steelcityraven

Bob Rogucki was over due.... no surprise there. Washington took the fall for Castillo- SMH I hope these cursory moves are not a smoke screen to look like changes were made. I hope Dean Pees follows. I really think Castillo should be on the blocks.... this wasn't exactly sweeping changes that is going to change the culture in the organization and get us back to winning Hope this is just the start of a signicant house cleaning.

Jimmy and Joe are just two of may examples of why more of these big contracts should be incentive laden. When you are paying top $ for someone -you have to get production out of them... In the salary cap era... teams cannot afford to get inconsistent play for the players on the top of their pay scale. (regardless of the reason for inconsistency...inj, not on the field, etc).

They should, I still believe this season was about points. Our secondary wasn't great at all points but our D was good enough to win games. Joe is a play-action QB and he has not looked nearly as good since Rice left. We need a true bell-cow, Dixon will be great for spells. I'd prefer Cook. I'd prefer cook also!

RB.... Dalvin Cook FSU or Saqwan Barkley PSU- (if he goes pro)....Trey Edmunds -MD-Fournette-LSU, C McCaffery -Stanf, WGaulman-Clem WR...Mike WIliams-Clem- Curtis Samuel Ohio St. - Corey Davis- WMICH CB...Marlon Humphrey-Bamma, Sid Jones-Wash, C.Tankersly-Clem. Tees Tabor-Fla, Cam Suton Tenn, Jordan Lewis- Mich and David Rives Youngstown St C... Ethan Pocic-LSU, Kyle Fuller-Baylor, Tobijah Hughley-Louisville, Riley Sorenson Washington State OLB... Jabril Peppers-Mich, TJ Watt-Wisc, Jordan Willis-Kansas State, Vince Beigel -Wisc

Bottom line.... Joe has a lot of work to do 1. I agree that the OL is a factor but he had decent protection and elite QBs still find ways to move the team and manage the pocket. I was super impressed with Phillip Rivers this year... behind one of the worst OLs in the NFL... he gave them chances to win... and while his numbers clearly dipped as a result of poor OL play... nobody watching him play blamed that teams woes on Rivers... It was obvious who was at fault. 2. While I also agree that the knee may have been a factor... elite QBs seem to find ways to get it done minus some mobility issues. Look what Brady did his 1st year back from the same knee injury. Look what Peyton did after his neck surgery... (and while his #s also dipped he won a super bowl). Aaron Rogers, etc... the list goes on. Joe has never managed a pocket well and this year was worse bc of his lack of mobility... but that is as much of not understanding how to manage the pocket as it is... anything else. 3. Having weapons around him. Again. Look at Brady - who has no true # 1 WR and even when Gronk went down.... he just moves the team. Everyone said when Martavius Bryant went down and without Ladarius Green that Big Jen would have trouble moving that sqeeler offense... that just was not the case. I can keep going... but my point is that elite QBs make players around them better. It has always been said that Joe doesn't have weapons and it makes me think that he hasn't made them look dangerous yet. 4. Joe missed camp and timing was off with some WR.... I have to agree here... Joe and his WRs need to spend more time preparing / not just Joe and Pitta. Perriman needed to be force fed a little more.... Chris Moore also needed to be thrust into more game situations... We will need another WR in 2017 but who ever it is... they need to develop a rapport with our QB quickly. That takes work. 5. Finally .... with all that said... I do not think that Joe is elite.... but I think that we can win a super bowl or two with Joe. We already won one.... I would be greatly disappointed if he did not pick up at least one more... but he is not the type of QB who can miss training camp and the first four games and still be on top of a short list for offensive MVP. Joe can take us to the promised land and win that big one for us (he has proven that) but he has to out work everyone else. No shame in that .... most QBs are not good enough to ever lead their team to a title much less multiple titles... but 1. Joe cannot do it on his own. and 2. Joe needs to win through preparation and perspiration rather then pocket presence and proficiency. PUT THE WORK IN JOE AND BE THAT LEADER THAT YOU ARE PAID TO BE!

Delvin Cook - RB -FSU... boy would he change our team and change it right now. He has the speed to be a home run every time that he touches the ball and in an offense that throws to its RBs a lot... I would love to put him 1 on 1 with LBs and take that mismatch. Boy would he open up our running and passing games and BTW be a great compliment to the power running style of Kenneth Dixon.

WE NEED 1. CB (we cannot go another year expecting Jimmy to stay healthy and giving him little help opposite) In a conference where we will see AJ Green, Antonio Brown, Corey Coleman and Tyrell Pryor 2x ... we need DB help 2. We need players who can rush the passer. (I think B. Kafusi will also be a nice addition in that area next season) 3. WR... we need a play maker. We have speed... we need that elusive talent who runs good routes and will make you miss (what we hoped campanaro would be). 4. Help on the OL (unless we re-sign Rick Wagner- which I hope we do) 5. S. and this one may be higher (or hopefully addressed through FA). Webb is just not a starting S in the NFL. He would make a quality back up (not for what we are paying him) but his versatility makes him valuable... (he could fill in at S or CB) I really hope that we can add both a S and WR via FA. We don't seem to be able to draft either position well but have found luck through the FA market (SSS, Boldin, Mason- Weddle-etc.) Save the draft picks for CBs and OLB (positions we have traditionally drafted well).

Good.... I like the potential of Broxton. The guy is a giant and has some athleticism for his size... reminds me a little of Ramon Harwood... but better basics.

OKay.... I have mixed emotions about this one. The Pro's 1. Joe Flacco will get some consistency at the OC position (a luxury that he simply has not had) 2. Marty did seem to improve as the season wore on (we played well offensively in our toughest games. Pats, Pitt, Miami under Marty) 3. He will have an entire season to prepare (not try to take over in mid-swing) 4. He is now familiar with the personnel on the team and knows what we need to add and subtract moving forward. 5. Harbs is comfortable with Marty The Cons 1. Marty was as inconsistent as any other OC we had in his 11 games 2. Marty didn't seem to make in-game adjustments well (most games under Marty- we scored on opening drives. the other team would adjust and we stalled for most of the game beyond that and settled for FGs- what happens once teams have significant game footage on us... can he make those in game adjustments that he didn't do well with this year)? 3. Marty loses his top play maker (SSS) can we put pieces in place around him or can he adapt 4. Marty seemed to allow Joe Flacco to dictate too much (Joe complained and seemingly got what he wanted) and we ended up passing 49x per game. Will Marty have the respect to keep Joe Cool in check? 5. The top teams in the AFC right now are also offensive teams (Pats, Sqeelers, Raiders, etc.) these are teams who can score points. These are teams who move the ball with great consistency. Do we believe that Marty has what it takes to put us in that conversation? I am now very confident about that last one but I am rooting for his success. We cannot afford to start 2017 digging a hole like we did with Trestman in 2016. Hope Marty spends a lot of time at some coaching clinics and visiting some college campuses, learning some innovative schemes that he can implement next season and make us more dangerous and less predictable. I'm rooting for you Marty!

Game of inches Isnt that part of why we all love it so much? yes but if you win most of those close games by a few inches -you are one of the top teams, if you lose most of those games by an inch or so... you are one of the worst teams and if you win some and lose some of those razor close games you are a mediocre 8-8. We have won some of those close games by an inch and lost some by an inch - we are mediocre. The good teams find a way to win those razor close games and get that extra inch or two. We are inconsistent at best (Offensively and even worse on defense).

They are enamored by him cuz we had the #1-#5 defense thru out the year. Our secondary was much better than last years. Our biggest problem was our pass rush. Not so much the players but the way it was set up. We kept getting in each others way. Exactly our problem since Pees got here has been scheme. He wants 11 Pro Bowlers. That just don't happen and Pees needs to stop making excuses. We have CJ who made the Pro Bowl Weddle who should have (and will probably be a late addition) Brandon Williams (who may be the best at his position) M Pierce.. (who played at a very high level this year TJernigan (who also deserved pro bowl consideration. Z. Orr... who played as well as any ILB this year including CJ Jimmy Smith... who is a top 5 CB when healthy Suggs....who still remained dangerous. That is 8 of our 11 defense starters... who played at or close to pro bowl level this year In addition he has Elvis... who was not healthy but when he is... he is a dangerous pass rusher. Judon....who showed a lot of promise. Tavon Young... who was very impressive as a rookie and could be on the list above. B Urban... who played very well in spots L Guy who saw his numbers decrease bc of how good MPierce played but Guy is solid. (in my opinion the only players on Defense who struggled consistently was LWebb, SWright, Elam, Powers, Elvis, and McClellan) You can match that up with Seattle, Arizona, or any of the top Defenses around the league and person for person we are more talented and deeper then most. Yet we cannot depend on our Defense to close any team out since Pees got here / and no lead is safe in the 4th quarter. NONE! (you can not have 11 pro bowlers... but that seems to be what dean pees is asking for to be successful)! SMH

Game of inches Isnt that part of why we all love it so much? 9-7 at least

I expected better questions from you bio. These are all inflammatory gotya type questions that are more about getting your opinion across than getting serious answers. Seriously, you are better than this. I would still like to hear his answers, because those would tell us a lot about what we can expect in the future. Also, since I'm a simple fan not invited to the presser, it hardly matters how appropriate my questions are, doesn't it TBH.... I think all we need to do is look at Mr. Biscotti's track record and we will see that he is not okay with mediocrity. What track record? 1. He has always been very active in finding FAs through the years who can and did help this team (SSS, Weddle, Zuttah, Watson, and so many more - some who have worked out and some who have not) but Steve is not afraid to spend money to improve this organization. We typically sit right at the cap limit and not all teams can say that. 2. Mr. Biscotti is not afraid to go out and spend money to improve facilities. We had an injury problem last year and in an effort to put a better product on the field and keep our players out there he pulled the turf and put sod / grass down and upgraded instantly. 3. He is not afraid to spend money on coaches.... Coaches like Leslie Frasier and others who could go anywhere... he spends the money to bring them in. Kubiack was very instrumental in our super bowl run and it cost us to bring him in.. but he did... this is the type of owner that we have. 4. He, like any smart owner of a company, has a say but he also allows the experts (Ozzie, Decosta and staff) to make expert calls and he has not allowed his ego to get in the way like the Jerry Jones and Al Davis's of the world and I as a fan am thankful for that. 5. Harbs has proven that he can lead us to the Lombardi trophy and that he can producers winners. We know that with the right help around him.. Harbs has what it takes to get us there. Harbs biggest problem is that he has always been too loyal to his friends (assistant coaches). If Steve were to assert his influence... I wish it would be in this area... forcing Johns hand to let go of The Dean Pees, Cams, and Trestmans sooner and seek the opinion of Ozzie and others around the league to find suitable replacements to work within Johns system (not excluding Johns opinion). No body could convince me that Mr. Biscotti is not committed to winning. I think we are lucky to have that type of owner and BTW he is a class act. Could he be more hands on? Yes but I am glad that he realizes his strengths and weaknesses and leaves the Xs and Os stuff to the football experts. The system isn't completely broken (like the Browns, 49ers or Chargers)... it is a proven system who has some components that are clogging up the entire process. Some parts needs swapped out to ensure the system is working efficiently and properly (and it has not been) is all it needs. You don't overhaul the entire system bc a few parts failed. You change those parts and get the system humming again.

52swaggerman.... I am with you... It is time for some change. OC is happening but I think we need a change at DC more then at OC. The pees excuses has worn thin and it is just more of the same. Lets start new.

If Dean Pees is there "NO" - if we find a new DC... YES we have that much talent currently. a new DC and a few minor additions to the D and Aaron Rogers and any other offense will have their hands full with the Ravens... we will be a problem. But with Dean Pees at the helm...nobody fears us... nor should they... we will blow the lead with the game on the line. That is the only thing that has been consistent in his tenure.

I beg to differ with you in a lot of games we lost over the last couple years we lead in 4th quarter only to watch pees stupid prevent defense cost us the game if pees is here next year nothing will change I mean no offense but, Pees is not the problem here. I agree that I don't care for the the 'Peesvent" defense, as I call it. In most cases you mentioned, he was forced to use that due to injuries and lack of pass rush. You can't bring in a weaker CB and expect them to shut down one side of the field without safety help when Jimmy goes down. You have to hold both safeties back deep to help which is the prevent. I don't buy that.... Pees always has an excuse. . 15 of our 17 loses over the past 2 years have seen us surrendering a 2nd half lead... most in the 4th quarter and many on the final drive. He was promoted to our DC in 2012. We have spent drat picks on that side of the ball (18 over the past 4 years) including 6 this year. (including B. Williams, Timmy J, CJ, Tavon and more) We have brought in FAs to try to help that side of the ball. Weddle, Sharece, and Dumervil (in 2013) We have made trades for players (will Davis)... Dean says that he don't have a pass rush... but he never acknowledges that sometimes in the salary cap era... we cant expect to have pro bowlers at every position. Sometimes you have to make the most of what you have with schemes. We have two pro bolwers on this defense (CJ and Weddle) we have BWilliams that should have been a pro bowler. We have Pierce that played as well as any DT in the league this year. We have Jimmy who when healthy played at a very high level and Tavon who played well above his draft positon. Timmy even played at or near pro bowl level for the first 12 games of the season. Zach Orr played right up there with any ILB in the league this year. Listen that is 8 or 11 players on D who played very well this season. 8 of 11 had to garner some pro bowl consideration. There are not too many DC's who have that luxury. Pees seems to want Pro Bowlers at every position and cannot seem to devise defensive schemes to get the most out of the emmense talent that he has. He has failed everytime we needed the defense to step up over the past two season. 15 x over the past two years we surrendered a 2nd half lead - and costing us the game (that is 15 loses over the last two seasons that our defense failed us when we needed it the most). If we even won half of those we would have won the division this year and made the pay offs last year. Pees has failed with a ton of talent, a ton of resources and 4 years of opportunity. That is a big enough sample for me. I believe that if he is back... next year we will see more and more 4th quarter let downs. We will continue to lose close games and the bend but don't break philosophy will continue to break at the most inopportune times.

Not sure why we would cut Elvis. Yes he is aging and yes this was the worst year of his career, but the guys still has it physically and when healthy he is one of the best pass rushing threats in the NFL. I would be shocked if we cut a proven pass rusher to go out and land one that is not proven. If there is a veteran to be cut ... I am guessing it will be 1. Webb (big contract / little production) 2. McClellan (showed he is not much more then a ST player) 3. Wagner... (with the addition of Alex Lewis.. we may opt not to give him a big contract) 4. One of the TEs (with Maxx, Gilmore, Boyle, and Waller all jockeying for position behind Watson and Pita... I cannot see us bringing them all back next year) 5. Zuttah... with Jensen, and Urschel capable of playing C and Ducasse showing that he can start at G... Zuttah may not be back after an up and down year this year. 6. Talifero, & Buck Allen just don't have much of a place for them with West Dixon and (a possible draft pick) on board. 7. Kamar Aiken... if the Ravens had any confidence in him.. his output and usage would not have been allowed to drop anywhere near the place it did this season 8. J Powers.... was not what we had hoped and with the possible addition of a CB in the offseason... it may leave Powers expendable. 9. Elam... pretty sure his time on BMORE is over 10. I hope not but BWilliams may be gone. I really hope that we don't let him go but I think he will command a big pay day and the addition of Pierce, Timmy, Carl Davis, WHenry and more may leave us in a position where we can let him go if the payday is too big! Even when healthy I don't think Elvis is anywhere close to being one of the best in the league. He is a liability in run defense and he played in all but one game last year and only had 6 sacks. And yea, he didn't have Suggs on the other side, but if you are close to being the best in the league that shouldn't matter. That said, I dont think he will be cut next year. I also don't think anything could make me more nervous next year than to rely on Urshcel or Jensen to play center. They have consistently shown that they are back ups, quality back ups, but surely not starting material. Jensen actually had a decent few games this year but its inconsistent. On the other hand Urshel is consistent, he consistently get blown off the point of attack and driven into the back field. I am not saying Zuttah is the answer. Although the last ten games Zuttah was pretty solid (minus the penalties), but I think we should bring in some legitimate competition at that spot, whether it is through the draft or through free agency. billiejean... I hear you on the decline of Elvis but I do believe that he is still a proven threat. I really don't see us letting go of a proven threat when we are looking for pass rushers. Im with you on Urschel... I don't believe that he is probably a starter but I do think he is a quality back up and I do think that Jensen could be the starter there... yes he needs reps to improve and grow but that is true of all young players. A middle round draft pick at C who would push those two could leave Zuttah expendable. (I wouldn't be mad if Zuttah was back however- if healthy) IDK... If you ask me I would love to have them both back but some young talent at the same position to allow them to be pushed (while we groom the next starters)

Not sure why we would cut Elvis. Yes he is aging and yes this was the worst year of his career, but the guys still has it physically and when healthy he is one of the best pass rushing threats in the NFL. I would be shocked if we cut a proven pass rusher to go out and land one that is not proven. If there is a veteran to be cut ... I am guessing it will be 1. Webb (big contract / little production) 2. McClellan (showed he is not much more then a ST player) 3. Wagner... (with the addition of Alex Lewis.. we may opt not to give him a big contract) 4. One of the TEs (with Maxx, Gilmore, Boyle, and Waller all jockeying for position behind Watson and Pita... I cannot see us bringing them all back next year) 5. Zuttah... with Jensen, and Urschel capable of playing C and Ducasse showing that he can start at G... Zuttah may not be back after an up and down year this year. 6. Talifero, & Buck Allen just don't have much of a place for them with West Dixon and (a possible draft pick) on board. 7. Kamar Aiken... if the Ravens had any confidence in him.. his output and usage would not have been allowed to drop anywhere near the place it did this season 8. J Powers.... was not what we had hoped and with the possible addition of a CB in the offseason... it may leave Powers expendable. 9. Elam... pretty sure his time on BMORE is over 10. I hope not but BWilliams may be gone. I really hope that we don't let him go but I think he will command a big pay day and the addition of Pierce, Timmy, Carl Davis, WHenry and more may leave us in a position where we can let him go if the payday is too big!

If we win and everyone else loses we get the 20th pick... if we lose and everyone else wins we end up with the 15th pick. In reality if we win... some others will do the same and we will end up somewhere between 16-19 regardless. It is not like if we lose we jump into the top 10 and if we win... we fall out of the top 20. on the average we will pick around 17th... win or lose. So is a spot or two in the middle of the pack worth a non-winning season? That's crazy. You win... especially against a team who has owned us over the past few years. You dominate a divisional foe and use that win to springboard into next season. If we beat the Bengals... that leaves us at 5-1 in the AFC North for the year. That is a lot to build off of. But losing your final two and 3 of your last 4... that is a little harder to frame that going into next season No the one or two spots you would gain (at best) is not worth what you would lose.... it has nothing to do with ego or pride and everything to do with setting us up with confidence knowing that we can dominate our division going into next year. A split with the Bengals and Sqeelers would be a much harder sale then going 5-1 in the division. We need to WIN this game!

Love SSS .... I would love to see him come back but nothing but respect whatever he decides. and BTW... if he retires... why would he retire a Panther after the way they treated him. They ran him out of town. They made their choice. IDK it is his decision but if it were me... I know what I would think of the Panthers organization.

Needs going into 2017 1. A legit CB opposite Jimmy 2. A legit pass rusher ` I think Judon can be very good but someone to push him 3. A dangerous playmaker at WR ` especially if SSS leaves. ` Wallace, Perriman, & Moore.(that's a solid nucleus but more is needed) 4. We need to retain Brandon Williams 5. We need a S to begin to replace Webb ` He can do do okay but we need an upgrade badly there 6. We need speed to compliment Dixon at RB 7, We need a new DC

8 take aways from the game: 1. We cannot close any team out 15 of our 17 loses over the past two years have been us surrendering a 2nd half lead and many of those in the 4th quarter and many of those on the closing drive. Do you realize that if we won even half of those games (8) and split them between the two seasons (4) apiece... we would have not only made the playoffs both years but also been a top seed this year. 2. I don't understand why we shut AB down for 3 quarters and then in the 4th quarter... we decide to give him space and play him soft. We kept Weddle over top for 3 quarters and then with the game on the line we give one of the most dangerous WRs in the game all the space in the world to work with 3. I keep hearing that we don't have play makers and I don't know that I agree with that. I don't know that we always utilize our playmakers enough but we have play makers. 4. It concerns me that for the past 3 plus seasons - that NO lead is safe - no matter how much the lead or how late the lead we always find a way to blow it. We have had very different defensive personnel over the past 3 years so it is not the players. 5. I love Dixon and he runs hard.... but I think we need to compliment him moving forward with a speed back. Would love to see a Dalvin Cook here. 6. I know that every one is screaming for pass rushers... but it don't matter who you have here - the defense has to commit to pressuring the QB not rushing 2 and 3 and wondering why we cant get pressure on the opposing QB. 7. I know we want more pass rushers but for the past 3 years now -we have said that the one player that we cannot afford to lose is Jimmy Smith and every year we have lost him for multiple games. When are we going to bring in a real CB opposite Jimmy to take some of the pressure off of the D 8. Joe has shown that when he is protected... he can be elite and when he is not.... he is avg at best. With that said... I hope we do everything we can to bring Ricky Wagner back next season.

nice work!! but i do not feel ryans foot fetish ways will mesh with harbs biblical ways plus i dont think rex would want to come back to a team that by passed him for the hc job 9 years ago. we shall see what harbs decides to do but you should email him this post of yours The Greek... you may be right but my post was more about the need for Pees to be on his way out then Rex to be on his way in. I really don't care if it is Rex or whoever... but I really hope it is not Pees

My only argument against Rex defense has been lit up by Tom Brady during Ryan tenure. Bills defense has been no better than Ravens lately no matter the QB. Pees at least keeps the game close no matter who the Ravens have play or where. His lack of aggressive play calling with a lead is a concern. Everything looks like prevent defense when there is no pass rush. Rex has his share of wins vs the PATS and his defense this year was without some key players (Reggie Ragland, Shaq Lawason, etc). Rex or not... Pees isn't working!

BTW.... I really do not think that getting rid of HARBs is serious. I think he has shown that he can be one of the best coaches in this league... but if Harbs has a fault it is that he is too loyal to his buddies and the GM should force his hand a little more so that he cannot hang on to some of his assistant coaches way too long (when they are failing).