frozen joe flacco fan

Yep, I know Dean Pees was a Linebackers Coach for the Ravens in 2011. If he were to be fired at this juncture, he would merely be a scapegoat for a much larger problem that you and others are unwilling to admit. Our FO let us down and failed to solve our biggest problem during the off-season. Who did they draft to help Jimmy Smith? Is Jimmy Smith totally healthy yet? Who did they bring in as FAs? Kendrick Lewis and Will Davis? Well, how has it worked out? How 'bout firing somebody from the FO? That might give us a better chance to win too!

With all due respect, it wasn't Dean Pees' defense who surrendered two 14 point leads last year in the AFC Championship. Unless I'm mistaken, Dean Pees didn't hand-pick the guys who played in the game. He just played with the hand he was dealt. To be sure, he didn't surrender the leads - the players on the field did. Similarly, it wasn't Chuck Noll who surrendered four scores in SB III to Joe Namath's upstart Jets. It was his players. But then, I wouldn't expect you to understand that because its based on facts, not fiction or emotion. Your commentary is both comical and conveniently biased. You assert that Dean Pees is responsible for 23 losses since being promoted to his current position in 2012. Yet, you neglect to mention his defense also contributed to 28 victories, not including his winning record in the playoffs. Were it not for a dropped pass by Lee Evans in the 2011 AFC Championship Game and two blown 14 point leads by our porous, patchwork quilt defense in the 2014 AFC Championship Game, we would have already have played in 4 SBs, three of which would have occurred during the Dean Pees era (no pun intended). Your further assert that 47% of the 23 losses can be directly attributed to a 4th quarter "fail on defense" whatever that means. I have neither the time nor the inclination to check the veracity of your statistic but I can only wonder to what you attribute the other 53% of the losses.

I feel like we're beating a dead horse and its all been said. GOOD --- Offense's passing game - 13 catches by SSS was a team record BAD --- Offense's running game - 36 yards in 13 carries by Justin Forsett and a lackluster performance from Taliferro UGLY --- Defense's passing yards allowed - Career day for Andy Dalton 383 yards & 225 to A.J. Green - Penalties reared their ugly head again and I must say most if not all of the penalties called against us were legit. For three weeks and counting, our team has been competitive but has not been able to get off the field. Against Peyton, he directed the longest drive of his career that lasted over 10 minutes. Against Oakland and Cincy, we surrendered leads late in the game. Our offense has not been able to put the ball into the end zone when the game was on the line. In game one, the offense played poorly. In game two, the defense played poorly. In game three, both the offense and the defense played poorly. The offense played poorly in the 1st half and the defense played poorly in all but the third quarter.

Well said! While Marlon Brown was wide open across the field, it would have been very risky for Joe to throw the ball across his body. He and a young John Elway are two of the only QBs I've ever seen that have that kind of arm strength but it still isn't the best idea. Joe can throw the ball close to 70 yards off his back foot. He's gifted. He just needs some speed-burners to catch the deep balls.

Facts are stubborn but they are facts. The main problem we had last year was a porous secondary which the FO failed to fix during the off-season. Dean Pees does not work in the FO. Fixing the #1 problem we had was the responsibility of Ozzie and his understudy, Eric DeCosta. I guess they didn't succeed unless a miraculous transformation takes place in the next 14 weeks. Incidentally, I did not call any of our players garbage, nor would I. I suspect they are doing the best they can. Its just that sometimes your best is not good enough (wrt a speech given to British troops by Winston Churchill prior to sending them into battle in WWII). As any good coach has to do, Dean Pees has had to adjust to the strengths of his players and he has. By ending up ranking 23rd in total defense last year when our run defense was in the Top 10 is a credit to his genius. When Jimmy Smith went down with an injury, Dean Pees took a group of players who resembled the keystone cops at times and nearly defeated the eventual SB champs and he did it without deflating a single ball. He should have been given consideration for the defensive coordinator of the year.

Joe threw a perfect ball to Lee Evans in the end zone. It was dropped and cost us a trip to the SB in 2011. Joe threw a perfect ball to Steve Smith at the goal line against the Broncos this year. It was dropped. It is hard to throw fades to receivers who are 5"-9" or receivers like Kamar Aiken who missed catching a great throw yesterday. As for deep throws, Joe has one of the best deep balls in the business. The desperation throw yesterday to a rookie TE speaks volumes. Joe chose to throw a long, deep bomb to Max Williams rather than to throw to a wide open Marlon Brown or Kamar Aiken. The rookie TE was able to stretch the field and Joe also had more confidence that he would catch the ball. That is a sad commentary on our #2 & #3 receivers who virtually gave Steve Smith no help. The combination of TEs, running backs and Michael Campanero had more catches than the #2 & #3 receivers. Joe does the best he can throwing the ball to a bunch of under-achievers. Right now, his best options are Steve Smith, then SSS and then Steve Smith again. Mr. Smith has the heart of a lion!

Nice rant but not based on facts. So, Josh Bynes, Haloti Ngata. James Ihedigbo and Josh Wilson played well yesterday. Aren't the Lions 0-3 too?

Ditto my earlier response to Ravensdfan. We need more playmakers on both sides of the ball. I was loyal to Cam longer than most but was finally convinced he was a major part of the problem because we had the playmakers then and still couldn't sustain enough drives and score enough points . Neither Dean Pees nor Marc Trestman has enough playmakers to execute their game plans as effectively as they would like. In 1968, the Baltimore Colts had one of the greatest defensive coaches in the history of the NFL and we lost SB III 16-7. Our opponents managed four scoring drives against the Colts. That defensive coach was Chuck Noll. The problem was not Chuck Noll; it was an over-confident defense who took its opponent too lightly and failed to execute when it had to. I wish the problem this defense has would be over-confidence. Unfortunately, the reverse is true. They don't play with enough confidence.

I'm not into excuses. The thing about excuses is everybody has one. There's no excuse for the way we have lost our first three games. I give credit where credit belongs. I believe that our success against the NE Patriots is due in no small part to Dean Pees. He knows Tom Brady's tendencies and Bill Belichick's better than anyone else on our team. Unfortunately, other former Ravens coaches like Marvin Lewis, Hue Jackson, Jack Del Rio and Gary Kubiak know the same thing about Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh. Hum, aren't they the coaches of the teams we've played so far? How'd you like the football that was batted into the air and hit one of our defensive end's helmet? I suppose that was Dean Pees' fault? That was a certain pic-six if our DE had better awareness. Our problem is we need more playmakers on both sides of the ball. Dean Pees' job is to put his players in a position to make big plays. I think he did. The execution was poor to non-existent. With the exception of four defenders who combined to make three big plays, a sack, a fumble recovery for a TD and an interception to prevent a TD in the end zone, our defenders did not make enough big plays and could not get off the field when they had to. Its that simple. Defense is a streetcar named desire; you either have it or you don't. We have now surrendered 84 points in three games. By my arithmetic, that's more than half the total we gave up in 16 games in 2000. If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. That's where Dean Pees comes in. If we are to turn this around, he and the other coaches must be a part of the solution. BUT, the main part of the problem is on the field, not Dean Pees. In the off-season, the front office did not solve the major problem we had last year --- the keystone cops secondary. Yesterday, it looked like deja vu. Jimmy is the best we have and he got torched time after time. Bringing in cast-offs from other franchises who have been less successful than ours is not the answer. Thirty-seven of the 53 roster players for the Bungles were drafted by them. Just out of curiosity, it would be interesting to know how many of our 53 were drafted by the Ravens. I don't know the answer. I'm just curious.

I'm really baffled as to what you suggest Dean Pees should do. He's darned if he blitzes and darned if he doesn't. Your comment about Ray, Ed, Sizzle and a healthy Haloti was spot on but they aren't part of the equation. As you point out, the truth is always somewhere in the middle but Pees is not blessed with an abundance of playmakers, especially now that T-Sizzle is lost for the season. I'm not as convinced as you are that our defensive talent is obvious. Assuming you're correct, don't forget the quote from a pretty good Olympic Hockey coach, named Herb Brooks who said, "Hard work will defeat talent when talent fails to work hard." Its going to take a lot of hard work for Elvis' Purple Gang to turn this season around. They have surrendered 56 points in two games. That's more than a third of the points our defense allowed in 16 games in 2000. First, it was Cam's fault. Now, its Dean's fault. When will we wake up and smell the roses? Our D against the run is OK but our D against passing is still way too suspect. We cannot play bump & run press defense against the best WRs in the league w/o getting burned nor can we blitz to bring more pressure w/o getting burned so our defenders play way off their targets and we aren't very good at jumping routes. Didn't T-Sizzle lead the team in pics during the exhibition season?

The best I can come up with at this point is Elvis and His Purple Gang. Somebody has to step up and my bet's on Tiny E, that is, Elvis will be the leader of the pack for the rest of the year.

The NFL has wanted parity for a long time and they are finally getting it, e.g., Oakland beating us. Most games come down to one or two big plays on either side of the ball. The two teams we've played have made the big plays with the game on the line but we haven't. Ravens fans who have underestimated the loss of Terrell Suggs should consider all of the big plays he has made in critical situations. Our defense does not even remotely resemble the intimidating defenses we have had in recent years. Neither does our offense. That being said, we have been competitive in both of our first two games. Why have we been competitive despite having lost Ray Rice, Dennis Pitta, Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones and Anquan Boldin as well as an All-Pro center on offense and Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs (this season), Jimmy Smith (last season), Paul Krueger, Ellerbe, Pollard, Ihedigbo et al on defense since the end of 2012? The answer is clear. This season is looking eerily reminiscent of 2005, not 2007. In '05, we wound up with a record of 6-10. There is only one reason we will wind up with a better record than that this year and, again, the answer is clear for those knowledgeable fans who are willing to admit it. So, what is it? Quite frankly, there is very little difference between a 6-10 team and a 10-6 team, especially when the league has achieved its goal of parity. Fortunately, the Cincinnati game will not be played on paper. It will be played on the M&T Bank field on Sunday and we will win because "a hungry dog hunts best." Some of you loyal, stalwart fans have already thrown in the towel and are looking forward to next year's draft. Its a good thing for Coach Harbaugh that you're just fans, rather than players. Unless SSS gets a cheap flag for pulling down a 6'-2" defender on a game-winning catch & run or one of our defenders tips a ball into the waiting hands of A.J. Green who scores a TD, we'll win by a field goal by a score of 31-28. But really, if we have no chance to win, as some of you seem to suggest, why even play the game? What I love about our team and admire is that they never quit playing. Sounds like many "fans" on this blog have already quit on the team after two close losses and exciting finishes. Well, as the old saying goes, "quitters never win and winners never quit."

For real?!!!! Nobody is forcing you to read my posts. I quoted Donald Trump because he was quoted as saying Joe Flacco is elite. The last I heard this is a free country and he is entitled to his opinion and so am I. Read my lips ---- Joe Flacco is elite 4 Real!!!!!!!

Can you handle the truth, Truth? Re-wind the tape of the game and back it up to a critical sequence when our D gave up a 1st down on a 3rd & 18 deep in Denver territory. Also, our D allowed two long, sustained drives (one set a record for the longest drive in Peyton's illustrious career). The last drive left us with very little time in the game. Yes, the D played well against an aging superstar who can barely throw a deep ball anymore with any type of consistency. So, there it is. Yes, in spite of the above, Joe woulda been the hero had it not been for two dropped balls on the final drive. And as for the D, they need to get off the field so Joe can do his thing which is for the moment to make a cast of mediocre receivers look much better than they are.

I agree that the Ravens will win on Sunday and there are many reasons why they will win. I'm sure John Harbaugh and his staff will take your analytical reasoning to heart. We will win because our team is better than yours and our QB is better than your QB. In this day of parity in the NFL, games are usually decided by a couple big plays by the defense and/or the offense. We shoulda, coulda and woulda won both of our road games if we had made a big play with the game on the line. More games are lost in the NFL by the losing team rather than being won by the winning team and that is what happened to us in our first two games. We beat ourselves. On Sunday, Cincinnati will incur the curse of Edgar Allan Poe and be beaten into submission by the winless Ravens. Our team will finally put together a complete game by the offense and defense and special teams. I have it on reliable source that you Bengal fans are very uncomfortable with Andy Dalton as your QB. Let it be so on Sunday.

Well, its hard to argue with the facts. Facts are stubborn. FACT: Most of Joe's greatest & favorite Go-To weapons have been taken away from him since our SB run in 2012. Correct me if I'm wrong but those weapons include Ray Rice, Dennis Pitta, Owen Daniels, Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin and Jacoby Jones, not to mention an All-Pro center. And all of those weapons were replaced by whom? Steve Smith & Justin Forsett, right???? Yeah, I'd say he's definitely elite and Donald Trump, among others, would agree. Despite the loss of all these offensive players, he played the last two seasons without some pretty good defensive players, including Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, just to name a couple. Now, he's playing w/o Ngata and Suggs. FACT: Were it not for a horrific dropped pass in the end-zone in 2011 in Foxboro by someone called Lee Evans, Joe would have been in his 1st SB and surely would have soundly defeated the NY Giants. FACT: Were it not for the keystone cops secondary we had last year (who were comical at times) , Joe would have been playing in his 3rd SB in 7 seasons with our team. Yes, it was the elite Joe Flacco who led us to two 14 point leads in the AFC Championship Game. FACT: Despite losing so many weapons who have been replaced by one very outstanding veteran, SSS, and a fortuitous find in Forsett plus several other castoffs from other NFL teams, Joe has had his team in position to win both of first two games on the road this year only to watch the defense fail when the games were on the line. FACT: Our final record in 2005 was 6-10. The only reason our record will be better than that this year is because we have one of the best QBs in the NFL on our team. He is capable of throwing the ball 70 yards in the air when he has someone who is fast enough to get upfield and catch his effortless bombs. Last year it was Torrey Smith; I hope it will be Breshad Perriman sooner rather than later for Joe's sake. Alternatively, our organization should deal "His Eliteness" to another team whose fans appreciate his gifted skill set rather than to have him subjected to the criticism he receives here in BMore from a lot of spoiled and ungrateful fans. FACT: Joe's elite by your own definition, not mine. After this year's two Super Bowl QBs --- Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady --- who's any better than Joe. The answer is NOBODY.

Yep! I don't do cute. Joe's elite. How many QBs in the league threw for more yardage than Joe this week and had a better completion percentage than 71% and a passer rating north of 100 with a mediocre supporting cast of receivers. Beyond Steve Smith Senior whose already announced his retirement, who has ever heard of Aiken, Gillmore, Brown or Waller? How many different receivers did Joe throw to yesterday? He isn't the problem as you well know. Its hard to soar like an eagle when you're surrounded by turkeys. Here's the problem. The FO failed to solve all the problems we had in the offseason. We lost Haloti Ngata, Owen Daniels, Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones & Gary Kubiak, not to mention the keystone cops we had in the defensive backfield last year. Oh well! Who replaced them in the starting lineups and are their replacements upgrades. Arguably, none are with the possible exception of Crockett and, let's face it, Joe is making him look like a better TE than he is. The kid has great heart but that's it. He's a good blocking TE who happens to be on the receiving end of a lot of elite passes from an elite QB. That's all! If you can't see the difference between him and Pitta or Heap, I'm sorry.

Don't panic and stay the course! By season's end this can be a good football team. Right now, we're not!!! There's no such thing as the status quo. We can either get better or worse. Which will it be?

I did not see the game. So, I don't know what the problem was but it sounds like we apparently didn'tget enough pressure on their "HOF" QB or our press coverage stinks or a combination of both. Didn't Carr complete 32 of 46 passing attempts for 350+ yards and three TDs? Anyway, our elite QB will continue to make average receivers like Aiken and Gillmore look better than they are until the two rookies are ready to step in and take over. Get Joe some comparable weapons to throw the ball to and we'll see the January Joe by whom we've become spoiled. As long as this bunch of mediocre receivers is playing, its not going to happen. Other than SSS, who are Joe's playmakers? If we can't win on a day when the offense scores 33 points, we have serious problems. We all know that the team needed to sign a FA WR in addition to drafting Perriman. It didn't happen. The Wizard of Oz is looking more like Wiley Coyote.

By season's end, our starting receivers will include Perriman and Williams as two of the top 3. For the time being, we have zero as in nada zone busters (aka speed burners) in the lineup and a starting Tight End who has great heart but not great hands. Last week, Joe threw two perfectly thrown balls to the goal line and both were dropped. One was lobbed over the head of a defender into the hands of a 5'-9" receiver who dropped the pass, eerily reminiscent of a similar pass thrown to Lee Evans in 2011. Can you imagine Dez Bryant or Jordy Nelson or Antonio Brown dropping that pass? The other pass was a perfectly executed "jump ball" pass thrown to our second year Tight End who could not catch it despite being taller than the defender. Can you imagine Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Gates or Jason Witten not catching that pass in the clutch? Of course not. Both balls were in the words of Trent Dilfer "dimes". The lob passes we see Joe throwing are underthrows simply because he is attempting to match the velocity of his throws with the speed of his slightly less than speedy receivers. Great tight ends catch balls like NBA power forwards and clamp down on balls with vise-grip like hands ala Anquan Boldin. Crockett Gilmore has great heart but he is not a Heap or a Pitta. Until Joe Flacco gets the offensive weapons he needs to complement his talent, he will continue to have to manufacture drives with a group of less than spectacular receivers some of whom belong on the bench in a support role. For those who can handle the truth, that's the truth. On the defensive side of things, I can understand how Joe could rack up almost 400 yards against a secondary with two of its starters out but I'm mystified how Derek Carr could light up our supposed vastly improved secondary.

I agree wholeheartedly. What we need most of all is a TE like Tony Gonzalez, i.e., a receiver who reaches out to receive the ball like a power forward basketball player. By season's end, this may well be Max Williams, if not Crockett Gilmore. When Joe throws a jump ball at the goal line with the game on the line, our TE must catch it. That's all!

Its amazing there aren't more concussions resulting from the celebratory helmet butts some players like Tom Brady exchange with offensive lineman after scoring TDs. As for my comment calling out Monroe for not playing through a concussion, I'll admit that I was wrong because I don't know how severe the concussion was. Only Eugene Monroe and God knows how he feels right now. I can't feel his pain. It must have been a pretty severe concussion because it appears he will not play in Oakland. I just find it incongruent that the NFL's policy regarding concussion protocol is so tough and yet the other factors that obviously contribute to concussions go un-noticed and/or un-enforced. My bad!

I understand your point and agree he should sit down until he clears the protocol. Of course, there are many unreported instances of head trauma in the NFL. If each of them was reported and properly treated, there wouldn't be enough players on opposing teams to play on a given Sunday so there's a reality gap somewhere in this discussion. If the NFL took these injuries as seriously as some of its fans, it seems to me they would treat the disease, so to speak, rather than the symptoms. What's beneath the 2 inches of synthetic turf most teams play and practice on? Solid concrete, that's what! Why do officials paid by the NFL allow opposing teams to pile-drive a defenseless receiver or rip another player's helmet off or step on another players head? Those factors can cause head trauma too. Oh, that's right! They are more concerned about under-inflated footballs! Removing a player from a game because he is suffering from possible concussion symptoms is a good thing but it is merely treating the symptoms and not the disease.

Its an occupational choice just like the one Floyd Merriweather had to make.

No, its not just a game, man. Its a business. But that's beside the point. The concussion protocol,as I understand it, relies on self-reporting. That can be a double-edged sword. Unfortunately, some players do not report having symptoms while other players may report having symptoms whether they do or not. I think that's called the "honor code." It works in some arenas but not others. If every player who busted his butt for his team and his fans reported possible concussion symptoms after a violent collision that is the nature of the sport, there would not be enough players left on the field to continue playing. If on the other hand, you are correct that it is just a game as you state, then I'm sure you'd agree it is not the same game it once was when players played both ways. I have much more respect for players from that by-gone era of pro football. In fact, the last person to play both ways in Pro Football died just recently. He was a center and a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles. I wonder how many concussions he had.