Ravens_Flock

They shouldn't be "ticked off". They should be embarrassed every time they take the field, after the effort they have displayed in 5 games so far. And that includes Joe Flacco, who does not play anything like a $120 million dollar, SB winning QB, at all. O-line, WR corp, young TEs, injuries, defense caving, horrible OC hire, you name it. A long litany of excuses that people dredge up for Joe, season after season. But the fact of the matter is, while he is solid, and SOMETIMES great, the argument about him being "elite" has always been laughable and moot. He never has been, nor will he ever be "elite", because he lacks the one thing that all elite players possess: consistency. He has none, not just game to game, but sometimes snap to snap within a single game. Elite QBs put the team on their back in tough times, and elevate players around them when they need to the most. They don't use young guys or inexperienced guys or injuries as an excuse. Flacco is not elite. And this team plays like it just doesn't really want to win in 2015.

This team has had some great RBs, and a tradition of a strong running game, at least since 1998. Priest Holmes, Jamal Lewis, Chester Taylor, Willis McGahee, Ray Rice, now guys like Justin Forsett and hopefully Lorenzo Taliaferro. But Jamal is the greatest RB in Ravens history, period. 10,000 career yds., 58 career rushing TDs, a 2000 yd season, 2003 OPoY, Winning a SB as a rookie and being the only rookie RB in NFL history to have a 100 yd. game. The dude had a HoF worthy career, but who knows if he'll ever get in someday.

I honestly don't feel like people need to get excited about Givens just yet. The dude hasn't done much in his career, and maybe there were political or lockerroom reasons for that. But then again, maybe not.

PS Many people here last year were crowing that we didn't need Ngata, and that we'd be, and I quote "Even better with Jernigan starting". Well.....do not act shocked now that that isn't happening. Ngata was a beast and a one of a kind player, the likes of which the Ravens will never see again. Don't forget that.

White is near the end of his career,and would not be a good pickup. We don't need another aging, disgruntled WR. However, I had always wanted us to get Tate, instead of Smith Sr. He's a very talented WR, and the Lions would be stupid not to keep him, and get him more involved in their offense again.

Yeah...............that has kind of been a thing with the Ravens, dating as far back as, oh I don't know....1998? Easily since Priest Holmes and then Jamal Lewis in 2000. That has never NOT been the case. When the Ravens can't run the ball, or abandon the run, we rarely win. We are and should always remain a run-first team. That has most especially been the case, and yet repeatedly (as in almost every season except last season) forgotten, under John Harbaugh. Problem is, Trestman is not a "run first" OC. Even though we were assured and promised over and over in the off-season that nothing would be changing from last season as far as the play style and type of plays called, it was glaringly obvious it had changed with Game 1 of the year, or hell, even in the pre-season.

What to think is that there is nothing whatsoever to get excited about yet. Yes, they technically could win most of the rest of their games, somehow, and make the playoffs. However, they lost three very winnable games to start the season, and did everything possible to lose them. They lost those games because they blundered their way through the course of each game, from top to bottom, from the coaching, to Flacco, to the ST units (minus our three kicking guys). Flacco has been pretty awful this year, and the coaching has been atrocious. The defense has been hot and cold, and until this week, the run game had been fairly non-existent, after being promised we would retain Kubiak's run schemes, which we absolutely have not.

We got a win after once again doing everything possible to lose, against a Steelers team that also just so happens to be pretty mediocre themselves. If our head coach wasn't such a genius, our kicker, one of the best players on the team, could have won us that game without going to OT. That is a sign of the times. And nothing is given from here on out. Our schedule is hardly "easy", at all. And that starts with the Browns at home, who themselves are desperate to get on track.

When you're paid as much as Joe gets paid, you're expected to NOT end each of the last four games with an INT.

Well uh...........for one thing, we're not running the ball as much as last year. We've been pass-happy since Game 1, which isn't surprising, because even though we were promised "no major change", it's Marc Trestman we're talking about. Also, we're just not executing the Zone the same. Taliaferro hopefully is okay. They shut him down pretty quick last Sun. I think a major key to getting our run game going, is getting him going. He and Forsett need to be our "Thunder and Lightning".

Gee, then DO it Joe. Quit looking for Steve, not really looking to see if anyone else is open, and then throwing to Steve. Don't talk about spreading the ball around, do so.

Perhaps Marlon would make more plays, if Joe bothered looking his way more often, if Joe didn't throw so many poor passes this season, and if they would bother using Marlon on the outside where he belongs, and not in the slot. They absolutely should be using Camp in the slot a lot more. But Marlon needs to be used on the outside, and in the red zone, period. His 500 yds and 7 TDs his rookie year weren't a mirage. The coaching staff simply haven't been using him correctly since 2013.

It sucks for any young player to get cut and not live their dream. But let's be honest. Forsett is the present, Taliaferro is the future, and Buck Allen is an interesting question mark. So long as those three guys stay HEALTHY? We do not need to be carrying a fourth RB on the active roster.

If he can stay healthy, why would we even consider NOT playing Suggs in 2016? You see our D wihtout him. IF he can play and play at a reasonably high level, then he should be playing as a Raven, that was the point of extending him.

How about we not get into politics or what stupid politicians (or people that play at being politicans) think? Let's stick to football. And the fact is, Flacco can be called elite when he starts playing like it in the regular season more consistently. It's his eight year. Underthrowing or sailing passes, and throwing game sealing INTs that everyone including opposing defenses can see coming, are not excusable.

Going to one WR over and over and over is not the answer, and quite frankly, Flacco does it too much as it is. If we cannot effectively get other targets, such as Camp, and Marlon, and even Maxx Williams more involved, then we're simply not going to win. Just the same as we (obviously) need to get Taliaferro more involved in the rushing game, we need to get the younger guys far more involved in the passing game, especially in the red zone. Not going to big targets like Waller or Brown when we're in scoring range, simply doesn't make sense. What is the point of throwing constantly to the shortest WR on our roster, when we have these tall targets where you can put the ball up where (conceivably) "only they can get it"? Flacco also needs to stop sailing passes and over/underthrowing so often. Yes, he needs improved pass protection, but he still underthrew or straight out missed wide open guys yesterday, and Week 1.

Not for nothing, but I've said all along that Pees was a horrible choice for DC, just as Greg Mattison was. They both employ soft, vanilla schemes that do not get the best out of our players. Yes, we did somehow still manage to generate a great pass rush last year, but that was not thanks to Pees, that was thanks to some great talent, of whom three key players (Suggs, Ngata, McPhee) are now gone.

Marlon had the only really big play out of the WR corp the entire game. Perhaps if Flacco went to him and Camp more, and not target Smith 7 times when the dude only catches 2 of those passes, we might get somewhere.

I'm still calling it now, IF he can stay healthy, and IF the Ravens actually give him a decent amount of carries, Taliaferro has the talent to play his way into our #1 starting role eventually. Forsett is the man right now, but there is not reason that Lorenzo could not be the man of the future.

I don't care how you shake it out. It's a dumb move.

Agreed minus the part about the young guys. The young guys people on these boards always overhype are JAGs. The fact is there are no offensive playmakers to be found anywhere on this team.

I don't think that's true. For one, Campanero has had too little opportunity to really show whether or not he can be a reliable weapon for us. IF he can actually stay healthy for a full season, he is a shifty little dude, and the perfect slot type of guy.

As for Aiken, I don't know what to say about him, except that he looked good at times last season, and this pre-season, but I do not think he is well suited to be an outside starter. At all. I think Marlon Brown would have won that spot back if not for his back issues in camp, and even so, he came on strong late in the preseason, and had a big catch for us against the Broncos. If Flacco would look his way more often, instead of constantly trying to get the ball to Smith Sr., I think we'd see some good production. For such a big dude, he can run good routes, and has sticky hands. He had 7 TDs his rookie year, and I think if we would just go to him in the passing game more often, he'd come up big for us.

Then there's Waller. I don't know how often he'll be active, because I don't think he's a ST player really. But he is a huge kid who they seemed to like enough to keep, that we still don't really know if he can be a reliable weapon either. But I wouldnt' say we don't have playmakers. I think once Taliaferro gets back, and hopefully stays healthy, our fun game will pick up, because he's a much more powerful runner than Allen or Forsett. The perfect change of pace back. If Forsett isn't getting it done for a stretch, as he wasn't on Sun., then a bulldozer like Ferro is just what you need. The dude can play, and he's shown that.

Bringing in aging veterans who are washed up is not the answer. You simply cannot replace what a healthy Suggs brought to the table. There's a reason he was a 6 time pro bowler and one of the best OLBs in the league, arguably THE most well-rounded against both the run and the pass. Upshaw is going to get his chance to play more against the pass now, and Smith will be activated to take on a "McPhee" type role. I also think that using Albert McClellan as an OLB again this season, which was his original position, is a good call. He's a solid ILB backup, but I think he showed that he can rush the passer, and he's already proven to be decent against the run. We don't need any outside personell. Activate poor Arthur Brown and have him take McClellan's backup ILB spot, and play special teams. And if you want to fill Suggs' roster spot? Get Asa back on the active roster and let him return kicks. We could always use the depth at CB, whether some people like him or not, and he was the best, most explosive return option we had. Yes, he needs to not fumble, but he also has shown an ability to break off some great runs. I'd rather have a guy that trips up and gets us at their 10 yd. line, than to get a 36 year old man who fair catches it and is supposed to be our "number one WR" doing it.

Suggs is a massive loss. We will feel it big time. Without Ngata or Suggs, this is a whole new era of D in Bmore....and his leadership and all-around ability will be sorely missed. That's a void that not one player, or even several combined, can truly fill, guaranteed. The best we can do, honestly, without bringing in some sort of FA, is to slide McClellan out to OLB, which he has played before, and activate Brown at ILB/ST. And of course activate Smith and see what the kid can do. I still say we need to leave Upshaw on the field for passing downs more often, let him get after the QB. But regardless, our D will feel Sizzle's loss. Notice, if you will, that we dominated their run game, until he went out. Then we started giving up a few good runs to them. I expect that to happen more often, as Suggs was excellent against the run.

Steve Smith was absolutely useless in this game. We threw to him several times, and he got a grand total of 2 passes for 13 yards. Aiken, our other "starter", had 1 catch for -1 yard. Marlon Brown, meanwhile, had 2 catches for 25 yds, and Gilmore had 2 catches for 23 yds., and of course because Marc Tressman, it was screen pass city, with 4 catches by Forsett and "Juice" each, both for less than 20 yds. total. That is seriously the most aenemic I remember seeing our offense in a long time, and it was certainly one of the worst games, statistically, of Flacco's career.

I'd also like to comment, that many people here seem totally fine (last year even, as well), considering Steve Smith a "number 1 WR", yet for the six years we had Derrick Mason, who I might add to this day is still the best overall WR we've ever had, many of these same fans stated that we "didn't have a number 1 WR". The hell we didn't. I like Smith Sr. alright, but I'd take Mason over Smith any day, and he certainly was a "Number 1". Regardless, We really need to develop our young guys more, we need to use Brown more, and use Camp more, and stop throwing to Steve Smith Sr. so often.

It's a nice story for Aiken, gaining some time as a starter, after making a team period. But I still say I don't see him keeping that #2 spot all season. Whether it be Marlon Brown, or perhaps even Perriman (if the kid can ever even get on the field), I think someone else will take the spot from him. I'm pulling for Marlon to make some splash plays and show he's "still got it" (he never lost it).

I don't think McGee's stay on the active roster is going to be a long one. I don't see us carrying four RBs all season, honestly, and as soon as Taliaferro gets back, I would think what he showed in the pre-season, is enough to earn him his #2 spot he was working for. Allen looked good at times, but he's not the bruising kind of "change of pace" back we need. Ferro is.