideRzAcE]

For the record, if we are talking about Reed saving Foxworth on that pic, it's only fair to point out that he hung Fox out to dry on that Dallas Clark TD. If you look at the replay closely, it appears that Reed lines up on Clark, but dumps him to jump Wayne's route.

 

I think Fox played ok. He really has steadied himself since a crappy start to the season. Overall like Cleetz said, his ceiling is #2. Maybe a little better than Gary Baxter.

[thundercleetz]

Before you criticize Foxworth, you guys do realize there is something called a Cover 2 coverage, right? Foxworth was not burned by Wayne, Reed's coverage was over top. When you have a team like the Colts who like to throw a lot of backdoor timing passes, you have to have your defensive back trail the receiver with help coming from the safety overtop should the receiver take the route deep. As for Foxworth's tackling, he is certaintly better than Fabian "Speedbump" Washington. Foxworth has solid form and makes a good effort everytime. He did well against the Colts on Sunday.

[dc.]

Agree with both of you... Fox was playing it right on the Reed pick, he played underneath while Reed helped over the top. And kudos to Reed for getting over there, because he was almost caught out of position... half a step...

 

And also agree that Reed just dipped on the Clark route on the TD... not sure what the plan was, but Clark was obviously wide open and Fox was left with two me, while Reed was just hanging out inside.

[Guest BallTMore]

Texans lose. Dolphins lose. Jags have a tough game, they could lose.

 

Will the Ravens once again waste this opportunity? If they do, someone needs to be on the hot-seat.

[vmax]

Texans lose. Dolphins lose. Jags have a tough game, they could lose.

 

Will the Ravens once again waste this opportunity? If they do, someone needs to be on the hot-seat.

 

 

And the answer is??????

 

NO!

[smokeyjon]

So after we barely squeaked by Dixon last night, are we still pretending that Foxworth isn't a massive liability?

[bmw800]

Not taking sides in the overall debate going on about Foxworth, but the fact that we were going against a 3rd string QB is kind of irrelevant to the whole debate. CBs are going head to head against the WRs, not the QB, so it wasn't so much "Foxworth vs. Dixon" as it was Foxworth vs. Holmes and Ward," both of whom are Pro Bowlers. Now I'm not going to say he played great, but I wouldn't term him a massive liability either. They only let up 145 passing yards in 26 attempts, and held him to under a 50% completion rating. What did you expect, that we would pitch a shutout in passing yards? Just think of it like a rookie making his first start, and lets compare Dixon's game to some other recent QBs making their first starts:

 

Dixon: 12/26 (46.2%), 145 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 rushing TD team loses (scores 17 points)

Sanchez: 18/31 (58.1%), 272 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, team wins (scores 24 points)

Ryan: 9/13 (69.2%), 161 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, team wins (scores 34 points)

Flacco: 15/29 (51.7%), 129 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 1 rushing TD, team wins (scores 17 points)

 

The comparisons actually aren't that bad at all, especially considering the last three at at most 1 full training camp in the NFL (in Flacco's case, about a week of it as starter after the injuries), whereas Dixon has had two training camps and a full NFL season of practice to get acclimated with the Steeler's system. He has two Pro Bowl receivers, a very good young third receiver (Wallace is going to give us headaches for years, I have a feeling), a good TE, and a good running game. I don't think the whole "sky is falling" attitude about the D is all that warranted.

[thundercleetz]

Not taking sides in the overall debate going on about Foxworth, but the fact that we were going against a 3rd string QB is kind of irrelevant to the whole debate. CBs are going head to head against the WRs, not the QB, so it wasn't so much "Foxworth vs. Dixon" as it was Foxworth vs. Holmes and Ward," both of whom are Pro Bowlers. Now I'm not going to say he played great, but I wouldn't term him a massive liability either. They only let up 145 passing yards in 26 attempts, and held him to under a 50% completion rating. What did you expect, that we would pitch a shutout in passing yards? Just think of it like a rookie making his first start, and lets compare Dixon's game to some other recent QBs making their first starts:

 

Dixon: 12/26 (46.2%), 145 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 rushing TD team loses (scores 17 points)

Sanchez: 18/31 (58.1%), 272 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, team wins (scores 24 points)

Ryan: 9/13 (69.2%), 161 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, team wins (scores 34 points)

Flacco: 15/29 (51.7%), 129 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 1 rushing TD, team wins (scores 17 points)

 

The comparisons actually aren't that bad at all, especially considering the last three at at most 1 full training camp in the NFL (in Flacco's case, about a week of it as starter after the injuries), whereas Dixon has had two training camps and a full NFL season of practice to get acclimated with the Steeler's system. He has two Pro Bowl receivers, a very good young third receiver (Wallace is going to give us headaches for years, I have a feeling), a good TE, and a good running game. I don't think the whole "sky is falling" attitude about the D is all that warranted.

 

Great post bmw. As you stated, Dixon was no rookie. There was very much a "relief pitcher" effect last night. We prepared for Ben all week, and there was very limited tape available on Dixon. That actually worked in Dixon's favor.

 

Before bashing Foxworth, we all know that he is not a #1 corner. He did let up that long pass to Holmes, but it was not because he was out of place. Foxworth was right behind Holmes, who was merely sitting in the middle of the field. I think Foxworth underestimated the ability of Dixon to throw the ball across his body to the middle of the field. Once again, there is not much tape on Dixon. When it is all said and done, Dixon only threw for 145 yards. Foxworth got beat, but he kept his head up and still made some plays. He was solid in the run game. The defense did not play bad. The big thing is that they did not break, the continually put Pittsburgh in third down situations by stopping the run. Ultimately, that caused some errant throws by Dixon, one of them leading to the Kruger INT.

[smokeyjon]

So that's going to be a "yes" then to my question.

 

How many times per game does Foxworth slip and fall on his ass after his receiver makes a move?

 

Better question: how many completions did Dixon have when throwing at Webb versus Foxworth? How many attempts, for that matter? It certainly seemed like he stayed away from Webb's side of the field.

 

Foxworth is not the sum total of our problems. The entire team is undisciplined, the defense as a whole cannot get off the field on 3rd downs, etc. But teams can virtually pass at-will against Foxworth.

 

Bonus points to Frank Walker who looked completely and utterly lost on the field and had someone (Jared Johnson I think) desperately trying to tell him where he was supposed to be before the snap.

[thundercleetz]

So that's going to be a "yes" then to my question.

 

How many times per game does Foxworth slip and fall on his ass after his receiver makes a move?

 

Better question: how many completions did Dixon have when throwing at Webb versus Foxworth? How many attempts, for that matter? It certainly seemed like he stayed away from Webb's side of the field.

 

Foxworth is not the sum total of our problems. The entire team is undisciplined, the defense as a whole cannot get off the field on 3rd downs, etc. But teams can virtually pass at-will against Foxworth.

 

Bonus points to Frank Walker who looked completely and utterly lost on the field and had someone (Jared Johnson I think) desperately trying to tell him where he was supposed to be before the snap.

 

No one is making out Foxworth to be a star, but he is not horrible like you make him out to be. I am just saying he is more of a #2 corner trying to be a #1 for us. In doing that he gets the task of matching up against the opponent's best receiver, so yes, he is going to get picked on. He did a good job on Wayne last week, and while he did let up that big reception to Holmes, Holmes was pretty much quiet in the second half. Foxworth also did a good job in run support. Yes, he is a mismatch against the opponent's #1 receiver, but he has done a decent job in playing damage control.

 

I do agree with you on the discipline problem. The defense was pretty clean last night though, so that is an improvement. At least we play a team next week that is penalized more than we are.

[OutsideRzAcE]

Fox had a poor game, i'll be the first to admit. Like Cleetz said, I think we all agree he is not a number 1 corner, but after a very poor start he did show a ton of improvement starting with the Vikings game and in subsequent leading up to this one. That was my point earlier in the thread.

 

I was Fox's classmate in middle and high school. He is a good guy - bright and very athletic, but after following him in Denver and ATL I admittedly was shocked at the money the Ravens paid him. I was very down on his play early in the season but since then he has gotten better.

 

I think Fox can improve and be an asset to the team. He has great speed and his problems are not a matter of being out of place, he just hasn't been able to challenge receivers when the ball is in the air. I think being able to stay with receivers is more than half the battle when it comes to being an effective corner.

 

As for Webb, he is definitely our best corner. He has great instincts excellent reaction and is proving to be great find in the draft.