steelcityraven

  2 hours ago, ByTheBay said:

I'm confused. The FO says we need to strengthen our Oline but I think our starting group of Stanley, Lewis, Yanda and Wagner is pretty darn good. So the problem must be our Pro Bowl center? (I know I am floored by that too) Then its our receivers who before the season we were told are the best group in Ravens history. But for some reason they cant get seperation and Joe needs clear separation to throw the ball otherwise he hesitates. Then its always the OC's fault. Terrible scheme and play calling. Yeah that must be it. I think we will look back in the 10 years and laugh at how many players and staff have been thrown under the bus to avoid admitting Joe Flacco is the problem. I know we are stuck with him and I dont have a solution to offer but it's starting to look like this may be the case. 10th season. Think about that for a minute. In what skills has he improved over the last decade? After 10 years of doing the same job most people become much, much better. Sorry for the rant, I am just finished making excuses for our QB. Every year it's someone elses fault he is not succeeding. Madness at the castle. 

That group of Stanley, Lewis, Yanda & Wagner was only together for 4 games (the 1st 3 games and the 1st Pit game) last year. Not surprisingly, we won all 4 of those games. That's where our struggles were. Wagner is a FA and probably gone, Yanda is going to undergo his umpteenth shoulder surgery. So, yes we need to build our O-line.

What skills has Flacco improved? The ability to win games in the 4th quarter. He led the offense on game winning drives in the final minutes against Jax, Oak, NYG, Was, Pit. It's your misguided perception that he should somehow evolve into Tom Brady. He's not going to and probably never will. Phillip Rivers has been in the league 12 years and still can't win in the clutch despite having some of the game's best play-makers on his team. You think he should get better after 12 years, I say he's the same player he always was. Did Russell Wilson get better this year? Did Ryan Tannehill? Did Cam Newton? Did Eli Manning? Did Blake Bortles? Did Andrew Luck? Did Andy Dalton? Did Jamies Winston? Did Drew Brees? It's taken Matt Ryan 9 years to even get to the SB despite having some of the best offensive players in the league in their prime - Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez, DeVonte Freeman, Michael Turner, etc. In the previous 8 years, he's won 1 play-off game.

Bottom line: Flacco can win games. In today's NFL that's all you need at QB. And a QB that can win games when the game is on the line in the 4th quarter is not your problem.

A QB who's play has been marked by inconsistency throughout his career is our problem.

I have been and still am a big supporter of Joe Flacco but I have to call it fairly. Joe has shown the ability to win games for us. He has should that his ceiling is high (like in the 2012 super bowl run)

He has also shown that he can single handedly lose game for us. The problem is from game to game and even quarter to quarter you just don't know which Joe you get .

I think there are some reasons for that:
1. 5 OC in 5 years.
2. His knee injury
3. Inconsistency on the OL
4. A lack of balance in the run / pass game
5. Joe's refusal to put the extra time in with new WRs
6. Harbs insistence on not allowing Joe to run a no huddle
(Where Joe seems most comfortable)
7. No consistency in a QB coach...
(just like OC- Joe could benefit from spending time with a
reputable QB coach who could teach him how to manage
the pocket).
8. Joe's over reliance on 1 target.
(Pitta this year, SSS before) He needs to be able to see the field
9. Joe's desire to simply hit the check down instead of running through
his progressions. He needs coached up in these areas.
10. Joe needs to re-gain some confidence that only comes with
success.

Joe is not going anywhere / anytime soon. So the best thing we can do is help to solve some of these problems. We have retained a OC and he should be able to find some comfort there. We are building an OL and that will go a long way. He needs to work on some of this stuff with his WRs and we need to get him a legit QB coach... and they have to put the time in. The skillset is there / the consistency is not

That's just being a professional and making this your passion. Not just a job~!

  23 hours ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

I say in FA stop worrying about a 4th or 5th round comp pick That usually doesn't make the team anyway and go out get a playmaker on Off or Def and stop always getting and overpaying for older players you can only draft so many good players a year and when you have a lot holes to fill this will help

I've been saying for years we need to stop focusing on quantity of picks and focus on quality of picks. Unfortunately, we have so many holes now that we need both. Missing ILB, DB, rusher and (if Williams goes) DL. We need OL, WR and fire on the offense.

Agreed..... We do have a lot of holes..but we can fill several of them fairly cheap. Look at Ducasse for example.. he played really well for us for next to nothing. We landed L Guy a few years ago and got him at a bargain deal... and he has been a solid starter for us. A few years ago we brought an aging ILB in here (DSMITH) for cheap and he played at a very high level for us.

We are going to have to spend money on a DB and WR... (or draft) but we do have a lot more holes that I have seen us have in a long time. Not sure why. We have typically been good at putting insurance policies in place

(like when we drafted BWilliams bc we knew that Ngata was in a contract year or when we drafted Alex Lewis bc we knew that Wags is coming up on a contract year). We have been proactive but we have also missed on some (Especially at S and CB)

We need to spend some money there which may mean we need to offload some fan favorites to do so!

This offseason is crucial. We have at risk...missing the playoffs for three straight years. That is not within the expectations that we have created and for a team and organization that prides itself on being a top notch organization, a three year drought would be cause for whole scale changes

If John is to keep his job... we cannot miss the playoffs three straight years. I am a big advocate of Harbs and think he is a great coach but someone would need to be accountable if we were to miss the playoffs again!

Unfortunately... I think that with Dean Pees as our DC we will struggle to close any team out again and we will be winning and losing gams by a TD or less in 2017. That makes things very difficult to not drop a crucial game or two. We need to get Dean some help ASAP or it could mean John is gone- and I don't want to see that happen

(help with adding some key components to that defense and help with adding an assistant coach like a leslie frazier who was the biggest factor in the turnaround of our defense - Now that LF is gone... I am worried)

  10 minutes ago, ellicottraven said:

Ben Roethlisberger - Attention seeking Drama Qeen par excellence
Joe Flacco - Polar opposite par excellence.

Big Ben is actually a pretty nice guy. He's had a lot of concussions and im sure that's playing into his decision.

Nice guy???? I wonder if all the women that he assaulted would agree with that statement.

Ben is a drama queen.... when he can no longer garner attention from his play... he stirs drama to get attention through the media anyway he can. He is not retiring... he just needs attention... and that is why the sqeelers will not win the super bowl again under ben... his head has gotten too big

No shock on Yanda being named the top G in the NFL but KO also looked great out in Oakland. Tooo bad we didn't have both this season... with Stanley and Wags at the T spots. Congrats to Yanda

Cant wait until that FA period opens up... I am curious to see the direction that Ozzie and Eric go? It should shed some light on their thoughts heading into the draft.

alll of these 1st/2nd/3rd guys....Elam, Brown, Maxx, Davis, KC, Perriman-upshaw that's 6 PLAYERS that should be starters and dominating... yet not one knows how to play the RAVENS WAY. all this ''IN OZZ WE TRUST'' hahahahahah ill keep my mouth shut on what I think about it ...ill use my favorite word here and stay classy.... PATHETIC

Well.... most TEs do not come in and light it up as a rookie. Look at Eric Ebron or heck... even Gronk.... it took them a couple of years to grow into a NFL TE.... I think Maxx is no exception. Don't be too quick to call him a bust.

Same is true to Davis. I think Davis had a good rookie campaign. He was injured this year but there was not pressing need to rush him back to action bc of the emergence of Pierce. Davis will be healthy and ready to go next year (especially if we lose BW)

Upshaw didn't play bad and is showing more of his potential at Atlanta. Remember that he was fully used to his potential here bc most of the time he played behind a healthy Suggs and Dum- and we still got one of those comp picks for him (I think Tavon) so hard to call that a bust.

Perriman ... basically had his rookie year this year...
He posted 500 yards and 3 TDs playing as a # 3 WR.

Lets look at some other rookie WRs
Michael Thomas 1137 yards 9TDs
Sterling Shepard 693 yards 8 TD's
Corey Coleman 413 yards 3TDs
Will Fuller 635 yards 2 TDs
Malcolm MItchell 401 yards 4 TDs
Chris Conley 530 yards 0 TDs
John Doctson 66 yards 0 TDs
Laquon Treadwell 15 yards 0 TDs

So... considering that this is in essence Perrimans rookie season. He finished in the middle of the pack amongst some very highly touted rookie WRs this season. IN fact the Patriots and Chiefs are calling Mitchell and Conley breakout players and the put up less #s then Perriman did. Sterling Shepard had a great year ad wasn't exactly light years ahead of Perriman (and Shepard was the #2 WR in NY whereas Perriman was the # 3 in BMORE). Fuller is being called a rising star in the NFL and he put up 130 more rec yards and 1 less TD then Perriman. I think the expectations are still high for Perriman.

KC... while his rookie year was a very big disappointment and while am not 100% sure what we saw in him to make us jump that high for him. I am still not ready to close the books and call him a bust. I think he has a motor and wants to learn... so I think he will be able to at least be a solid contributor.

Elam and Brown were truly just misses. That happens some times, but I am not ready to say that all of those guys were a bust....in fact I do not believe that and I think that they will prove many people wrong over the next couple of years.

If we got off of two picks that amounted to nothing in the last two drafts we could have had Ha Ha Clinton-Dix AND Jalen Ramsey. Because we so valued Bronson Kafusi we couldn't get Ramsey, similar situation with Clinton-Dix). When players start mattering more than picks we will do well, as long as Ozzie continues to buy into the mentallity that a pick is more important than players, then we will keep getting 11 draft picks a year and end up cutting 7 of them and 10 or those 11 never make it to the end of their rookie contracts and resigns.

I think Harbaugh is doing wonders with what the FO refuses to give him.

While I would have loved to have had Jalen Ramsey opposite Jimmy Smith I am not ready to call Kafusi a bust. He got injured and may still turn out to be a great pick.

While I hear what you are saying... We don't want to start drafting the Randy Gregorys, Shawn Oakmans and Josh Gordons just bc they are talented.

We are trying to win the right way.... the teams that do it the other way may find temporary success but they typically run into problems with these guys and in the salary cap era you cannot afford to have these issues too often.

With that said -you cannot afford to miss on your top picks either... Elam, Arthur Brown, Upshaw (probably), Kameli Correa.... this is a trend that has to stop and I think it did with CJ and Ronnie Stanley being two of our last three top picks.

It is easy to second guess everything in hindsight. I know who I was hoping we would take in round 1 over the last 5 years... some are having a lot of success... some not so much.

Realisticaly... every GM is going to have some hit and miss.... What Ozzie and company has missed on in the draft recently they hit homeruns on in the FA market. (Weddle, Mike Wallace, SSS, Elvis, Daryl Smith, and more).

Gotta take the good with the bad.

If he is still there it's gotta be Tabor Right?

unless Dalvin Cook is on the board.

PASS RUSHER!!! A legit D lineman. Your DB's are only as good as your pass rush.

The Patriots don't have a great pass rush but they have very good DBs'
The Cardinals have an above avg pass rush and have great DBs
The Broncos have great DBs and a great pass rush
The Bills have very good DBs and an avg pass rush.
The Jets have a great pass rush and horrible DB play
The Sqeelers have a great pass rush and horrible DB play.

While I think that a good pass rush compliments good DBs... I don't think it makes up for a lack of quality DBs.

Look at our record over the past two years without Jimmy Smith. It is horrible. Now realisitically... Jimmy gets hurt every year... so we need an insurance policy. Tavon was a steal but he needs help and Sharece Wright is not the answer.

Plus we drafted Bronson Kafusi last season and he should be like an additional draft pick next year who will help our interior pass rush.

But make no mistake about it.... WE NEED A CB and a S
I like the thought of Gibrill Peppers in Purple

Man... this one hurts... I am worried about Dean Pees without the help of Frazier. Dean struggled with LF (albeit less)... I am afraid to see what the DB reverts to without Frazier under DP. Please get rid of DP ASAP!

Still a lot of holes to fill.
We do have some very good young guys
1. CJ
2. Rico Suave
3. Tavon
4. Kafusi
5. A Lewis
6. Dixon
7. Perriman
8. Maxx
9. Waller
10. Boyle
11. C Moore
12. Pierce
13 KC (at least potentially)
14. Marcus Cannaday (still think he will produce)
15. Judon
16. Z Smith
17. Timmy
18. B Williams
19. Rick Wags
18. Z Orr (not sure of the age of the last 4 but still on rookie contracts)

That is a lot to build off of... and a very solid nucleus of talent to add with the core veterans like:
1. Suggs
2. Flacco
3. Pitta
4. Yanda
5. Tucker
6. Ben Watson (?)
7. Jimmy
8. Weddle
9. L Guy
10.Koch

We may actually be over loaded at TE (what position did Ozzie play-LOL).
we need to add

1. CB
2. WR
3. KR /PR
4. OLB (to begin to groom to take Suggs spot)
5. S
6. RB
7. OL (depending on how FA goes probably a C and T)

So we have some holes at least 8 but we also have a long of talent and even a lot of young talent that (if we can fill those) we should be in good shape next year and really over the next 2-3 seasons!

Good.... glad Greg Roman is on board. First legitimate move so far and should definitely be a good addition. Looking forward to what he can and will bring to the table.

A lot of people are mocking Corey Davis to us..............thoughts???

I don't think CDavis will still be there... I also think that we will look to compliment Mike Wallace and Perriman via FA. So, I feel like our first draft pick in 2017 will either be a RB (depending on how far some may fall or if we can trade up) and if the right guy don't fall... I think we will go CB (like a Tankersly)

Building a beast of an Oline is where we begin. It will help the run game as well as the passing attack so that we can be more balanced. Adding a few more weapons wouldn't hurt as well.

We have the makings of a pretty good OL now. IF we re-sign Wags... we will have coming back...

Wags- Yanda -C?- ALewis- RStanley
with Jensen, Ducasse and Urschel as proven back ups

If we can land a quality C (via FA or draft) and potentially another back up T we could have one of the best OL's in the NFL next season.

heck...even if we lose Wags

Lewis-Yanda-C- Ducasse- RStanley
with Jensen and Urschel as proven back ups

We would need to add depth at T either way (cannot rely on Hurst so much) but that would still potentially be one of the top 10 OLs in the NFL (with little additions to C and depth)

Flacco is what he is, and likely won't change.  He's a largely durable, strong-armed QB that can make about 2 reads, doesn't feel comfortable under pressure (especially up the middle), has better things to do in the off-season than work with his receivers, is not very capable at checking out of plays on the line, needs constant attention to his mechanics, doesn't have touch on a deep ball, can't anticipate receiver's routes or lead them open but can drill them when they are, and needs play action to help his receivers get the clear separation they need for him to feel comfortable to throw.

Now, to get the most out of Joe you first need the right offensive scheme (balanced running game with play action passing and more vertical/deep routes), next an effective offensive line (scheme and coaching first, then talent), and finally WR's who have truly elite route-running skills to get significant separation (Mason, SSSr) to complement burners who pull the secondary deep (Torrey Smith, Perriman, Wallace).  I'm convinced he went on the tear he did in 2012 is because Caldwell and Boldin told him to throw to Boldin even when he looks covered, and trust Q to win the battle for the ball (so of course we released him the following year, SMH).

Since we won't fix offensive scheme or O-Line coaching this year, we should next get a bigger, nastier center and left guard (assuming Lewis moves to RT), and perhaps draft a WR like Davis or Ross, who are the best route-runners in the draft.  There's no receiver in the draft like a Julio Jones or Dez Bryant.  Davis is very interesting as a #2 guy, and Ross is a slot guy who would make Camp and maybe Keenan Reynolds redundant.

Mike Williams may no be a Julio Jones or Dez but I think he could be a Mike Evans or Brandon Marshall type.

Strengthen the run game and Joe will be better.

OMP.... I am with you... Joe had his best (most effective years) when we had a great run game. Would love to see us (trade up) and get a Dalvin Cook or stand pat and take Saqwan Barkley out of PSU

Joe will be okay... I don't think he will ever be Brady, Rodgers, or Brees but the good news is that we really never drafted him to be that. He has won a SB MVP and SB trophy without being that. He has shown that we can win the big one with him but he cannot do it alone and we have to keep him protected.

We have Joe regardless of what some fans think and I really don't believe that will change... so lets just provide the help and protection that he needs to allow him to be successful at what he does

and what he does is become the best game manager in the NFL. That may not sound sexy but he won us a super bow being that. I think if we allow that and he wins another super bowl for us... every fan would be happy with that, the team would be happy with that and heck... I think even Joe would be happy with that!

I do trust that Mr. Bisciotti, is correct when he says that Dick, Ozzie and Harbs are the right people for the job. I really do not doubt that at all. My only criticism (and I admit that it is easy to sit here and criticize in anonymity), is that

Ozzie has struggled consistently drafting specific positions. So, I hope that Steve forces his hand to stop wasting draft picks at those positions and look more to the already proven FA markets to fill those gaps.

Dick and Eric are first class but they are human and some business decisions they have made help to make us the proud franchise that we are and some have (especially recently) really been a bust. Can they be benefited by creating a position that provides more clear checks and balances and by Mr.Bisciotti being more hands on?

I think Harbs is a great coach and it is hard to argue with his success (albeit not as much lately). I however feel like Harbs biggest fault is that he is too loyal to his assistant coaches and there is not enough accountability with them! Again.... maybe this is where Mr. Bisciotti or Dick could be more hands on. This is where their having a say may force improvement (one way or another) instead of waiting until a 4-5 week collapse before something is done (if something is done).

Trestman failed for 5 weeks and was replaced in week six. The defense stunk for the final 4 weeks and really beyond that. They played great vs Miami but the 1st Bengals game... they moved the ball well vs us but self-destructed. The Cowboys games we were exposed. So really 6 of the last 8 weeks of the season... our defense played bad. And in all 8 of our 8 loses... Our defense surrendered 2nd half leads and many of those in the 4th quarter or final drive.

Yet... Pees seems to be given a different pass then Trestman was. Many will say bc the defense played better for part of the year but we really do have a lot more talent on the defensive side of the ball and a lot more resources (draft picks and FA) went to that side of the ball. The expectations should be higher... yet a defensive collapse in everyone of our loses seem to go un -noticed or at least on addressed???????

I agree with Mr. Bisciotti that we have the right people for the job (in the ones that he mentioned) but like any successful business we need a lot more accountability all the way around and we need to be more proactive in addressing these issues instead of waiting until there is a glaring problem and being reactive (at the end of season)

On ‎12‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 10:33 PM, Gruntled Ravens Fan said:

A couple of things we need to do in order to make a Super Bowl run next year.

1. Aquire interior offensive lineman either through the draft or FA

2. Draft a pass rusher with the our first pick and let him start and have Suggs play on passing downs only

3. Get our Safety position figured out. Either draft a Safety or get someone younger to replace Webb 

4. Add more playmakers for Joe to throw to

I think all we need is a C to replace Zuttah... or at least push Jensen.  Both G's positions are set and both T positions are set (even if we don't re-sign Wags)

Would love to draft a pass rusher with speed and bring in a FA pass rusher (probably to relapse Doom)

Bring in a FA S.... we don't seem to have the success drafting that position that we do in the proven FA market (Weddle)

I would add a CB (hopefully via the draft)

We need two WRs (we are probably going to lose Kamar and possibly Mike Wallace in addition to SSS).  Perriman will improve but he is not enough.  Not sure what to think about CMoore yet but certainly agree that we need a lot of help at WR...  I expect to add help there both through the draft and through FA

(We will add a speed back- and I suspect that we will wait until after the draft to see who may fall to us or if we can trade up) but if not...  I am expecting to see an upgrade there for sure

CB- OLB - WR-RB -S- OL  (and that depends on BWilliams situation)

we may be going into 2017 with more holes to fill then in a long time.   (On my wish list is also a DC)

  18 hours ago, TheConquerorWorm said:

Surprised that Mike Wallace ($5.75 million savings), Ben Watson ($3 million) & Shareece Wright ($ 2.6 million) were not mentioned.

Left up to me, I cut

Wallace
Watson
Wright
Zuttah
Arrington
Dumerville
Lewis

Take that $23 million in cap space and resign BWill ($6-7 million) & Wagner ($5-6 million) and then sign a quality FA WR that can run routes and catch the ball like Garcon or Britt ($7-$8 million).

Restructure Pitta & Webb and sign CB Prince Akumara ($8 million)

Use your 1st Round pick on one of the top CB or DE Solomon Davis or WR Corey Davis.

Use your 2nd Round Pick on whichever top CB falls in the 2nd Round - King/Lewis/White or WR JuJu.

Use your 3rd Round on S Budda Baker or S Marcus Williams.

Rest of the picks use to upgrade C, RB, G, future QB.
 

I know why you said to cut Wallace is strictly a financial reason - but you would really cut the second leading TD receiver on the team.  Wallace had over 1000 yards and 4 TD's.  Who do you replace him with?  You cut him and roster goes to Perriman and Aiken - how competitive do you expect to be with just them?  There is no way to cut Wallace without severely decimating the offense more than it currently is.  Feel like his second year with Flacco will be even more productive.  If anything I foresee his contract getting extended for a year and reducing his cap hit for 2017.

People need to recall and understand that in 2015 we had $20 Million in dead cap money for players who were either out of the NFL (Rice $9.5 mill to play xbox) or playing for another team (Ngata $7.5 mill to Lions) (Jones $2.6 mill to Chargers).  That's $20 million in 2015 that I have not seen a single person on here other than myself comment on.  Who did we miss out on in FA because this money was dead? 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/joe-flacco-4000/

Flacco's contract....was extremely TEAM friendly his first 3 years AFTER WINNING A SUPERBOWL!!!! 

Original Contract 

                Base          Signing Bonus                Option Bonus             Cap Hit

2013			$1,000,000	$5,800,000	-		$6,800,000
2014			$6,000,000	$5,800,000	$3,000,000		$14,800,000
2015			$4,000,000	$5,800,000	$4,750,000		$14,550,000
2016			$18,000,000	$5,800,000	$4,750,000		$28,550,000
2017			$20,600,000	$5,800,000	$4,750,000		$31,150,000
2018			$20,000,000	-	$4,750,000		$24,750,000

Restructured Contract 

2016	$4,000,000	$13,800,000	$4,750,000	$22,550,000
2017	$6,000,000	$13,800,000	$4,750,000	$24,550,000
2018	$12,000,000	$8,000,000	$4,750,000	$24,750,000
2019	$18,500,000	$8,000,000		$26,500,000
2020	$20,250,000	$8,000,000		$28,250,000

 

His restructured contract reduced his cap hit in 2016 by $6 Million and by $7 Million in 2017 WHICH HE DID NOT HAVE TO DO BUT HE DID BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING TO HELP THE TEAM!!!!        

 

 

IDK.... "BC he was trying to help the team"? If Joe was trying to help the team ... you don't threaten the hold out and play the games that he and Mr. Litna played on his contract year. They knew that they broke the bank on that contract bc they had us stuck. Hands tied...

They knew from day 1 that down the road this contract would need to be re-negotiated... and Joe even said that.

But they also knew that if you get the giant numbers up front.... that would mean more guaranteed money down the road... via signing bonuses, etc. So did they do it to help the team?

If feel like there was a lot more self-preservation in that decision process then charity!

In fact I think in a lot of ways he handicapped the team...and made it impossible now with all of the dead money to trade of move him.

I get it... every player wants to get as much as they can... but when they do... and they re-structure to get more up front... and more guaranteed.... I don't see that as them being charitable and trying to help their team?

But that's just me!

Kendrick Lewis and Kyle Arrington are $5million who contributed nothing to the team this season. Dumervil is $8 million and Webb and Zuttah (while they contributed... seriously under performed).

Joe Flacco while he had a career year... in yards played more like an $11 million dollar QB then a $22 million dollar one.

No wonder we were 8-8 that is close to $30 million dollars in cap space that we didn't get a return on our investment from. SMH

  23 hours ago, steelcityraven said:

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.

That's not going to happen. From a previous article: 

"Harbaugh said he’s excited to move forward with all three coordinators, including Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees and Special Teams Coordinator Jerry Rosburg."

We are all excited as well ... 

balfan.... if you are excited to have Dean Pees back.... I am not sure that you watched a single Ravens game over the past 3 plus seasons.

We have a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball.
CJ-is a probolwer
Weddle- played as well as any safety in the league
BWilliams- is probably the best run stopping interior DL in the game
Zach Orr -out played CJ who made the probowl
Jimmy is one of the top CBs in the game
Suggs lead the team in sacks.
Timmy... while a little inconsistent...played good enough to deserve to be in the pro-bowl conversation
Tavon Young...played as well as any rookie CB not named Ramsey
Michael Pierce.... played at a very high level.

That is 9 of our defensive starters who played at a very high level this year... (not too many teams can say that)

Yet... of our 8 loses this season... we blew seven 2nd half leads and we blew another seven 2nd half leads last season. .

Including 9 fourth quarter leads over the past two season and including 5 double digit fourth quarter leads.

Pees has no clue how to close a team out. Pees has not clue how to hold a lead. Since he has got here... no lead is safe...

(Anotinio Brown, Crabtee, Odell Beckham, Chris Hogan all closed us out in the 4th quarter... not to mention the unlikely heroics of Ryan Fitzpatrick who helped the hapless JETS to erase a double digit 2nd half lead and beat us in the 4th quarter this year).

Last season.... It was AJ Green 2x... it was Josh McCown throwing for 400 yards vs our great defense.... it was Colin Kapernick and the woeful 49ers who lit us up... it was the CHIEFS and SEAHAWKS putting up 35 points on us... it was a Peyton Manning with zero left in the gas tank who lead the team to a 4th quarter victory over us. it was squandering fourth quarter leads to the Cards and the woeful Jags)

many people will say about our injuries last season... but 2014 and 2016 looked an awful lot like 2015 for us.

So back to my original statement. Dean Pees cannot hold a lead.... He hasn't in three plus season. He has no clue how to close a team out and 40 some games is a large enough sample. He can no longer make excuses bc he has a ton of talent on the defensive side of the ball (with 8 or so of our defensive players playing at a very high level). He just has not cut it and showing me nothing to make me think he can...

So if you are excited to have him back... I really don't know how much you have watched the Ravens play over the past 3 plus seasons... (it is the same song and dance). If you are excited to have him back... I really do not know what makes you believe that he can be different?

I hope it is not his bogus defensive ranking. BC his ranking meant nothing in our 8 loses.... where we surrendered 2nd half leads over and over. Having 5th ranked defense means nothing when you don't make the play offs two years in a row. (and we cannot blame that on the offense) In 4 of our 8 loses this season we scored at least 23 points.

In 7 of our 8 loses we blew 2nd half leads
In 5 of our 8 loses we blew 4th quarter leads
In 3 of our 8 loses we blew double digit 4th quarter leads.

(even if we just win those last 3 games we are 11-5 and probably win the division)... if we don't blow a 4th quarter lead... we are 13-3 with wins over the Patriots, Raider, Steelers and a blow out over the dolphins- all the play off teams)

I said Pees should go... and nothing that he has shown me suggests otherwise... If you are optimistic about his return... I believe that you are letting your fandom cloud you vision. Sorry but I just don't see anything different under Pees... No matter who we have dressing on the defensive side of the ball.

Stanley will be a corner stone for our future success. Great draft pick!

Not sure that I get it.... I understand that we are paying flacco a lot and that he eats up a chunk of the cap... but isn't that most teams dilemma? Brady is making 20million per , Rogers and Ben 21 per and more around the league and these teams are still finding ways to do it... Yes Joe is getting a little more then those guys but not enough to break the bank more. (granted his production is not on par with those guys and that don't help) but

Just from a salary cap perspective... that shouldn't break the bank. We have two
starting RBs that come and a bargain basement price.

We have a starting LT on a rookie contract. (those are big #s for most teams).

We have nearly an entire defensive front 7 on rookie contracts (or at least price friendly contracts). (with the exception of Suggs)

We have a bunch of middle of the pay scale TEs

We have one high paid CB
Heck...we even have Weddle at a good deal

(we do have a few people over paid- Zuttah, Webb, probably Joe, Elvis,) some we have to eat and some we should re-negotiate or off load but I think Joes contract is more of an excuse... (other teams are doing it and finding ways to be successful in spite of paying their QBs big contracts).

We need to do a little better job negotiating some of these contracts.
BTW should the Ray Rice contract expire this season also clearing some cap room for us?

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.