frozen joe flacco fan

The Harvard study to which you refer was done by someone who I dare say never played a down of football. So, I'm not as impressed by the study as you apparently are. You just regurgitated the Giants' right tackle's quote about backpedalling and getting slapped in the head but you failed to include their left tackle's quote about technique and protecting oneself. Eugene Monroe was brought in to replace Michael Oher because Oher had poor technique. If Oher's replacement is not playing because he is getting hurt, it could have something to do with his technique, BmoreBird22! That is what's embarrassing. Having said that, the lack of consistently great play from our left tackles does make me appreciate the stellar play of Jon Ogden that much more. As for your legitimate and considerate concern about his health, I suppose you are equally outraged about professional boxers who do not wear any head gear since it is the nature of that sport to get concussions. Here's to a speedy & full recovery for Eugene whether he plays for us or some other team next year. Frankly, I'm more concerned about his heart than I am about his head, no pun intended.

No. What's really disappointing is the play of our offensive tackles. Monroe left a pre-season game with a bruised forearm and left the opening game against the Broncos after the first series with a concussion. How many other starting O-linemen in the NFL have sustained concussions this year? I would be surprised if he was the first offensive left tackle to be head-slapped by a defensive end. There just seems to be a pattern with this LT leaving games. Maybe, he's just injury-prone but if the heat is too hot in the kitchen, what do you do? Maybe Eugene Monroe should take up a non-contact sport like table tennis. BTW, your post was the most educated & non-embarrassing posts I've ever read. Why? Obviously,you are entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. You have every right to be embarrassed by my post. That is your prerogative as a blogger but it was not uneducated. Baltimore's offensive tackle play in the Denver game was woeful, including Monroe's play before he was unfortunately head-slapped if that is what happened. I missed it.

Eugene Monroe has been a major disappointment. How many times in NFL history has an O-lineman been removed from a game due to concussion protocol. C'mon man! I don't know how he got the concussion but it is rare that an O-lineman leaves a game for that reason. We need to find someone who can play LT and protect our elite QB the same way the other good teams do.

It should be a V but it won't be a gimme. We do not play well against former coaches. The other X-factor which is of major concern is the under-performance of our offense notwithstanding Denver's D is pretty solid. The O-line play was horrible as was the play-calling. Not until the very end of the game did we involve the TEs to any degree and by that time it was too little, too late. One cannot help but wonder if the offense over-achieved last year to win games for Coach K, rather than for Coach Harbaugh. Last year's offense included three of Coach K's former players --- JJ, Justin Forsett & Owen Daniels. Two of them now play elsewhere and, oh yeah, Torrey is with Anquan. Otherwise, this is the same offense we had last year and yet we could only score 13 points in our opening game after a disappointing pre-season. It really also seems like the lack of continuity we have with OCs is becoming a real issue with Joe and the rest of the offense. As a case in point, Dean Pees should havebeen the defensive coach of the year last year. There is something to be said for continuity at key coaching positions.

GOOD - Our defense held Peyton Manning to no TDs BAD - Offense allowed a 51 yard return after an interception; one of the commentators commented that Steve Smith made no effort to try to break up the INT by getting underneath the defender. Granted, Joe apparently telegraphed the pass. It was an extremely poor effort on both ends. UGLY - Two dropped passes on perfectly thrown balls on potential game-winning drive. T-Sizzle is gone for the season and there is NOBODY ready to carry his cleats, much less to fill his shoes. So, the next man up is ?????????????? Aside from the above, perhaps the most costly and overlooked play of the game was the inability of our defense to keep the Broncos from picking up a critical 1st down when we had them backed up deep in their territory on a 3rd & 18. That was reminiscent of last year's play by the keystone cops backfield. Final pic by Darian Stewart literally just added insult to injury. The game should have been a Phyrric victory by us; instead, it was a wasted opportunity. On a day we held the Denver offense to just over 200 yard of total offense, we lost. Its that simple. Bottom line: everybody did not play like a Raven. You can fill in the names as well as I can.

Well, it wouldn't take a wizard or a rocket scientist to predict a Patriots victory over the Squeelers tonight. That being said, even a wicked troll from Pittsburgh or Cincinnati would not be so bold as to make suchan evil prediction for our beloved Ravens' final record. So, stand up and identify yourself! Are you a wizard or a troll? And supposing you are a "wizard", your wizard certification should be immediately revoked. Even if you are a WIT, that is a Wizard in Training, you should have more faith in The Wizard of Oz. Remember, "In Oz we Trust". In order for the Ravens to wind up with a final record of 5-11, they would have to go 1-7 in the second half of the season after going 4-4 in the first half. Given the unbelievably poor scheduling by the NFL, going 4-4 in the first half is a very real scenario, especially with 5 of our first 7 games on the road. Hopefully, we will exceed your expectations and be 5-3 at the halfway mark and go 6-2 in the second half. Realistically, I think 10-6 will be a stretch, given the strength of schedule and the unfavorable scheduling by the league.

The answer to the OP's question seems rather obvious to me. It appears we will not address the backup QB situation until Joe gets hurt. That's not sound judgment on Ozzie's part but it seems to be the reality. I'd rather have a veteran QB like Marc Bulger was backing up Joe than someone like Tyrod who has very limited in-game experience. If the Ravens keep Tyrod on the roster, they should bring him in to run a pistol offense play occasionally to keep the defense honest and train him to be the holder on place-kicks, again, just to keep the defense honest. As it is, he's simply a cheap insurance policy on Joe and the return on investment is poor IMHO. Joe would be much better off with a veteran, journeyman QB behind him. I would think that drafting a QB would be very low on our priority list right now and a waste of good draft pick.

There are times when you have to cut your losses and move on. This may be one of those times. Jimmy Smith struggled at first but I could see him progressing and learning from his mistakes. Elam regressed if anything this year. He's taking up a roster spot we could use for someone who wants to play. Playing in the NFL is not a right; its a privilege.

I've never felt the same way about Matt Elam as I felt about Jimmy Smith when he was struggling in his 1st two years. Elam has not shown the same type of athleticism and speed. That being said, he may have earned a reprieve in Sunday's game against the Browns but it's only a right to compete for a roster spot in 2015. When all is said and done, I'm not sure he deserves a spot on next year's roster based on what we've seen to date. I wouldn't place a lot of stock in his performance against an undrafted rookie Cleveland QB.

Yep! We've got to get rid of some of the dead wood and send them to Deadwood,SD!

He looks like a keeper. He competed yesterday and contests catches unlike some of his backfield mates. I think there may be something to build on with him.

While I would like to see the Ravens re-sign Dennis, it would not be the end of the world if we didn't. I do not think that his absence last year was the main reason we didn't make the playoffs. We need a Jeremy Shockey or Mark Bavarro type of TE. Pitta is not the physically tough TE we need. I give him the props he deserves for coming back from a potentially career-ending injury but we need someone like Gronk or Graham. If he gets tagged, he should get TE money period. He's nowhere close to being a WR.

Great news! I had purchased a white T-Sizzle jersey with the Super Bowl patch on it before the extension was announced. Way to go, front office and congrats to T-Sizzle!!

Thanks! I've enrolled in an remedial reading course this morning at your suggestion. I've been reading some of your posts to get some practice reading and it is amazing how many posts it takes you to get your incorrect point across. There are also remedial writing courses out there! I said Joe could throw short passes as well as long passes if that's what his OC & HC wanted. I stand by that. I don't need you to rattle off statistics about his accuracy. His accuracy has obviously been affected by the number of long passes he was required to throw. His passing accuracy and Ray Rice's performance would both be enhanced by the implementation of the WCO. My assertion was based upon my observations of his short passing. I've seen him throw short passes right into the breadbasket of certain receivers to remain unnamed only to have them drop a pass that would have resulted in a first down. Joe has been implementing gameplans that he was given by two bad OCs --- Cam and Caldwell. One was a "its my way or the highway" playcaller and the other one had to sit in a sky box to figure out what was going on and then made decisions by committee. He was clearly a "too many cooks in the kitchen" type of playcaller who tried to reach consensus among the other coaches wrt the best situational play call. We need someone who has confidence in his system and lets the QB concentrate on the execution. BTW, you complimented Joe's performance in 2010 when he threw more checkdown passes. I just got out of my first remedial reading class! It was great!! Have a good one!!!

With all due respect it was Marty Schottenheimer, Drew Brees and LaDainian himself, not Cam Cameron, who made LaDainian Tomlinson into an NFL star. As for the OC, we should go with the guy who was my 1st pick before the process began and that would be ---- Kyle Shanahan. He will be the best fit for Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh. Joe doesn't need a BFF; he needs an OC who will push him to grow. John Harbaugh needs a younger coach like Shanahan so he [Harbaugh] won't feel threatened. As for your baseless claim that the West Coast Offense isn't a good fit for Joe, its preposterous. Joe Flacco is talented enough to adapt his game to any offense, given the right WRs, TEs, RBs and O-line. He adapted his game this year and we went 8-8 as compared to 8-7-1 for the almighty Green Bay Packers team led by Aaron Rodgers for most of the year. He also threw for just shy of 4,000 yards. Had he not been injured late into the season on a dirty, low hit to the knee for which no penalty was even thrown, he would have easily thrown for more than 4.000 yards.

Could ya be a little more specific?

Yeh, I'll be rooting for Seattle too. The picture of Q having to calm down Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines was priceless. I'm not a Kaepernick fan either. I think Jim H is a better coach than his older brother but I don't care for his antics. At least he calls the plays from the sidelines instead of sending his coordinators to the sky boxes. I guess that makes John feel more relevant or secure. You're probably right about Harbaugh trying to defend Rice from criticism. I thought it was not wanting to second-guess his assistants. Sometimes a head coach has to call it like he sees it and let the chips fall where they will. I do believe our Coach Harbaugh has his work cut out for him now. We'll see how he coaches without some of his superstuds.

Its all in fun! Seriously though, it sounds like SF is your kinda team 'cause their style of play is what you have described to a T. They run the ball down peoples throats with Gore and Hunter, mix in some of your high school plays and throw it to Boldin on third downs and to Davis and Crabtree in the red zone. Its hard to argue with success. I would agree that that is not mickey mouse. Its sound fundamental football. What is mickey mouse is having an offense that is so simple and predictable that the defense knows what's coming before you call the play. That's what The Ravens did this year, huh? We need a new HC and OC and perhaps a new GM. Could you imagine a reporter asking Bill Belichek at a post-game presser why his star RB was not in the game? That's exactly what Harbaugh did a couple weeks ago and told the reporter he didn't know why Ray Rice wasn't in the game more. Isn't it the head coach's job to know what the game pan is before the game and if his star RB isn't getting the ball enough to change the game plan or make the necessary adjustments at halftime? When you played HS ball, I think they called that giving directions to the rest of the coaching staff.

The read-option play which is so popular now is mickey mouse. The QBs who run it in the NFL will continue to be successful as long as they are young. Once they get a little older, they will have to learn how to change their game to be conventional drop-back QBs. Your HS team must have been one of the only teams in history never to resort to a trick play like an on-side kick. That's just awesome! Keep it up, coach! Sounds like you have a lot in common with Harbs!

Sounds like they didn't work on your HS team. The same could be said for pistol offense plays --- college wishbone option. However, didn't I see Anquan Boldin throw an option pass today. They keep the defense honest and slow down pursuit.

I don't think Brian Billick would accept anything less than a Head Coach position to get back into coaching anyway. It was more wishful thinking on my part.

If I were Steve Bisciotti, I'd bring back Brian Billick for a couple reasons. He's forgotten more about offense than Harbaugh and Caldwell will ever learn. If Brian "The Brain" Billick would promise not to call the owner Young Man, the least Steve could do is to swallow his pride so we could play some neopolitan offense for a change with some end arounds, middle screens, half-back passes et cetera. if neophyte football fans could predict the Ravens' plays from their living rooms, it must have been simple for most NFL coordinators to outwit Caldwell and Castillo. Just imagine how much fun it must have been for Cam Cameron to try to guess their playcalls this year. After all, it is the same darn playbook.

Bring back Q!

Myth: Flacco is the 2nd worst starting QB in the NFL. Flacco has the worst stats to payroll (20.3m 2013) ratio in NFL. Fact: Flacco and Peyton Manning are tied for career post season victories. Look it up. Stats don't lie.

Whoever we get to replace "Air Caldwell" ought to script the plays like Bill Walsh used to do. To say our offense is predictable would be a gross understatement. Maybe they did script the plays in 2013 'cause it seems like every game went the same. Play 1 - Handoff to Ray Rice, Play 2 - Long incomplete pass to Torrey Smith, Play 3 - Short incomplete pass, Play 4 - Punt by Sam Koch, Plays 5 thru 8 - Repeat plays 1-4. If Kubiak is interested and can't find a head coaching position, I'd snatch him up in a heartbeat.