RavenManiac#7

I know that the game ending, and game winning, play was the most exciting play us Raven fans have had this whole season. Of course, I'm talking about Will Hill's TD. It's just Such a shame that it came with such a heavy price, the strong possibility of the #1 pick. Oh well, I guess that just fits in perfectly with the way this whole season has played out for us this year. It sure did have me hootin and hollerin, though.

What makes you think that a QB that will be around until the End of the 4th rd will have more talent than Mallett? We can hold his immature actions with the Texans against him forever, Or, we can give the man the second chance that Everybody deserves to prove he's learned from his mistakes. Nobody is perfect and has not made Any mistakes in their lives. If None of us were ever given second chances, what kind of world would this be? Mallett has enough talent to be one of the best backups QBs in the league, and could probably start for Some teams in this league. He just had maturity problems that surfaced in a poorly handled situation by the Texans. Let's give him that second chance and get behind him, instead of ripping him to shreds on here, shall we? Like it or not, he IS a Raven now. I thought that we were supposed to give support to All our players.

Just what is it with so many of you in regards to Renner? "He never got the chance to blossom." Wrong! Renner has had Every practice this season to show our coaches that he has the potential to "blossom", and he has Not done that. He's had Every day in practice to show that he was only a better option than Schaub or Clausen, and he has not even been able to do That. Our coaches see him Every day in practice, so I believe that they have a Much better idea of his abilities than we fans, who saw only a tiny bit of him against weak competition in the preseason. And even then, he only had a few plays, maybe one Good drive, again, against 3rd & 4th stringers and lesser players than even that. Ryan Mallet has shown far more ability in a Much larger body of work. Of course, he acted extremely immaturely in that fiasco with the Texans. I will not defend him in the slightest about that. But, I will Not be one of those kind of people who will not consider giving a man a chance to prove that he just might have learned a lesson after making a terrible mistake and getting cut for it. Everybody deserves a second chance. Personally, I am hoping that he Did learn from his mistake, and has grown up because of it. The guy Does have some talent. He's 6'6", just like Joe, and has a very strong arm, just like Joe. He's not Joe, of course, but I think he will prove to be our best option as a backup to Joe next year out of the guys we currently have, or Had as in Renner's case. And everybody who is So convinced that Renner can be something special, well, let's see if he gets a chance to prove that elsewhere or, even, still here. Who knows?

I never have understood all the "hoopla" or whatever you want to call it about Renner. He is, without a doubt, an unproven commodity. Just because he had a couple/few good moments against 3rd and 4th stringers, and Some players that didn't even make teams, that doesn't mean that he was the second coming of an undiscovered John Unitas, once cut by the Steelers, I believe. Going by what I saw of Renner, and I watched Every play he made in the preseason, and comparing that to a much bigger picture of what I've seen of Ryan Mallet, I think the Ravens did the right thing. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Mallet has learned a Big lesson from being cut by the Texans. The way that was handled in Houston left a lot to be desired, although I am not cutting Mallet one bit of slack for missing that team meeting and flight. He did wrong, Period. Maybe he's grown up a bit. My opinion, and that's all any of us have, is that he will show that he has more talent than Renner, Shaub, and Clausen. Personally, I feel more secure thinking of going into next season with Mallet as Joe's backup than any of the other three. Only time will tell.

IR!!! It just will Not end!

I know this is off topic, but I haven't seen any news on here about this. Last night, while watching the game, my son, who lives on the Georgia/Florida border and I talked by phone during the game as we always do. He's a die-hard Dolphins fan. Crazy kid! What's up with that? Anyway, he swears he heard on ESPN that we had signed Ryan Mallet. He and I tease each other a lot, so I don't know whether to believe him. Has Anyone heard if this is true, or do I need to get him back with one?

I'd like to see KO continue to play as well or, even, improve on his playing at LT the rest of the season. And I'd like to see him signed long term to be our LT going forward. I agree that Clausen is an upgrade over Schaub, but I just heard that we signed Ryan Mallet on ESPN. If that's true, I hope we can keep Mallet for next year too. He's an upgrade over Clausen and in the unlikely event that Joe isn't ready to go right away next year, I like the idea of Mallet starting for us over Clausen Or Schaub. Of the three, I'd prefer seeing Mallet signed for next season. I like him as Joe's backup.

Ozzie has Always been BPA in the draft, but if there EVER was a season that he should draft for needs it's this one. It is Imperative that we try to fill, at least, Some of our holes and weaknesses.

This is exactly what we should be doing. Actually, I think it could have started a bit sooner. I realize, though, that Harbaugh had to wait until we were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Realistically, though, we've been eliminated from the playoffs for a while now, just not mathematically. So, let's see who can do what and prioritize our many needs and problems.

Well, that's kind of the truth, isn't it? This team is leaderless, and Has been since Ray retired. Anybody who has played really competitive team sports knows just how important it is to have leaders on the team. Otherwise, success is just about impossible to attain. I challenge you to name One leader on this team. I honestly don't believe that we have even One. If a team doesn't have players as leaders, then it better durn sure have a HC that has the ability to step into that role. Anybody seen any evidence that Harbs has that ability? I haven't. In fact, unfortunately, I think that I've seen him get rid of a few players that just Might have had the ability to be leaders. Of course, not to the magnitude of a Ray Lewis. But Ray Lewis is in a class of his own. I doubt there will be another quite like him again.

Winning will Always matter to coaches. If coaches don't win games, they run the risk of losing their jobs, not just games.

QB is just one of MANY problems and weaknesses we have on this team now that Joe is hurt. Joe is a good QB. We don't have another good QB, which is typical in this league. Really, think of and name a team that has more than one good QB. You may well come up with a loss on that one. Playing a team the caliber of the Seahawks shows just how weak our Ravens team really is. And it truly Does go beyond the players on the field. The coaching staff has some problems too. I believe that it's going to take a while, not just one off-season to right this ship. Fixing this team is going to take some time, a Lot of work, and a Lot of "smarts", and we haven't seen much "smarts" from the Ravens this year.

KO gave us the best performance we've had from the LT position all season long. I know he'll cost us, but if he plays as well these last three games we have as he did today, I'd like to see him stay a Raven. I've been calling for us to slide him out there for quite a while now. I'm glad Harbs Finally did it.

I have been calling for this to be looked at for quite a few weeks now. The more frustrated I got with Monroe getting hurt so often and missing game after game, the more I've suggested on here that we should give this move a try to see if KO would be a considerable upgrade at LT. He's strong, a bit of a mauler, and plays with a mean streak. I noticed right away, as soon as our offense started, that Harbs had Finally decided to give it a try. His first year, at RT, he played well, and I knew that he played LT in college. I think, even though it was his first game at LT for us, that he definitely showed that he is better there than Hurst, and if he continues to play well there and improves, he very well might be worth trying to sign long term as our LT. I know he will cost us a fairly substantial bit of money, but we just Have to upgrade over Monroe. Monroe is NOT the answer for us at LT. KO might be. He has three more games to show us what he can do. I hope he plays well and that we can sign him. LT is the most important position on the OL and we have no choice but to get better there than Monroe. Good luck, KO. I'd like him to stay a Raven.

If we can find a taker we should let Monroe go for a draft choice. He has more talent than Hurst, yes, but he just doesn't play. Find someone else in the draft or FA. Monroe being better than his current replacement when the replacement plays so many more snaps than he does doesn't really matter, does it? The man just Can't stay on the field. He's made of china.

I just want to thank Moderator #3. Let's keep it clean, people.

That's, on average, missing One game a year. Wouldn't we all just love and be incredibly happy if we could have Monroe again, on average, on the field for 15 out of 16 games? What are the numbers right now for us? Something like 11 games missed in the last season plus eleven games this year so far, isn't it? I think that's pretty close and nobody should be OK with that.

I don't see it as so baffling. A lot of fans don't think that Hurst has shown enough ability to be our answer at LT, and they don't see Monroe showing the ability to stay on the field. It may simply mean that these fans don't think that we have a good, or even adequate, option for a Very important position, LT, the protector of our very valuable QB's blindside. Nothing baffling about that.

As much as I love my Ravens, I really can't say that any of them are my heroes. You, young man, I look at as a hero. You looked incredible adversity directly in the face, and would not give an inch. You fought, and fought, NEVER giving up, and, Praise the Lord, were the blessed recipient of a movement of God. Josue, I believe that He rewarded you with His victory because of the courage and determination that you showed. You are a very strong and brave young man who is a role model for all of us. I consider it a blessing of my own to have been able to hear your story, and find a true hero in you. May God continue to bless you and your whole family.

This is SO much more important than football. This was one of life's most precious moments to a young man; one that he will Never forget. Thank you, Ray Lewis, John Harbaugh, and team chaplain Johnny Shelton (for praying for him in the pre-game prayer), for showing just how much caring and class you have. And, of course, thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation for making it all possible. My own prayers go out to this brave young man.

As of now, if it comes down to Butler or Marlon Brown for a roster spot next year, my money is on Butler. Gotta be careful, though. This article specifically mentioned Butler's ability to work the sidelines. Down and out patterns is precisely the kind of routes that Schaub seems to have defensive backs or sometimes even linebackers jump and produce pick-sixes off of. Of course, the linebackers are usually covering TEs, but Schaub's vulnerability to those nasty pick-sixes makes me a bit nervous despite Butler's ability to shine on those sideline routes. Just a thought.

I think the deal is that he got his payday but he doesn't really have any love for the game. So, he soaks every little tweak that he can for as Long as he can and just happily watches his paychecks get deposited into his bank account, laughing all the time and thinking that, Gee, this is an easy way to get rich. The only time he has to act unhappy is when he's around the team and has to put a look of pain and frustration on his face. I don't see him, so I can't know for sure, but I bet he's a pretty skilled actor. That's what I think the deal with Monroe is. I mean, just look at his injury history in Jacksonville, and then look at it since he got his good payday from the Ravens. Kinda seems like a no-brainer to me.

I wonder why it was no surprise to me to read that Monroe will be out yet again. What are the current odds that he will take the field again this year? I have my doubts that Marlon Brown will be a Raven next year. I always hope for the best for all my Ravens, but sometimes reality kind of rears its ugly head. Only time will tell though. That's always the bottom line.

I thought they both did well. Maybe just because I've seen more of Buck, but I was particularly impressed with West. I really think he ran the ball well. He seemed faster and more elusive than I was expecting, for some reason. I'm anxious to see what they do the rest of the way.

Actually, even with it being Shaub doing the throwing, I thought it safer to pass than to run the ball in that situation. We were backed up on our 1/2 yard line. If the Browns were to stuff us on a running play, it would almost certainly have resulted in a safety. As it turned out, Matt was able to get the first down when his third pass was a completion to Crockett. In that instance, I was happy with the play calling. I just felt a run would carry more risk. Remember, our Center, LG, and LT were all non-starters. And the end result was a 99 and 1/2 yard TD drive. That sounds, and Looked, good to me. If we still had the 8th ranked running game in the league, rather than the 18th, and had all our starters on the OL, perhaps a running play Might have been tried. But, let's face it, this year isn't last year.