frozen joe flacco fan

This does not look like a playoff team to me. That being said, you newbies and all of your Flacco detractor friends are highly delusional. All you ever want to do is to blame Joe Flacco for every bad playcall that is sent in from the sidelines. Marty made the "All-time worst playcall in history" in the words of HC Harbaugh. The Ravens should have run the ball in that situation, period. Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh both took responsibility for the interception but neither called the play. The one who deserves a "game ball" for that bonehead playcall is Marty Morningwegh. It is time to start thinking about a successor to Joe but he is clearly the best QB in Ravens franchise history and that's saying something. The TD pass he threw to Steve Smith looked like a laser-guided missile and BTW it was thrown into zone coverage. Compare it to the "Hail Mary" pass thrown by Aaron Rodgers today to Jordy Nelson that got GB a 30-37 victory over the hapless Bears. Anybody could have thrown the latter pass. Very few QBs in the NFL could have thrown the former. You guys need to get real and get over it! You can thank Joe that we are at least in a position to win the Division and in control of our own destiny. If that doesn't happen, you can look back to enumerable bonehead decisions made by our HC in shoulda, coulda, woulda games that we lost to four teams not as good as ours. I exclude the losses to NE & Dallas. Nothing short of winning the Super Bowl will satisfy you Flacco detractors and that probably will not happen for many reasons, not the least of which you can attribute to our poor decision-making at the coaching level. Foolish penalties ought not be tolerated by a HC and they can be minimized, if not eliminated.

One game at a time. This game may well be a defining moment for the team and the head coach. If we lose to the green birds, we could be facing the prospect of having lost our last four games. I don't think our owner will take kindly to finishing up with 4 straight losses and going 4-9 after starting 3-0 but that's just me. Good luck, Coach Harbaugh! Make it happen!!

Yeah, well I love Steve! I had no use for the prima donna TO. Let's face it. All wideouts are divas. I would attribute Steve's outburst to frustration and his passion. He was probably taking a self-imposed timeout so he didn't lose his composure any further. His position is a little different than most of the other team members. What are the Ravens going to do? Fire him? I'm sure he'll use this to stir up the competitive juices in Joe, the team and himself so I'm not too worried about it. That being said, improperly channeled anger can lead to divisiveness and affect team synergy. Like somebody else has already said, we have no idea what triggered it. Heaven knows we have seen him get a little fiery on the field of competition before, haven't we? The best thing he can do and will do is to take out his frustration on the Eagles but it will be up to Joe to get him the ball early and often.

Good: Another 50 yard FG, two stellar plays by Weddle, great playcall to throw to Waller on play after he dropped a certain TD, great playcall to hit Dixon with a pass in the flat for a wide open TD, Web catching up to tackle a runaway train after Moseley was fooled on the play, setting a franchise record for pass completions in a game, Kamar is becoming a more reliable receiver in the clutch Bad: Punt returns or lack thereof, Defensive backfield getting torched after Jimmy left the game, Joe getting sacked on a third down and four yards to go in a critical situation, bad play by Weddle on TD to Logan, Elam's play is so bad its good and bad, 5 dropped passes, allowing a player to leapfrog their defensive line and our O-line to block a kick, the safety that caused us to start out in the hole based on Hester's poor judgement or fear of making a fair catch Ugly: Offensive playcalling was way too imbalanced, time management at end of game, losing Jimmy Smith could be the back-breaker for this highly unusual, unpredictable season.

That's certainly part of it but the still picture someone posted on this blog of the play where Ninkovich sacked Joe speaks volumes. It was a coverage sack. Joe was being rushed by 6 Patriots. Joe had 6 blockers. One was blocking 3 while the other 5 were blocking 2, leaving Ninkovich a clear, unimpeded shot at Joe. Its fortunate he didn't get hurt. Granted, he could have thrown it away and lived to fight another day but he was trying to make a play. The passing pocket didn't break down; there was no passing pocket. Look at the picture. The most telling thing in the picture was that all four receivers were covered like glue several yards beyond the first down marker. Nobody was trying to get open when Joe was trying to buy some time. Somebody needs to elevate the play of the four Ravens receivers on that play. Generally speaking, when your QB is in trouble, a good receiver works his way back toward the QB or tries to keep getting open. This is the NFL, not Pop Warner football. As you have astutely pointed out, elevating the play of those around him is a key part of the QB's responsibility. Lighting a fire under the receivers' backsides and the O-linemen is somebody else's responsibility when they don't elevate their level of play. I would suggest that if the person or persons I'm referring to would do that then SSS would probably not have slammed his helmet on the practice floor on Thursday. PS - Calling Waller's number on consecutive plays after he dropped a sure TD in the endzone was a classic example of trying to elevate a young receiver's level of play. I think Breshad Perriman's level of play has been elevated in the last couple weeks as well. Kudos to whomever called the same play to Waller after he dropped the pass in the endzone! Idk if it was Joe or Marty but it wasn't Tom Brady and you can take that to the Bank on Sunday. Have another beer, flynismo! How's your fantasy team doin?

Well, I obviously had higher expectations for the team than you. 7-9 was my worst case scenario. 9-7 was my most likely scenario. 11-5 was my best case scenario. Now, with 20-20 hindsight and looking ahead to the final three games. I would assume you're not predicting we'll win all three games. Sounds like you expect us to win one more at best so I guess you are counting on us to beat the Eagles and lose the other two, huh? Like I say, your expectations are lower than mine. Your expectations may be more realistic at this point but I just hope you're wrong.

Sarcastic? No. Prophetic? Yes. I'm sayin if we lose our final four games Harbaugh can look for a new job. What part of Out of the playoffs = Out of a job don't you get?

After the FO went out and signed Watson, Wallace and Wettle, after Harbaugh fired an OC to turnaround the sluggish offense, after releasing, re-signing and releasing Justin Forsett as well as signing and releasing Hester and having no less than 6 different TEs on the 53 man roster at different times, I don't see why this question is so difficult for some of you. It really doesn't matter whether his seat is hot, warm or cold, does it? Here's a simple formula for Coach Harbaugh to remember in the next couple weeks: Out of the Playoffs = Out of a Job for the Head Coach There's really nothing wrong with Harbs that taking a job as an apprentice under Belichek for, say, two or three years wouldn't solve. Maybe he could be the ST coach for the Patriots. That way, he could teach his FG team the proper way to block so that an opponent doesn't leapfrog over the long-snapper to block a FG, OR he could line up his placekicker as a left-footed kicker again like we did against the Skins so that he could attempt to throw a TD pass.

Another brilliant post! Why didn't they award Ray Rice the MVP n the Super Bowl? And the answer is: Because Joe Flacco was the MVP. Have another beer!

How'd your hypothesis work out for you?

One thing you failed to mention though! If you look at the still picture, where's the pocket? I see 5 Ravens blocking 2 Patriots and 1 Raven blocking 3 Pats. That leaves Ninkovich a clear lane unimpeded to Joe. Textbook blocking. Yep, Joe should have thrown it away but the picture is worth a thousand words and is indicative of a much bigger problem.

Good post! To his credit. Joe was trying to make a play. To his detriment, he didn't scamper to buy time. Taking the sack for a loss was the worst thing he could have done. So, I agree with you.

Its probably his way of trying to fire up Joe Flacco but it could also have the opposite effect. What we need from our receivers is less "its all about me" and more of what NE's WR Logan did to us, which is get wide open. I wonder if Joe and Steve stayed late to work out the kinks and get on the same page. If not, sitting in a corner pouting while the rest of the team practices won't help. But then again, what can the Ravens do to Steve, fire him? Too late! NE picked up Michael Floyd off waivers.

I missed the post suggesting our roster is better than NE's but that would be an interesting comparison. I would say that NE's coaching is far superior to ours. I do believe even you would agree that our payers are under-achievers as opposed to over-achievers. We started 3-0 just like the Eagles started. Since then both teams have struggled going 2-8 and 4-6, respectively. We lost winnable games to the Skins, Jets and Oakland as well as the Giants. If we finish 7-9, John Harbaugh's seat will be on fire. If we finish 8-8, the team will not be in the playoffs, the team will have under-achieved and John should be on the hot seat. If we win out, he will probably get a contract extension even though we would have beaten three teams with a combined record of 18-20-1. Sounds easy, John! My pre-season prediction was 9-7 with 11-5 being the best case scenario and 7-9 being the worst case scenario for this team. If they continue to under-achieve, they will finish at my WCS expectation or below my most likely scenario of 9-7. In the words of Jim Mora, "Playoffs, playoffs, who said anything about playoffs?" Any record below 9-7 will be a major disappointment for a team that started 3-0. OR is that an unrealistic expectation?

Just doin my job!

What a brilliant post! Have you ever watched Pig Pen calling plays in the huddle with the plays taped to his wrist. Now that's dumbing it down for him. After the OC calls in the pay to Pig Pen's headset, he still has to refer to his cheatsheet to call the right play. Against the Patsies, I saw Joe throw two horrendous passes. One was a dying duck to Kamar who was wide open in the right flat. The other was a long pass down the middle that fell way short. Joe's rare reaction to the pass showed his disgust for the way he threw it. How many passes were dropped? Let's see. Dixon dropped a perfect pass in the left flat. Waller let one go thru his hands in the endzone just before Joe hit him with another bullet on the next play. Perriman had one go thru his hands. Normally reliable Mike Wallace dropped two, including the one that went right thru his hands and into the waiting hands of Devin McCourty for an interception. That's 5, right? Hum, that's more than Raymond Berry dropped in his entire career as a Baltimore Colt. Despite the 5 drops and a coverage sack, Joe managed to complete 37 passes, a franchise record. Yeah, let's trade Joe. Maybe we can get RG3 and Out or Johnny Paycheck Manzeil, huh? Get real & get over it! BTW, Pig Pen just passed My Man Vinny Testaverde on the all-time passing yardage list. So what!!! AND I'll take Vinny or Joe over Pig Pen anytime on anyday anywhere. Last time I saw a Baltimore QB call plays from a cheatsheet on his wrist was Tom Matte against GB. There are only 2 reasons why that happens. Either the plays are so complicated that the QB needs a cheatsheet or he can't remember the plays without a cheatsheet. I'll let you ponder why Pig Pen does it. Golly Geeeeeeeeee Whizzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

No. Your post just exceeded your capacity. I don't want to hire Marvin Lewis either but your point just reinforces why John Harbaugh isn't Bill Belichek. So, the Bradyless-Pats went 11-5 in '08. After Joe Flacco got hurt last year, wasn't our record 5-11. Every team has to play thru injuries. We won two more games without Joe in the lineup and one of them was an absolute gift from the Squealers.

Your quote is rather prophetic. Yes, there are pieces here. Building a 53 man roster is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. There are a lot of different pieces that must be put in the correct order to complete the puzzle. AND just like a jigsaw puzzle, there are also a lot of holes to fill in to make the puzzle whole. Its a good thing you're not our talent scout. Your question about Boldin does not even merit a response. Last I heard, he is still playing pretty well for a 9-4 team. Your appraisal of Ngata is equally baffling as he is playing well. Not to mention, Lardarius and Dennis have been two of the bright spots and mainstays on our team this year. Other than that, great post!!!

You can take this to the M&T Bank! Wentz still plays more like a poised veteran than a green rookie and there's nothing more dangerous than a team that has no pressure on them to win. They will be loose as a Canada goose. We better heed Steve Smith's advice and play to win rather than not "not play to lose". I expect this game to be more like the Dolphins game. Assuming we beat the green birds, then next week, we should give the Squealers a strict diet and dose of their own medicine - a heavy dose of running & receiving by Dixon, West & Juicecheck (sp?) with a sprinkle of crossing patterns and drag patterns to the WRs and TEs and a one or two long bomb targets to the former squealer, Mike Wallace. He will have something to prove to his former comrades in arms. That's always good by the way of incentive. That being said, it will be an uphill battle for us to win the next two games without Jimmy, just to make the last game of the year a meaningful one. Go Ravens!

Help people like me understand too! Militant has it right. Jilted lover or not, Pollard's statement is based on personal experience working for John Harbaugh. And your statement is based upon what? Complaint vs. statement? That's irrelevant. What's important is that Bernard Pollard is entitled to his opinion, just like you are. You may be right though. Perhaps John isn't on a hot seat but someone really needs to light a fire under his seat 'cause this team is full of under-achievers. Give him, i.e. John, credit where credit is due though; John is masterful at one thing --- finding scapegoats. Its the "man in the mirror", John. IMHO, 4 of our 6 losses to the Skins, Giants, Cowgirls, Patriots, Jets and Giants were caused by inferior coaching led by guess who, Homer! C'mon man!!

The correct answer is neither but its academic at this point. Four of the main reasons we lost the NE game are: #1) Lack of dependable receivers, #2) Lack of a dependable punt returner, #3) Lack of an adequate secondary & #4) Stupid penalties stalling drives & killing momentum. Re #1, how many passes were dropped? If you count the interception Joe threw, usually dependable Mike Wallace had two drops, incl. the pass that was intercepted. Perriman dropped one and Waller let a perfect pass go thru his hands in the endzone. BTW, whoever called the play to go right back to him on the next play deserves a game ball. Re #2, Hester has had (past tense) a great career. Its now over and the FO did the right thing IMO by releasing him. He had a great opportunity here and blew it. Re #3, our secondary was dissected for 400 yards, including another keystone cops 79 yard pass play. It could be said that it might have been different if Jimmy had not been hurt but the secondary didn't get the job done. Re #4, what else can you say? Stupid is as stupid does. So, in a nutshell, the first three reasons we lost are attributed to the same set of problems the FO did not fix following the 2012 season. We let Boldin go, we let JJ go and we did not groom a replacement for Ed Reed. Boldin is still performing at a high level on a 9-4 team with no more talent than ours, Hester has looked like a Joker and Matt Elam is a joke. To be fair, much of the blame should be on the FO for #1, #2 & #3. The blame for the stupid penalties belongs with the coaching staff IMO. Its been a continuing problem that continues to hurt the team in critical situations. Most of the dumb penalties are the result of improper technique or lack of discipline, both of which can be resolved by good coaching. Notwithstanding the failure of the FO to resolve Items 1 thru 3 and in spite of Item #4, this roster is clearly a group of under-achievers who should have won at least four of the six games we lost. So,why didn't we? Is it the QB? Well, in successive games, Joe has now set franchise records for throwing for over 350 yards and 4 TDs and against NE completing 37 passes. BUT, he's an under-achiever too. In a different system, he'd have 4,000 yards every year. No, the main reason we aren't winning consistently is #5) COACHING and that starts with the head coach. On one point, Pollard was right. Following the SB run and ensuing retirements, free agency moves and cuts, John was forced to coach. The main reason we lost the NE game was, in a word, coaching. It was the biggest difference maker. Jon Gruden even alluded to the "Patriot Way" and he'd be right. Sorry, Harbs! BTW, I assume you meant to say in your quote ... or this roster isn't good enough to win.

Pees will prevail. Our defense will set the tone. Joe loves playing in big games in Foxboro and will rise to meet the challenge. In the end,Tucker's golden toe will win the game. What else is there to say? Oh yeah!!!! Rex Ryan finds a way to ruin Big Ben's day. Go Ravens!!

Good: We won Bad: So did Spittsburgh. Shame on Elite Eli, not!!!!! Ugly: Our remaining schedule. Not to worry! On Christmas Day, an ugly constable of Ravens will play the part of the ugly Grinch who stole Christmas as they sneak into Spittsburgh and steal The AFC Crown from the ugly Steelers.

As usual, you have put all the blame where it belongs - on Joe Flacco. I'm surprised you aren't starting Ryan Mallet in your fantasy league or is it your fantasy world? Statistics are for losers! If our defense is the #1 defense in the league, then the league is in real trouble. Have you watched our defense play? They may be #1 statisticly but they are not even close to being the best defense in the NFL. With a healthy Elvis, T-Sizzle, Mosely and Jimmy Smith all playing at the same time, maybe we could become the best D in the league but if wishes were horses then beggars would ride. They're not! BTW, Breshad Perriman played 24 snaps against Dallas and was not targeted once. Was that bad play-calling, bad QB performance, bad drafting or could it be that Breshad has not performed up to expectations? Oh well! Just keep comparing Joe Flacco to Kyle Boller! Its too bad you're not the GM instead of Ozzie. Were it not for fighters like Joe Flacco, Mike Wallace, Steve Smith Sr., Dennis Pitta, Eric Weddle and Marshall Yanda, this team would have a record like Cleveland's. Some of the younger guys on this team have to step up and rise to the occasion. You're right about one thing, which is, the SB is there for the taking. I would hate to see it won by any of the teams we should have beaten this year. Dallas and Oakland are the worst teams I've ever seen with 9-1 and 8-2 records, respectively. You want parity; you got it!

It will be Hue Jackson, hands down, once he's fired. Nervous Norv Turnover was a good backup QB to Dan Fouts in college but I hope he won't be coming to BMore unless we're looking for more of the same. How 'bout luring Jon Gruden out of retirement? That would be interesting!