RavensBaltimore

You hit the nail on the head. The line isn't giving Joe enough time to get the ball down field, and our WRs aren't getting open. It looked like there were plenty of play calls that were intended to go down field, but Joe either didn't have enough time or he had to check it down because no one was open. Flacco actually made up for their lack of separation by throwing perfect passes into small windows, but they dropped them. Hopefully, our new OC will be able to draw up some plays to get our receivers open, because they aren't doing it on their own.

Even with the drop and the inability to stay in bounds, I think Perriman should start seeing more snaps. At least Perriman can get in position to make a play in the first place. There's no way Wallace or Aiken beat Norman off press coverage. Perriman is basically a rookie who went almost 2 years without playing a game, and he missed most of training camp and the preseason. He might just need some time to get comfortable in the offense and gain some confidence. It's not like anyone in front of him is lighting it up, so they might as well see what he can do with a bigger role.

The problem is not what Flacco could with WRs like AJ Green. Right now the offense is in a funk. 10 Jerry Rices would not make a difference! If our receivers would simply catch the key passes that hit them right in the hands, we'd be 5-0. We don't need Jerry Rice. We just need players who can catch the ball.

Joe was amazing on that final drive. No one could get open on 4th and 2, so he took it around the edge and picked it up himself. He also used his legs to roll out and find Wallace when it looked like he was going to have to throw it away. Then he throws a perfect deep ball to Perriman in the end zone, then throws a laser through a small window and it goes off Wallace's hands. He made extremely difficult throws and put them exactly where they needed to be. On the previous drive, Wallace dropped a pass on 3rd down to force a punt. Earlier in the game, besides Perriman dropping the perfect deep pass, Juice stumbled on an easy route over the middle at the end of the half, which prevented us from getting a 1st down. That's in addition to the fact that he rarely has time to throw and gets hit constantly. Then he gets criticized for the offense's failures. Even before this game, Wallace and Moore dropped perfect deep passes that would have been TDs. Last week, Tucker probably would have kicked the game winner had Moore not dropped the easy pass over the middle. If our receivers would simply catch key passes that hit them right in the hands, we'd be 5-0.

Those stats about previous 3-0 teams are completely and utterly meaningless. None of those teams were this year's Ravens. The stats don't account for the fact that we basically had to throw our offense together week 1 and figure things out on the fly, nor do they account for the fact that we are a winning organization that has won more playoff games than anyone in the Harbaugh/Flacco era. When there are variables that are unaccounted for, statistics will not be accurate.

I'm confident the offence will take off soon too. Literally every one of our starting skill players is new to the team or coming off a major injury. No one knew who would regain their form or how long it would take, and several of them missed most or all of training camp and the preseason, so we have had to figure it all out on the fly during real games. Trestman has had to figure out what sets to run, who to put on the field, and where to line everyone up, all without knowing what each player is capable of, since he hasn't been able to evaluate SSS, Pitta, or Perriman much in preseason. The miscommunication between Flacco and his receivers and the presnap penalties should get cleared up with more repetitions. We have speed on the outside, guys who can work the middle of the field and move the chains, and a QB who can make all the throws. We just need to put it all together.

#24 is Wright.

I think coming back from 20 down is more beneficial than blowing out the Browns. A win like this builds character. It shows that we can stay poised and handle adversity, which is vital for a successful season. A win like this brings the team closer together and helps instill the belief that we can handle difficult situations. Besides one terrible quarter, our defense has given up 7 points in the other 7 quarters, so if other teams think they are just going to be able to quickly run up a 20 point lead against us, I think they are going to be awfully disappointed.

Arrington has not played a snap this year because he's been on IR since before the season started.

It will be interesting to see who steps up at each position to become the starters who get the most snaps, and I'm curious to see if we are going to spread playing time and targets around to all of our skill players throughout the season. Teams don't usually give many snaps to their 5th WR, 3rd TE, and 3rd, RB, but we may be deep enough to do that. It may take some time to figure out exactly who we are as an offense and what our go to plays/packages are going to be in big moments, but I still think we have enough talent to put up plenty of points while we are figuring it out.

If Flacco throws for over 4500 yds and over 30 TDs, those sound like pro bowl numbers to me.

Guess you would prefer no one as returner because that was what we had before Hester. returner isnt some special unique position. you can make literally any player a returner and we're not going to get anything out of Hester we couldnt get from someone else. That's not the case for PRs. According to Harbaugh, anyone can go out and catch kickoffs, but consistently tracking and fielding punts cleanly is difficult and most players can't do it. If Hester can avoid mistakes, give us just a few extra yds each game, and give us a couple big returns this year, he will probably make a bigger impact than a 6th receiver that never sees significant playing time.

Well apparently you are ignoring the elephant in the room. The Ravens have been slipping the last few seasons now and they use the same old excuses each time around and the fans are just supposed to eat those lines. They have not drafted well for at least the last 4-5 years now (more misses than hits) and the current roster shows this fact easily enough. Ozzie has become predictable. Seems like they consistently draft too many D line when they express being content with the guys they have. They don't ever address CB/S until later rounds in the draft and then wonder why the secondary is not as strong as it needs to be. Pass rush has been sorely missed and they have not hit on a early draft choice, for too long. Yes they know or at least say they know what they are doing, as most people that make choices do, but that does not mean it is the right thing to do. We are talking about cuts, not the draft, and I think the organization makes right decisions the vast majority of the time. We rarely see us cut a player who becomes a star somewhere else, and the FO has managed the cap situation very well recently. Rice's situation and Pitta's injury really handicapped us the last couple years, but we were able to obtain our key players besides Ngata last year, and we had Williams to step up in his absence. This year, we actually managed to have a significant salary cap surplus. As far as the draft, how have they not hit on an early draft choice for too long? Ozzie drafted a pro bowler in 2014. It's too early to judge last year's 1st rnd pick, but I think he's going to be great, and our 2nd rnd pick put up the best numbers for a rookie TE in the history of the franchise, although his playing time was increased because of injury. This year's 1st rnd pick hasn't given up a single sack in the preseason. 2013 was really the only bad draft we've had, and I don't agree the team has been slipping recently. I think we've just had horrible luck with injuries. When I look at our roster, I see more speed and versatility on offense than ever before, the line looks to be improved, we are deep at RB, and we locked up our franchise qb. On defense, we have the personnel to stop the run as always, we have safeties that can cover, we have a shut down corner (if healthy, and he appears to be), we have young and veteran pass rushers, and more overall team speed. We have one of the best, if not the best ST units in the NFL. I'd like to have another CB who can play on the outside, but overall, I love the roster that Ozzie and the FO have constructed, and we still have cap room to spare.

Yeah, he dropped the ball on the kickoff then fumbled it and is injured on top of that!!!! Kaelin Clay fumbled a punt once and was promptly released, that's a double standard there! Kaelin Clay wasn't as good of a receiver as Camp is. When did Camp get hurt? I missed that one. DaCosta pegged his reputation on Campanaro. He was behind the trade that allowed the Ravens to move up to draft Campanaro in the 2014 draft. He pegged Campanaro the new Edelman or Wes Walker even before Campanro played a down in the NFL. I don't pretend to know the behind-the-scene dynamics, but I think that the Ravens have gotten worse with their ability to draft since DaCosta has gotten more and more say. Pre-draft he tends to come out too brash and braggadocious which is unlike Ozzie. In my opinion the reason they are keeping him as GM #2 is not because he is really good, but to protect their trade secrets. To be fair Campanaro is pretty good. His problem is he cannot stay healthy. In my opinion there's not enough sample of him playing to say that he is good. His best showing was the Tampa Bay game when Flacco threw like ? 5 TDs in the first half in 2014. Tampa Bay was pretty bad that year. So I'm saying that he might be good but we don't have good evidence of it on film in the NFL. He continuously has been making the roster on potential. You apparently missed his touchdown against the Steelers. Great play. How many catches has Campanaro made in the NFL? When you look at his stat line, one cannot help but reach a conclusion that he has been making the roster mostly on potential. He is a legend among some of you fans. The stats don't show ability. It's not about the number of catches he has made. It's about the talent he displayed that can't be taught. He showed the quickness to get separation, the ability to go up and catch a pass in traffic, good hands, the ability to hang on when getting hit, he converted a few 3rd and longs and made a clutch catch in a playoff game, and he showed great acceleration by turning a loss of yds into a TD. In a very limited amount of snaps, he showed every skill necessary to be a great slot receiver.

You won't get far in the NFL as a safety if your covering skills are poor. You also need safeties that can come down hill to support the run. Keep in mind Ravens won a Superbowl facing Luck, Brady, and Manning, with Pollard who was not a great cover safety. He intimidated guys coming across the middle. His hit on Ridley turned the tide, he put Gronk on the shelf on a couple of occassions. Safeties also MUST be physical. A young , physical safety like Brooks should have been retained over excessive depth at LB with Chris Carter or 7 CBs. Two ingredients that the Ravens had with each Superbowl team was a physical blocking FB and a knock out safety. Our pass defense was not very good the year we won the SB. Pollard did have some impact plays in the postseason, but as the league uses more and more spread, pass happy offenses, I don't think Ozzie wants safeties on the field that can't cover. On a side note, I would say Pollard's hit on Ridley pretty much finished the Pats off, but it didn't turn the tide. We were already dominating the second half of that game.

Ochi is still very young and may have a high ceiling, but the chances that Butler becomes a star are pretty slim. At this point, not a single GM thinks he is good enough to be on an active roster, and this is at least his 3rd year in the league. He needs to make someone's roster before he can have any chance at becoming a star.

Maybe Pitta will be a game day scratch due to the lingering finger injury? No, Pitta would still take up a roster spot unless he went on IR or was cut.

I understand that, but my real question was why not wait till after the first game to sign him because it would then allow us to cut him if he didn't work out for us. Now we are stuck with his salary for the full year. I'm sure Ozzie is fully aware of that, so he must have a reason. Maybe other teams were showing interest. Maybe he wanted to bring him in before the first game to get him time to practice and be available for game 1.

We probably brought in Hester for his experience, ability to consistently catch punts, vision, instincts, and decision making as much as his speed.

It might be because we don't have another backup LT. We have options if one of our WRs or safeties gets injured, but Hurst is really the only backup LT we have.

That's shocking. Don't mind getting some depth there and than we could cut Hurst. Lewis seems definitely promising and Urschel is no joke either - but Sitton is better than both at this point. He'd be a definite upgrade now. He woudn't come cheap for sure - but I think it would be worth it... ... but then again, I'm not Ozzie :) I would think that signing an expensive LG would violate Ozzie's 80/20 rule. Lewis or Urschel can probably give you 80% of the performance for 20% of the price. We don't have a pro bowl caliber LG(unless Lewis can surprise us) but we have a capable starter and good depth, so I don't see a reason to spend a lot of money there.

I thought there was a realistic chance that both Camp and Butler would make it. With Camp getting waived, I would've thought that pretty much guaranteed Butler's spot. I'm very surprised that neither made it. I thought Brooks would make it as well, but I guess Levine's versatility makes Brooks expendable. We must be planning on signing Hester or another FA with all these surprising cuts.

Camp has been productive when he's been on the field. He has shown quickness, the ability to separate, good hands, the ability to make catches in traffic, and the ability to make people miss in the open field. He's shown all that and made plays in a very limited amount of snaps. He hasn't proven that he's capable of staying healthy, but he has proven he is capable of playing at a high level when he's been on the field. When? I saw him run one WR reverse for 10 yards. Other than that he hasn't done anything and has been injury prone his entire stint with us. Butler better make the cut over Camp. In his rookie season, he first got significant playing time in Cinci. He converted a couple 3rd and longs. One of them was in traffic, and one was a tough, diving catch. Then there was the Tampa game, where he "Randy-ed" the DB(Brandon Williams' words) for a long TD recepton. I remember a simple out pattern he ran in that game where he was face to face with the DB, he made a quick move, and in the blink of an eye, he was wide open on the sideline, and the DB was left there like a statue. That really showed me that he had the quickness to get separation against NFL DBs. Then he got hurt until the playoffs, and in NE, he caught all 4 targets, including a first down conversion on the final drive, where he got hammered and still held onto the ball. Last year, he didn't get much time with the offense until the Pitts game, where he had a couple catches, including a 3rd and long conversion, and he turned a loss into a TD on a running play. The times where he's gotten consistent snaps with the offense have been few and far between, but like I said, when he has been on the field, he's shown the ability to be a very good slot receiver.

Camp has been productive when he's been on the field. He has shown quickness, the ability to separate, good hands, the ability to make catches in traffic, and the ability to make people miss in the open field. He's shown all that and made plays in a very limited amount of snaps. He hasn't proven that he's capable of staying healthy, but he has proven he is capable of playing at a high level when he's been on the field.

The most important aspect of being a PR isn't speed. It's being able to track and catch the ball. That does not seem to be one of Brooks' strengths as a S, and catching a punt is much more difficult than catching a pass.