Game Day Thread: Preseason 2021 - Football Team vs. Ravens

[zCommander]

Okay so Dobbins doesn't play the last pre-season game but then is out for the season on the very first snap of the regular season? Can't blame the coach here. **** happens. You can't play in a bubble all year long. 

 

RG3 had a freaky injury too. Only if the helmet had hit his upper thigh instead of his knee then things could have been different too. But then that is not the real world we live in. 

[Riggodrill44]

Harbaugh just said Dobbins only had 23 plays this preseason. He got hurt. Just move on.

[ExoDus84]

4 hours ago, Florgon79 said:

I bet those fans were hyped too. 

 

It was their Osaka.

[Mooka]

3 hours ago, zskins said:

RG3 had a freaky injury too. Only if the helmet had hit his upper thigh instead of his knee then things could have been different too. But then that is not the real world we live in. 

 

RG3 was a fundamentally flawed athlete. That wasn't a freak injury, guy couldn't protect his body.

 

He couldn't even slide without hurting himself.

 

Bust from day 1.

 

Sorry I just derailed the thread. 😅

[zCommander]

1 hour ago, Mooka said:

 

RG3 was a fundamentally flawed athlete. That wasn't a freak injury, guy couldn't protect his body.

 

He couldn't even slide without hurting himself.

 

Bust from day 1.

 

Sorry I just derailed the thread. 😅

 

Looks like you must have watched a different Ravens game then. 

It was a designed QB run. He wasn't sliding because he was running.

 

[petey hodge]

Well... our D is back to knocking people out for the season again...  Hope the price was worth that meaningless preseason win record, Coach Harbaugh!

[Llevron]

On 8/30/2021 at 5:28 AM, Riggodrill44 said:

Look at their record. What they do works. That's why coaches coach and players play. It's pretty irrelevant what the players think about when they should play, coach decision. Until it doesn't work they're going to keep doing and keep playing just like this.

🧐

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

I don't know enough about the Ravens roster and how they do things.  I'm guessing part of their preseason win streak might be from only trying to evaluate a players strengths instead of their weaknesses.

 

What Rivera did, was put players in spots they aren't best suited for, to see if they can make something work in game action.  For example, Jimmy Moreland was lined up outside instead of in the Nickel the whole game.  I have to imagine some of the defensive playcalls weren't to our players strengths, but rather to see if they can function in a certain look/game situation.  It's the back end of the roster, none of them will be world beaters.  But knowing for sure what they can't do, might be more important than verifying what you already know for what they can do?

[Burgold]

Just read that the Ravens lost their starting running back again. The guy who became the starter after Dobbins went down is now also out after a practice injury. They are down to the dregs of their roster. I wonder if that makes them rethink the value of getting that NFL preseason record?

[zCommander]

3 minutes ago, Borgold said:

Just read that the Ravens lost their starting running back again. The guy who became the starter after Dobbins went down is now also out after a practice injury. They are down to the dregs of their roster. I wonder if that makes them rethink the value of getting that NFL preseason record?

 

I hear AP still a free agent. 

[Llevron]

6 minutes ago, Borgold said:

Just read that the Ravens lost their starting running back again. The guy who became the starter after Dobbins went down is now also out after a practice injury. They are down to the dregs of their roster. I wonder if that makes them rethink the value of getting that NFL preseason record?

 

That's why I bumped this and quoted the guy saying it was all worth it cause the depth was soooo good and their record makes it meaningless. 

 

Doesn't seem very worth it now. 

[Going Commando]

21 hours ago, Alcoholic Zebra said:

I don't know enough about the Ravens roster and how they do things.  I'm guessing part of their preseason win streak might be from only trying to evaluate a players strengths instead of their weaknesses.

 

What Rivera did, was put players in spots they aren't best suited for, to see if they can make something work in game action.  For example, Jimmy Moreland was lined up outside instead of in the Nickel the whole game.  I have to imagine some of the defensive playcalls weren't to our players strengths, but rather to see if they can function in a certain look/game situation.  It's the back end of the roster, none of them will be world beaters.  But knowing for sure what they can't do, might be more important than verifying what you already know for what they can do?

 

Seems crazy to me to put players in a position to fail instead of trying to use the preseason to build good habits and confidence in the players and your system.

[mhd24]

14 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

Seems crazy to me to put players in a position to fail instead of trying to use the preseason to build good habits and confidence in the players and your system.

 

 

Brady certainly targeted Moreland (as well as Darby) in the playoff game.  He was the slot corner against Scotty Miller and Brady threw against him whenever he saw him on the field.  Moreland was a nice story, but you need your backup CBs to play teams.  He's not a great special teamer, and BSJ leaped him pretty quickly.

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

7 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

Seems crazy to me to put players in a position to fail instead of trying to use the preseason to build good habits and confidence in the players and your system.

 

It's not setting them up to fail, it's putting them outside of their comfort zone.  How do you see them respond?  Do you see signs that maybe they could do it?  At a certain point you really need to know what the limitations are for a player, and if those limitations are fixable.  You won't find that limit until you see what they can't do.

 

I'm for building good habits and confidence for the players that are going to get playing time.  But back end of the roster guys that are used mostly on special teams?  You need to see if they're worth developing first or even capable of developing.  Against Sean McVay or Tom Brady, they will find out what someone can't do, and exploit it.  If we have a player that's limited and can't develop to remove some of those limits, then that player is going to be targeted by someone like McVay or Brady.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

10 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

Seems crazy to me to put players in a position to fail instead of trying to use the preseason to build good habits and confidence in the players and your system.

didnt Gregg Williams do that with a CB one preseason? (might have been Carlos Rogers)…kept putting him on an island against some starting WR in his rookie preseason to see how he’d do (he got beat over and over again). On the game day thread fans were asking why we weren’t helping Rogers out (if it was Rogers) and I think during a presser Williams confirmed they wanted to see how he’d do in live action where his failures wouldn’t count and would give the coaches and Rogers film to help him build his game.

[Going Commando]

11 hours ago, Alcoholic Zebra said:

 

It's not setting them up to fail, it's putting them outside of their comfort zone.  How do you see them respond?  Do you see signs that maybe they could do it?  At a certain point you really need to know what the limitations are for a player, and if those limitations are fixable.  You won't find that limit until you see what they can't do.

 

I'm for building good habits and confidence for the players that are going to get playing time.  But back end of the roster guys that are used mostly on special teams?  You need to see if they're worth developing first or even capable of developing.  Against Sean McVay or Tom Brady, they will find out what someone can't do, and exploit it.  If we have a player that's limited and can't develop to remove some of those limits, then that player is going to be targeted by someone like McVay or Brady.

 

The process of evaluating and coming up with a workable role for players should be happening before you get to live game action.  For guys who are on the fringe of your roster, what's the point in seeing if they can perform these really expansive roles?  What they need is a limited role to focus on that you know they've got a shot at successfully executing.  Your best players are barely playing in preseason, those are the only ones I would experiment with in an attempt to add new dimensions to my schemes.  And again, that process really needs to be happening way earlier in the offseason anyway.

 

We'll see what happens, but it feels like you're setting yourself up for a slow start by not using the preseason to get your guys realistic game day reps.

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

1 minute ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

The process of evaluating and coming up with a workable role for players should be happening before you get to live game action.  For guys who are on the fringe of your roster, what's the point in seeing if they can perform these really expansive roles?  What they need is a limited role to focus on that you know they've got a shot at successfully executing.  Your best players are barely playing in preseason, those are the only ones I would experiment with in an attempt to add new dimensions to my schemes.  And again, that process really needs to be happening way earlier in the offseason anyway.

 

We'll see what happens, but it feels like you're setting yourself up for a slow start by not using the preseason to get your guys realistic game day reps.

 

I disagree with just about every point.  I wonder how many teams run their preseason gameplans like I would or like you would.  No way for us to know, that type of information isn't exactly free flowing.

[Hogs 1991]

 

With the news of Gus Edwards ACL tore, I think this might deserve a bump and a topic to be revisited.
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Edited September 9, 2021 by Hogs 1991