PolishRifle

The one thing we should be blaming this on is the salary cap not increasing consistently despite record viewership and all the new cable contracts.

In all seriousness, I don't think the Ravens would ever seriously break the bank for Pitta. I think Joe would be much happier if that money was used to sign Monroe and a veteran center to keep him clean (or what ever other pieces we need). Tom Brady usually does fairly well despite a revolving door set of targets. Why? Because he always has tons of time to pass the ball

I agree with that 100%. I absolutely believe, that Flacco's great playoff run had more to do with the OL playing uncharacteristically well (especially for McKinnie), than any receiver Joe was throwing the ball to.

The Ravens OL was so bad last season, that the coaches and FO will have alot of work cut out for them, just to get that unit back to being average. So, there is really no way Pitta should receive a contract, that would make it more difficult for the Ravens to give their 120 million dollar investment (and his knee) proper protection.

It's much easier for the Ravens to find a TE of Pitta's caliber in the draft than a LT, that is as good as Monroe.

The point remains the same, they're not even close in terms of ability.  I bet Emmanuel Sanders understands he's not getting Megatron money.

That's not how contract talks work, though. You never start low, when you negotiate as a player. As far as Pitta's agent is concerned, he's the second coming of John Mackey,

The problem with letting Pitta go is that, while he isn't one of the league's best tight ends, he is our most reliable receiving threat who isn't Ray Rice.

 

Who do we have after him? Torrey? That's it really. Pitta is our only real threat on third down and in the red zone.

That's a really valid point. The Ravens don't really have any guy outside of Pitta with reliable hands. Even Torrey had problems to haul in some catchable passes. Dickson has stone hands and Jacoby usually needs his whole body to make a catch.

Another way, the Boldin trade screwed us over. With Boldin, there was really an alternative to Dennis.

Do you deny it? It's true. He's joes security blanket. He isn't as talented as the top 10 tight ends in this league but we are trying to keep him because Joe is constantly looking for him.

How is it "staring him down", though? Pitta is the most reliable receiver we have. Who else, did Flacco have on 3rd downs, when Boldin was out of picture, who did we have in the red zone?

Pitta is an important part of offense, because he is easily the best pass catcher we got (I blame more our FOs lack of talent evaluating the WR position for that).

That doesn't justify a huge payday, though. I agree with that.

Every Joe Flacco discussion takes us somewhere new and exciting, and I especially love how brisk they can be. I mean, I'd be thoroughly sick of those arguments if they took up 30+ pages of every thread they touched or re-hashed the exact same same points every time, but I love how they never get that way.

Hahaha, nice one. You can build a stand up routine around this!

Pitta is not worth the higher tag number, and we simply can't afford it.  Let him walk and move on.

"I don't answer to Tom Brady" - Robert Kraft after Tom Brady complained about the Patriots failing to sign Wes Welker.

If we use the franchise tag on him, I will be upset. He isn't Jimmy Graham, Gronk, Tony Gonzalez, Julius Thomas, etc. The reason we need him so much is Joe likes to stare down look his way a lot. Talent wise he isn't worthy of the 11 million dollar tag. We will have to look elsewhere for a security blanket for Joe.

 

In other news, Boldin is looking to be getting a 2 year deal with San Fran. Glad to see he is posting solid stats again. His numbers in Baltimore were terrible. Didn't get enough targets.

Take more shots at Flacco, please. God knows we don't have enough posts on that topic.

Manning chokes again most overrated QB. With using pick plays, usually illegal, playing in a Dome, with modern rules against defenses and contact. With baloney non grounding rule out of the pocket. He is average. Shows up small in big games. He is NO Unitas or Montana by any means. Not clutch or tough enough unless confitions are perfect.

Pfft, he is no Terry Bradshaw, either.

Fraud Manning...couldn't beat an alleged "game manager".  Rex Grossman needs to come back to give Manning another shot.  Russell Wilson 123.1 passer rating tonight....game manager...right.

If stats determined the quality of a QB, than Manning would've won all 3 of his SBs instead of just 1.

Seattle deserves this. That city has been loyal to their team for a long time. I like Pete Carroll, too.

Not sure, if Peyton is better than Archie. Put a young Archie Manning on some of those teams his sons had and he wins you a couple championships, imho.

So happy this is ending this way.....  The way that they Snubbed their noses at the Ravens in Game 1...  They needed to be knocked down a few pegs.

I remember some people on this message board asking, if we should pick up Manning in FA, when he became available. There's your answer haters!

Geez, joe flacco is laughing

At this point? Yeah.

Why, though? Brady hasn't done jack in the playoffs since the '04-'05 season (Not like anyone ever acknowledges the likes of Adam Vinatieri and NE's turnover-forcing defense when it comes as the MAIN reason why those teams "won".). And, he's also had some pretty downright terrible games in the playoffs, since then, as well...

Brady has the better playoff record, but that wouldn't put either one them in my top5 all time, if you ask me. It's just the comparison between the two. I would pick Brady over Manning.

Peyton Manning? Potentially the greatest QB ever? Joe Montana is laughing!

I think this lost proves that Peyton really a'int that good in the playoffs. Some games he was okay. He is amazing in the regular season however. 

This whole Brady vs Peyton debate is pretty much over.

Flacco deserved his MVP. Wilson doesn't tonight.., he's not why they won the SB

Who else is getting the MVP, though? The whole Seahawks defense? An ironic SB MVP for Mannings playoff jitters?

Wilson will not win the SB MVP

He is improving his game right now. The QB play in this SBbowl is very underwhelming however. Flacco vs Kaep was much more exciting.

Alright, if they keep this up I'd be prepared to put this Seattle defence in the same ball park as the 2000 Ravens. These guys are serious business.

The Seattle defense isn't that good, but Manning makes them look like the 85 Bears.

I'm so glad we didn't sign Manning, when he became an FA.

Just to paraphrase what you said, this is the best thing we've done for the offense since drafting Joe Flacco! 

Oh God, that happened in 2008! Great, now I'm all depressed.

I wouldn't be too concerned. Everything I've heard about Kubiak is that he's very involved with the QBs.

So, why do we need Dennison for? An OL coach as a QB coach? As a RB coach he could work, but taking care of the QB seems like a stretch to me.

Didn't anticipate Kubiak being interested in an OC job, but he'd more than acceptable. 

 

The part that makes no sense is Shanahan coming along for the ride. 

 

Weird

They both had alot of success together and they both end up joining a very successfull team without QB problems and with a championship pedigree on top of that. That's a pretty good way to get an opportunity for a HC job fast. Winning the SB wouldn't hurt either.

Excellent point, agreed. I don't believe that at all. Mike Preston is just doing what he does and some media outlets take it and run.

Steve Bisciotti is no Jerry Jones. He knows to trust the personal he hired.

Not to mention that he was the OC on their back to back championship teams....I am all for this....Harbaugh's buddy system has worn out it's welcome and no they will not become the Cowboys....Comparing Jerry Jones and Steve Bisciotti  is like comparing lemons to cherries. 

John's "buddy system" is a fabrication by the Ravens fanbase. Every coach brings in coaches, he is familiar with. Just look at what Gary Kubiak is doing and he is just the OC. And for now John's way resulted in 3 AFCCG appearence and a SB, which is something Kubiak hasn't done as a HC, right?

BTW, Kubiak's Texans do run ZBS. Do you think, that doesn't make Kubiak a good fit for Castillo. Sounds like Harbaugh is getting his way.

This would be my guess.

Castillo would be a good fit for Kubiak's offense as well. The Texans were running ZBS very well for a long time.

I don't think the Fo has turn on John 

That damn Preston should be writting Harlequin Romance novels, not reports.

Aaron Wilson

@RavensInsider: Just talked with Eric Winston, former Texans tackle, he called it an "absolute home run" for Ravens to hire Gary Kubiak as OC

Well, Kubiak's other option were the Browns, so it wasn't that hard of a decision to make for Gary.

Since 2006 (Kubiak's span as the head coach for Houston), Houston has cumulatively ranked 8th in yards per offensive play, while the Ravens are 28th, with only Cleveland, St Louis, the Jets, and the Kansas City ranked worse.  Houston has averaged more than half a yard per play better than the Ravens.  And in my opinion, we have had the superior roster.

Their OL was better than ours for a long time, imho. Arian Foster is in my opinion a superior RB to Rice (still pretty good, though) and we never had a WR of Andre Johnsons caliber on our roster. Flacco is way better than Schaub and that means alot, but apart of QB and maybe TE, the Texans probably had the better roster.