8 minutes ago, Cillmatic said:

I thought we were a lock for #16 after the Titans won. Looks like the Saints are about to take the L.

Tie breaker is based on Strength of Schedule. If Denver wins, we are at least #16.

If Denver loses, we are in tie at 8-8 with DEN, MINN, IND. The tie-breaker would determine who drafts at lower. I'm not sure if they count the 2016 opposition records or the 2015 opposition records.

With Tennessee and Tampa Bay winning today, we are at #17 slot. If Denver beats Oakland, we get at least the #16 slot for the 2017 draft. 

TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION MEETING

1. Clubs not participating in the playoffs shall select in the first through 20th positions in reverse standings order.
2. The Super Bowl winner is last and Super Bowl loser is next-to-last.
3. The losers of the Conference Championship games shall select 29th and 30th based on won-lost-tied percentage.
4. The losers of the Divisional playoff games shall select 25th through 28th based on won-lost-tied percentage.
5. The losers of the Wild Card games shall select 21st through 24th based on won-lost-tied percentage.

If ties exist in any grouping except (2) above, such ties shall be broken by strength-of-schedule. If any ties cannot be broken by strength-of-schedule, the divisional or conference tie-breakers, if applicable, shall be applied. Any ties that still exist shall be broken by a coin flip.

With Minnesota and Indianapolis winning, they finished 8-8 tied with us. If New Orleans wins, they will also finish 8-8 tied with us

The tie breaker is based on Strength of Schedule (however, not sure if this is 2015 strength of schedule or 2016 strength of schedule). 

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/201479/2016-nfl-strength-of-schedule

Theoretically, we will pick as high as #13 and as low as #17 depending on how strength of schedule is determined.

If it is determined by this link, I have us picking at the #14 slot if NO wins and #15 if NO loses, as only Indianapolis has a worst strength of schedule.

2 minutes ago, redrum52 said:

Triple Crown...

Total classless. That was disgraceful.

29 minutes ago, Cillmatic said:

Give Joe Julio Jones, Roddy White and the GOAT TE and he might do the same. Or just Julio and a good O-line.

Flacco is not that QB. I'm sorry, you are being a bit optimistic. Flacco has proven to be a mediocre, middle of pack QB in the regular season that can get hot in the big games. He just doesn't exhibit the cerebral capacity too be much more than that.

14 hours ago, BmoreBird22 said:

 

I just think my biggest worry comes from him being kinda stiff in coverage. He's not that type of safety you can lock up in man to man. I also worry about his size. He's not a really big guy, so how could he handle being a box safety, where I think he could make the most plays? I think that'll limit him at the next level. 

I think he's incredibly instinctive and knows how to play the game with a real high IQ, but I just have those concerns above. 

Four guys (not sure how likely it is some of them make it to the Ravens) that I am 100% for are Quincy Wilson (top 10), Jamal Adams (top 10), Derek Barnett (top 15), and then Sidney Jones. Landing one of those four would be huge for me as a fan (I would be as excited for them as I was for Jimmy Smith in 2011) and I think it'd be a massive upgrade for the depth of the secondary.

I agree. Peppers is a little stiff and his lateral agility in a DB scenario will be a question mark. He has great straight-line acceleration but I'm not convinced of his top end speed. He interviews well and his versatility and sideline to sideline acceleration can do nothing but help any defence. He's the type of Safety/LB that I feel comfortable sending after Big Ben.

12 hours ago, GrimCoconut said:

I want either Barnett or Jones really really bad.  I especially want Sidney Jones because I think he's safer than any other prospect and I think he's got the highest ceiling.  Imagine Smith and Jones outside and Young playing the slot...whoa! 

Sidney Jones would be a great fit opposite of Jimmy Smith. I especially like his length and he reminds strongly of Richard Sherman. I think he is the #2 ranked CB in the draft if I read it correctly so I don't know if he would be there where we draft him. Smith and Jones on the outside with Young in the slot and Weddle and Webb in the backend would be a pretty good secondary.

Just not sure he will be available at our spot, but we should trade up and get him as he is a perfect fit. He has a pair of really good hands as well--and a student of the game.

3 hours ago, Sherly_Tebow said:

Biggest things not in order...

1. Playcalling: I like aggressive playcalling, but we weren't smart about it. Running the ball was effective, but way to predictable a lot of the time. The occasional pitch play was nice, but most runs were up the middle or right into the defense. I think more weak side runs or stretch running plays would've helped take some pressure off the passing game. Passing calls were pretty bad. Many routes has receivers stopping and changing direction at bad angles or they didn't open up the field at all. Plus, we didn't adjust well at all.

2. In-game decisions: I liked some of Harbaughs aggressive decisions, but they didn't pay off. They really came back to haunt us. Mosley's decision to stretch for the endzone on his interception was probably the worst of all. He doesn't fumble, and we most likely win that game and are playing for a playoff spot this week. Jernigan's decision to return the fumble was okay, but he didn't protect the ball at all. He would've been better going down. There's a lot of examples to go over, but football IQ is something we need to do better with.

3. Prevent Defense in the 4th Quarter. Look at both of the Steelers games. We needed to get stops at the end of games.

4. Lack of a pass rush. This can be fixed, but it really helped extend drives for the other team.

There's more reasons, but these are what came to mind.

I agree with this completely! We were way too predictable in many facets of the game. I think Marty did a good job down the stretch but did not get enough time to incorporate his offence.

Mosley's decision to go for the pick 6 not only cost us the game but also landed him on the sidelines--a double whammy that hurt us. The score was 13-10 WASH at that point and we were 3-1. We lost 16-10. If Mosley punches it in and doesn't get injured, we win that game and are 4-1 heading to New York with our Pro Bowl LB.

Two weeks later, Jernigan's fumble also cost us the Jet's game. The score was 17-16 JETs at that time. We win that game, and we are 5-2 heading into the BYE week.

After the BYE week, we went 5-3, which would hypothetically leave us at 10-5 going into this week, which probably get's us in. I bet if Marty had charge of the offence earlier on, we win those early games and take the AFC North.

11-5 gives us the division, 10-6 probably gets us the Wild Card, so all is not lost in what seems like a lost season. Just those two plays define our season where we made many good plays only to shoot ourselves in the foot when it really mattered.

JOE FLACCO

TOUGH

DURABLE

CLUTCH

47 minutes ago, RedFire said:

 

he was a team cancer in Carolina many a times. He undermined Cam Newton and therefore was let go, lol. 

 

Luckily we got the older Steve Smith and Flacco kept him happy with targets. Yeah, I generally like him as a Raven and respected him as a Panther....but dude was a team cancer one too many times. Way to over emotional with his teammates and damn near broke one of his teammates nose cause he couldn't handle being trashed talk. 

 

 

it's like people don't know his history...this is funny to me! We got lucky on the Ravens but dude is a hot head and has been a bad teammate one too many years. Older age gave us a decent Steve Smith...Carolina Steve we definitely did not need on our team!!!!

Carolina made a choice between an "aging WR" or "young franchise QB". The choice is obvious in this light, but I wouldn't exactly be super thrilled with Cam Newton; he is a turn off in so many ways if you have followed his career. As good a player as Cam is, his ego far exceeds his ability and that is saying it all there.

The bottom line is that you put 2 alpha males in the same room, you are going to get confrontation.

This is about Steve Smith. God bless that man for a great career and being an inspiration too many!

Steve Smith = LEGEND... ANIMAL... INSPIRATION

You are an inspiration to all those athletes in ALL of sports at EVERY level that have been told that they are "too short to play" "too small to play" "too old to play"

ONE... MORE... YEAR!

This year we lost to:

Oakland (6-1 Road Record)  #2 Seed AFC

@ NY Giants  (7-1 Home Record) #5 Seed NFC

@ Dallas Cowboys (7-1 Home Record)  #1 Seed NFC

@ New England Patriots (6-2 Home Record)  #1 Seed AFC

@ Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2 Home Record) #3 Seed AFC

Simply put we got beat by better teams this year. We could have won many of these games. We just weren't good enough this year and we ran into hot teams.

20 minutes ago, playlikeawhat said:

 

 

I'm just as puzzled by the F.O.'s failure to draft a killer at this point of Joe's career.

 

 

What you said is probably believable to deluded crazy folk but sane people know there are more things to account for than cherry-picked stats.  If what you said about Flacco's inability to develop chemistry with "new" receivers is true then it would also apply to any pass-catcher by default since the mechanics are the same regardless of who the pass is designated to.  Unfortunately for you there's plenty of tape that destroys your perception of Joe as he can be frequently seen completing passes to drafted pass-catchers with good technique and reliable hands (Pitta & Rice being prime examples).

Another piece of evidence that destroys your superstition about Flacco's reliance on veterans is tape of him throwing to traded pass-catchers who either frequently sucked at getting open and making contested catches or were washed up by the time they got to Baltimore (Lee Evans, Jacoby Jones, Donte Stallworth).

Thirdly, if the failures of the passing game were Flacco's fault as you suggest why did the receivers fail to find success on other teams?  Tell me again, who among this group dominated defenders after leaving Baltimore?

Mark Clayton - First round pick.  Funny how his appraised level of talent failed to appear in Baltimore AND St. Louis.
David Reed - lol...Dude got a chance to tear it up with Luck.  What happened?
Torrey Smith - Largely still a one-dimensional PI specialist who only seems to be useful on short to intermediate routes when he's pissed off.  Even the F.O. noticed his limitations and sent him packing.
Tandon Doss - *scoff*
LaQuan Williams - ....no.

Marlon Brown, Tommy Streeter, I could go on but the point is beyond proven.  The F.O.'s selection of drafted/UDFA WRs during the Harbaugh era (minus the past two seasons since it's still too early to tell) have been mediocre at best and often worse.  NONE, I repeat, ZERO of Baltimore's drafted/UDFA receivers from 2008 to present have gone to be dominant elsewhere.  Point me to an instance where Joe failed with a Fitz, 'Tron, A.J. Green-caliber receiver.  I'll wait.

 

I agree with this. We have a terrible track record of drafting WR's and have not invested much in the position other than proven players. Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith Sr, Mike Wallace were all great moves. I am optimistic about Perriman and Campanaro as they have shown flashes of potential when healthy. Historically speaking, we should go the Free Agent route for Wide Receivers. I think B. Watson would've been another great pickup had he stayed healthy this year. Had Lee Evans held onto that ball, he would've been a solid pickup, but regretfully he will be remembered just as that. 

It is rare that you pick a WR in the draft and he leads the charge to the Super Bowl the next few years after the draft.

6 hours ago, CorvusMagnus said:

Harbaugh is a good head coach (top 5 at least) in doing the specific things a head coach does (motivate, discipline, build culture) but probably not among the best in terms of contributing to personnel selection and offensive of defensive play calling. That said, apart from Bellichek (which is a completely unreasonable standard) no HC in football does all of those things at a high level, including Mike Tomlin, who I consider one of the other top coaches of this generation. Hop on the Steeler's boards sometime, Tomlin messed up clock management at least as often as Harbaugh, but is still one of the best of the best.

The issue with replacing Harbaugh with most of the candidates mentioned in this feed is that we are essentially rolling the die on whether a young coordinator can successfully do the things Harbaugh is already great at either now or in the near future. Overall what we get in return from offensive/defensive performance wont matter a bit if we turn into the pre-Gase Miami Dolphins. Plus, even if that young coordinator can foster such a culture, it may be 2+ years before we see positive results. In my experience immediate success after a HC change is generally preceded by multiple years of losing records and high draft picks and we don't even come close to qualifying. In short, its a lot like replacing a QB, something a franchise only does when they have no other choice and they're going to lose the fanbase either way.

Basically I agree with the more moderate posters on here, Harbaugh isn't Marvin Lewis who saw his team crumble after a few free agency losses and utterly implode after 3-4 injuries, in fact it took the most injuries in team history (including the franchise QB) to knock us down to a losing season for the first time in Harbaugh's tenure. He gets at least one more year.

I agree.

I don't think a coaching change is warranted this year. I think Harbaugh suffers from being too stagnant caused by being in the same place way too long. You can tell this by his interviews--he is second guessing himself on many occasions this year.

We need to expand the playbook and become less predictable. I would like to see more creativity on offence for sure. I would like to see more double moves. I would like to see Joe pump fake more often. I would like to see Joe draw the defence offsides to get a free play. These are small things to incorporate into the game planning. We do have Keenan Reynolds who if he makes it next year, we could use him similar to Edelman as he is a former QB.

I think Marty returns next year as I feel he has done a good job with the mid season change. When the Front Office reviews the year, I think our defence will be questioned with respect to losing so many leads. Such is uncharacteristic of our team historically and will be addressed either via personnel changes or a change in the DC.

3 minutes ago, PurpleCity5 said:

I see, I could've sworn that he was a FA this year but I do see that there is a club option there so we'll see if they pick it up. I think they will since they don't want a bigger hole at WR, with that said he's not who I want leading these WRs. 

The problem with Wallace is that his cap hit is $8million next year, so his contract is basically structured as a 1 year deal. If he is a part of the future plan, I would think we re-structure his deal to a more palatable cap number (something like 2 years 10 Million). Wallace has had only 1 TD in his last 13 games, so at an $8 million cap figure, he might be cut based on value if they cant come to terms.

5 minutes ago, Ravens419 said:

I 100% agree I don't see how people don't see this

To replace Steve Smith Sr we can bulk up our O-line and run the ball. Then we can run PA to our TE's and speed WR's. We can pick up Garcon too or hopefully Campanaro can stay healthy and he can contribute. Basically you replace him by a combination of other positions because you won't be able to.

Honestly I don't see how anyone on offence is indispensable. If we were a top 10 offence, then I would worry, but the reality is our offence underperformed badly. The bar is not set that high for next year. Personnel wise, we shouldn't be emotionally attached to players, because the reality is that we are not very good anyways on offence.

We do have the guys to stretch the field so if we can put a good ground game together, our offence would be more balanced and much better than this year's offence.

One thing about Harbaugh is that everything we do is so straightforward and grind-it-out mentality. After awhile it wears people down. Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with this approach, but we are way too predictable. If every game is only a 1 possession game, we need more game breakers--either via personnel or via gimmick plays. NE is so good at this and it was the difference in our 2014 playoff game in Foxborough. NE always has one or two secret, gimmicky plays per game versus us and it usually breaks the games open.

I saw few if any of these types of plays this year.  For players it keeps them engaged and excited. For coaches as well. I think one of the great things about Josh Mcdaniels is his utilization of these plays to keep defences from being so aggressive and keeping them off balance. (ie. Edelman to Amendola in 2014 and Flea flicker this year).

We are too predictable.

Guys, we did not lose the entire season last night. Last night was a valiant effort in many respects, facing the hottest team in the league in their home stadium and we were just 1 or 2 plays away from winning the game. If we are going to look at areas when we failed, it would be back to the 4 game losing streak which derailed our whole season. Credit to the team for battling back and making December games relevant and meaningful.

The offence improved mightily with Marty at the helm and our defence really struggled since the New England game.

Joe plays well in the big games. We know this. The problem with Joe is that he is woefully inconsistent especially in the regular season. We all harp on Joe because of this and it is patently obvious he only plays well when his juices gets stirred (i.e. big games on the road or when Ray Lewis called him out). Joe is who you want to have when you are in the playoffs, going on the road and playing in cold weather. To solve this, coaching needs to get under his skin and get him riled up / challenge him during the regular season and/or we need to establish a running game that can carry the load for the regular season. A failure to accomplish this will result in the same thing year on year: a struggle to make the playoffs.

2 minutes ago, Ravens419 said:

I would love Garçon with Bershard and Wallace stretching the outside I like the Twest KD duo until we gotta pay Twest let him go and keep KD 

Yes I agree with Garcon + Perriman + Wallace. The problem will be the cap to squeeze in Garcon. If it makes sense, it would be a good pickup. West is a RFA so will tender him; it is really just a matter of what round. I see a second round tender for him. He was originally drafted in the 3rd round, so if we decide to let him walk, then that is the compensation we would get, so it is win win. But I like the way he runs; he is explosive. He could use a little more discipline but he can catch out of the backfield as well.

6 minutes ago, Ravens419 said:

We need to act on Alshon Jeffery or Garçon IMO we need someone to replace SSR period 

Garcon would be a nice pickup to replace Smith Sr

We are also missing our 2nd and 3rd round draft picks from this year that theoretically should help our pass rush and we have Z Smith.

13 hours ago, Purple_ICE 81 said:

Try and resign Brandon Williams and continue to beef up this defense. If we add the right pieces to it, we could develop a Seahawks/Broncos type of reliable defense that we could ride to the playoffs. We had a solid D this year but were typically a bend but don't break unit even though a few times we got broke for sure including tonight.  DB depth and pass rush are areas that definitely need improvement. I would hope the number 1 priority heading into the offseason would be to get our hands on another solid CB, given how often Jimmy is hurt and how terrible our CBs are who try and take over for him. Scrap Webb, scrap Shareece Wright and Powers and add some better guys....Sure easier said than done but our secondary needs depth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Powers is a UFA, so likely he will be gone for 2017. Webb will be entering his last year, but if we can restructure him to reduce his cap hit, it would be ok. For a 1st year transition, I think he played pretty good. Wright won't be cut as he is signed for a few more years, and the dead money is not worth it. 

I expect Dumervil, Arrington, Kendrick Lewis to be cut for cap reasons. We have too many TE's on the roster (Watson, Pitta, Boyle, Gillmore, Waller, Williams). From a cap point of view, Watson is likely the odd man out.

We have 2 really good RB's so I expect us to shore up the O-line. If we can get a Centre in the draft and if we can resign Wagner for a reasonable price, I think it would be good. I would not rule out cutting Wallace as well from a cap point of view, especially if we re-sign Wagner at RT. A move like this will mean, we will go back to our predominantly run heavy offence.

2 hours ago, PuRock said:

I think he can really blossom if the Ravens plan to move the ball downfield.  There has to be times where he is one-on-one without safety help.  In these scenarios you have to throw up the ball and see what he can do.  This is something the Ravens and Joe tend to shy away from. 

With that being said, his drops will be a continued frustration throughout his career.  He seems to be one of those players that can make the tougher catches look easier than the routine ones.  

The game planning has not put the ball in his hands. I'm amazed with his speed and big play ability why we haven't run more jet sweeps or reverses for him

8 minutes ago, frozen joe flacco fan said:

Tell your friends Joe Flacco put his team in a position to win the game with 78 seconds left in a road game against a good defensive team in a hostile environment and in a game we had to win to remain alive in the playoff hunt. We lost because ........ our defense could not protect a 10 point lead going into the final quarter and surrendered 3 TDs. We spotted the Steelers 7, our offense posted 27 points and left another 11 points on the field and our highly vaunted defense folded when it counted. It speaks volumes that The Baltimore Ravens sent 4 players to the Pro Bowl but only 1 was a defensive player - C.J.. No, its time the Wizard of Oz follows the yellow brick road out of town and takes some of the coaches with him. If its true that the players of today are bigger, stronger and faster than the players of yesteryear as some of our fans insist, then we should start drafting some of these speedy behemoths. I agree with your rationale but I do not agree with your friends' assessment of Joe's performance as a starting QB. He rose to the occasion like I hoped he would and did a phenomenal job. I only wish he could snap on FGs and catch his own throws in the end zone. 

I would temper that with the fact that our Defence generated 2 INTs in the red zone which led to easy points. On Mosley's INT, we were 1st and goal at the 13 yard line and settled for a field goal. Today, I think we just got beat by the better team. If we are going to look for fault for the season, we'd have to go back to mid-season. It's just a matter of too late as we dug ourselves too far deep in the hole with that 4 game losing streak.

1) CB via draft. We need 3 good CB's that can play inside and out.

2) O-line

We don't have many holes to fill but we can use a playmaker on either side of the ball. I think the 2015 draft will prove to be one of our better draft years. We have 2 really good backs and we also have Buck Allen who can play as well. 

2 minutes ago, Deflated Football said:

Please don't get my hopes up with Sean Payton lol. I'd take him in a heartbeat. 

But when was the last time the New Orleans Saints played a meaningful game?