steelcityraven

looking forward to Waller and Dixons return!

Why are we still talking about Ramsey and the Jags.... We beat them it is over...we (unlike them) are playing for bigger and better things... let him (them) stay stuck on us all they want. They were not our goal but merely one stepping stone towards our goal! Ramsey is showing his inexperience and in the process showing that the Ravens are still in his head! Need bigger goals rookie... move on~

CJ has a high ceiling and is becoming that superstar that we knew he would be!

Raiders coming across country to play at M&T... we need to take advantage of this and make sure we end up 4-0. That puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the division. (SSS, Suggs and Pitta coming around should help next week) Hopefully we get Elvis and Powers back this week and get Perriman a little more involved. Finally would love to see us open up the running gam a little more by stretching the field. (Keep KMack under wraps and we got this)!

Would love to see Perriman start to get more involved in the offense - along with Maxx - I know there are only so many plays and hard to spread the ball around but I would love to see the ball in the hands of our most dangerous playmakers a little more.

I think we are under estimating what KO meant to the OL. That being said... we should be running the ball better then we have been. I think ALewis being out with a concussion and placing Urschel at G will show improvement. Urschel knows the system and will make both Zuttah and Stanley's job a little easier. A Lewis looks like a great addition down the road and he has all of the tools and physicality but he isn't there yet mentally. Urschel will be an upgrade this week and we will see it in our run game!

You can add the Sergio Kindle issue into our knee jerk reaction at LB also!

When we drafted Correa- The book on his was that he is a raw player with a relentless motor. We knew when we drafted him that he was going to take some time to fully develop. We knew that he was also a tweener... bc another knock on him was that he lacked ideal size and we passed on Noah Spence, Reggie Ragland and others bc of 2 reason. 1. His motor... he will play like a Raven for 60 minutes 2. for his character. He would not be an issue that say a Spence could have been). The versatility that Correa could provide (ability to play inside or outside) made him a valuable asset to us. While we have the luxury to be a little patient with him bc we have Elvis and Sizzle in front of him on the outside / and CJ and ZOrr playing at a high level on the inside. This allows us to bring him along slowing (good for him) and to deploy him (when ready) in multiple fashions (giving opposing offenses fits). I think we as Raven fans push the panic button a little bc of the Arthur Brown debacle at LB (another 2nd round pick who didn't come in and light it up) and bc of a rich draft history at the LB position where we have found people like Ray Lewis, Peter Boulware, Jamie Shaper, CJ Mosley and more who can right in and looked like a star. The combination of past success and recent failure at the same position leaves fans a little anxious when a high level LB (or WR) doesn't come in and perform right away. "When better is expected - good is no longer good enough" I think we have the luxury to bring him a long at his own pace. I think KC will be great for us... just not great for us this year. (but a little production would be great)!

This is a huge game for us. A 3-0 start cannot be underestimated (a 9-7 record could possibly put us into the playoffs and 10-6 most certainly would). A 3-0 start would mean that we could go 6-7 over the last 13 games and still possibly get in. A 3-0 start would mean that if we only win our home games after that - we would end up 10-6. A 3-0 start would mean that just winning vs teams who did not make the playoffs last year... would put us in the playoffs A 3-0 start will set us up for a very good chance at a 4-0 start vs a Raiders team flying cross country for a home game at M&T A 3-0 start means that we should be undefeated before we even start to see a full compliment of players (getting Dixon and Elvis back and even Waller who looked dynamic in the preseason after week 4) A 3-0 start will make it difficult for the Sqeelers, Bengals and Browns to continue to keep pace in a tough division. A 3-0 start will give us half of our win total from all of last season. A 3-0 start will be a great confidence booster for some of the young players on this roster who will be beginning to find their way and find their comfort zone. Finally a 3-0 start will be a good sign that Harbs has put 2015 behind us and given us a lot of hope in 2016!! Lets beat up on the JAGS and take the next step!

We will see how much the defense has grown this week. The Browns put up 30 or more points in both games vs us last year... McCown is back at QB and the Browns will look to attack us down the field and with Duke Johnson out of the backfield. The defense will get a chance to show some growth this week.

Agreed.... It is week 1 and Zuttah is also coming off of an injury. Too small of a sample to over react to. If Zuttah is still struggling going into week 4 then we can re-visit this but I agree with you that Zuttah and the entire OL (offense for that matter) is a work in progress... I believe that we will see improvement!

I just hope they beat the crap out of eachother!

I don't think Jimmy played horrible. He locked down Sammy Watkins who is one of the better WR's in the NFL and held him to under 50 yards rec. I would love to see him be a little more aggressive at times but all in all... I really don't think that Jimmy played that bad yesterday. (Thought SWright looked impressive however)!

1. I still want to see a pss rush. I know the game plan was different with Tyrod bc is we rush him too hard he can break contain and hurt us.. so the goal with him was more about contain. I get that... would love to see BWilliams and TJernigan pushing and collapsing the pocket more up the middle to create more pressure organically however. 2; I was impressed with the defense yesterday but need a bigger sample. Was a lot of it due to the Bills ineptitude or was it us? I will give Pees credit for this one however he had them ready for this one. 3. I loved the way the offense started the game but thought that we became too conservative and predictable in the 2nd half... hope Trestman opens that play book up a little more. 4. Need to get the OL to get...they looked great at times and looked lost at times but a good game to get under the belt. 5. It was great to see Pitta and Perriman contributing (as well as Suggs and SSS) Joe looked like he didn't have an injury and the overall performance was a C+ but gave a lot of reason to be very optimistic!

The return of Flacco, Forsett, Suggs, SSS, Zutah, Pitta, Will Davis and eventually Elvis are all giant boosts to our team... and cant wait to see them back in the mix. The debut's of Stanley, A Lewis, Chris Moore, Breshard Perriman, Devin Hester, Eric Weddle, Mike Wallace, MCannaday, Tavon Young, Matt Judon, K Correa, and eventually Kenneth Dixon, should leave us better at every level of the offense and defense. The on-going development of potential superstars like Brandon Williams, CJ Mosley, Z Smith, Jimmy Smith, Sharece Wright, Maxx Williams, Terrence West, Kamar Aiken, Rick Wagner, Marshall Yanda and Juice should make us a force by themselves in most games. The personal is there. The only thing that really concerns me going into this season is two things: 1. Can we stay healthy this year 2. Can Dean Pees really cut it as a DC in this league. Outside of those two issues - I really believe that the return of injured players, the addition of talent and the on-going development of stars that we already have... should prove that we are one of the top 2 or four teams in the NFL this season. (Maybe better) but those two issues scare me if I am honest!

I think that Urschel gets the start for several reasons: 1. He is experienced and that experience can help Stanley pick up intricate blitzes and recognizes assignments vs a complex defense like Rex Ryan's. 2 Urschel is smart and he can adapt on the fly with a little more fluidity. 3. Continuity... Zuttah has familiarity with Urschel and Urschel is more familiar with Trestman's system. With all that being said, I believe Urschel will start on Sunday but I also believe that at some point in this season... we will see Alex Lewis as the starter... (we may see small samples on short yardage and goal like at first like Trestman is hinting but I think eventually he will win that position. Good to have depth no matter how you slice it however!

Just need to keep him protected now... 1. Ronnie Stanley and co... could help out there a lot. 2. Need to keep a good balance of run and pass... keeping defenses off balance and on their heels will go a long way to helping Joe. 3. Not being predictable on 1st down will also allow Joe to open up the offense a little this year. Keep him standing and Joe will impress!

Our ticket back to the playoffs is the same as it has always been. Win the home games and with the divisional games. If we can have a winning record in the division and win our games and M&T then we should have a great chance of getting back to the big dance!

Remember that this is not Johnsons first rodeo either. I think he looked great through the preseason.... but I am super excited to see how Joe does with the same OC - with some weapons - with a solid OL - with a running game that is multi-talented. Hope Josh Johnson does well but remember that he is still behind Eli and Nassib in NY also.

Tunsil starting at G should not be considered a down grade. Unless of course we are willing to say that Jonathan Ogden wasn't all that we hoped for when we drafted him bc he started at G before taking the helm at his T perch. Tunsil is playing well at Miami and it may take a few years before we know who the better pick was... but after a small sample of play... (and considering the potential character issues of Tunsil) I am more and more excited about our pick. Not bc Tunsil has looked bad but on the contrary... Stanley has looked that good (and BTW he is a high character guy)!

Have to appreciate Ben Watson, even if you don't agree with him... He is thoughtful and intelligent in his addressing a sensitive issue and respect shines through when he speaks. Not matter which side of the Kapernick issue you stand on... you have to appreciate when someone like ben Watson speaks respectfully and intelligently on a topic!

Metalraven.... that is the issue in itself. mcjacket makes some very good points and his interaction on this site is valuable and even desired but you said it yourself... mcjackets focus seems to be at times on critiquing other guests on the site more then stating his own opinion on the articles. This at times comes across as condescending and even at times a little pompous. I do appreciate his reasoning and his football IQ and I value his opinion on many topics but the approach of focusing on the fans more than the articles can cause his logic and reasoning to be missed from time to time. Hope this is not taken by mcjacket as a personal attack on him...just offering my viewpoint bc metalraven offered his about the approach of mcjacket. Just my opinion!

5 things to watch tonight: 1. Perriman 2. Waller (he is going to have a big impact on weeks 5-16 (and more) 3. Is Buck Allen worth keeping beyond the return on Dixon? 4. Is KLM worth keeping 5. Is Will Davis worthy of more PT and can T Brooks take the next step BONUS Can Judon keep the streak going and can Levine make the team!

2 things that can help the preseason. 1. Cut the games down from 4 to 3. 2. Expand the camp rosters.... let teams bring in 90-100 players. The extra twenty or so players are camp bodies. Most will never make the team (although you never know who you may find) but bigger then that - the more bodies there are the less reps a starter gets. The less reps the starters get - the better chance they have of not getting injured in the preseason. Finally- 3. (bonus).... I think the combined practices allow to test players at highly competitive conditions without the high risk factors and unpredictability that a game situation brings. I believe that all of these things would help but I also recognize that this is a violent sport and injuries are part of the sport. A season is a war of attrition and all teams are in need of depth and balance - A bump in the salary cap may also help to ensure that some of these guys can be replaced when lost.

really smart move with Arrington... Not shocked on the rest of the cuts.... thought that Broxton had a chance to stick around a little bit longer but we knew he wouldn't make the final cuts either way. It gets harder from here....(cuts) and there will still be a few tough decisions -even with the injuries~!