Originally posted by evil:
Yep we were down very late in a game where we without Kittle and Sanders, where the run game struggled mightily due to AZ selling out to stop it and where we had a million dropped passes and receivers who were not getting open. Jimmy also threw 2 picks which were also costly.
Context matters and your take on the game omits all context.
OK, you want context? Sure, no problem.
I get the part without Kittle and Sanders, but your point of so-called selling out to stop the run has pretty much become the formula to stop the 9ers' O. It is the norm now. You don't think the Ravens will try to stop the run on Sunday? It will be the same ole story again, stack the box to stop the run and make Jimmy G beat us. And who is to say Jimmy won't throw a couple of picks in this game? We will probably get down pretty fast and Jimmy will have to throw like mad to keep up. Have you any idea how efficient Lamar Jackson's led drives are? Zero punt in 3 games and get this they play all 4 downs and they will convert. On top of that, the 6 drives he led in the Rams game, he scored a TD on every single one of them. I don't know whether you listen to Rich Eisen's interview with MJD, he said Wade Philips changed all sorts of schemes to 6-2 to 6-1 and still couldn't contain him.
Look, we have 16 games in a season and nobody said we would go 16-0, some have said 13-3, others 12-4 or even 11-5. So, the losses have to come from somewhere. For me, I was totally relaxed about the Packers last week, I knew we would beat them no problem. But, this Ravens team? I don't think so. This is a physical a*s team on both sides of the ball. It is a power downhill team which explains the type of personnel they have. Both their O and D-lines are absolutely massive. Their DTs are between 320s and 350. Their DEs are 280. They might not be the most athletic guys out there, but the idea is to out-physical you and punch you in the mouth. Is the same on the offensive side of the ball, their O-line is big, they even have a TE at 270 and they play 3 TEs. The problem is not only do they have the power and physicality to attack you downhill, then they have this zone-read pistol formation stuff with Lamar Jackson to spread things out at the same time.
Again, I have repeatedly said I can only pray that I am wrong. I would totally welcome that as it would mean we would have won the game. But, if I am being perfectly honest with you, based on all available evidence, I just can't see it.