How does the loss this week prepare you for the next game?
Is this some sort of sick joke? Security please take away this man's press pass and show him out.
What were some of the contributing factors to the loss this week?
The entire second half was a disappointing and frankly unacceptable meltdown. We had a very long team meeting and I can confidently take majority of the blame as much as it hurts to say. Were there a couple key plays that something went poorly outside of my control, yes, but EVERY football game has plays like those. At the end of the day, I am the head coach of the team who blew this lead. I made every offensive and defensive decision and called every play. We were closer than close, we were there and I can only hope I get better as I enter my 2nd full season next year and the team rallies around me and plays as well as they have this year.
I'll go through some specific contributing factors though. First, I played way too conservatively with the lead on offense. Run, run, pass is perhaps the worst combination in football and I threw that out there and we went 3 and out several times in the second half. Second, the Ravens have a very talented team and far too often we were leaving our receivers or defensive backs on islands and we paid. They adapted very well and took advantage of knowing us and what we wanted. Third, like I just said the Ravens knew what we wanted and took advantage. This started early in the second half on our way to our goose egg in that half and we didn't adjust. We didn't take another deep shot after having success early, we didn't disguise coverages and blitzes. Finally, hindsight is 20/20. I can sit here and say I should have kicked the field goal and trusted our top 10 defense but I won't. I will use hindsight and say I wish I called different 3rd and 4th down plays. We went from ultra conservative to ultra aggressive and the playcall became very predictable. I rushed it when I could have thought and knew I wanted to go for it on 4th down and ran a simpler 3rd down play. Hindsight is 20/20 though and we are gonna try and enjoy our trip to Cancun, rest up and be back in the playoffs next season.
Is quarterback a priority for this team in the upcoming draft?
Will Levis missed several key throws down the stretch and made several bad decisions. That being said, as a 2nd round rookie quarterback he completely rejuvenated a team that went 5-12 last year and led them to an 11-4 record and a postseason berth which he still played very solid in. We have informed him that we have no plans to draft a quarterback in the early rounds. There's always a possibility we take a quarterback in a later round but that would purely be a result of picking best player available as depth as both Matt Ryan and Drew Lock have been solid, but we are not resigning them. We look forward to seeing Will take that 2nd year leap and will build around him in the draft.
What are your thoughts about the Ravens just in general as a team?
We respect them and are rooting for them. When you watch the film it may look simple but it is far from it. They have a masterful game plan and take advantage of any and every weakness of opposing teams. We hope to see them win out the rest of the way and go home with a Super Bowl ring and the Lombardi Trophy.
