J.O.14

I'm 100% sure they were 4-0 against our division this year....

Marty runs the same offense, but every coach has their way of spinning it. Terminology, concepts, beliefs, etc. Trestman was a pass happy guy, and you can't change a lot of that in the middle of a season. I think what Flacco was saying is that he is going to add his identity to the offense now with a couple of his own wrinkles.

As bad as our line seemed to play, we have to remember they were only on the field together for about 10-12 games if that. And surprisingly, our line graded out as the 9th ranked line in the league....that's not bad at all. And when all the starters were on the field together, we were actually pretty decent.

Kruger-situational pass rusher only, nothing else Upshaw- average ILB or system player Torrey- would not fight even if someone steals his lunch money. McPhee-another systematic guy and injury away from retirement. KO- asking too much money and only teams that won't spend anything or cheap for past decade can afford it, so he asked for LT money to play for the LG...what a rip off..... I don't see any problem you are listing but more like positive takeaways... Kruger: do we have anyone else that can be a situational passrusher.. id take kruger over ZADARIUS OR JUDON OR MCCLELAN Upshaw: best edge setter since JOHNSON.. why get rid of him torrey: Since he left.. flacco has gone deep barely once a game... WE NEEDED HIM McPhee: injuries this injuries that... he was starting to become what we needed then got rid of him... pathetic KO: sometimes you just have to pay people... simple as that. we paid yanda how many times? why because hes the best we got. The Ravens offered Torrey a contract. He took the Niners offer of MORE MONEY. Offered KO a contract, he took the Raiders offer of MORE MONEY. McPhee and Kruger wanted to test the FA Market to see how much MORE MONEY they could get. Do you see a trend here? You can't play a good player great player money. The Raiders had the money to offer KO simply because they have not had to address breaking the bank with Carr and the QB position.....for now. Oz low balled KO- google it- KO was offended by it, and no way he was going to come play for the Ravens. Just like Oz tried to lowball Anquan on the last year of his contract, and see what happened after we lost Anquan- we only made it to the playoffs once since he and Torrey left. Bad Oz, bad Oz We offered KO 8.5 million a year. That ranks in the top 5 for G's in the entire league, and I believe it would have been more than Yanda is making. The Raiders gave KO 11.5 million a year for a guard, that's crazy money that I am glad we didn't pay. He is a great player no doubt, but we would have hurt our team more by paying him that money than helping our team.

So Ryan Fitzpatrick or EJ Manuel will get us over the hump? Or better yet Rivers or Matt Ryan because they've accomplished SO much in the post season. Are you kidding me???? If the Ravens had Rivers or Ryan for the past 7 years, we would surely have more than 2 rings Absolutely not. Completely disagree. Same could be said if you gave Flacco the weapons Ryan has. If Flacco had Julio Jones, my goodness. Rivers is a good QB, but in my opinion Rivers and Flacco are very similar QBs in their style of play. Both can make any throw on the field, step up their play when game is on the line, and both are known for bone headed decisions.

I actually agree with a majority of this. I do believe we are trying to make Flacco something he is not, or trying to put to much on his shoulders. We have gotten away from Ravens football since 2012 (exception is 2014 season). We throw way to much. I want to see us get back to having a balanced attack and still be able to mix it up. When you become one dimensional on the offensive side of the ball, you're not going to be successful. Dree Brees is arguably the best pure passer in football, but how much success has he had lately with no running game? Now I don't really care about the Matt Ryan and Flacco argument. We got Flacco, he had one of the best post seasons ever, and won a SB. Ryan has had some great teams in Atlanta, and still didn't succeed. He could change that this year for sure, but I'm not going to say I'd take him over Flacco. I appreciate what Flacco has done for us. Our coaching staff needs to get back to what got us to the post season the first 5 years of his career. And Flacco's contract doesn't prevent that.

Maxx Williams was hurt and he set rookie records for TEs. Lets not be too hasty to call someone a bust Not calling him a bust but he hasn't beat out other tight ends on the roster. I didn't think we needed to draft a te at that spot when corner an oline was more important. Especially corner! At the time, Gilmore was the only TE that was worth anything on our roster. Pitta's future was very much up in the air when we drafted Maxx Williams. TE was a need that draft, and he was the best available. And for goodness sake, the kid was hurt this year. How can he be a bust when he was hurt? He set the franchise record for catches by a rookie TE, and possibly yards. Talk about writing people off....

Understand the frustration. Our offense was awful at times, but at other times, they looked great. Consistency is key to being successful in any pro sport. Over the last couple weeks (except this past Sunday) our offense looked better than most of the season. We moved the ball great against Pittsburg. My biggest issue with us all season was finishing drives. We were terrible in converting nice drives into touchdowns, and that's the difference between being 8-8 or 11-5. We left 10-14 points off the board against the Steelers. I want to see us run the football more. Flacco is more successful with a good running game, we can't lead the league in pass attempts, that a recipe for losing. Our offensive line actually wasn't bad when full strength. Stanley graded out as the best LT (pass protection at least) in the league the past 4 games before Sunday. Yanda is the best guard in the league, doesn't matter which side. Zuttah made some boneheaded plays, but he is better than fans give him credit for. Ducassae (spelling?) did a decent job filling the void for Alex Lewis or Yanda for that matter. And Rick Wagner played very well until he was hurt the last few games. For a couple of weeks in the season our line was filled with guys who should never see the field, but injuries happen in this league. Our secondary is frustrating, but we are also better than years past, and it would be nice to see Jimmy Smith stay on the field. Tavon Young was a good draft pick, we need another solid corner to help solidify our CB group. Webb is a question mark, does he stay or go. I wouldn't mind seeing us draft another S that provides some more playmaking ability and speed on the back end. Weddle had a great year. Nice pick up. Yes, Pass rush is an issue. We need a young speed rusher off the edge. I really don't care if they are an edge setter, we just need a pure pass rusher. Doom and Suggs are on their last legs. I like Pees as our DC. Is he to conservative at times? It may seem like it. But what can you do when you design nice blitz calls but then you have matchup problems or the offense just picks the blitz up nicely. What can you do when you try to drop 7 in coverage and rush 4 but they don't get there? You can't give a QB all day, and its hard to blitz when QBs get the ball our so quick or just win the battle sometimes. You're going to lose some battles plain and simple. The offense has been game planning for our defense as well. I was down for letting Marty go, but I'm also not angry about keeping him. Let's see what happens this year. Hopefully we run the ball more effectively. One last thing, can we just drop the discussions about Flacco's leadership. It's been 9 seasons now, and he isn't going to change now. I'd play for him though. I haven't seen Flacco confront guys for dropping passes, yell at lineman for getting him crushed, or call guys out publicly. He takes a beating, get right back up. His WRs drop a pass, he isn't scared to come right back to them, and if he has an issue with someone, he is man enough to discuss it but not publicly. Is he the best in the league? Obviously not. But he is our QB, good enough to win big games, proven that already, and can deliver when it matters. I'm going to defend him as long as he is wearing purple and black. Last thing, I don't care how bad of a season the Ravens have, I won't give up on them. I'm a fan until I die, and hell I might get buried with a purple and black casket with a Ravens logo. I believe we will turn it around soon. We had a great draft class this past season, a couple core pieces in place, and a hell of a coach. We are close, just not there yet and they know that. So, don't let the door hit ya in the butt walking out of Ravens Nation. We don't need ya. don't kid yourself into thinking this team is close. they could have been 5-11 easily. we barely can beat the browns and jags. flacco cannot make an audible to change a play and we are paying him 24 million dollars. furthermore, they have invested first round picks the past 2 years to help Joe plus paid Wallace, and yet the offense is getting worse. that does not add up to a good football team. No kidding we could have been 5-11. We could have been 11-5 if we finish against the Raiders, Redskins, and Steelers. You could say that about every team in the league. We were average, at best. We can play with anyone in the league, but we can also lose to anyone in the league. I believe we are close, I guess we will find out.

I like Wallace but he's just not that, "playmaker" cat to me. Going forward w/o SSS, would you guys consider Wallace to be your "go to guy?" No. But you don't have to be a "go to guy" to be a playmaker. Wallace is a playmaker. Without SSS, our go to would be Pitta.

Understand the frustration. Our offense was awful at times, but at other times, they looked great. Consistency is key to being successful in any pro sport. Over the last couple weeks (except this past Sunday) our offense looked better than most of the season. We moved the ball great against Pittsburg. My biggest issue with us all season was finishing drives. We were terrible in converting nice drives into touchdowns, and that's the difference between being 8-8 or 11-5. We left 10-14 points off the board against the Steelers. I want to see us run the football more. Flacco is more successful with a good running game, we can't lead the league in pass attempts, that a recipe for losing. Our offensive line actually wasn't bad when full strength. Stanley graded out as the best LT (pass protection at least) in the league the past 4 games before Sunday. Yanda is the best guard in the league, doesn't matter which side. Zuttah made some boneheaded plays, but he is better than fans give him credit for. Ducassae (spelling?) did a decent job filling the void for Alex Lewis or Yanda for that matter. And Rick Wagner played very well until he was hurt the last few games. For a couple of weeks in the season our line was filled with guys who should never see the field, but injuries happen in this league. Our secondary is frustrating, but we are also better than years past, and it would be nice to see Jimmy Smith stay on the field. Tavon Young was a good draft pick, we need another solid corner to help solidify our CB group. Webb is a question mark, does he stay or go. I wouldn't mind seeing us draft another S that provides some more playmaking ability and speed on the back end. Weddle had a great year. Nice pick up. Yes, Pass rush is an issue. We need a young speed rusher off the edge. I really don't care if they are an edge setter, we just need a pure pass rusher. Doom and Suggs are on their last legs. I like Pees as our DC. Is he to conservative at times? It may seem like it. But what can you do when you design nice blitz calls but then you have matchup problems or the offense just picks the blitz up nicely. What can you do when you try to drop 7 in coverage and rush 4 but they don't get there? You can't give a QB all day, and its hard to blitz when QBs get the ball our so quick or just win the battle sometimes. You're going to lose some battles plain and simple. The offense has been game planning for our defense as well. I was down for letting Marty go, but I'm also not angry about keeping him. Let's see what happens this year. Hopefully we run the ball more effectively. One last thing, can we just drop the discussions about Flacco's leadership. It's been 9 seasons now, and he isn't going to change now. I'd play for him though. I haven't seen Flacco confront guys for dropping passes, yell at lineman for getting him crushed, or call guys out publicly. He takes a beating, get right back up. His WRs drop a pass, he isn't scared to come right back to them, and if he has an issue with someone, he is man enough to discuss it but not publicly. Is he the best in the league? Obviously not. But he is our QB, good enough to win big games, proven that already, and can deliver when it matters. I'm going to defend him as long as he is wearing purple and black. Last thing, I don't care how bad of a season the Ravens have, I won't give up on them. I'm a fan until I die, and hell I might get buried with a purple and black casket with a Ravens logo. I believe we will turn it around soon. We had a great draft class this past season, a couple core pieces in place, and a hell of a coach. We are close, just not there yet and they know that. So, don't let the door hit ya in the butt walking out of Ravens Nation. We don't need ya.

Amen!! I can not remember a time when someone said the Ravens have a hire power offense. This team has been about one thing since they moved to Baltimore and that is winning ulgy games and doing it with defense! Then why pay Flacco all that money instead of spending it on the defense? Flacco should be put in jail for stealing all that money he's being paid. You don't get paid for what you did in the past, you get paid for what you should do in the future and since being paid twice after the super bowl and the extension he's done nothing but collect a check every week. But I can blame him though, I blame Ozzie. He gambles too much and now it's costing them. But you do pay QBs for what they do in the past. You can complain about Flacco's pay all you want, if you have a DECENT QB, they are going to get paid a lot of money. You don't let a QB go after he just had one of the best post seasons ever. The going rate for QBs is ridiculous, and it's only going to get worse. Imagine being the Texans right now. But did they have to pay him so much that the team suffers for years? Ravens won both Superbowl's not paying a Kings Ransom. Joe's not worth being the 4 highest paid QB in the NFL.Notice how quickly the Ravens fell out of serious contention when he got paid? We had a ton of players leave/retire. We were looking forward to the future in 2013. 2014 we were a very good football team. Our secondary was depleted if you don't remember correctly. 2015, injuries again. This year, we are a good team. Just to inconsistent and I don't think we are in the same category as the top teams yet. Flacco's contract was set up nicely for the first 3 years after the SB, and we renegotiated a new one this year with his cap hit ballooning the way it did. Does Flacco deserve that contract? No. Absolutely not. Do we have a choice other than pay Flacco that money? No. Absolutely not. If you think we are struggling now, imagine what would happen if we had to start over at that position. Who would you get? What QB could we pick up that would provide us what Flacco does? Nobody. It is what it is. If you have a QB with Flacco's track record, especially in post season, he is going to get paid. A lot.

Amen!! I can not remember a time when someone said the Ravens have a hire power offense. This team has been about one thing since they moved to Baltimore and that is winning ulgy games and doing it with defense! Then why pay Flacco all that money instead of spending it on the defense? Flacco should be put in jail for stealing all that money he's being paid. You don't get paid for what you did in the past, you get paid for what you should do in the future and since being paid twice after the super bowl and the extension he's done nothing but collect a check every week. But I can blame him though, I blame Ozzie. He gambles too much and now it's costing them. But you do pay QBs for what they do in the past. You can complain about Flacco's pay all you want, if you have a DECENT QB, they are going to get paid a lot of money. You don't let a QB go after he just had one of the best post seasons ever. The going rate for QBs is ridiculous, and it's only going to get worse. Imagine being the Texans right now.

Sometimes the truth hurts, but this is 100% truth. Honestly, we have never really had an offense that goes along with our defense. Recently (exception of 2014) we have seemed like we think we can just spread it out and chuck it everywhere. 2013, 2015, and 2016 have all been that way. All 3 could end in us not making the playoffs. Flacco isn't that type of QB. We all know he needs a run game to be effective. I'm tired of hearing the coaches blow smoke and say that we have all these weapons and could be a dominate offense. We need an identity on offense, and to be honest it's not throwing the football. We need to get back to running the ball, so we can mix it up. After this season, we need to bring in a new offensive staff, with a run oriented background. Start from scratch, couldn't be any worse than we are now.

I think Weddle deserves as much blame as everyone else. That TD to Hogan really looked to be on him. Brady froze him, he bit, then watched Hogan go 80 yards. As easy as it is to blame Elam, he looked like he was expecting help over the top and Weddle looked like he was initially dropping deep into coverage. Brady did what Brady does. Fooled him.

Missed the first half because of prior commitments, but I thought Dixon looked good in the 2nd half, running and receiving. He was hard to tackle, and that was something that we have seemed to miss the past 2 years. When he hit the hole and ran behind his pads, he looked every bit of a featured back. I'm excited to see what he can do down the road. He is still getting up to speed at this level.

Good news about Orr is that ILB usually come fairly cheap (at least a lot cheaper than other positions). Kuechly is the exception to the rule. I think we could get him at a fairly decent rate. Mosley would be the one who could be asking for a good bit of money. I'd like to know where Orr ranks according to PFF this season. Mosley ranks 7th at his position, so I know Orr is lower than that because he didn't make that list. Mosley has quietly been having a good season. Don't let those 48 more tackles fool you, though I do realize Orr has been playing well himself. We need to keep Juice, Guy, and Webb. Wagner is replaceable with Lewis. But all have been having a good season, which has helped with our success.

To be honest, as bad as the Ravens have been, with a couple fixes they could actually turn out in good shape in the AFC. The division is definitely still up for grabs and within reach. The AFC is not very good (outside of the Patriots). This season is far from over.

I agree with a lot of this. When we seem to correct something, another issue pops up that kills our ability to win games. The Raiders and Redskins games were blown opportunities by the Ravens. Some poor coaching decisions and the fact that we shot ourselves in the foot. Mosley's interception against the Redskins would have gave us 7 points had he not fumbled the ball, because I think we would have scored from the 1 yard line with West. That lead to a FG for the Redskins. Then Jernigans boneheaded play last week, all of these are shots in our own foot. On top of the multiple coaching decisions that have lead to bad outcomes. The worst was probably the fake FG against the skins. Take the points, then even after Mosley's dumb play, we only need a FG at the end of the game to tie. Another issue you forgot to point out is injuries. Were we that good without injuries? No. But the injuries have hurt our chances of winning even worse, as the last 2 games are indicators of that. Flacco has been inconsistent, and I don't know if Flacco is getting a little gun shy behind that line, or his mechanics are getting that sloppy. He continues to deliver throws off his back foot, going away from his target. He isn't stepping into his throws and using his lower body the way he should. He has a cannon, but he isn't going accurate enough on intermediate throws without bringing his lower half through and using more than just his arm. That is another reason his throws are sailing on him as well. His deep throws are pretty, but when he has mechanical issues, we stand no chance of completing those deep balls. Last week, Wallace ran a go route and Flacco put that ball in a position where the DEFENDER had a better opportunity at the ball than Wallace did. If Flacco doesn't clean up his mechanics, along with getting better protection, it doesn't matter how well our defense andspecial teams play, and coaches coach, we won't win many games without production from our OL and QB.

Defense is good enough to keep us in every game we play. Offense is bad enough to lose us most of those games we are in. Yesterday was embarrassing. We looked awful. We abandoned the run, simple as that. West should have finished with 20+ carries. We were backed up inside the 10 and West didn't touch the ball once. We threw it 3 times in a row and punted. We also have the best kicker in the league. When we struggle to score points, take what you can get. Stupid mistakes are killing the Ravens, along with some questionable coaching decisions.

Interesting how you neglected to mention that Mack was busy steamrolling Joe while he was trying to get the ball out, due to the absolute crap job by our OL So if the pocket is collapsing why doesn't Joe slide up to a open spot or move the pocket like I see Big Ben and Andy Dalton do?! They move around extend the play to get results and the O line did good enough to get the run game going so why can't Joe run a flea flicker and miss an open WR?! I am losing confidence in Joe and he needs to step his game up because teams will always rush the edges and if he doesn't keep his head on a swivel teams will continue to get behind him and cause more sacks and fumbles! It's a lot easier to say that than to do it. The only reliable person on our line is Yanda. Our line was terrible yesterday, and Flacco was under constant pressure. The one time he did evade pressure and try to scramble to keep a play alive he got strip/sacked. Flacco also made a heck of a throw back across his body when moving outside the pocket to Gilmore. Sometimes stepping up is nice, but often times when Flacco steps up, he gets smacked. I'm not denying his toughness at all, because we all know how tough the dude is and he is willing to put his body on the line. Now, do I think he is still a little gun shy with the knee? Yeah I do. Sometimes he doesn't step into throws the way he use to, and is really relying on his arm strength. That's why I think a couple of his throws are low when he throws some of these drag/crossing patterns to his left. Having Hurst and Jensen in there makes it tough to trust the line as well. Our line was a big issue yesterday, along with some play calling.

Oakland is turning it around though. They have the pieces in place to be successful in the next couple of years. Here is the issue Oakland is going to have. They are giving out a lot of money in FA, which is okay when you have that money. But, they have guys that will want to be paid like the best at their position in Amari Cooper, Mack, and Carr. All 3 will deserve big pay days, and Cooper and Mack could easily ask to be the highest paid at their position. If you want to be a good football team, you can only make very few players the richest at their position, and I think they will have to many mouths to feed with a limited amount of cap space before to long. Its possible they work it out, because I think they will have a lot of cap space again next offseason, but those contracts will begin to add up in the next couple years.

Below average Joe is accountable for all of our TDs we have scored so far this season....

I like the way our defense looks for the most part. We are a lot better than last year, and that is without our best pass rusher so far. I'm excited to see what we can do against a pretty good offense this week in the Raiders. Offensively, our run game is tough to watch. Honestly, we can beat the teams we have played without a run game, but the teams we play later on, that isn't gonna work. We have got to get better at running the football. I hope Dixon can provide a little spark, because Flacco can't continuously carry our offense like he has been. I'm happy to be 3-0. A lot better than last year, but a lot of things to get better at. It is true that we are 3-0, and haven't played close to our best football. We are talented, and will continue to improve. Yeah we have beat teams who are a combined 1-8, but its not easy winning on the road against any NFL team. The Raiders will be a good test, and will let us know more about our football team.

i'm really excited to see Dixon when he returns. He has some quickness/elusiveness that West and Forsett don't. I think he will add some explosiveness to our offense.

Yeah Flacco needs to start faster, but what about the defense? Maybe they need to learn to get off the field on 3rd down a little bit. The whole team needs to learn to start faster and we wouldn't be in these situations.