Joe's QB Coach

[borntodiebalmerfan]

I have been out of touch with the local discussion about the Ravens until tonight, or this morning for you all. The last post evolved into Joe's inconsistency with his accuracy and thought process. Is Caldwell still his QB coach and didn't Joe seem to respond better with Jim Zorn? Someone made the point that Cam is not really good for Joe's game and Joe is not really good for Cam's game; so maybe this will be the last eight games (five reg, 2 playoff and 1 superbowl) with that combination on the offensive side.

[vmax]

Fans want to give Caldwell all the credit when Joe has a good game and blame Cam when Joe has a clunker. Caldwell never enters the conversation after Joe's bad games. The same when Zorn was here.

 

It's all about execution.

 

Sunday was a good example. The O line didn't execute for the first 3 quarters with the usual poor production. Then in the 4th quarter Joe had time, his receivers got open and they moved the ball and scored. The tempo was very good.

Look at Rivers....he couldn't carve up the D because his O was not executing.

[cravnravn]

Its the tale of 2 teams, when we are home avg 36.8 points a game, Cam is a genius the O-Line creates holes for Rice etal, the O-Line gives Joe protection, the WR's get seperation, the D usually comes up huge with a pick 6, or big int.

 

When we are away, we average 17 points a game, no holes for Rice, no protection for Joe, no WR seperation, and the D gets no pressure on the QB, the away game against Houston is a great example as well as the first half vs the Chargers..But something happened in that lockerroom at the half, somebody definitely lit a spark.

 

I dont get the production home vs away, we avg 19 points a game better at home.

 

Is that Cams faults, coaches, Joes, O-Lines, D Lines, WR's..

 

Its definitely a Heckyl and Hyde team this season, just hope the Texans lose a couple and we get the #1 seed.

[yagersports]

Against aggressive defenses with loud crowds our receivers have to run the route called no matter what. When was the last time you saw Joe throw short and a WR break off deep? It doesn't happen on this team. WRs and QB are not trusted to adjust their routes based on the defense being played. All the good offenses do this to keep overly aggressive defenses honest.

 

Flacco is certainly capable of executing this part of an offense and I'm sure Boldin and Smith are capable as well. Caldwell doesn't design the offense, Cam does. At home Joe and the WRs can audible better and make adjustments due to the quieter crowd. Away they're not as productive.

 

They should also practice coming back to the QB. Joe can make the throws but whenever he's outside of the pocket nobody comes back to him.

[thundercleetz]

Against aggressive defenses with loud crowds our receivers have to run the route called no matter what. When was the last time you saw Joe throw short and a WR break off deep? It doesn't happen on this team. WRs and QB are not trusted to adjust their routes based on the defense being played. All the good offenses do this to keep overly aggressive defenses honest.

 

Flacco is certainly capable of executing this part of an offense and I'm sure Boldin and Smith are capable as well. Caldwell doesn't design the offense, Cam does. At home Joe and the WRs can audible better and make adjustments due to the quieter crowd. Away they're not as productive.

 

They should also practice coming back to the QB. Joe can make the throws but whenever he's outside of the pocket nobody comes back to him.

 

Good post. This is exactly what the problem is. The offense has no complexity to it. Even what Joe has available for audible is not really much help. It's like choosing between Cheerios and Corn Flakes. It's the basic of the basic.

[yagersports]

 

Good post. This is exactly what the problem is. The offense has no complexity to it. Even what Joe has available for audible is not really much help. It's like choosing between Cheerios and Corn Flakes. It's the basic of the basic.

 

That's a very good analogy. What does it matter if you audible to slant or down and out if the defense is simply going to jump the route every time. We need to have the some "run and shoot" style routes where the receiver and QB work together and make the same read.

[papasmurfbell]

So it is all about execution. Why is it nobody could get Alex Smith to play well but Jim Harbaugh could get so much out of him. Was he just not executing with the other OC's? I think Harbaugh worked to his strengths and got more out of him.

[yagersports]

Read closer, it's about the fact that the offense is too simple to succeed at a high level. It would be nice if the defenses didn't jump our routes and we forced them to stay honest. We don't. I think it has something to do with the WR routes. There doesn't seem to be an option for the WR to break off their route based on the coverage provided. Maybe Flacco can't digest that much, I doubt it.

[smokeyjon]

Exactly my thoughts as well yager. Cam isn't a genius at home anymore than he is on the road, the O just benefits from the lack of crowd noise, and the visiting offense has to deal with an insanely loud and hostile house.

 

As was said a few weeks ago, when Deirdorf can figure out what the offense is going to do next there is a serious problem with the person designing and calling the plays. Joe has demonstrated that he can execute, but when the playbook is as vanilla as ours, their defense isn't going to give him much to work with especially on the road.

[vmax]

For the first three quarters of Sunday’s game against the Chargers, the Ravens offense was stagnant. They scored on just one of their first nine possessions and had four three-and-outs.

 

The early woes put the Ravens into a 13-3 hole before they got the ball midway through the fourth quarter.

 

But then something changed.

 

The offense clicked, and the Ravens scored on three of their final four possessions, marching down the field in the final minutes of regulation and overtime to secure a thrilling 16-13 comeback victory.

 

So what was the difference?

 

“We were forced to open it up a little bit,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “Obviously, we spread it out, because we were down 10 in the fourth quarter, and we had no choice and we probably changed gears. We got into a little more of a no-huddle, up-tempo type of a deal.”

 

The situation dictated that the Ravens pass and try to score quickly, so they went with their aerial attack orchestrated by quarterback Joe Flacco.

 

They operated almost exclusively out of the shotgun and passed 79 percent of the time in the fourth quarter and overtime. Earlier in the game, the Ravens were more committed to the running game and working out of more traditional two-back sets.

 

Here is a closer look at the contrast from the first three quarters compared to the fourth and overtime (Note: this excludes the three knee downs Flacco took near the end of overtime to set up Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal):

Run Plays Pass Plays Shotgun Snaps Quarters 1-3: 25 24 16 4Q and Overtime: 7 28 31

 

“We were in more conventional type sets early in the game – we were playing that kind of a game a little bit more,” Harbaugh said. “[Late in the game] [w]e were in three-wides; we spread people out. Joe was in the gun, and we were able to mix in some runs when they were in six-box.”

 

The transition to spread approach in the fourth quarter and overtime is a credit to how the offense has evolved this season.

 

The Ravens committed to running an up-tempo offense earlier in the year, but backed off it in recent weeks after struggling on the road. Switching to the up-tempo showed that the Ravens can still run it, and Harbaugh is confident they can use both the power offense and no-huddle approach at a high level.

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/What-Changed-With-Offense/728822b9-888c-486c-91e0-f52c4ed95b84

[yagersports]

This tells me that Cam needs to be more fluid with his game plan. He's got to recognize what defenses are doing and not be so stubborn about attacking what "he" wants to do. Cam watch a freakin Brue Lee movie will ya???? haha

 

The offense should be like water. Joe is your fist Cam, it hits automatically. "You" don't do the hitting, he does it for you.

[papasmurfbell]

This tells me that Cam needs to be more fluid with his game plan. He's got to recognize what defenses are doing and not be so stubborn about attacking what "he" wants to do. Cam watch a freakin Brue Lee movie will ya???? haha

 

The offense should be like water. Joe is your fist Cam, it hits automatically. "You" don't do the hitting, he does it for you.

Exactly. Take what they give but take from them when it makes sense. Don't be stupid but challenge the D.

[oldno82]

Exactly. Take what they give but take from them when it makes sense. Don't be stupid but challenge the D.

Best quote on this I've heard so far.