dhartm2

I'll give you that their schedule is not that impressive, but as always, you have to look at these things outside of a vacuum. They're 7-1 with Brady this season, with their only loss being to an obviously good Seattle team. They largely easily dispatch bad teams like the Bengals, Browns, 49ers and Rams. They avenged their loss (without Brady) to the Bills by beating them by 16 points in their own building, and they largely handled the Steelers as well. They're one of the best teams in the league easily, and we will have to play better than any game we've played so far in order to beat them. Ravens could have that kind of record too but have to do all the dumb stuff (players & coaches) that ends up costing games at first half of the season. Ravens always seem to need to re-learn everything every season and not build upon year after year. That's what drives fan NUTS. New England is not as unbeatable as people think. The Ravens ability to be near the top of the league in penalties every single season is getting tiring.

It seems like it will probably get lost in all the offense talk and with the Pats next week, but I think Tavon Young had a break out game, glad to see it reflected in the PFF rankings. He's developing into a great corner despite his size and a real play maker. Hopefully he's starting the rest of the season. He got a little banged up towards the end of the game, was it a serious at all?

The problem is that we hardly have any talent, and the talent we do have is in the form of free agent signings, not cheap rookie contracts that are team's bread and butter. This leads me to believe Ozzie is a major part of the problem. Which is unfortunate, because if we do move on from Ozzie we are just going in house with DeCosta, and at this point I'm not sure that's going to be an improvement. A few examples of our issues: Since 2010 (not including the '16 draft) we have drafted 8 wide receivers. Going into this season the top 3 wide receivers on our depth chart are free agent signings (Smith, Wallace, Aiken). Since 2010 (not including the '16 draft) we have drafted 4 running backs (not counting Juszczyk). Going into this season the top 2 running backs on our depth chart were free agent signings (Forsett, West). We also had to bring in Trent Richardson to push our backs. I mean frankly that's just terrible. We've done the same thing with tight ends and corners to a lesser extent. I mean Ozzie is great at drafting d-linemen and linebackers but outside of that the guy is skirting by on some picks from 20 years ago. Besides quarterback the most important aspects of the game are line play on offense, and getting to the passer before your coverage breaks down on defense. Our offensive line play is atrocious and we can't get to the passer or cover on defense. Being great against the run isn't enough these days. On top of that, I'd love it if they picked up an OC that wasn't a head coaching washout. Literally every single one in Harbaugh's tenure has just been a former HC failure. Cam Cameron, Jim Caldwell, Gary Kubiack, Marc Trestman. Seriously with this? Maybe try a young up and comer, not some name guy that's done nothing but fail. I bet we trot Jeff Fisher or Mike McCarthy or some such out there next year. By the way, expect things to get worse before they get better. We just lost to four bad teams in a row, and barely beat three bad teams before that. The way we are playing there's not a single "gimme" game left on the schedule. I really hope they get their act together next offseason. By the way, being able to point out problem areas makes me a "good fan." Bad fans are the people that repeat platitudes like "In Ozzie we trust" without looking at facts.

I can only hope the reason Timmy Jernigan's name is absent from this article is that he's got a solo post coming up later today. Dude has been balling and is a standout on what looks to be a good defense.

"Joe and Wallace will become another Roethlisberger Brown duo." Whoa there friend, you might need to slow down.

"in general wev'e had bad luck drafting WR'S" At this point I think it's fair to say luck has nothing to do with it. Ozzie is bad at drafting WRs.

Here's the risk... You draft him, he plays great for 3-4 years, his rookie contract expires, you give him a market value contract (because he's been a great player), and his knee blows up, he needs micro-fracture surgery, and he never returns to anything near the level he was at. And the fanboards, naturally, demand to fire Ozzie and the entire FO for giving him such a big contract. There's the risk. And its substantial. The old Lardarius Webb as I like to call it.

You should hit a gas mask brother. You are very angry about some weird stuff. Let me see if I have this right. You're upset the Ravens (team website) said they wouldn't trade up, and you agree that the Ravens shouldn't have traded up, and in reality the Ravens didn't trade up. So you're upset they did what you wanted them to do, and what they said they would do? Then you're mad they picked a LT because he will only see the field if Monroe gets hurt because we have starters at all other positions on the line. Aside from the fact you don't think it's good to have a backup plan for Eugene Monroe, who's played 4, 11, 11, and 6 games in his last season, you are also dismissing the possibility that Stanley is better than someone else on our line. It is not a "waste" if Stanley beats one of our current starters out for a place in the starting lineup. Our offensive line was garbage last year. We had the 24th ranked YPC. I don't think picking a top OL prospect is a bad choice. Not as sexy as a WR, although that didn't really work out for us last year, or now that I think about it, any year.

You guys should link to the picture with Goodell actually dabbing. It wasn't on the NFL Network broadcast (they were showing highlights), not sure about ESPNs. Here's a link to it in a tweet: https://twitter.com/NFL/status/725856675576578048/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw Regular commenters know I'm not afraid to speak out when I disagree with the Raven's moves, but I actually like this pick. Tunsil had too much baggage, between the gas mask, the fact he's clearly got enemies with people posting that on draft night, the lawsuit with his step dad, pay to play, partying with Nkemdiche, etc. Even if the Ravens had him rated higher as a player (and I don't automatically believe the talk that we didn't) it was the right call to pass on him anyways. I'd of rather had Bosa or Ramsey, but what can you do, you pick where you pick. We clearly need help on the offensive line, and Stanley's good history as far as health is concerned is a big positive. I also like his Polynesian heritage, a long history of fleet footed big guys. I hope they address the defense tonight. I know they harp on "best player available," but I sure hope those players are on the defensive side of the ball. I think waiting any longer to find a replacement for Suggs and Dumerville would be a mistake. If you can get to the passer you can mask average corner play. I don't want to watch another season of us getting cut up by Antonio Brown and AJ Green.

"Monroe will be back motivated to play 16 games (fingers crossed)" Seriously, how delusional are you people? Three years on the team and he's never played more than 11 games. In his career he's played 16 games once. But no, I'm sure this season, at 29 years old, he'll finally be healthy. I hope your crossed fingers work miracles.

The first two posts on this thread say positive things about our wide receiver corp because we're going to have Campanaro back next year. I kid you not, go look. Good grief people. "Sure, he's been injured 95% of his career, but oh boy the two and a half quarters a season he's out on the field that kid can play!"

Harbaugh should have benched himself after that fake punt. One score game, 9 yards to go, deep in our own territory, it fails, we lose the ball, and they score easily. What's the difference between him and Allen, besides the fact Harbaugh consciously decided to do something stupid as opposed to simply making a mistake?

But hey at least he isn't feeding dogs to alligators or anything unseemly.

In Ozzie we trust..... to be completely unable to draft a wide receiver in the entire history of the franchise. They say even a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while, but man, I'm starting to wonder. So, who's it going to be, which over the hill receiver will we use as a band-aid the next two seasons? Andre Johnson? Larry Fitzgerald? Calvin Johnson? Marquese Colston? I don't know, they don't seem chippy enough for the Ravens. I think it's time to kick the tires on Boldin again.

I'm about as negative a fan as they come. I was on the fire Cam tip about a season before it happened. But I don't know if Pees is really the problem. We have a lack of talent on the defense that I don't think anyone could really fix through scheme. Without Suggs and especially without Dumerville and especially at the end of games, our pass rush is non existent. Without any type of pass rush our average at best secondary can't cover anyone. Now sure, we should have adjusted somehow to account for Barnridge, but a new DC doesn't stop him from catching a desperation lob between his knees. Bigger issue with me is the penalties, which lies squarely at Harbaugh's door. Every single game we have major boneheaded penalties. Roughing the passer wipes out an INT. Horrible hands to the face extends Browns drives in the redzone. Veterans line up in the neutral zone. By the way, for those last two, thanks Babin, in Ozzie we trust, right? It just seems like every drive you can count on us costing ourselves about 15 yards and a first down. Regardless, the season is over, whether the site wants to admit it or not. We are too injured and are in too big a hole to dig ourselves out now. We BARELY beat the Steelers without Ben when they missed two easy field goals. Our 1-4 record isn't a fluke, it's exactly what this team is at this point. I'm a fan, so I hope they win every game the rest of the season, but we are looking at 6-10 to be realistic.

You all complaining about the schedule are hilarious. We lost to the Raiders people. Who did you want them to schedule us against, Polk High? The Washington Generals? We can't run the ball. Our recievers can't get open. We don't generate a pass rush. And we can't cover anyone for an extended period of time. We aren't doing anything well. It's not the schedule, it's our horrible performance that has us in this position, and our front office that let us go into this season with these deficiencies.

I like the people saying we can't finish games. We can't start them either. Spotting 10 points to the Raiders and then getting outscored 14-0 at home in the first half is miserable.

"Sheesh, what did Baltimore do to the football gods?" If you have to ask you're not paying attention.

How many times do I have to watch us march down the field and kick a field goal instead of scoring a game sealing touchdown, just to watch an inferior opponent walk all over our defense for the win. I'd almost rather us be behind with the ball at the end of a game than ahead by less than 7 and our opponent having the ball.

Ed Reed. With two 'e's. He's only the best defensive back we've ever had.

Our wide receivers are horrible. Neg me away. Joe played great. If we can't get pressure without Suggs this is going to be a long season. Webb is never going to be where he was in 2012. It's sad, but true. We need to get him out of the lineup on non dime packages.

The NFL not allowing the game to be moved to Wednesday due to a BS Rosh Hashana excuse was the problem, not the Orioles. To move the game for that reason the Orioles, the Cubs (I think), and the MLBPA would of all had to sign off. The Orioles have incentive because they want to look good to a common fan base. But why in the world would the Cubs or the rest of the MLB players want to do it?

This is only true if you get caught. If the OTL story from ESPN is to be believed, clearly Belicheck thinks the risk is worth the reward. Also, in regards to the headsets last night, there is a Deadspin story the refutes a lot of the technical points in the NFL's statement. For example, NFL spokesman Michael Signora said "The coaches’ communications equipment, including the headsets, is provided by the NFL for both clubs use on game day." But an NFL.com article said "Bose shipped about 50 headsets to each stadium, for use by coaches on the sideline and in the booth, medical and officiating personnel. Teams travel with their own headsets," and the NFL Gameday Policy Manual says "Home clubs are responsible for the installation and maintenance of the coaching staff communications infrastructure." There's also some electrical talk that's above my pay grade.

It's not about perception, Belicheck couldn't care less about that, it's all results. The NFL is never changing the outcome of a game, so honestly who cares? Cheat, win games, get caught, get punished, get a standing ovation from your crowd. These guys will take any edge they can possibly get, because at the end of the day it's all about wins and losses.

You would be hard pressed to find a less accomplish receiver group in the NFL. And we have a competent QB too so there's really no excuses.