The source of our problems: one of the worst offensive lines in the league

thundercleetz · December 14, 2010

Everyone wants to blame the secondary, pass rush, Cam Cameron, or Joe Flacco for our struggles on offense or inability to close out games, but I believe everything traces back to the offensive line.

- Ravens are 11th in the league in rushing attempts with 359 (about 28 attempts a game) but 31st in the league with 3.6 YPC (Colts are last at 3.4)

- Joe Flacco has been sacked 32 times this season, 4th most of any QB

Blame Cam all you want for some questionable play calling, but when the offense gets 1-2 yards per rush on first, the guy is constantly working with 2nd and 3rd and longs. Is Cam to blame for passing on that last third down in the third quarter? I think that tells me Cam himself has no confidence in our offensive line to pick up two yards in the power run game. That's not Cam's fault, that is the inability of the big guys up front to do their job earlier in the game to instill confidence in the run game.

I am starting to question Michael Oher's football instincts. The Bills did three safety blitzes in the fourth quarter, each time Oher did not pick up the free man, instead he blocked down on the end who stunted inside anyways. After last week, there is no excuse for this.

Flacco is going to get killed. Because we are constantly in second and third in longs, the defense knows they can dial up the blitz because our guys up-front are not going to pick it up. Flacco is constantly running for his life, and has NO pocket to step up into.

How does this relate to our defensive troubles? Obviously the defense is getting tired because the offense cannot run the ball and sustain drives. As we saw, we are limited in what we can do in the pass rush because we do not have the energy to blitz, and in the secondary we have to play a soft zone not to give up the big play.

Blame Cam for playcalling, Flacco for not making the throws, or the defense for giving up points all you want, but it all traces back to the offensive line. The fact that we are 9-4 with this offensive line and run game is amazing. Look at the teams that average less than 4 yards per rush there are a lot of bad teams in that bunch.

cravnravn · December 14, 2010

Nice Cleet!!!!

It is on the O-Line, I totally agree with the Oher experiment, its time to get to negotiating with Gaither, get him locked up, its truly amazing how much the run game has suffered with the loss of 1 guy.

varaven45 · December 14, 2010

Everyone wants to blame the secondary, pass rush, Cam Cameron, or Joe Flacco for our struggles on offense or inability to close out games, but I believe everything traces back to the offensive line.

- Ravens are 11th in the league in rushing attempts with 359 (about 28 attempts a game) but 31st in the league with 3.6 YPC (Colts are last at 3.4)
- Joe Flacco has been sacked 32 times this season, 4th most of any QB

Blame Cam all you want for some questionable play calling, but when the offense gets 1-2 yards per rush on first, the guy is constantly working with 2nd and 3rd and longs. Is Cam to blame for passing on that last third down in the third quarter? I think that tells me Cam himself has no confidence in our offensive line to pick up two yards in the power run game. That's not Cam's fault, that is the inability of the big guys up front to do their job earlier in the game to instill confidence in the run game.

I am starting to question Michael Oher's football instincts. The Bills did three safety blitzes in the fourth quarter, each time Oher did not pick up the free man, instead he blocked down on the end who stunted inside anyways. After last week, there is no excuse for this.

Flacco is going to get killed. Because we are constantly in second and third in longs, the defense knows they can dial up the blitz because our guys up-front are not going to pick it up. Flacco is constantly running for his life, and has NO pocket to step up into.

How does this relate to our defensive troubles? Obviously the defense is getting tired because the offense cannot run the ball and sustain drives. As we saw, we are limited in what we can do in the pass rush because we do not have the energy to blitz, and in the secondary we have to play a soft zone not to give up the big play.

Blame Cam for playcalling, Flacco for not making the throws, or the defense for giving up points all you want, but it all traces back to the offensive line. The fact that we are 9-4 with this offensive line and run game is amazing. Look at the teams that average less than 4 yards per rush there are a lot of bad teams in that bunch.

Muchobingorama ! Our OL is horrible and, you are right, we are damn lucky to have a still upright Flacco and be 9-4 and in the WC hunt.

As our good friend and late Sock used to say, it all begins and ends with the LOS. We are mega-deficient at the OL and need to acquire via draft or FA, a strong Center, LT and a versatile lineman who can play either G or T.

On the other side, after we resign Ngata, our DL needs an injenction of interior muscle (replacing Gregg) and the addition of a pass rusher which we have lacked big time. We cannnot rely on Suggs as our only legit pass rusher any more.

If we do that, we are golden ! :gorave:

deeshopper · December 14, 2010

As our good friend and late Sock used to say, it all begins and ends with the LOS.

I was thinking about him last night. Gosh, I really miss him!

varaven45 · December 14, 2010

I was thinking about him last night. Gosh, I really miss him!

Yeah, I miss his Sock and his many anecdotal remarks and humor like "Mike Flynn stepping all over our QB's feet" !!!! :biggrin:

papasmurfbell · December 14, 2010

Just a devils advocate idea here. I really wanted them to reup Ngata 3 yrs ago because of what I am seeing now. He is the best DL in the NFL as far as I am concerned. He is having an unreal yr. That said the Haynesworth deal sucks. He should get at least a 10% ontop of that deal. Also the Suggs deal. Ngata has continued to perform every yr. He has not had long chunks of down time. Suggs got crazy money. Ngata can say hey pay me because I am better than him. All that said what if they cannot afford Haloti's next deal. Please don't cite the franchise tag to me because at the moment that does not exist.

As for passrush and helping Suggs this is what I am lookiing at in the draft.

Stephen Paea DT Ore St 6-1 311 14 sacks in 3 yrs Strong like Moose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Ftcdl-VRI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laPi34hC6UU&feature=related