J.O.14

  1 hour ago, J.O.14 said:

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

Point is that they would not be able to win the division EVERY year as they have done in the east. If they do not win their division every year, they do not get the byes and they do not end up in that many Super Bowls. Yep, I'm hating on them because I can't stand them.

We can make assumptions like that, but realistically, they have owned about everyone in the league for a long time. They have beat everyone in our division at both home and on the road. They are always extremely tough to beat, and they would be the team to beat in every division. I can't stand them either, but I respect what they do. They win, period.

1 hour ago, budman said:

If the Patriots only played in a REAL division like the AFCN.

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

Flacco makes good arguments about wanting to retain Marty. But, if he's excited about seeing what kind of offense (Marty's own) will be installed and him working with Marty to establish it, what difference would it make if we had gone ahead with a change to a more successful OC? If on the other hand it's his comfort level with Marty because he has a great relationship with him then it's okay I suppose. But hopefully it also doesn't mean that Marty basically acquiesces to Joe's demands (to throw a lot) easily doesn't equate to a good working relationship...

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.

I'm glad that someone pointed out the Carryover Cap situation. Ozzie has failed to use this rule to our benefit. We keep talking about how great our Offesive Linemen are yet the results of the field would say otherwise. If Yanda played well, Stanley played well, Wagner played well, Lewis played well, then how did we struggle in both the run and pass game? Zuttah wasn't great, but it doesn't all fall on him.

Imo we can upgrade 3 positions on the O-Line and will see improvements from doing so.

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.

  15 hours ago, whobilly said:

  18 hours ago, Azzi22 said:

  18 hours ago, AsianRice said:

  18 hours ago, Azzi22 said:

Our problem is letting our guys go(the ones we draft): Kruger...Upshaw--Torrey--McPhee--KO- we missed on ELAM/BROWN... maxx/carl davis aren't doing much...this year we will let wagner juice and bwill go... how do you expect us to be any good??? soo yea don't blame flacco..Our Coordinators or even our Running game....don't blame anyone but the FO/GM... they have no idea how to pick talent past couple of years.... they are good DEPTH FINDERS not elite talent finders.

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.

  14 hours ago, whobilly said:

  17 hours ago, metalraven said:

The Flacco Defender Squad is out in full force today! They feel validated by Steve Smith's remarks.

If it's BECAUSE of the system: Why not keep it simple by running the ball more?
If it's BECAUSE of the injury: Why not keep it simple by running the ball more?
If it's BECAUSE the receivers dropped passes: Why not keep it simple by running the ball more?

New OC, bum knee, "bad receivers" - no problem! We'll throw it 670 times. That's the solution!

The points in Joe's defense do have validity - but Joe is still the one playing and throwing and leading the offense; so he inherently is accountable for the way he plays.

If we get the same ol' next year, then what? What excuses will be made then? If by then you can't accept reality, then you're either too stupid to see it, or you're turning a blind eye because you're emotionally invested in Joe Flacco.

Next year better be different!

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 think part of the issue to try to make Flacco into something he isn't is self-inflicted.

Bisciotti wanted to go with Matt Ryan. Say what you want about Ryan's post season record, but if you look at the overall stats I think we can say that Matt might be a better pure passer than Flacco. If you put Matt Ryan on the Ravens, chances are he'd probably go to playoffs and win some as well, maybe even a superbowl. The Falcons never had a great defense. He wanted Ryan so badly he was telling his team to stop "coveting picks" (he used more colorful language) and to trade them to move up to get Ryan at #2.

The front office sold him on Flacco. They said he was the guy. Now, Flacco did a great job when they used him in the proper system. He could manage a game with a good ground game and he could make big plays with the right blend of targets to throw to. He wins a superbowl, he gets paid. Now the front office is trying to prove to their owner how right they were and turn Flacco into something he isn't. Flacco isn't Peyton Manning. Flacco isn't Tom Brady. I do not like Tom Brady on a personal level. But I can't knock what he gets done on the field and he gets it done because he works his butt off. He took the position of his draft and placed that big chip on his shoulder and said, "I'll show them." He studied, studied, studied and continues to study to this day until the day he went all ice in his veins and daggers in his eyes to Drew Bledsoe and was like, "You slipped. You let me play, now you're not getting this job back."

"Cool Joe" doesn't seem to have that same kind of blood. The other thing I don't see is coaches challenging or speaking to their players after an idiotic play. Where's the accountability? Flacco tosses a pick in the endzone in Cincinnati...the cardinal sin. What do you see after that? He's sitting on the sidelines with a tablet that looks like something my 3 year old nephew uses talking to some other player (wasn't even a receiver...think it was a RB) and he's not looking upset at all. In fact he's got a smirk on his face as they talk about something. Where's the OC? Where's the QB coach? Where's the receiver he missed the connection with?

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.

  18 hours ago, sami said:

  On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 4:24 AM, BallsoHard622 said:

The bottom line is Flacco's mechanics sucked.
1.We didn't replace KO who was a big part of the run game.
2.Our coaching was up an down all year on both sides of the ball.
3.We didn't do nearly enough for years when it came to bringing in quality corners.
4.We've missed on draft picks, Elam max Williams an our second and third round picks this year were a waste. We should've drafted an offensive lineman an a corner instead of the inside lb an def end.

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....

  1 hour ago, J.O.14 said:

  2 hours ago, cookiedood said:

As a life long Raven fan who lives in South Carolina, I don't have the option of saying things like I will cancel my season tickets, or I will never pay another penny to attend a Raven game, but I do have the option of dropping Direct TV's Sunday ticket, and that is precisely what I intend to do. It is apparent to the entire football viewing world that Harbaugh is only going to hire his good buddies as coaches, and hope that they will somehow pull a rabbit out of their butt and all of a sudden become good coordinators. Anyone that watches Raven games can see the problem for what it is. The offensive line is one of the weakest in the NFL, and not only do they not pass protect, but they are unable to create holes for the RB's. Flacco has about as much leadership ability as Elmer Fudd. He does nothing to inspire his team mates, and just does not have that fire in the belly that all great Quarterbacks possess. Defensively, there is not a team in the NFL that fears playing them. If the little sisters of the poor had a football team with a QB that could deliver deliver passes, they would salivate over the chance to play against this secondary. Pass rush, what pass rush? And Harbaughs answer is to keep his buddies employed, give me a break. Good luck Raven fans, I'm done.

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.

  32 minutes ago, whobilly said:

Agree with you for the most part. Maybe toss Wallace in. Some Fans over evaluate talent just like the coaching staff does. We have a few IMPACT Players and LOTS of Roster Fillers.

 

  28 minutes ago, Molson Man said:

Wallace leads the team in 50+ yard receptions, that sounds like a playmaker to me. Kyle is the best fullback per pro football focus. So I'd give him three on his list including Smith Sr.

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.

As a life long Raven fan who lives in South Carolina, I don't have the option of saying things like I will cancel my season tickets, or I will never pay another penny to attend a Raven game, but I do have the option of dropping Direct TV's Sunday ticket, and that is precisely what I intend to do. It is apparent to the entire football viewing world that Harbaugh is only going to hire his good buddies as coaches, and hope that they will somehow pull a rabbit out of their butt and all of a sudden become good coordinators. Anyone that watches Raven games can see the problem for what it is. The offensive line is one of the weakest in the NFL, and not only do they not pass protect, but they are unable to create holes for the RB's. Flacco has about as much leadership ability as Elmer Fudd. He does nothing to inspire his team mates, and just does not have that fire in the belly that all great Quarterbacks possess. Defensively, there is not a team in the NFL that fears playing them. If the little sisters of the poor had a football team with a QB that could deliver deliver passes, they would salivate over the chance to play against this secondary. Pass rush, what pass rush? And Harbaughs answer is to keep his buddies employed, give me a break. Good luck Raven fans, I'm done.

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.

  4 hours ago, J.O.14 said:

  7 hours ago, steelraven said:

  10 hours ago, Ravens8383 said:

  12 hours ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

What Ravens have you been watching for the past 20 years? This team is about nose to nose, down to the wire, fight to the end, never say never football!
The Ravens have always been a fiery, defensive, in the trenches, competitive team that did one of two things, either they rise to the level of play of their opponent or the bring out the best in the level of play of the opponent that they face! That is Ravens football and I for one respect it and enjoy it.

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.

  5 hours ago, Ravens8383 said:

  8 hours ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

What Ravens have you been watching for the past 20 years? This team is about nose to nose, down to the wire, fight to the end, never say never football!
The Ravens have always been a fiery, defensive, in the trenches, competitive team that did one of two things, either they rise to the level of play of their opponent or the bring out the best in the level of play of the opponent that they face! That is Ravens football and I for one respect it and enjoy it.

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.

The importance of running the ball more has been mentioned all along - nothiong's happened. The importance of cutting down on penalties was made clear - nothing's happened. The need to speed up the O's game has been made clear time and again - nothing's happened.

At this point it seems painfully obvious that the Dolphins game was an aberration, and much more the product pf the Dolphion's impotent game than our success - every other game we saw a dishearteningly inefficient O apparently unable to make any improvements as the season's been developing.

The question is kinda automatic: what are we hoping for? What hasn't worked for 12 out of 13 games will suddenly and miraculously start working in game #14? That all the obvious mistakes the offense's coaching has been doing all along, will suddenly disappear? That Joe Flacco will, after well more than a year, suddenly have a sensible game against a good opponent - like he used to in ye olden days, when he apparently still cared about winning? That the O which seems to be unable to mut up more than 16-18 points on any, slightly decent D will somehow figure out how to score more, 3 months into the season?

I say winning 1 out of the remaining game should be regarded as the normal expectation. anything more is a plus, losing out would be less surprising than winning out.
But hey, it's the NFL, every week is a new story. So, we'll see...

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.

But the haters will place all the blame on Joe for this one, like usual. Joe isn't free of blame, but he wasn't the one who lost the game. That lies on everyone, except Weddle, Kock, and Tucker. True team loss right through the coaches.

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.

Dixon is a rookie and too fluky right now to be the feature back. Thinking otherwise is a big mistake. This was morearwig trying to prove his dominance over Joe. The safety was pure ignorance in knowing who your power running back is.

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.

jboy19, I just checked. Your right 4/5 are free agents this year. Webb is next year, along with a important class that includes Jernigan,Mosley,Dumervil.

However Zach Orr is RFA hes definitely coming back, maybe even sign him to a deal. Then mosley next year.
Everyone else Guy,Juice,Wagner replace through draft

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.

WOW "a solid, healthy, functioning offensive line can work wonders". What about the other factors which have plagued the team all season long such as:

1. Poor coaching
2. Inconsistent play from Flacco
3. Special Teams missed tackles on kick coverage
4. Lack of a pass rush
5. Secondary missing tackles
6. Dropped passes
7. Inability of receivers to gain separation
8. Lack of Playmakers
9. Overabundance of penaltys
10. Offensive line's inability to block

Some issues have been corrected, yet new ones have surfaced. All this chaos
must have a starting point. In my opinion it starts with the HC and his coaching staff. Any opinions?

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.

  6 hours ago, flynismo said:

  8 hours ago, Purple Dawg 96 said:

Joe had a flea flicker and missed a wide open WR but I guess that's Trestman fault! All they had to do is get a 1st down and Joe didn't get it done PERIOD!

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.

Oh Poor KO. He chased the money and I would imagine if he was really happy with his decision, he wouldn't be crying about it now. He had a choice, stay where you are comfortable and benefit in the long run with another super bowl win, or chase the money down a black hole, literally, THE black hole. Oakland is only surpassed in its failure by Cleveland.

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.

Unfortunately, Below Average Joe will try to continue to throw game after game away.

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.

3 hours ago, stixfix69 said:

Iliek Forsett and West, but i said this when camp broke, i would love to see Houston get a shot, he is a bigger back at 6 foot, and has a nice burst....I have always been a fan of the taller backs, the smaller ones have served us well, but not making 4th and inches two weeks in a row just isn't a good thing....

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.