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62, six-two, sixty freaking two pass attempts!?! No Joe, no! Bad Joe (smacks nose with newspaper)! Can somebody please let me in on who was game planning for the Baltimore Ravens in that abysmal performance?
They had all of training camp and preseason to get it right and instead of approaching the game with a healthy mix of run and pass, they bench Bernard Pierce after a fumble and throw the rock all day. Is this the sign of things to come in Baltimore?
You could almost tell what kind of day it was going to be with the first snap being a play-action rollout pass that was intended for Steve Smith. The following play was another play-action screen to Dennis Pitta. Following that play was another play-action pass to Smith. As you can see there was a pattern developing. The problem with that is the PA doesn’t fool anyone unless you have an established run-game.
If Joe Flacco wins the game with this air assault game plan then, I’m sure I would not be here whining about the amount of pass attempts. Oh wait, yes I would because 62 is absurd! This is a team who has had a tradition for years of asserting themselves on the ground, which would then set up the pass. Why was today so different?
Justin Forsett proved to be a serviceable Back chalking up 11 carries for 70-yards and a score, following the benching of Pierce after a fumble. He runs with speed and knows Gary Kubiak’s system fairly well from their time together with the Houston Texans. Therein presents another question, why would John Harbaugh unevenly spell and then bench a player of Pierce’s talent, over a one turnover mistake?
Pierce could have recovered from the bad ball protection and got Baltimore rolling on the ground. Ray Rice has fumbled twice in one game before and there was no penalty. Steve Smith had more than a couple of drops (4) in today’s game and came back rolling. Jacoby Jones even dropped a perfectly placed deep ball from Flacco and he still got to stick around. Why was Pierce’s situation any different? This leaves reason to believe that Harbaugh lacks consistency. Either way, you simply cannot shoot yourself in the foot by taking out the primary lead back.
Nothing against Forsett’s performance but if you watched the game, Pierce was building momentum on the ground early and even had the crowd midway through the second quarter. Forsett is a slasher that would have complemented Pierce very well throughout the game and it could have been a solid ground performance overall. I’ll even go as far as saying production on the ground could have been doubled.
Hopefully next week when the Ravens face another Divisional rival in the Pittsburgh Steelers they can come with a better balanced attack. I also hope the team can look past the fumble of Pierce and use him to his maximum potential. They need to take advantage of the snaps they have with him before Rice’s return.
Jermaine Lockett is the CEO and a Writer for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on twitter and like us on Facebook.
