Dear Coach Harbaugh,
You team has character, John. And that's about the nicest thing I can say in the wake of a three game losing streak.
When Mark Clayton dropped a fourth down pass versus New England, he said the loss was his fault. In today's Baltimore Sun, Frank Walker says to put the loss on his back for allowing the 58-yard completion to Sidney Rice that set up the Viking's game-winning field goal.
And that bleeping kicker (as he shall be known as from now on) said that he was responsbile, too, and that he had to earn the confidence of his teammates by making the next kick.
It's what you want, John, guys stepping up and saying they messed up and it won't happen again. You win and lose as a team, but individuals can make or miss plays that have a larger impact on the game than others. These guys understand when they've messed up, and Mark Clayton has played well since his error in Foxboro.
The problem is, John, your guys keep on making the mistakes that force them to apologize for losses.
The Ravens are now 3-3 after starting 3-0 and a season that seemed destined to end in Miami just a few weeks ago is now spiraling out of control. Losing three straight, albeit against quality competition, is not the way you want to head into your bye week, John. But the optimist in me wants to hope that the week off could help this team get back on track.
But I don't really believe that. There aren't any injuries to speak of. A week off won't help a secondary that is short only on effectiveness, not bodies. Simply put? I firmly believe that this season could now take a turn toward ugly, John.
1) The secondary is awful. Fabian Washington, who was an effective corner last season for Balmer, was benched for Frank Walker. No one should ever be benched for Frank Walker, John.
Of course, Walker fared no better than Washington did. Domonique Foxworth played well at times but has certainly had his struggles this season.
And where are the safeties? Dawan Landry was an interested onlooker on the Vikings' second touchdown, not a participant, as he turned and watched Brett Favre complete the pass on what appeared to be a blown coverage. That probably wasn't Landry's man, but if he can turn and watch the receiver get open in the back of the endzone, it seems likely that there wasn't a man in his zone.
Ed Reed, meanwhile, is a mystery. Favre said he tried to avoid Reed and that showed, John, as I don't remember seeing the safety involved in many plays. The question is whether Favre was just throwing the opposite direction of Reed or if Reed freelanced his way out of some of the Vikings' big plays.
Reed's a playmaker and has to be allowed the freedom to be one. But Walker was on an island with Rice at the end of the ballgame and you said in today's paper that a safety bit on a run fake and should have been back to assist deep on that play. Then, maybe that ball is a pick, or at least an incompletion.
The corners can't cover one-on-one, John, and if the safeties are unwilling or unable to provide support, a fundamental change in how the secondary is asked to operate may need to occur.
2) The offense, though, is remarkable John. Ray Rice may be the premier playmaker in the NFL. Willis McGahee is a good running back and could start for a lot of teams. But it's becoming obvious that Rice is a step above good: he's special. It's not unreasonable to expect for him to make incredible plays like the 63-yard catch-and-run in which he somehow split several defenders. How does he do it, John?
Joe Flacco, meanwhile, played a whale of a second half, hanging in tough against a Minnesota defense that seemed intent on sending Flac to the sideline bruised and battered. The receivers and offensive line stepped up, too.
Especially Michael Oher, who neutralized Jared Allen as the Ravens stormed back from a 27-10 deficit. The offense is good, John, despite a hiccup against a Bengal defense that had a little extra to play for after the death of the defensive coordinator's wife. Football is an emotional game; don't discount the ability of a team to step up under such circumstances.
It's unfair, really, for the offense to play so well only to be let down by the defense, John.
Then again, the Balmer offense let down the defense for 10 years.
And, maybe, we shouldn't be surprised by the state of the defense, John.
The last several drafts have addressed offense directly. Flac. Rice. Oher. Left guard Ben Grubbs.
All except Rice were first round picks, spent on offense, not on defense. After years of ineptitude, the Ravens tried to build their offense from the ground up and appear to have done so effectively. But now the defense has fallen off. Foxworth and Washington are castoffs from bad defenses in Oakland and Denver. Landry was a late round pick who missed most of last season due to injury. The front seven -- despite their struggles the last two weeks -- is still loaded with Ray Lewis still making plays, Terrell Suggs rounding into form and Haloti Ngata anchoring the defensive line -- but the secondary has been allowed to be pieced together with free agent pickups.
Remember when the corners in Balmer were a pair of first round picks, Randy Starks and Chris McAlister? The Ravens won a Super Bowl with that pair.
Foxworth and Washington were high picks, too, but Foxworth is with his third team and Washington with his second. These aren't the defensive studs that Balmer drafts. These are other team's first round mistakes.
It wasn't wrong to build the offense, John, and the process began before you even arrived here. But the patchwork secondary is killing your team.
3) That bleeping kicker has to make the kick.
Period. End of story. 44-yards is long, I'll give him that, John. But he's kicking in a dome. It was a good snap. It was a good hold. And it was to win the game.
Matt Stover makes that kick.
We've talked about it for weeks here at www.thebaltimorons.com (tell your friends): Can the bleeping kicker make the game-winning kick? Can he be the safety net that Stover was for the past 13 years?
We now have our answer, John. I'm not saying the bleeping kicker won't make the next one. Maybe he'll make his next 45 kicks including four game winners. But a team with Super Bowl aspirations doesn't have time to wait for the kicker to be ready for prime time.
And for what reason do we not have Stover, John? This one was your call. With Stover's leg not as strong as it once was, he couldn't get the distance your team needed on kickoffs. I get it. Anything over 40 yards also may not be as automatic as it once was because of that aging leg. So you would be forced to carry Stover and the other bleeping kicker for kickoffs. You needed the roster spot for an extra man, John. But who is that extra man?
Is it Chris Carr, who is ineffective on defense and special teams?
You have to ask yourself, John, if that extra special teamer, be it Carr or anyone else, is going to win a game for you this season. The bleeping kicker was given that opportunity and failed.
Balmer has been carrying an extra kicker for kickoffs for years now, John. This isn't a new thing. Previous coaches have realized the security of having Stover kick the ball. Maybe, just maybe John, you'll be proven right if Stover performs poorly now that he has signed with the Indianapolis Colts following an injury to Adam Vinatieri.
But now, John, you had better pray that when the Colts come to Balmer on Nov. 22 that Stover isn't on the team anymore.
If he makes a single kick in that game -- let alone one that decides the outcome -- the flurry of booing from the cheap seats will be unprecedented.
Stover was an icon in Balmer, John. As a kicker. That doesn't happen. Must have meant he was something special. And you don't mess with that.
The decision has now cost the Ravens one game. Let's hope, John, that it won't cost another.
Your pal,
ap
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