frozen joe flacco fan

C'mon man! Don't you follow the games? I think LeGarrette Blount just set a Patriots record for rushing TDs with 15. What are you talking about when you say they don't need a running game? Whether you're ranked first in rushing or 32nd, you still need to run the ball to keep the defense honest and to make the passing game click. If you don't believe it, ask Dak Prescott. He went 32 for 36 the other night against Tampa Bay but I have a feeling Ezekial Elliott had a lot to do with it. The very threat of a run by Ezekial makes the linebackers play differently. Get real!

Weddle's snub is ridiculous. Williams' snub is ludicrous. A case could be made for others on the Defense too. Suggs, Moseley and Jimmy have had great years too. The problem is you've got to stay healthy and be on the field to get the support. The most outstanding employee is only average if he's out on sick leave half of the time. I.e., you can't get rest on your reputation. A better question to ask is why even have the Pro Bowl. Its meaningless. Some of the best players decline the invite or can't play due to their other obligations. At least there's still some incentive in MLB to win the All-Star game. In the Pro Bowl, the honorary captains pick their players now. Might as well make it an honorary award if you're not going to give them a trip to Hawaii.

This is a provocative post. I think this has been and will be one of the biggest challenges for this team. Having said that, I think the answer is YES. I agree the talent is there. Please refer to my latest post on "Who will be the General when Suggs retires ..." as it relates to this topic. Synergy is so important to the success of any organization. Unless the players "love" each other, they will not go very far. This team has an excellent blend of older and younger guys but that can be a blessing and a curse. If the younger players listen to the older players and absorb what they say like a sponge, they will realize what's at stake. That, in itself, will not guarantee victory, but it will guarantee that we won't get run out of town. There are enough leaders on this team (on both sides of the ball) that understand what this game means and that will be invaluable moving forward. One of the greatest athletes of all time, Babe Didriksen Zaharias said, "The formula for success is simple: practice and concentration; then more practice and more concentration." Team synergy affects both practice and concentration. As some of you may have guessed, I am not a big Harbaugh fan but I do believe that the synergy thing is one of his strengths. I do not buy what Mike Preston is trying to sell. He's peddling the notion that Wallace, Smith and Aiken are unhappy with our QB. I believe they are just as passionate about winning as Joe Flacco is. I don't believe they are unhappy with Joe. AND if they are, then we don't have a snowball's chance in Hell, Michigan to beat the Steelers 'cause it ain't about Mike, Kamar or Steve, its about the TEAM.

With all due respect, Desert, that's why your a rookie on this blog IMHO. T-Sizzle is "The General" on this team. He's Old School. He exemplifies the mental toughness it takes to be a Pro and it is ridiculous that he isn't going to the Pro Bowl. He has lost a step but still has 8 sacks and is playing with a torn biceps. That's kinda like a one-armed wallpaper hanger! Why he even went to Italy and bought a gladiator mask to show that he was "The General"!! That's leadership by example. Yep, he's "The General" all right! On every team, a coach needs an extension of himself on the field. That's what they call a field general. Ask Dean Pees who it is. There are only three candidates for that title on this defense --- T-Sizzle, Weddle and Webb. Well, its not even close. One's a four star general, one's a three-star general and the other is a two-star general. Notice if you will, that all three players are on the defense. So, that raises an interesting question for you to ponder --- that is, does the new General have to be from the defense or can it be an offensive player? Perhaps C. J. Moseley will rise up and assume the role but one thing is for sure --- it won't be a cupcake. Congrats, Matt Elam, on winning the courage award but you won't ever be "The General." However, there is a solution to every problem. The solution to this problem is simple. If you're really looking for "The General", bring in Coach Bobby Knight. He preaches mental toughness and that's what we need more than anything else right now to win. The talent pool in the NFL is like water --- it seeks its own level and Roger Goodell has achieved the parity he seeks. We have enough talent to defeat Pittsburgh, but will we have the mental toughness to impose our will on them. I know T-Sizzle will.

NEWS FLASH: Statistically, the Steelers should win the game by a score of 27-20, but, as any astute fan of sports knows, statistics are for losers. Based on most measures such as, strength of schedule, performance against common opponents and wins over quality teams, the Steelers have a better team right now. However, you can throw the stats out the window when these two teams meet. The Steelers offense has been slightly better than ours on the whole and our defense has been a little stingier. So, the Ravens will win this game by a final score of 23-20 on a game-winning FG by Justin Tucker. What happens in Cincy the following week is anybody's guess 'cause we unfortunately have a tendency to play up or down to the level of competition. Remember the Jets game? Heaven knows NE does not want to play the Ravens again but they may have no say in the matter! Spittsburgh is listed as #5 on the power ranking this morning and we're ranked 12th. Are you serious? I like it. The Twin Grinches, Wallace & Smith, Sr. will steal Christmas from the Squealers on Christmas Day! On paper, the New York Jets didn't belong on the same field with the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. The Jets won 16-7. I'll say it again, Le'Veon, Ben & Antonio, statistics are for losers! Go Ravens!!

Your analysis is spot on as usual but the point is this. One guy should not affect the way our total D plays or the outcome of games. If he does, something is wrong with the TEAM concept. Are we better with Jimmy? Of course we are. Can we win without him? I hope so. As much as you and I love Jimmy, he needs to stay on the field and stay healthy to e a force in this league. Look at the mental and physical toughness of Suggs, Smith, Sr., Yanda and Wallace, not to mention Weddle. These are all "Old School" players. We need more of them. I don't want to call Jimmy a cupcake but he is a Millenial. Just sayin'! If you can play without hurting the team, Jimmy, Just Do It! If not, we need to move on 'cause its not about Jimmy; its about the team.

You're right as usual, codizzle! I couldn't list all 53.

I like it!

Its Matt Patricia, an Aeronautical Engineer. Scheming is what engineers do.

Your sentimental scouting report is so touching. Here's mine: You mentioned some of Pittsburgh's studs. Just in case you hadn't heard, we have a few new ones of our own, not to mention some old ones who will drive Ben absolutely nuts. We've built a team that is designed to defeat the Squealers so let's get it on! Watch out for Pitta, Waller, Aiken, Juice, West, Dixon and Campanaro! They are all forces to reckon with. Oh yeah! I almost neglected to mention we have two ole nasty Grinches, named Smith and Wallace that are really anxious to steal Christmas from the Spittsburgh fans so look out!! If the Ravens play up to their capability, this will be better than the Gunfight at the OK Corral. I'm jest glad Wyatt and Doc are on our side, Ke-Ma-Sa-Bee. Meanwhile, don't fall off your I-beam and have a Blessed Christmas and New Year! PS - I really hope the Squealers win the game if we don't. Oh and BTW, unlike Jeremy Hill, we won't denigrate your terrific towels but we do have one guy who eats them for pre-game meals so watch out for him too. I think it may be Brandon Williams but I'm not sure.

I'm really surprised at your low appraisal of Joe. I'm a paid professional (albeit not an NFL football player) who actually thinks Joe played well. As I said in another post, practically any NFL QB could throw a 53 yard Hail Mary prayer like Aaron Rodgers did yesterday and put enough air under it and pray that Jordy Nelson could run under it. It takes the guts of a burglar to throw a laser-guided missile like the one Joe threw to Steve in zone coverage. Incidentally, he threw it in a game when it counted, not in practice. I thought he put Kamar Aiken in a position to succeed yesterday just like he has done at other times this season. You can give a horse a bit but the horse has to take the bit. The quick pitch to Dixon put him in a position to succeed yesterday. The TD throw to Waller in the NE game right after he dropped a perfect pass from Joe put him in a position to succeed too. And I could go on & on with other examples. One thing I've noticed about Joe's positive progression in the NFL is that he rarely hangs his receivers out to dry like some other less experienced QBs do. Maybe that's due in part to his 9 years of experience that suddenly everyone is so concerned about. I've seen Joe victimized by more drops in one game than Raymond Berry had in an entire career and yet I don't hear Joe complaining or whining like some of our true blue fan base. Considering how many different receivers he has now with Campanaro added to the mix, I think he's doing a pretty decent job of spreading the ball around and keeping the defenses off balance. Its not Joe's fault that he doesn't have an OC who recognizes the need to run the ball more effectively OR perhaps the OC has no confidence in the O-line to run block. That being said, Marty's play calling notwithstanding the "All-time worst play call" has been better than Trestman's. We're scoring ~22 points a game. We're allowing ~19 points a game. That's about right for what I've seen. We're just about a field goal better than the teams we've beaten and some of the teams we should have beaten. The margin of error is very small. It doesn't allow us room for mental mistakes like the one Joe made on the pic or the one Zach made on the out of bounds hit et cetera. When we have held our opponents to 20 or fewer points, our record is 7-1. When we have given up more than 20 points, our record is 1-5 and guess which game we won despite giving up 26 points. Its all about defense. Ryan Matthews had a field day against us. Great teams win because they generally surrender less than 20 points a game. This is not a great team but we have won 7 games with that formula and lost one to a team who scored only 16. We should have beaten them too but you can ask C.J. Moseley to explain why we didn't win that game. Every person on our team must play better if we are to beat Pittsburgh, not just Joe.

You got it! Its not about aggressive vs. conservative. Its about situational decision-making and ego. That's not a strong suit of this head coach and what's more disconcerting is he doesn't lean from his own mistakes. The head coach should get down on his knees and thank C.J. for tipping the pass on the 2 pt. conversion and Jerraud Powers for getting a hand on the ball. It saved the victory and possibly his career as a head coach in BMore. Unless someone can convince me that aggressive and smart are synonyms, I think it was just "Forrest Gump Football" at its finest.

You speak the truth but St. Vincent of Lombardi had something to say about perfection, i.e., "...its not attainable but we'll strive for it and achieve excellence." In the final analysis, its all about defense. When we have held our opponents to 20 points or less this year, our record is 7-1. When we have allowed our opponents to score more than 20 points, our record is 1-5. Ironically, when our opponents scored >20 points, our lone win was against the Eagles who could have easily beaten us. What our fan base fails to realize is football is not as complicated as some of them want to believe. Its about TOP, field position, minimizing mistakes and third down efficiency on both sides of the ball. There is significant room for improvement in all those areas if we want to compete for another Super Bowl.

Yeah, facts can be stubborn things to argue against. Also, the pocket for Dak Prescott last night was incredible. Ours is usually incredulous, if not non-existent.

Your points are well taken. I just think there have been so many times we have forfeited field position and started deep in the hole to the point it probably affects the playcalling. Joe was stripped because it was a pass play. The play where we were tackled in the endzone for a safety was due in part to poor field position caused by the poor play of Hester. My point is play calls from the 20 are much different than play calls from the 5. As for the stupid play call, which resulted in a pick, I am more concerned about the negative message it sent to our two running backs who were playing well, not to mention Flacco could have been injured when he tackled the defender who intercepted the pass. That's poor coaching, plain & simple!

1. Cut down the number of penalties. IMO two of the defensive holding penalties yesterday were bad calls but the other penalties were stupid ones. 2. Teach Kamar Aiken how to down a sky high coffin corner punt by Sam Koch instead of watching it land in play and bounce into the endzone. Adam Jones could teach him how to retreat to the "wall" and then turn to find the ball like any great outfielder knows how to do. 3. Teach some of our defenders how to defend themselves against a ball that is thrown right at them. One of our defenders had a wrapped Xmas gift thrown to him and there was only one Eagle on the side of the field to keep him from a Pick Six. That was pitiful. 4. Force the kickoff returners on other teams to return our KOs by kicking the ball to the goal line. The new KO rule has practically ruined KO returns in the NFL and destroys the incentive of folks to return KOs. There will never be another Devin Hester again. It would be smarter just to give the opponent possession on the 25 yard line if the NFL is that concerned about injuries. 5. Get some more tough players in here like Steve Smith, Sr. The millennial cupcakes coming into the league now are nowhere tough enough to play like a Raven. BTW, Steve passed Marvin Harrison on the all-time passing yardage list yesterday. Congrats, Steve!

You are absolutely right! The management team was trying to put the game away. They could smell blood in the water so to speak. It was but one more example of what the fans have been calling for all year --- be more aggressive. The fans can't have it both ways. It was another example of poor situational decision-making, i.e, it was the wrong time and place to throw a pass. We got greedy; we got burned. It was Forrest Gump football --- stupid is as stupid does. That's why you should leave your ego at the door when it comes to decision-making. It was clearly a bad decision on Marty's part and a bad decision on Joe's part but a horrendous decision on John's part not to veto the call. As they say, the past is prologue and nothing will change until our management team changes. Where's Kyle Shanahan when you need him? Haven't the dirty birds scored at least 40 points now in 5 games? Oh well! Fiddly dee, fiddly dumb! Tomorrow's another day!

Strip sacks are hard to prevent when they are caused by someone stripping the ball from behind and it was compounded by the fact that we were deep in our own territory. How does a defender get behind the QB and strip sack him from behind? P-poor pass blocking. Unless I'm mistaken, our field position on that play was the direct result of a holding call against one of our ST players. The battle of field position was clearly won by the Eagles. So was the battle of TOP. By rights, the Eagles should have won. There is only one game this year that we won when our D gave up more than 20 points. Can you guess which one it was? Also, I realize the title of this ridiculous thread is called "Joe Flacco: Tough Talk" but where's your objectivity? If you think Joe's interception was "horrible", how would you describe our defensive performance and the play call which resulted in a pic. Give me a break! No, give Joe a break!! On a positive note, I thought Joe's tackle of the interceptor was not horrible.

Yep. Not to mention what message the play call sent to his two Running Backs. Marty should not be coming back!

So, Joe's completion % is better than Pig Pen's and The Red Rifle. His INT/attempt ratio is slightly better than Ben's and his TD/attempt ratio is about the same as Dalton's but overall he's still probably 3rd out of that group. Wow!

Your knowledge of the sport of football eludes me but one thing is for sure --- you have a very low opinion of Joe Flacco and that's very sad if you are a Ravens fan and not a troll like some of the other Flacco detractors on this blog. I'm glad at least that you recognize that Joe doesn't play for our defense. I'm sure Joe would like to have that throw back and some of the other errant throws he made this year. He was man enough to stand up and say it was his mistake, which is more than I've heard from Marty Morningweg. How'd you like his erratic pitch to Dixon, his erratic TD pass to Aiken and the erratic TD pass he threw to SSS. HINT: Errant does not equal erratic.

So, Steve McNair, a Super Bowl QB and Vinny Testaverde weren't that good? Didn't Ben Rothlisberger just pass Vinny on the all-time passing yardage list for 10th place? Tyrod Taylor, Trent Dilfer and Randall Cunningham would probably disagree with you too that they weren't that good as you say. Do your homework! If you were the least bit objective, you'd probably agree that at least some of Joe's erratic play has been caused by the erratic play of his O-line and the erratic playcalling by two different OCs as well as the erratic decision-making by his head coach to eschew FG opportunities that would have put us into position to win one or more of the embarrassing losses to the Skins, Raiders, Jets and Giants. I would suggest that Joe would agree that he shouldn't be leading the league in pass attempts even though he came into today's game in 5th place in passing yardage this year. You and others on this blog confuse erratic play with erratic playcalling. That's all. If you want to call winning 8 games so far and being in a position to win the division as erratic play, that's your choice but I think you need to figure out the meaning of the word erratic.

So, the Bungles either faded like a cheap sports coat OR they laid down in the second half at home. Thanks, Marvin! We beat a dangerous team today because they had nothing to lose and they played as loose as a goose, going for it several times on 4th down. There is no reason to think we cannot beat the Squealers. They have some weapons but so do we. I think they will not have enough answers for SSS, Aiken, Perriman and the former Steeler Wallace and our stable of RBs will run through them like a stampede of horses, not to mention Juice and our secret weapon, The Campanero Factor. We have learned how to beat Spittsburgh and have built the team specifically for that purpose. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. If all else fails, we have Tucker who can sing and kick his way into the HOF. Let's do it! Let's be the Grinch that stole Christmas in Pittsburgh. Go, Men, go! PS - If we're up by 10 points with 6 to play, run the ball, Coach, and send the league's best kicker into the game to seal the deal!!!!

What matters most, other than winning, is sound decision-making. The Ravens almost lost today because of a terrible, horrendous playcall. Could the execution have been better? Of course. If one analyzes the cause & effect, the play execution was the effect; the playcall was the cause. Any Pop Warner football coach would know better than to throw a pass in that situation. Apparently, John never coached Pop Warner football. Another element of coaching that you apparently haven't thought about is the teaching aspect. Great coaches do not tolerate mental mistakes that lead to stupid penalties like the one against Zach Orr, just to name one of many. Disciplined teams do not make mental mistakes that destroy continuity and lead to inconsistent performance. This has been a recurring theme of John Harbaugh's tenure as Head Coach. Anyone who doesn't see that he nearly cost us another victory is either putting blinders on to coin your phrase or does not want to see. John can thank Doug Pedersen, C.J. Moseley and Jerraud Powers for bailing him out of another game-ending loss today and possibly saving his job for another year.

That's a great perspective if you like being average or mediocre. I don't. Isn't the average American about thirty pounds overweight?