steelcityraven

THe issue that I have with it is that Philly was already 1 dimensional going into the game. We knew that their passing game was lacking and we knew that they would need to run the ball to have any chance.

Why not stack the box? Why not make them beat you where they are weak? They are lousy in the passing game... make them beat you there?

I don't get it.. our game plan seemed backwards. Maybe we felt with Jimmy out..that the pass defense needed more support? but I think that is simply a commitment to pressuring rookie QB Carson Wentz not backing the front 7 down..... but throwing more at him.

I didn't understand that defensive game plan and this is typical of a Dean Pees defense. No lead is safe (against any team) since he has come to BMORE

IDK- we have a lot of talent on that side of the ball and sometimes it shows and sometimes it just seems average at best? SMH

stop putting 50 McClellan in on the line he doesn't belong there hopefully dean will be gone next year

BigMack.... im with you... McClellan should not see too many snaps. Heck why are we not playing ZSmith more. He looked better on the outside then MCClellan and KC needs to have his chances on the inside if CJ or Zach need a blow. McClellan is a ST guy and not much more. / I also feel like we have become more predictable on defense and our blitz packages (when we do blitz) has become very vanilla

What scares me is that this seems to be trending this way. For the better part of the season teams could not run on us.. but as the season has wore on... teams are finding more success. Maybe it is having more game film on us... maybe it is Various injuries that we have faced. (even though not all has missed time). But whatever it is... this is the wrong time of the year to trend in the wrong direction. Hope they get this corrected ASAP.... cannot afford to allow Pittsburgh to get the run game going.

The Ravens lost to a good team again. I'm not jumping ship here like some fans but lets face it this team isn't great but they can hang with the big boys of the NFL this year. They will beat the Eagles who are a bad team and set themselves up for a street fight against the Steelers. We all know that anything can happen when the Ravens and Steelers get together. The season isn't over!

Agreed.... we will beat the Eagles... and we have owned Pittsburgh as of late. If we beat them again (and I think there is a good chance we do) I think that Cincy will have already checked out by seasons end. They would love to beat us but if they are not doing so by half... they will fold their tents quickly bc they have nothing to fight for.

The sqeelers on the other hand have Cincy (who is a big rival with Pittsburgh) Cleveland (who would want nothing more then to get a win and especially against a chief rival) and Us....

They have three rivalry games left and all very important to them. That is not only physically draining but more importantly emotionally draining - and right before the post season... that is a lot of pressure to carry. Everybody says that we have the more difficult schedule down the stretch but I don't believe that.

Everyone knows that Rivalry games can go either way.
(WE have 2 and one will be with a team that has checked out)

They have 3 rivalry games left...
(Cincy will not be checked out yet when they face them. Cleveland will be a tougher out as they get desperate for a win and now they got RGIII back and US -and we have owned Pittsburgh as of late)

I still like our chances.

Another bad signing by the FO. Mr. B needs to take a hard look at our decision process during the off season.

Hester was not the result of a bad decision making process. He is the greatest return man to ever play the game. He was a FA and available. We needed a KR /PR guy. His resume and pedigree warranted consideration. The only real question was regarding his healthiness and how much he had left in the tank, at his age. Once he proved to be healthy why wouldn't we sign him. The only way to know if he had anything left in the tank was to give him a chance. This didn't work out but it was not a bad signing. The contract was right, the length of the contract was right and Hester was the right guy to take a chance on.

The only real issue that I have with the signing and the entire process is that we put all of our eggs in one basket. I wish we would have went out and found an insurance policy (like a WR who can also return) just to hedge our bets so to speak.

But that is today's NFL and I have to remind myself that we live in a salary cap generation that is dominated by QBs - so we hedge our bets in other areas with project guys like Michael Campanaro.... guys who have the talent but have health, or other issues that we can stash away on a PS.

Which again is what our FO did.... not a bad process... just one that didn't work out. In business not every decision is expected to be a home run... but you try to make an educated guess as to which ones will be... you gamble on those and hedge your bets just in case it is not.

I think that is exactly what we did with Hester... it just didn't work the way we had hoped. Don't make it a bad decision!

TBH... Camp cannot be much worse and I think his upside is higher bc he can also mix in at WR just giving Joe and the offense one more weapon!

If we win vs PHILLY and PITTSBURGH...we will beat the Bengals who will have packed their tents and called it a season by week 16. We just have to win this week. We have owned the sqeelers lately a winning 4 straight and 6 of the last 8. Denver has a rough schedule ahead with the PATs, Chiefs and OAK. Pittsburgh has all divisional games left and all rivalry games left. They could drop 1 or 2 for sure. The Dolphins are done without Tannehill. Our road to the playoffs is still as legit as many. Even a wild card is no longer out of the questions for us. (if not winning the division)

Two players have got to go Hester and Elam, Egaads!!!

I am with you on both.... Hester just was not what we had hoped for and even when he does hit a seam... he no longer seems to have the speed to truly take advantage of the situation. Hard for me to believe that Campanaro or Kenyan Reynolds could do equally as well. They should at least prove to make better decisions back there.

Elam just seems lost more times then not...even the big play aside... he just remains more of a liability then an asset to this team. I guess it is time to close the book on that one also!

1. The offense is hard to watch at times. I know that the check down is there but watching Joe run through his progressions ( or not run through them) was frustrating. His first read in his progression often seemed to be his check down. He seemed very reluctant to play to his strength (and throw the long ball) When he did, he actually had some success but he looks less then confident back there.

2. Why do we always play so far off of opposing WRs? Especially against QBs like Brady who will gladly take what we give them.... and carve us up? The one thing that I have been so frustrated with Dean Pees's defenses over the years is how the DBs play so soft

3. Jimmy is the one guy who we cannot loose. It was that way last year and that way the year before. This is killing us. I love Jimmy and when he is healthy he plays great but one think is for certain about # 22 and that is that he will miss some games every year. We know this - so why have we allowed our team to remain so dependent on a CB who we know will miss some games. Why haven't we drafted a CB higher? We have to go CB in the 1st or 2nd round this year (or maybe both)

4. Dixon should be our RB moving forward.

5. We should be using Juice more

6. I love Pitta and glad that he is making a comeback but Joe has to do a better job of finding someone else to move the chains in crucial situations. Pitta will consistently run routes short of the first down - he gets zero yards after the catch and no YAC plus running the routes short equals consistently not picking up 1st downs in crucial situations. (I would rather see Waller or even Boyle there on 3rd downs).

7. Finally... we can beat good teams. (we seem to own the sqeelers...) and that is the only one that really matter right now. If we beat them we can get in... and who know what happens from there. (BTW...we just beat the Dolphins who is on that list... )

If we beat the Pats and the Bills beat the sqeelers (which I think will happen). We will be siting pretty. The Sqeelers will be a game behind us... we hold the head to head and still have to play them one more time... putting us squarely in the drivers seat.

The way to beat the patriots is to knock brady on his butt! Repeatedly!
Ands protect Joe!

Go Ravens

Agreed... especially right now that they are down a few weapons. I think ball control (keeping Brady off of the field and limiting his chances is also a major factor). We need to be able to run the ball -find a way

  39 minutes ago, steelcityraven said:

Really happy for both Suggs and Pitta... coming off of what could have been career ending injuries. Keep rolling!

Agreed.  I admit, I never thought Dennis would play again.  And to see how well he is doing is just mind-blowing!  He and Joe really do have something magical.

As for Suggs, he is like a Timex watch.  Nothing keeps him down for long.  I can't imagine what it is like this year, playing with that torn muscle.

True definition of: Play Like A Raven (from both of them)

BTW.... wonder what the experts will say about the Ronnie Stanley / L Tunsil thing after last week. I know it is only one game and I know they don't exactly go head to head but Ronnie has to win round 1

Loved the way the OL looked... hope it is a sign of things to come!

Really happy for both Suggs and Pitta... coming off of what could have been career ending injuries. Keep rolling!

Who really cares about his "ELITE" status.... I know that we can win with Joe and I know that we can win a super bowl with him bc we have done both under him. With that being said.... I think if he just keeps winning and even adds some more super bowls... The "Elite" debate will take care of itself.

If he can produce another super bowl title -people will start calling him ELITE for sure (he will win some more over)

If he can produce two more super bowls victories in his career... everyone will have to be on board and agree that Joe Flacco was ELITE-

but really... if he is Elite or he is not... the question is this: "Is he a winner" and that is what really matters. I can think of ELITE QBs who could not win a title (Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Jim Kelly, Carson Palmer, etc..).

I can think of avg QBs who have won super bowls (Rich Gannon, Trent Dilfer, Doug Williams, Phil Sims etc.) and even avg QBs who have won multiple super bowls
(Eli Manning) - I really believe that if you ask every owner in the NFL.... they will all gladly trade an ELITE QB for one who wins a couple of super bowls.

The real question is.... can the team be ELITE (or the franchise) be ELITE with the QB at the helm. The answer to that question for the Ravens is yes

We have reached the pinnacle of the sport with Joe and we have no reason to believe that we cannot do it again with him (provided we put the right help in place) Which is what an Elite franchise does.

Is Joe elite? Elite enough for an Elite Franchise like the RAVENS to help him to be a winner. Elite enough to make us an elite franchise and that is what really counts.

We need this game. THis is almost a play off type of situation for us. We can stop the run well and with DParker questionable at best.... This should play into our favor. JLandry is the real deal and I would feel much more confident if Jimmy plays as a result. I don't think Tannehill is great (especially if we can get to him this week) I hope Pees dials up some pressure and the presence of Dumervil and Suggs on the outside give them fits. We are getting back to full strength and need to begin to show that we are a play off team but beating play off caliber teams. This is a big one for us!

Would love to see SSS stick around one more year but I think he is ready to move on. Much respect whatever he decides!

Mallett jumps out at me because they still miss on every other QB they select through the draft.

we need to keep Mallett

  5 hours ago, sami said:

we are never going to have a great offensive line if we keep letting them walk. We do need a new center but we need to retain Stanley, Lewis, Yanda and Wagner.

Wagner is ranked 50 best out of 60 tackles. He is having a horrible year. Let him walk.

Wagner is having a bad year but everyone who comes off of a linsfranc fracture does. He played great before the injury... he has a great work ethic... he just needs a little more time.... and big guys come back slower from it then the small guys do. We need to find a way to keep Wags... (obviously he should not command a top OL salary) but his bad season in a contract year actually works to our advantage.

We know he can play when healthy... and we know he is committed to getting better.... he just needs time.

A few guys that I realy don't want to lose next season:

1. Brandon Williams- I know Pierce is playing great and we have drafted both Carl Davis and W Henry but Brandon Williams is a superstar who shuts the middle of the field down. He don't have the fantasy stats but in real football he is the real deal

2. Rick Wagner. - We know he can play and play at a high level. We also know that he is young and has a great work ethic. Would love to find a way to keep Wags here.

3. Ryan Mallet- He has proven to be a capable backup and has looked good in Joes absence. He is a valuable asset to us

4. I know that with Carl Davis and Henry drafted... with Urban playing decent.. that leaves LGuy as expendable but - he is solid. Not flashy at all but reminds me a little of a Jarrett Johnson type of player. Just solid and dependable.

The not priority list but the wish list:

1. Juice... we don't really need him but he is a nice short yardage weapon to have. We just don't include him much in a very vanilla offense.

2. I would love to keep V. Ducasse. - I think he can play ball. Clearly with Urschel, Jensen and now Alex Lewis (who can play G) ... Ducasse is not needed but he has looked solid and that is with little reps.

3. Levine... he has been a quality ST guy and can step up and play DB or LB... but clearly not a starter and not someone who should demand a big pay day

The ones to let go:

1. DHester... unless something changes between now and the end of season... It just looks like he has lost that step

2. JPowers.... Has not been anything near what we hoped from him and with Tavon and Canaday... we will not need Powers next season

3. Kamar- I know this is not popular - especially with SSS set to retire but he is clearly not a difference maker and my fear is that if we keep him we do not make drafting a WR a high enough priority (or bringing in another FA). We need a dangerous crop of WRs and Kamar is not that. (Wallace and Moore and maybe even Perriman have that potential... while Kamar just don't put fear into anyone)

4. Elam... Was hoping he would prove me wrong... just not seeing anything from him. ITs time to move on from Elam.

5. Asa Jackson... I know he was only a temporary fix but lets not try to make him a fixer upper.

  2 hours ago, steelcityraven said:

I don't understand why we would need to remind a OC to get our weapons more involved. Its not like we are having so much success that we didn't need them! I don't get why we are not playing to our offenses strength and recognizing what we drafted for. We have a QB with a very strong arm and as a result we drafted WR's who can fly to take the top off of a defense. (This is our strength - this is what we drafted for and what we build our offense to look like). This will also open up a run game that has struggled for much of the year.

I don't understand why our head coach is not demanding our OC's to work within the team philosophy. I am not saying that Harbs should be a dictator but I am saying that all the coaches need to be on the same page and that is Harbs job to ensure that.

I just feel that he allows his assistant coaches way too much freedom to work outside of our the teams philosophy and as a result we have had a team (for the last 2 plus seasons) that is very unsure in their identity.

The Patriots identity is very clear- Short passing game
The Packers are an up tempo offense
The Titans philosophy is to run the ball
The Raiders have become a big play offense
The Broncos are a ball control team (using balance)
The Bills are a run first offense
The Steelers are that big play offense / that is set up off of the run
The Colts are an offense that loves to spread the ball out
The Seahawks are run oriented / ball control team

I can keep going

What is our identity? I really don't know. One week we try to be a big play offense, one week we try to be a spread the wealth, one week we try to play long ball, one week we revert back to the short passing game, one week we are no huddle-up tempo type offense, the next week we are a slow it down / grind it out type- we seem to have no clue who we are and it shows with a lack of consistency and at times a lack of understanding of how to call plays to build towards our game plan.

Hard to call plays to build towards our game plan when we are not sure what we want to do. We lack an offensive identity and as a result we lack an offense that we can count on.

I am not saying that Marty is not the right guy... I am saying that Marty needs to held to making his offense work with in the parameters of our philosophy. If he cannot do that then we need to find an new OC... if he can and has a clear direction... I think we will see this improve.

The last time we had a clear direction on offense was with Kubiack. It was very apparent that he had a game plan and that and that his philosophy was clear. I couldn't guess what our philosophy was since and it shows in our performance.

Harbs needs to hold his assistant coaches to fitting into our team philosophy and lets see what happens.

as you said harbs is the head coach and why he cannot get any of the off coordinators to come up with an identity for this offense is beyond me. kubs knew what he was doing hence he wins a superbowl the very next year and harbaugh has not been able to find someone to replicate it. looks like flacco will have his 50th oc next season.

The Greek... agreed.... IDK it is frustrating though!

I don't understand why we would need to remind a OC to get our weapons more involved. Its not like we are having so much success that we didn't need them! I don't get why we are not playing to our offenses strength and recognizing what we drafted for. We have a QB with a very strong arm and as a result we drafted WR's who can fly to take the top off of a defense. (This is our strength - this is what we drafted for and what we build our offense to look like). This will also open up a run game that has struggled for much of the year.

I don't understand why our head coach is not demanding our OC's to work within the team philosophy. I am not saying that Harbs should be a dictator but I am saying that all the coaches need to be on the same page and that is Harbs job to ensure that.

I just feel that he allows his assistant coaches way too much freedom to work outside of our the teams philosophy and as a result we have had a team (for the last 2 plus seasons) that is very unsure in their identity.

The Patriots identity is very clear- Short passing game
The Packers are an up tempo offense
The Titans philosophy is to run the ball
The Raiders have become a big play offense
The Broncos are a ball control team (using balance)
The Bills are a run first offense
The Steelers are that big play offense / that is set up off of the run
The Colts are an offense that loves to spread the ball out
The Seahawks are run oriented / ball control team

I can keep going

What is our identity? I really don't know. One week we try to be a big play offense, one week we try to be a spread the wealth, one week we try to play long ball, one week we revert back to the short passing game, one week we are no huddle-up tempo type offense, the next week we are a slow it down / grind it out type- we seem to have no clue who we are and it shows with a lack of consistency and at times a lack of understanding of how to call plays to build towards our game plan.

Hard to call plays to build towards our game plan when we are not sure what we want to do. We lack an offensive identity and as a result we lack an offense that we can count on.

I am not saying that Marty is not the right guy... I am saying that Marty needs to held to making his offense work with in the parameters of our philosophy. If he cannot do that then we need to find an new OC... if he can and has a clear direction... I think we will see this improve.

The last time we had a clear direction on offense was with Kubiack. It was very apparent that he had a game plan and that and that his philosophy was clear. I couldn't guess what our philosophy was since and it shows in our performance.

Harbs needs to hold his assistant coaches to fitting into our team philosophy and lets see what happens.

Our wins are
The Bills (on the bubble as a play off team)
The Sqeelers (also on the bubble)
The Jags (who are horrible)
and
The Browns twice (who are worse)

That is scary when we look at the fact that we cannot seem to beat the good teams. What does that say about us even if we make the play offs. Unless something happens and fast

Two things that have plagued us over the past two or three seasons surfaced once again. Look at our loses over the past several years... and you will see two or three themes:

1. Penalties
2. Injuries
3. Cannot get off of the field on 3rd down!

These are three issues (and at least 2 that are controllable) that we continue to allow to happen.
1. Penalties continue to kill us and we are not good enough to put ourselves in a hole on either side of the ball

2. Injuries... IDK but it seems to happen to us way more then other teams... is it a preparation thing? is it a training thing or over training? What is going on. I get it all teams have injuries but we seem to lead that league every year in games missed.

3. Getting off of the field on third down... its the same things as not being able to close teams out at the end of games. We are too passive and pay for it - when it counts the most... over and over again~