A lot of blame to go around

On a day where it’s easy to blame the Olphins (no “D”)  on the defensive side of the ball, or to blame Ryan Tannehill and his three interceptions, or to blame anyone else, you have to look no further than blaming our rookie head coach and his awful decisions.

This ugly blowout falls squarely on the shoulders of Adam Gase.

You have to start with the first series.  Just like in previous weeks when we fell behind 7-0 or even 14-0 in the last 4 games.  We came out flat and empty.

We were on defense, and the Ravens hit a bunch of short slant passes.   With no effort at all, Baltimore was suddenly in Olphin territory.  I know it’s unprecedented and I know it’s thinking outside the box, but Gase should have called a timeout.  We needed to regroup.  It was a 0-0 game early, but you could see how easily the Ravens were moving the ball against the Olphins.  It was like a basketball team opening up on a 12-0 run…you have to stop that momentum.   But instead, the Olphins did nothing, and suddenly were down 7-0.

Down a single touchdown is not the end of the world, and the Olphins came right back and moved the ball quickly to the Ravens’ 23 yardline.    We then faced a 3rd and two.   And here is where Adam Gase gave the game away.

It was early.   But right then and there, he blew the game, and the Olphins never recovered.

It was third and two from the Ravens 23 yardline.  We had two plays to gain two yards (a yard and a half to be precise).  4 feet.   Jay Ajayi had been doing well (he ended up with 61 yards on 12 carries, an AVERAGE of over 5 yards per carry.   Repeat:   Ajayi was averaging 5 yards every time they handed him the ball.)

Surely Gase would pound Jay Ajayi at them two plays in a row if necessary to get that first down, right?   A no brainer, right?

So what did Gase call when we needed 2 measly yards?   First of all, he benched Jay Ajayi.   He had Damien Williams and Kenyon Drake in the backfield.   He had no tight end.  He had three wideouts.

As the play developed, Drake ran to the flat for a wide open first down.   But the play was designed to go to Jarvis Landry, who ran a 12-yard route.   We needed 2 yards to keep a very strong drive alive, and Gase (1) benched his best player and then (2) called for a pattern that was six times longer than what we needed.

Needless to say, Landry slipped, and the play failed.  Gase jokingly himself called himself the worst short-distance playcaller in the NFL, but it’s no joke.  No Olphin fans thinks it is a laughing matter.  It was a horrendous play call, but it was about to get worse.

Now we faced 4th and two, still from the Ravens’ 23.  Surely Gase would learn his lesson and give it to the Olphins workhorse, right? Uhhhh, no.   Gase incorrectly called for a field goal.   Without hesitation, he sent out a very iffy Andrew Franks for a long field goal attempt.   It wasn’t even close.

We needed two lousy yards, and we had a running back who averaged 5 yards.   How many times did that running back touch the ball on those two plays?  How many times was he even on the field?

Gase’s decisions on these two plays set the stage for a humbling loss.   He simply blew the game early, and no one recovered.   A few minutes later, the Ravens faced a 4th-and-two, and their championship coach correctly went for it and easily picked it up.

Harbaugh schooled Gase badly.   Olphin fans can only hope Gase learned his lesson.   When it’s 4th and two inside your opponents territory, you try it.  You punch back with a punch.  You answer an opening touchdown with one of your own.

Soon it was 24-0.   Everyone except Gase sensed this coming when he benched Ajayi and tried a long pass on 3rd and 2 and then refused to go for it on 4th.

Of course, other plays and other decisions added to the mess.  On Tannehill’s first interception–just like his pick in the Rams game–DeVante Parker made no effort to grab the ball.   He patiently waited for the ball to float down to him as if he thought the rules prevented a defender from trying for it.   Parker is the tallest man on the field, but he didn’t try to jump.  He waited.

Meanwhile, the Raven defender taught Parker a lesson in determination.  He tried for the ball.  He made an effort. He was rewarded with an interception while Parker looked on, puzzled.   You could almost read his facial expression: “Isn’t he supposed to let the ball come to me?”

On the very next play, Joe Flacco gave us a gift interception.  For the third series in a row, we were in Ravens territory.   But thanks to some more suspect playcalling from Gase, we got zero points again.

Then eventually it became Tannehill’s turn to stink it up.  As Gase refused more and more to give the ball to Ajayi, he relied more and more on Tannehill.  And that is not a wise game strategy.

On a rollout play, Tannehill could have run for a first down or threw the ball away for no gain.  Instead, he turned around and got himself sacked.  It was laughably bad, but the best was still to come as Tannehill threw a pass so far behind Jarvis Landry that is shocked safety Eric Weddell.  Shocked or not, Weddell made the easy pick, plus returned it 50+ yards.  Can’t blame Gase for that crappy pass.

Later, it was Laremy Tunsil’s time to shine.  He started holding Ravens’ jerseys tighter than he ever held a bong mask.   And the refs caught him each time.

Of course, the offense played like all-stars compared to the pathetic defense.   Once again, John Harbaugh schooled Adam Gase on the obvious:   if a play works, stick with it.

During the past two months, no Olphin opponent tried quick routine slant passes, and thus we won.  But when an opponent exploited us with the same repeated play that we can never stop, we lost.   It is not rocket science.  John Harbaugh knows we can never stop a tight end.  So he has some unknown journeyman tight end named Pitta with two artificial hips toast us all day long.    Joe Flacco had a field day with three-step drops and a quick slant pass.  ALL DAY LONG.

We couldn’t stop it.  And Harbaugh wouldn’t stop calling it.   Meanwhile, the Ravens couldn’t stop Jay Ajayi, but Gase DID stop calling it.  It’s that simple.

But Gase made up for it by calling the same old bubble-screen to Jarvis Landry seven times.   Seven times we gained a yard or two.   That play hasn’t worked all year long, yet Gase calls it seven times for Landry and once for Parker.

Why allow Jay Ajayi to run the ball down their throats when we can throw a WR screen into a crowd for no gain?  Eight different times!

As quick and sharp as Flacco was with those slant passes, Tom Brady is 5 times faster.   The January 1 game will be an even bigger blowout if we keep the same calls.

We saw very early on that the Ravens’ vaunted run defense wasn’t as good as they thought.  Ajayi ate them up for 5 yards per carry.   But in order to gain those 5 yards per carry, he had to carry the ball.  Adam Gase didn’t quite understand that concept.  12 carries only.  That’s three times per quarter.

You gave your best runner the ball three times per quarter only?  Explain that to us, young Adam.

Later on, I’m not a big fan of keeping your starters in a game when you trail by 30+ points in the latter stages.  What’s the purpose?   Seeing Suh get chop-blocked with a minute left made me panic.   There’s no need for the starters to be out there.

Adding insult to Gase’s injuries, the Olphans got no help from Kansas City or Denver.   We’re not doomed yet, but it certainly brought us back to earth in a crash.

So how do we recover and possibly get back to winning ways?

Well, first of all, you bring in every available kicker to try out and take Franks’ job away.   Then we need a player like Ajayi to demand the ball more.  We need Darren Rizzi to teach his players NOT to call a fair catch inside the five yardline.   We need Vance Joseph to make changes…anything…when the opponent is carving us up.   Did you notice how effective Mike Hull was, for example?   What does this kid have to do to get into the starting lineup?  It’s not like he’s competing against Von Miller.  His competition is Jelani Jenkins and Spencer Paysinger.  Give Hull a chance, man.

The best way to handle this blowout is to laugh it off and forget it.   Was this the same old Olphins finally showing up again?  Or was this just a bump in the road, as all good teams face a bad loss along the way?   We won’t know until we see how they respond vs. the Cardinals.   But the signs are troubling.