Ravens' Reed gives eye-opening critique of Flacco

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Bill Belichick has always admired Ed Reed's on-field handiwork at the safety position. This week, he may be able to step back and look at all the good Reed did for Belichick's Patriots by dropping a bombshell on the Ravens offense. Speaking on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday, Reed criticized quarterback Joe Flacco's performance, the play-calling of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and the work of the Baltimore offensive line.

"I think Joe was kind of rattled a little bit by that defense, said Reed according to Mike Floriofrom ProFootballTalk.com. They had a lot of guys in the box on him. And, I mean, they were getting to him. I think a couple times he needed to get rid of the ball. I dont know how much of the play calling, he could have made audibles or anything like that, checks or whatnot, man, but it just didnt look like he had a hold on the offense, you know, of times past. You know, it was just kind of like they was telling him to do, throw the ball or get it here, you know, get it to certain guys. And he cant play like that."Disregard the fact that Reed was absolutely spot-on in his criticism. Flacco was a mess on Sunday against Houston, regardless of what his final numbers said. The panic on his face while the Houston pass rush closed on him looked more like a spinster stuck in a mosh pit than an NFL quarterback. That Reed would say that days before the AFC Championship and add fuel to the criticism of Cameron and Flacco was shortsighted. And stupid. But Reed got specific. You know, one particular play that sticks out to me is when Ray Rice came out of the backfield, he got pushed down and Flacco still threw him the ball and you got one-on-one with Torrey Smith on the outside," said Reed via PFT. "But its hearsay for me. I can say that sitting on the sidelines, you know, or sitting in the stands. You just never know what somebody else is seeing.Moving on to the guys in front of Flacco, Reed said, "The offensive line gotta block better. You know, they gotta communicate better, gotta pick up blocks, Joes gotta get the ball out of his hand. We gotta do a good job of using our weapons. I think Ricky Williams should have had the ball a little bit more yesterday. You know, I mean, Ray Rice was running it, too, but you gotta be able to mix those guys in back and forth."Its a lot of things that we all need to correct going into New England because they do such a great job of making adjustments, you know, in-game adjustments. Its not just coming up with a scheme and playing the game. You gotta be able to make adjustments while the game is in the flow," Reed concluded. Now the Ravens have something else to adjust to. The Hall of Fame safety finger-pointing at the already downtrodden offense six days before the AFC title game.

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