Official Game Thread - Week 6 - Commanders @ Ravens

I didn't expect a win, but was mildly disappointed in the offense. The Ravens have been giving up 25 pts/gm, and we fell below that. They seemed to have Kingsbury's offense, particularly the screen game, figured out.
 
The difference in the offense IMO, beyond Brob being out, was the contain on Daniels. They were really good at keeping him from doing more with his legs. They're a very good team, and they didn't blow us out. A loss to them isn't the end of the world...
 
Riggotoni said:
I didn't expect a win, but was mildly disappointed in the offense. The Ravens have been giving up 25 pts/gm, and we fell below that. They seemed to have Kingsbury's offense, particularly the screen game, figured out.
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Tape is coming out, so whatever tendencies we have, they're starting to pick up on. Plus, the Ravens are....competent compared to the past opponents except the Browns. As the color guy highlighted, their pass rush is disciplined and not losing contain(something our own D has failed to do for years).

The Browns could have won if Watson was not such a brick, for that matter. They put up the best defensive performance eye-test wise against us.

Also, statistical averages are simply just a measure of the middle of a sample. There can be deviations because that's the nature of data collection. And that's why standard deviation, range are also measures to be considered.
 
burgold said:
I did think we should have tried the onside kick because. I was sure the D couldn't hold.
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I had the exact same thought, but strategy wise, it was the right decisions by Quinn. The Onside kick is very difficult to recover with how the rules are. Since they were down 7, if you kick the onside kick and don’t recover, even if you stop the Ravens, it’s most likely a FG try and with Tucker, it’s surely a make. So now it’s a 10 point game and you have no shot to win. If you kick it deep and get a stop, it’s a punt and you get the ball back with a chance to tie or win. Both scenarios require you to get a stop which is the key here. But you could still lose even after stopping them if you try and fail with the onside kick.
 
Who knows, if Robinson plays, maybe it is an extra 5-7 minutes of ball possession on the day - enough time to give the Ravens one less possession with which to potentially score and we are talking a different result. We found ourselves in way more 3rd and 9/10 type-plays at Baltimore and had several short series offensively compared to prior games. A running game is one of a defense's best friends, we lacked it today, and still put up a fight. Over and above that, the Ravens forced Daniels to stay in the pocket and use his arm and he still stood out for us.

At the end of the day, we went punch for punch with a top three NFL team/franchise minus an extremely important offensive piece, lost to a non-conference opponent, stayed in first place despite the result, and were reminded by the other NFC East rival scores that the rest of the division is trending in the wrong direction. This division is right there for the taking and Sunday's result at Baltimore should be the type of performance that propels a team forward, not stall success. A great opportunity stands before us here.
 
Not sure if this is fair or if it matters, but looking at the Ravens (contenders) versus Washington and looking at the Lions (contenders) versus Dallas sure tells a different story.
 
Canadian Hog said:
Who knows, if Robinson plays, maybe it is an extra 5-7 minutes of ball possession on the day - enough time to give the Ravens one less possession with which to potentially score and we are talking a different result. We found ourselves in way more 3rd and 9/10 type-plays at Baltimore and had several short series offensively compared to prior games. A running game is one of a defense's best friends, we lacked it today, and still put up a fight. Over and above that, the Ravens forced Daniels to stay in the pocket and use his arm and he still stood out for us.

At the end of the day, we went punch for punch with a top three NFL team/franchise minus an extremely important offensive piece, lost to a non-conference opponent, stayed in first place despite the result, and were reminded by the other NFC East rival scores that the rest of the division is trending in the wrong direction. This division is right there for the taking and Sunday's result at Baltimore should be the type of performance that propels a team forward, not stall success. A great opportunity stands before us here.
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I don't think Brob makes much of a difference in this one. No one runs on the Ravens - that #1 rushing D is so dominating. I actually think Kliff should've come in knowing we likely wouldn't be able to move the ball on the ground. This is a game where going Air Raid and throwing it 50+ times would've been more effective. I know some argued in chat that Kingsbury was using the run to 'set things up' and it's true that having a run game even when it's not effective can help keep a D off base. But yesterday I feel it was just a pointless exercise. One thing I always admired about Belichick is if he felt a matchup didn't favor one aspect of his team, he would totally go the other way and set conventional wisdom aside.

I think the other thing that killed us yesterday was that our OL got handled by the Ravens DL. Couldn't open holes in the run, couldn't keep the Ravens off JD, couldn't block effectively when JD tried to use his legs.

We did a great job staying in this one - and that's saying something given the officiating was pretty terrible and not in our favor.

I think we got exactly what most were nervous about. The Ravens are a couple mile markers ahead of us on the progression towards a Super Bowl appearance.

It was a good effort from Washington. Previous teams might've hung in there for a half, and then imploded and lost big in the 2nd. We continued to fight and threaten. No shame in a loss like yesterday's - at all.
 
I missed the game but I was able to watch the live updates. My view from afar though, did not feel like we were ever in it. To me it felt like we were always a score down. At least we weren't blown out, I guess.
 
My prediction was right in one regard - we never would lead in this one. I had us making some magic on the last drive of the game to steal it, but that was as much wishful thinking as anything.
 
Fun Bunch said:
I missed the game but I was able to watch the live updates. My view from afar though, did not feel like we were ever in it. To me it felt like we were always a score down. At least we weren't blown out, I guess.
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Not totally wrong.

While we may have never been totally 'in the game' it didn't really feel like it was ever totally out of hand either. We looked like a team that was a step below the Ravens, and Henry was able to be Henry against us. There were clear struggles and the better team did win, but for a very large part of the game there was always a feeling that we were doing 'enough' that maybe we could reach up and steal it if we get a couple breaks.
 
Text exchange with a friend this past Wednesday. I regret adding ‘yet’ to the end.

IMG_3165.jpeg
 
This is how a team that cares, and believes they should win every game, looks after a loss.

 
We were in the game. Baltimore was unable to take their foot off the gas on offense or defense until the last minute of the game. I'll agree we were always in the chase position, but we were in it. One mistake by Baltimore and it was there for the stealing. They knew that. We knew that.

Our offense came up short. Our defense couldn't keep up.
 
There is, however, a little worrisome thought that if pass interference were called fairly or at least evenly we might have won the game.

I do think the Ravens are the better team, but those two freebies the Ravens got were game changers.
 
Yep, those 2 PI's were at least an 11 point swing. Right or wrong call. Those drives were over.
 
burgold said:
Not sure if this is fair or if it matters, but looking at the Ravens (contenders) versus Washington and looking at the Lions (contenders) versus Dallas sure tells a different story.
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Well it's definitely fun to look at it (I know I was pretty gleeful, and if that word evicts childlike behavior, it is definitely appropriate), but Dallas sans Micha Parsons and Bland may be somewhat comparable to us without Jayden in some respects. When teams keep their star talent for years or plan to keep them (salary machinations), then they are crippled when key players go out. There isn't enough depth.
 
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