RavensBaltimore

"As few impact injuries as seldom in the history of the NFL"? I'm not quite sure what that statement means, but during the 4 game losing streak, we had something like 5 pro bowlers out plus our starting left tackle. When the offense finally got healthy and started playing better, the one guy we can't afford to lose on defense gets hurt. And it's not like we've been so far off from the playoffs recently. We were a few inches from being in 1st last year with a game left, and I think the last game would have gone differently if it meant something. In 2013, we were in a playoff spot before Flacco hurt his knee, and missed it by one game. 2015, when we had half the starters on ir, is the only time in the last 9 years we weren't competitive. We have the 2nd most playoff wins since then. I really don't think the Ravens are a team that needs to show that they can make the playoffs before being considered SB contenders. They've already shown they can make the playoffs and win there. The Ravens were nowhere near a playoff spot when Flacco got hurt in 2015. The game he got injured was against the Rams. Tuckers game winner put the Ravens at 3-7. You misread my post. I said we were in a playoff spot when Flacco hurt his knee in 2013, and we were.

"As few impact injuries as seldom in the history of the NFL"? I'm not quite sure what that statement means, but during the 4 game losing streak, we had something like 5 pro bowlers out plus our starting left tackle. When the offense finally got healthy and started playing better, the one guy we can't afford to lose on defense gets hurt. And it's not like we've been so far off from the playoffs recently. We were a few inches from being in 1st last year with a game left, and I think the last game would have gone differently if it meant something. In 2013, we were in a playoff spot before Flacco hurt his knee, and missed it by one game. 2015, when we had half the starters on ir, is the only time in the last 9 years we weren't competitive. We have the 2nd most playoff wins since then. I really don't think the Ravens are a team that needs to show that they can make the playoffs before being considered SB contenders. They've already shown they can make the playoffs and win there.

I think the fact that he looked so much better after the bye had a lot more to do with the o-line being healthy than it did with his knee. The offense was pretty good when the line was healthy last year.

I'm very curious about this, too. I've seen no clarification on exactly what this is about. This basically is changing the "10 second run-off" when the offense commits a foul (illegal sub, false start, etc). This foul could only be called when under 1 minute of play. Now it changes to under 2 minutes of play. Nothing changes except for when the officials can enforce the penalty. Where did you hear that?

Obviously it helps to simply be "better", but for the defense, there's no reason that a unit that plays so well throughout the game should keep crumbling in clutch situations. In the last 2 years, the Ravens lead the league in games lost when the offense had a 4th qtr, go ahead drive. I think the main problem there is the soft, scared coverage they play late in games. They're so afraid of giving up the big play, they just let the qb play pitch and catch down the field. Dean Pees acknowledged that the DBs were playing too far off on that last drive in pitts, so why not do something about it? The secondary staying healthy would go a long way as well. The offense just needs more playmakers. Rodney Harrison was right last year. It's not good when your best playmaker by far is a 37 year old coming off an Achilles tear.

Even at M&T? The Ravens won the very last game they played against the Bengals at M&T.

People say this all the time, and the facts continue to prove that it isn't remotely close to being true. If Flacco doesn't elevate the play of those around him, then how does Torrey Smith go from averaging over 800 yds and 7 tds to being virtually worthless in SF? Steve Smith was better at 35 and 36 with Joe than he was in his last couple years with CAR. Did he age backwards or did playing with Joe help him out? Mike Wallace's career was taking a nose dive until last year. Ed Dickson even had much better receiving numbers with Joe than he's had in CAR. We've never seen one receiver fail to be productive with Flacco and then light it up somewhere else. Never. Not even close. Meanwhile, whenever Brady gets hurt, his backup comes in and plays very well and wins games, but Brady gets credit for making others better and Flacco does not. Sorry. Everything is situational. I disagree with just about all of this. Comparing Torrey being on the worst team in the league this year, vs getting his multiple deep shots every game with Joe doesn't make sense. Steve Smith was better at 35 and 36 with Joe??? You can't be serious! Steve Smith is a triple crown winner! A HOFamer. And those 2 massive accomplishments had nothing to do with playing with Joe. Once Again, like Torrey, Mike is a one trick pony. And like Torrey, he was stuck on 2 teams without a QB, and definitely without a QB that can throw the deep ball. Wallace lit it up with Ben cuz he could throw it deep. Stats never tell the whole story. And Ed Dickson?Really, Ed Dickson? I'll leave that one alone. And are you really comparing Joe to Brady, with any sentence or comparison at all. As much as I hate Brady, that's just dumb. And that's not true about Brady's backups. They still win a lot cuz BB is ridiculous, and far and away the best coach. And their D is always underrated for some reason. Brisset is a 3rd round pick, came in and played the Bills at home. The patriots did not score a single point. Yet Brady put up 38 points and 4tds, in 3 quarters, in Buffalo. Flacco has not received much help when it comes to providing him with a legit #1, but he also doesn't elevate those around him much, if at all. He can throw a deep ball, and I would love to see us get back to that. But the coaching has a lot to do with that. I think the line will turn out well too. Between the coaches and Flacco's play last year, I just really hope I can forget about it to be honest. It was embarrassing. New season coming up though. I would imagine Joe's knee is feeling better. But if his heart isn't in it, it won't matter. I'm not bashing Joe, but he should not be compared to Brady. Last year was his worst year imo and it's in the past. We need to get the man a John Ross, or Corey Davis. Ju Ju would be GREAT too! Not one of your excuses holds water. 62 of Wallace's 72 catches last year were for FEWER than 20 yds, as were the majority of Torrey's catches in Baltimore, so saying the drastic difference in production is only because of the deep ball is simply false. And if Wallace didn't play with a qb in Minn, then how was a rookie, late round WR able to out play him with the same qb? SSS may be a HOFer, but how many HOFers get better after 35? There was a major improvement from his final season in CAR to his first season here, and he was on pace to do even better in his second season with Joe. Again, did he age backwards? I'm not saying Joe made him a great player, but it makes no sense to say he had nothing to do with that at all. Smith even Raved about Flacco's leadership style without being asked about it. They clearly had a chemistry that wasn't there with Cam, and Joe put the ball where it needed to be. As far as Dickson goes, you left that alone because the facts prove you are wrong. He had much better numbers with Joe than with Cam. There is a consistent pattern with pass catchers playing better with Flacco than without him, which proves he DOES make players better. You said Brady's backups win because of BB. Who do you think coaches the team when Brady plays? You cherry picked a bad game by their 3rd string, rookie qb who was playing injured, but Jimmy G, without Gronk, had a better qb rating than Brady this year.He had 3tds and 234 yds before halftime when he got hurt. I realize that's a small sample size, but they had a top 5 offense without Brady all year when he tore his acl.

I don't see how that gives them an unfair advantage. If a team is playing in a dome, then their opponent is also playing in a dome.

People say this all the time, and the facts continue to prove that it isn't remotely close to being true. If Flacco doesn't elevate the play of those around him, then how does Torrey Smith go from averaging over 800 yds and 7 tds to being virtually worthless in SF? Steve Smith was better at 35 and 36 with Joe than he was in his last couple years with CAR. Did he age backwards or did playing with Joe help him out? Mike Wallace's career was taking a nose dive until last year. Ed Dickson even had much better receiving numbers with Joe than he's had in CAR. We've never seen one receiver fail to be productive with Flacco and then light it up somewhere else. Never. Not even close. Meanwhile, whenever Brady gets hurt, his backup comes in and plays very well and wins games, but Brady gets credit for making others better and Flacco does not.

Yes, we did fall short by inches, and no, we couldn't tell the Ravens were not championship ready. I bet you could "tell the Ravens weren't championship ready" after their 3rd consecutive loss in Dec of 2012, just like many of the other fans could. The fact is that we've made the playoffs or been extremely close in 8 of the last 9 years. The only time we weren't a playoff contender was when every one of our starting skill players went to IR. There's no reason not to be optimistic.

I don't think he had the best year of his career. He had the most catches because he caught so many meaningless dumpoff passes, and as someone mentioned, he wasn't getting many yac or picking up enough 1st downs. He only had 2 tds, and they were in the same game. It was inspiring just to see him back on the field and contributing, but there's no need to pay someone that much if he's not an explosive playmaker or a consistent chain mover.

John Simon is the exception, not the rule. Most of the players we let go don't develop or don't live up to their contracts. Our coaching staff has a pretty good track record when it comes to evaluating our own talent.

So 1 trip to the playoffs in 4 years is something to be happy about? It's not about how close we were in that game, it's about how far apart we've been from the playoffs since winning the SB We haven't been far from the playoffs. Except for last year, when most of our key players were injured, we haven't missed the playoffs by more than one game, and most of the games we lost have been very close.

They should show how far our CBs were playing off the receivers on the final drive.

It's a shame because when our O-line is healthy, this team is 8-3. When Jimmy Smith is healthy, our defense is #1 in the league. The offense is averaging about 30/game in the last 4, and if we could have held on in Pitts, we could have had a home playoff game against the Dolphins and possibly gotten Jimmy back for a playoff run. With a #1 defense and the offense playing the way it is, we could have had a shot to go back to the super bowl. Maybe next year, we'll finally have better luck with injuries, but our pass defense needs some upgrades so they're not so dependant on one guy.

Sounds as if you described us being a 12-2 team at this point. We are a VERY MEDIOCRE team right now. Not today. NFL is week by week. Real fans know this. And we could easily be 12-2 with a couple different bounces. Go root for the Steelers would ya. Sick of our fans pessimism I choose to root for the Ravens. Missed about 10 games in Baltimore over the last 20 years driving 250 miles roundtrip. Usually go one or two road games a year and attended both Super Bowls. When we are good I say we are. When we are bad I say the same. When we are middle of the pack, which we are so far I simply tell the truth. The truth is that the Ravens had a bunch of key players returning from injuries and we were playing without 5 pro bowlers and our starting LT for most of our 4 game losing streak. Since the bye, this team is 5-2, with both losses coming to the #1 seeds. We were a middle of the pack team in the first half of the season. We are much better than that now.

Your first paragraph is correct. If we went 9-7, it is literally impossible for one of the AFC South teams to get the wildcard, so the Titans and Texans games don't affect our chances in any way whatsoever. As far as the pats not resting their starters, just recently, I think it was last year, they rested their starters in week 17 and lost to the Dolphins, so they would probably do that again if they had the top spot locked up.

In the second half of the season(since week 9), Flacco has 13 TDs and 6 ints, and he's completing nearly 70% of his passes. His bad stats came from the first half, when all the skill players were coming back from injury and the line was decimated by injuries, giving him absolutely no pass protection.

I don't think we're going to have him for this one. We did blow out the Steelers in the playoffs a couple years ago without Jimmy Smith. When he isnt on the field, our defense usually plays off the receivers to guard against big plays, which doesn't hurt us as much against Pittsburgh as other teams. Ben doesn't stick to the short, quick passing game. He likes to hold onto the ball and make plays down field, which allows us to play off of their receivers and gives our pass rush time to get there. Our pass rush will be key in this one.

We all know if we win both games we're in. Ravens just do it, so we don't have to play the what if game. However, the what if game is: If we go 1-1 and it doesn't matter who we lose to and end 9-7 we can get the #6 wild card If: Miami must lose both games (they are at Buf and then home against Pats) they win one game they have the #6 spot by record. Tenn and Den must lose at least one of their last two games to have the Ravens tie or better them and we have the tiebreaker on both. At best the Colts and Buf can tie and we have tiebreaker over Indy and beat Buf head-to-head. The first wild card slot #5 will go to either Oak or KC whoever doesn't win their division. Merry Christmas to all and on Christmas night around 7:30 we hope to be cheering a Ravens victory to cap a great day of family celebration. In my eyes, if we do not win the division we might might as well just not the playoffs anyway because l don't see them going to the Super Bowl as a wild card team and have to go on the road the rest of the way. They need to set up like they did in 2012 Super Bowl run; win the division and start off with a playoff home game in the wild card round then go on the road in the last two to get to the big dance. In 2012, we had to beat the top two seeds, the Broncos and Patriots, on the road. I really dont think the location of the first game made a difference.

And the Ravens had to stage a comeback just to beat the Browns. C'mon now! The Ravens are clearly not the same team that they were in the beginning of the season. If we're comparing common games, the Steelers got dominated by the Dolphins, and we beat the Dolphins by 32. Since the bye, the Ravens are 5-2 with both losses coming on the road against the teams tied for the best record in the NFL, by 10 and 7 points. Both teams have looked great and terrible at times this year, but Sunday is its own game.

Nothing. That's his golden boy. Is that why he cut him earlier in the season?

Im not sure if all 4 TEs are going to be active when they're all healthy.

The hate really amazes me. Joe has messed up plenty and most certainly deserves criticism. He does need to do better, no doubt about that. The money he is paid is thrown around constantly, but it is often forgotten that is what quarterbacks cost. They make more than the other positions on the field. I believe a lot of the vicious hate is rooted in jealousy of his wealth and success. "it is often forgotten that is what quarterbacks cost" No- $120 million is what TOP TIER Quarterbacks cost. Joe is currently bottom tier (lower than 25th), and has been 3 of the 4 years since his postseason run. That is where a lot of the frustration comes from. How is he lower than 25th if he's 5th in passing yards this year? are you talking QBR or something? What is he 25th at? And wrong, $18mil+/year is now starter money, not just top tier money. Joe makes a little more because, in case you forgot, he won us a Superbowl. Sure you want him to be better, but he got his market value. Tyrod is making $18mil a year for crying out loud. 18mil is NOW starter money, your right...back when he signed the contract though it was top tier, he should've been paid significantly lower, I like Joe...but Anquan Boldin and Pitta got him that contract cuz he was flailing the ball up like he always does, Boldin n Pitta were just coming down with amazing catches I guess the other QBs who played with Boldin didn't get the memo that you can just "flail the ball up" and have the greatest postseason of all time and win a SB.

Yes, let's get rid of the head coach/qb that have more playoff wins than anyone in the league since they've been here.