The Ravens fans are unhappy with coaching too

[BengalszoneBilly]

This bodes well for our defensive front four! If we can keep Mc"Fair" setting up in the pocket, it might just give our defensive backs some serious help. From our Fan2Fan Alliance sister site Extreme Ravens:

Foerster Highly Suspect

Written by Sock Dolager

No one likes to single out others publicly, but the play last season and now recently raises a glaring question regarding the abilities, or lack thereof of offensive line coach Chris Foerster.

Strangely, an offensive line that could run block but not pass block under previous line coach, Colletto, gained an ability to pass block but lost it’s ability to run block when replaced by Foerster.

Against the Giants in Sunday evening’s exhibition game the line could do neither.

Raven quarterbacks were harassed all night. Both Boller and Smith were sacked, and at times, it seemed as though no one up front protecting as defenders poured through at will. McNair, too would have been sacked if it were not for his strength in fighting off rushing defenders. Indeed, John Madden referred to McNair as possibly the strongest quarterback in the NFL when it came to doing so.

Perhaps, this sudden breakdown in pass protection also reflects the absence of Jamal Lewis' presence in picking up blitzing defenders and the much heralded one-back set formation that Ravens coaches have been raving about that puts more receivers in play but leaves the quarterback less defended in the pocket and hurried in trying to throw the ball.

Running backs seldom found room to run with the exception of Mike Anderson, the ex-Marine who somehow found a way.

Now it is true that the offensive line is a bit of a mixed bag at the moment with rookies Grubbs and Gaither, re-tread Mike Flynn, and not-too-seasoned Terry and Brown, so one could pass this last dismal performance off, at least partly, to a lack of cohesiveness.

Nevertheless, one wonders whether the Ravens’ offensive linemen are being coached properly to execute the way they need to in order to succeed. It’s a difficult question. McGahee seems to be having problems similar to what faced Jamal Lewis last season. Getting out of the gate seems to be a chore more often than not.

It would appear that this is a problem that Brian Billick needs to take a much closer look at. Surely he knows that if you don’t win the battle at the line of scrimmage you will lose the game, and our offensive line is getting pushed around more than it should be and there are less backs in the backfield guarding the quarterback.

Last season, in a desperate move, Billick removed Fassel as the offensive coordinator in a single heartbeat and immediately improved the performance of the offense. Of course, back then, the heat was on and Billick’s future perhaps was not as assured as it is at the moment. For that and other reasons, one can’t expect a drastic move at this point regarding Foerster’s position.

Regardless, some kind of adjustment needs to be considered prior to the opener against the Bengals on National TV. Run blocking is currently poor and pass protection is worse. The issue merits intensive management, hard work, analysis and continued scrutiny. The way the offensive line is blocking, somebody better remain in that backfield to pick up defenders and keep them off the quarterback or it's going to be a long season.

Rest and more days off are not going to solve this problem.