bioLarzen

I don't think that's so odd. In fact, I've never hated him either. Sure, it's always good to see him on his back, and that time his cleats' sole saw the sun courtesy of Bart Scott is always heart-warming to watch... but that's not hatred, that's rivalry. And it's a classic rivalry, that may seem to be full of hatred on the surface and at the fan-base level, but has always been really based on a tremendous amount of mutual respect. Like any real rivalry.

Actually, I'm always quite baffled at how a lot of people take the Pro Bowl so seriously. Where the "best" players are supposed to be honoured in a sport that has tons of exact and correct stats to measure performance - and the "best ones" are still determined by voting... It's like determining the talles guy from a given set by, instead of comparing their actual heights, having others vote about who's the tallest... IMHO it's rather hard to take it any kind of seriously...

Well, that happens. As a teacher, I once had to cancel a class because about 15 minute sinto the class the exact same thing happened to me. Lasted for about 20 minutes.

The "all-time worst call" apparently was appointing Mornhinweg to OC - which, as everybody knows, was Harbaugh's. So, it's just fair he takes responsibility...

What is Interesting about this is that Not Only Flacco is dealing with a new OC each year for the last 8 years but so is Harbaugh. And to boot he fired one at 6 games into the season this year. So not to disagree with all the pundits here but i think there is some relevance to the situation. Actually we should be quite surprised, many teams that change coaches and struggle fall flat on their faces. At least the Ravens scratch and claw, fight and screw up. I've been saying it all along: there are certain positions that the current Ravens FO seems to be unable to correctly gauge and understand: we don't seem to have scouts to spot WR talents - what was the last time the Ravens picked a really good - and I mean Pro Bowl or HOF caliber - WR? The correct answer: never. Not once in 20 year. Safety seems another spot the Ravens scouts don't seem to be able to correctly identify talents of - Reed seems much more an anomaly than the trend. Also, there are couching positions that seem to baffle our FO - OC being the most obvious one. With the sole exception of Kubiak - who was indeed a bullseye - every single one of our HC's of the last 10 or so seasons proved to be painfully and spectacualrly inept. We're at the point where bringing back Cam Cameron would seem to be an actual upgrade over what we've had the past two seasons... and that I think tells the story for any Ravens-fan. Many people criticize the player - I, on the contrary, think it's the players who make Harbaugh and our OC whoever he is, look bad instead of catastrophic. but a good roster will never be successful in spite of a bad coaching staff. That's not how the NFL works.

There's only one - IMHO fatal - flaw about this: NFL has been steadily shifting towards the offense. The O has been getting more and more protection, the D is allowed to do less and less without a sea of laundry landing on the grass. Therefore teams relying on their D are getting obsolete real fast. We're nearing - or maybe already at - the point where no matter how good your D is, the rules make it impossible to flourish and survive on the production oif your defense. Hate to bring it up as an example here, but the steelers seem to have understood this, turning their D-heavy team into an O-driven one. And, even if it sounds like a blasphemy here, I still think that's what the Ravens should do too. And it wouldn't even take an awful lot IMHO: a serviceable OC and a HC that doesn't hate - OK: neglect - the O as much, and understands it better than Harbaugh apparently does. I believe we have the rostrer to be a much, much better team than we currently are -. and to have a much, much more productive O than we currently have. The problem is at the sidelines.

Pees has no desire for a HC job, he's not going anywhere. We need to get Norv Turner to be our OC next year. Sadly, we can all remember how Gary Kubiak said he'll entertain no offers and remain in Baltimore - about a week before he was lured away by Elway... Also, Bruce Arians said a good couple of times that he's not really into the idea of being a HC, when he was in Pittsburgh... And now he's a HC. So, I would definitely not rule out Pees being open to offers if they receives them... Let's hope I'm wrong about this though.

Oh, and one more thing: I'"d be delighted to see Mornhinweg and Harbaugh go - but, as things are going, we'll see the two - or at least Harbaugh stay, and Pees - our only worthy coach at this point - leave for a HC job...

So, we're at the point when our beloved Ravens can't even win in a way that leaves us happy. Yep, a W is a W - but we are not the Browns or Jags to be happy about any W, no matetr how it was achieved... Yep, there are some games where the W is the ONLY thing (the Super Bowl, any palyoff game, any steelers game, any Pats game) - but other times the game is also important. And today was just disheartening. When we hoped the O would maybe play something as good as the D - the D tried to play as bad as the O... and all this before the steelers game... If things don't change radically in a week, it's gonna be a whitewash in Pittshburgh... and not in our favor. So far we had an O that faltered, playing frighteningly inconsistently, but at least we had a D to rely on. Today we had the same O - with a D that didn't resemble the one we've had so far... This was the game I've given up on Harbaugh. I simply can't believe in him anymore, sorry. And even if we end up winning the Super Bowl (yeah, I know...) I won't ever believe in him. This season was about his unraveling. Last season there was all the injuries to put the blame on - this season it's become painfully obvious that it's not the roster to blame. I'm convinced we have the players to be much, much better a team than who we currently are. I'm more than sure that if we had the coaching staff half as good as the Pats have, we'd long be in the playoffs... But we have Harbaugh and Mornhinweg... and a team that's simply no fun to watch, but 3 hours of mostly agony. Please, Steve... give us back our entertaining Ravens. We can be thankful we have Pees and a lot of great players who are somehow able to counter all the coaching nightmare we've seen so far...

"“I take responsibility for this happening,” Rosburg said. “I take it very personally. It’s my fault that he didn’t have better opportunities to return and really show what he can do. We didn’t block well enough for him, we didn’t coach well enough for him, and when I talked to Devin, as you might expect, his response was, ‘It’s a team thing.’ He took full responsibility, and he understands that we all have to do this together. It was telling on his character, and that’s the kind of man he is.” Sorry, Jerry, but I call BS here. If, as you say, it wasn't Hester's fault that he wasn't nearly as effective as hoped - then why was he released in the first place? Was he fired because his support cast didn't do a good enough job???

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...

And for 6 of those 8 years, you watched Flacco lead the Ravens in the play-offs including winning a SB. SMH....Some people are just miserable pessimists ... and others still see the playoff Flacco of years ago when he utterly obviously isn't the same player now... Do you think that's closer to reality?

As for winning out the remaining 3 games... Could happen - but losing out would not be a shocker either. To me it looks like we'll win one and lose two, finishing the worst possible way (8-8, nowhere near good enough for the playoffs, but taking us back to around the 17-20 range for the draft): the Eagles are definitely beatable, but the two final road games are gonna be more than tough. Yep, the steelers game is always a 50-50, but with Flacco's apparent indifference this season coupled with the perceived inaptitude at the coaching level makes it very hard to me to see this O scoring more than 15-18 points - and you rarely win in pittsburgh with so few points... And then, last week, the Bengals, with Green almost surely back... And we all know what that almost invariably means for the Ravens... Even if we find a way to beat the steelers, the Dalton-Green tandem can easily sink our playoff boat. Yep, it's always week to week in the NFL - but right now I would say opur playoff hopes are, even if it's in our hands, slim. With a so low efficiency O, they definitely are.

There's one thing seldom mentioned - one that I think was painfully apparent last nioght. Flacco has been quoted several times throughoput his career saying football is a very simple game. And eindeed, he's been often criticized for playing too siple: no variation at all in his pre-snap and snap routine, play-reading so repetitive it's almost automatic at times, making it extremely easy for opposing D's to anticipate, and maybe his most annoying of antics - an apparent total lack of a sense of urgency when there is urgency - mainly in the ends of halves. Tens of seconds flat out wasted as the O sluggishly jogs - or often walks! - up to the new LOS after a completion, with less than a minute on the clock and one timeout... And then passes/runs going to anywhere but towards the sideline, with no chance of stopping the clock... The O's 2-minute routine has become a genuine shame. The most obvious example might have been the Cowboys-game where down by 2 scores, Flacco orchestrated a 2.-minute drill that, although kept proceeding down the field, was slower than a snail, mostly passes and runs up the middle with no chance to strop the clock, and arrived at the red zone with about 10 seconds on the clock, with no timeout... And that was supposed to be enough for a touchdown, a recovered onside kick and making it to at least FG distance with the clock stopped... The "pace" and total lack of a sense of urgency on the O's - mainly Flacco's - side ALONE made it impossible to save that game. He gave the O no chance. Yep, Joe, NFL-level football can be played as a very simple game. But it can also be played as a very, very complicated, nuanced and intricate one. You know who looks at NFL football like this? Bill Belichick. Check his success rate and decide whether he's wrong thinking about football as a compléicated game, or you insisting that football is a simple game even at the NFL level... Flacco's attitude IMHO needs a serious, decisive change. Being cool even when most QB's aren't has its advantages - but it also makes him look like he couldn't care less whether the game is won or lost... And while the results more or less came, nobody thought it would actually be the case - but now that they don't come so "easily" anymore, one starts to wonder whether Joe values W's as much as anybody who's ever achieved greatness in the game, has or does...

Agreed. Dude looks like he wanted one more season of pay before he hangs it up. OZ gotta quit with this one player away mentality and getting vets instead of developing young guys. Campanero, Asa, Reynolds, could be on the field watching the ball bounce. Campanaro (not Campanero) gets injured by breathing and donning a gameday jersey; Asa Jackson can make two types of plays: genuinely brilliant ones and boneheaded - usually mental - blunders my grandma wouldn't make; Reynolds showed in the pre-season that he's nowhere near making an impact yet. Why do you think Ozzie would keep Hester on the roster is there was a viable replacement in house at his disposal?

I guess this game gave us the perfect answer to the question whether the O's production v the Dolphins was an aberration or the start of some spectacular improvement... Let's hope someone can finally convince Ozzie / the owner / whoever needs to be convinced that the biggest obstacle between this team and real playoff hopes is a legitimate OC. Actually, I'm a bit shocked it isn't apparent to everyone in the Castle - 2014 wasn't so long time ago...

There's only one way to beat the pats at home: to play as bravely and aggressively as possible. There's no "cautious" way about it. You have to putt all your chips on the zero: extreme risk, extreme reward. You won't beat them unless you're willing to take the risk of getting badly beaten. We won't have to "play to win the game" - we'll have to play to annihilate them, to inflict as much damage as possible. We'll have to jump on the brake pedal and never step off it until the game's over - totally regerdless of how the game is standing.

It's been a common wisdom that the offensive success of the partiots mainly rests on two pillars: their immensively massive playbook, and Brady's excellence in spotting the weakest spot of the opposing D and keep beating it time and again - like he kept throwing at Cary Williams in 2012, or at the middle of the field in 2014... Ergo, the only way to beat the pats - assuming they have a good day - is for the secondary to play a flawless game. If that happens, and the O plays anything close to their A game, we have a chance. If not, we don't.

Show me a GM who never whiffed a 1st or 2nd round pick...

I know that has been the conventional wisdom, but DEN only has a 1 game lead on us and MIA is now behind us due to head-to-head. I suppose you can point to our difficult schedule, but DEN doesn't exactly have a cake-walk to finish the season. MIA finishes at BUF and hosts NE. A 9-7 team can still make this thing and it isn't that far-fetched. Time to start working that ESPN playoff machine! Well, you're right of course - but to me it merely say that us getting as playoff berth with, say 9-7 isn't unlikely. To me it doesn't make it too likely. But hey, let life prove you right - I won't be bitter about it ;)

Assuming we end up 9-7 with losses to Pit and NE. I agree. I think 10-6 gets us in no matter what. For the first time all year 10-6 seems possible. Why would we lose to Pittsburgh? Weve beat them the last 3 times we played them. It is of no importance. That's gonna be a new game. The fact that we've beat them the last four games we met means nothing in this respect. Just like the fact that the Bengals beat us 5 straiught didn't mean a thing a week ago.

It still seems we'll probably have to win our remaining home game, and beat the steelers at Heinz field. If both happen, we can lose thew other two games, and still make the playoffs - the steelers would have to win out to kae it 10-6 to beat our 9-7. If we win those two games PLUS beat Cincinatti Week#17, we're in no matter what the steelers play. That said, none of our 4 remaining games are gimmies the least... We could end up losing any of them if we don't bring our A game - like we did today. If we do however, we can just as much win any of the four games although I'm afraid even our A game won't be enough in Foxboro... but it's in January we have to ebat the pats, not in December Seeing how the O played today, I think a 9-7 is a fair expectation (the pats i think are still too much, and Green will probably play Wek #17 which never bodes well for us, does it...). Which is still only enough for a nailbiter, as the other 3 games of the steelers are all fairly easily winnable (@BUF, @CLE, vCIN) - and indeed winning them all would put them at 10-6... But football games were never won or lost in theory, but on the field, weren't they? So, we'll see...

The obvious difference between the 2012 season and now is that by the time we allowed ourselves a little slack, we were comfortably ahead in the division - and even if we somehow let it slip, we would still make the plaoffs at the top seeded wild card spot. This time we're only on top by virtue of half a tie breaker over the steelers - and if we don't win the division, we'll hardly make it as a wild card team... But with all this: let's hope it'll end up being exactly like the 2013 season

OK, this was a complete game at last. For the first time this season we saw a playoff-caliber Ravens.

Now you only have to convince the coaches... who, unlike us fans, see them both every day in trainings...