Ravens Raver

Of course Harbs expects the 2017 Ravens D to be great. After the massive investment over the last 2 years in Weddle, B Williams, Tony Jefferson, Carr, and 11 draft picks in the last 2 years, it had darn well better be.

The cupboard is pretty bare on the other side of the ball, where OCs have been fired like Browns' QBs, partially due to coaching ineptitude and certainly due to a lack of talent. There is precious little cap space to shore up the offense, so I'm not sure what to expect the TEAM to do in 2017.

Agreed. If this D doesn't produce this year, it's on Pees.

I too am nervous about the O. Apparently our strategy this year is to hold opponents to low scores, while our offense gets just far enough over the 50 to let Tucker pile up 3-pointers.

I agree with Bisciotti that firing isn't always the answer. You start down that road and you end up being the Cleveland Browns. The constant turnover at OC is part of the reason we are where we are today.

Yeah, I'm disappointed with this season, but it was an improvement over last year, we were in the hunt most of the way, and if not for a few key plays/series we'd be in the playoffs now. We just need to keep making progress. Onward and upward.

This is gonna sound like sour grapes, but I seriously think the NFL has to look at that "break the plane" rule.

To my mind Brown never got into the end zone, just waved the ball in that direction. Some part of the ball or the player's body should have to touch the ground inside the end zone for a score. Otherwise you only have to play to the 1 or 2 yard line, and stretch.

I seem to remember the Steelers doing this to us a couple years ago, with a receiver having both feet in the end zone, but leaning out to catch a short pass at the 1, with the ball never actually crossing the line. Even that was more understandable than that score last night.

As soon as we marched down the field on the first drive, my wife said, "We're gonna KILL these guys!" I said, "Just watch...they'll let it get to one score at the end." But even I didn't think it would get down to one point!

This would have been one of our better games this season if not for that stupid, stupid, STUPID pass play & interception. Everything else followed from that.

Article on the Patriots' own site gives advantage to Ravens in 5 of 6 aspects of the game.
http://www.patriots.com/news/2016/12/08/scouting-matchup-inconsistent-ravens-present-problems

1) The key to this game was getting the ball out fast. Now that the O line has solidified, Joe doesn't have to be watching out the corner of his eye for an incoming hit and can spend those precious seconds looking for his receiver. I think we ran that 3-steps-back/quickfire-to-Pitta-in-the-middle for half the game.

2) Finally saw Perriman shift into high gear on his score and plain outrun the defender, just like Torrey used to do. Am ready to see more of that.

3) I think the Ravens are one of the few teams who know we can march into Foxboro and beat the Patriots, assuming they don't cheat. And if we beat them, we can run the table from there to the playoffs.

One of the announcers (may have been postgame) made the point that Cox's snaps are so perfect, Koch doesn't even have to rotate the ball's stitches away from Tuck. They really are a precision machine, and with all the ribbing about Tuck's ego, I'm glad to see him give his teammates due credit.

Should change the title of this page from "LFW" to LOL or LMAO.

A 2.5-hour meeting analyzing the game play-by-play? Fans do that every Sunday in front of their TVs, and spend 3 hours or more at it.

Rehashing only goes so far. Pretty soon more heads need to roll than just the OC's.

My son went to WVU at the same time as Geno Smith and we saw him in a couple games there. He is not to be underestimated. As I recall, he had a very Tyrod-ish run game. Didn't watch him much as a Jet, though. Of course, since he took that shot in the mouth last year he might be a little shy about taking hits like a running back.

You have to wonder what might have been with Forsett still a Raven, if Trestman had been fired first.

  1 hour ago, RavensBaltimore said:

Anyone who thinks it's as simple as running more and throwing deep more is wrong. Other than at times against a couple of the league's worst run defenses, our run game has been awful. If the o-line doesn't improve, running more will do nothing but put us in more 3rd and longs.

As far as throwing deep more, our receivers need to get some separation(and catch the ball when it hits them in the hands), and our line needs to give Joe enough time to let his receivers get down field, and right now, neither is happening.

I agree. People want to hype this offense but really what do we have? No Julio Jones, no Mike Evans, no Antonio Brown like WR's. We have a 37 year old WR (SSS who's a beast but he's 37), we have a one trick speedster that's been let go by 3 teams (Wallace), a rookie (Perriman) and a undrafted FA (Aiken). We have a decent TE (Pitta) that has had 2 major hip surgeries. We have a fumble prone RB in West on his 3rd team. Not exactly a top talented offense.

This is not Brown, Bell, Ben. It's not Rodgers, Jordy, Cobb, Lacy. It's not Dak, Zeke, Dez. It's not Brady, Blount, Edelman, Gronk. It's not Carr, Murray, Amari, Crabtree. Yes, it's better than what we had last year but don't kid yourself, this is not a 30 point offense. I don't care if Vince Lombardi & Bill Walsh are calling plays. Our WRs (outside of SSS) CAN'T get open against 1 on 1 coverage. Our O-line has been horrible since Stanley went out - can't pass block, can't run block.

This offense is pretty easy to scheme against. I play press coverage because the WR can't get open against my CB's (also takes away the runs to the outside and the screen passes). I play safeties back and roll coverage to whoever is going deep (takes away any downfield passes). I keep my LB's in the box to stop the run and to blitz (Stops the run, takes away underneath passes). All that's left is checkdowns to the full back or TE for 5 or 6 yards - Sound familiar? I don't care what play you call, your personnel can't execute because they can't get open.

Not saying we can't win because we can. But with this personnel, it's gonna take mistake free football (no turnovers, no dropped passes) and will never put up 30 per game. Not until we get a legit #1 WR and a game-breaking RB.

Whew. After all the hype we've being hearing pre-season, this a splash of cold water in the face. Nicely put.

My wife & I have noticed our guys "play to prediction." If they're predicted winners, as they have been in all games so far this season, they start slow and end up in a close game. If they're predicted underdogs, they come out of the box fighting and are a good bet to score an upset over anybody in the league.

So the question is, how do we get these guys to start playing right from the kickoff?

"Good enough to compete with pretty much everyone, but not dominant enough to win by a mile."

Perfect description of the Ravens since the Super Bowl.

it's good seeing REX and ROB together on the sidelines,i hope they don't get fired and get a chance,their good for the league,their defense minded coaching.

I dunno...Rex was great as our defensive coordinator, but as a head coach he's been more controversial than successful. And it's getting easier to count the teams that Rob Ryan hasn't been fired from. Overrated.

I'm ready for Perriman to make good on all his promise. Receiver corps has lacked the deep-ball threat ever since we let go of Torrey Smith.

Good for Webby, willing to take instruction from Weddle. If not for injuries Webby would be a much bigger star, and I'm sure he knows it, but here he's showing that he's a team player, no prima donna.

Was anybody else struck by the fact that our two last-minute deals with other Ravens greats, Haloti and Ray Rice, didn't turn out so good?

Hate the Steelers? Hate the Bengals? Why choose? Hate both!

Wow, this made my heart beat faster. I hope all these guys stay healthy!

So if it's legal for a defender to bring down a receiver by the dreadlocks, is it legal for a receiver to take down a defender by the beard?

Wow, I feel better! Too soon to start thinking Super Bowl 2017?

How long do you want to wait for a turnaround? SInce the 2012 Championship we have been on a downhill slide. In 2013 we were 8-8, 3rd in division. In 2014, sure, we were 10-6 and went to the playoffs, yes, but still finished 3rd in division. (I have a quibble with the NFL that a team can be the best in the divisional playoffs and still end up ranked 3rd.) In 2015 we are 5-11 and third in AFCN for the third time.

3rd place for three years is not one bad year, but a trend. Spoiled is not the word you want to describe Ravens fans, let alone sad and pathetic. "Demanding the best," maybe? Something has got to change, and in this game that means personnel changes.

Holy smoke, this guy throws bullets. Not surprising we had a few drops, but his quickness and accuracy are pretty astounding.

Aiken, yes but with Perriman- I'd hold off on assuming he will "hold his own" next year. Maybe he will, but considering he missed his entire rookie training camp, preseason, and regular season he's got a long way to go to and a lot to prove. The fact that it was a non-contact knee injury that sidelined him (and a mysterious, puzzling one at that), and he's known primarily for his speed...idk, that certainly doesn't seem to bode well for him. I hope I'm wrong and he turns out to be the next Antonio Brown, but as far as I'm concerned the jury is still out on Perriman.

Every time I hear "Perriman" I think "Sergio."