flynismo

11 hours ago, Militant X 1 said:

While I don't think that Ray's "last ride" statement had everything to do with that awesome run the Ravens made, it may have had a lil' something to do with it. Many of the players even said that his announcement caught them off  guard and that they wanted to send him off right!  Again, I mention the "emotional cause".  Mr. Modell also died that season I believe Tank?  To me, there is something to be said for "emotional causes" in sports.  Sure, they don't also win games but they do provide that flame that you mentioned in a player(s) hearts.  Favre had it when his dad died and played lights out against the Raiders.  Torrey had it when his brother was killed and did the same.  The other night Dez played with a heavy heart after losing his dad the night before the Steelers game etc.

Again, by no means am I saying that the Ravens won the Super Bowl "solely off of a Ray Lewis speech, announcement or statement for that matter but those "emotional causes" can serve as a springboard for great things and are not to be easily discounted.

What is our "emotional cause: vs the Cowboys?  

Remaining UNDEFEATED AGAINST THEM AND SILENCING THEIR ARROGANT FAN BASE!!  

GO RAVENS!!

I absolutely agree with "emotional causes". But consider the great examples you mentioned:

Brett Favre after the death of his father.

Torrey after the death of his brother.

Dez after the death of his father.

Tragic, tragic losses that would send lesser men crumbling (and understandably so).

Ray Lewis flinging insults?

Not quite so inspiring in comparison, is it?

However - Remaining UNDEFEATED AGAINST THEM AND SILENCING THEIR ARROGANT FAN BASE!! 

Now that, that is something I can get down with! Obviously this is a big game for us. And, I think the "emotional causes" are going to be what wins us this game. We have put ourselves in a position where we cannot really afford to lose games. Dallas has put themselves in a position where losing this game isn't the end of the world for them. Our motivation should be higher; I think we'll fight harder for longer than they will.

1 hour ago, Militant X 1 said:

Initially, I was one to quickly jump on that crucify Ray Lewis for his comments about Flacco's lack of passion bandwagon.  I said that it was spiteful and vindictive. While I still feel he could have chosen a private forum to disclose that information; I have since then rethought about Ray's statements about Joe.

Could it possibly be that Ray...who will forever be a Raven...knows the "timing" of when to drop something like this?  I mean...it is right before the Cowboys game when the Ravens are clearly the underdogs to the 8-1 Cowboys that own the #1 rushing attack.  They are behind enemy lines on the road, very few people are giving them a snowball's chance in hell to win this game and the Ravens offense has been struggling.  Ray's statement about Flacco...then becomes a "rallying cry" of some sorts to further galvanize the team for battle.  Could it be that?

I remember when Luck and the Colts were coming to town for a playoff game.  Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with and recovering from cancer.  They had "Chuck Strong" banners, hats, t-shirts etc., in support of the coach.  In essence, they were coming into Baltimore with an "emotional cause".  Ray's statement; "I told my team, that this would be my last ride!" did just that!  It galvanized the gang and also gave them an "emotional cause" to match their intensity. 

Everyone was already playing for themselves BUT when they heard Ray announcing his retirement?  It was on!   They went on an incredible run and won the Super Bowl! Now, I'm not saying that the Ravens win a Super Bowl off of this statement about Joe...although that would be welcomed.  But, what if...what if...that interview falls into the same vein as the last ride?  Think about it!  Everyone is talking about it and look how people have come together in support of Joe...even in here!  Hopefully, they can harness all of this support, and uncork and unleash it on Dem Bumz tomorrow!   

GO RAVENS!!

 

I'd like to believe that, but Ray was answering a direct question about Flacco. It's not like he was asked about the Ravens as a whole and then singled out Flacco; which is what I think would have accomplished the goal you were proposing.

And strangely enough, after reading it a couple more times and thinking on it, after disagreeing with you at first, I'm starting to think you were right to call Ray spiteful and vindictive. Not just for calling Flacco's passion and leadership into question, but then going on to say that he doesn't know anyone that calls Flacco a great teammate and also going out of his way to make a distinction between teammates and friends....I dunno about all that man. All I know is that it was uncalled for.

1 hour ago, Wisdom said:

He hasn't won a game convincingly this year.  You reaped what you sowed.

Oh, it's not a team sport anymore, it's "He hasn't won a game convincingly this year."?

He's won enough to put us in sole possession of first place in the division. Now, I can't wait to watch you try to backpedal out of that one haha

1 hour ago, Wisdom said:

Still laughing!!!! Besides, where are your buddies?  You know how you guys do?  You respond, then a few minutes later your friend respond, then another, and another etc....  Reminds me of David Bowie, another one bit the dust".  Finally, someone ends the tread with the infamous statement of "ignore the troll", "don't feed them":  LOL!  I noticed this only happened of course, when the discussion is about Flacco.   All I can say, is Ray Lewis is right and I thank him for sharing his observations with us.

So in other words, as usual, you have nothing worthwhile to contribute to the conversation? Got it, thanks.

15 minutes ago, Wisdom said:

Ridiculous!  How do you know what the man thinks?  Are you a mind reader?  LOL!  Since his opinion is different from yours he then of course must be wrong.  I can't stop laughing!!!! 

How do I know? Because I am blessed with the gift of literacy. You should try it sometime.

1 hour ago, Militant X 1 said:

Everyone seems to be commenting on a small portion of Ray's statement.  Well, here's the whole thing....

"There is something called talent, right, and you see it a dime a dozen. Then there's something called being passionate about what you do, about really what you do," Lewis explained on FS1's Speak For Yourself on Thursday. "Me being around that... Gifted? Absolutely. Passionate about what he does? I've never seen that. I don't know what that looks like."

Lewis would know a little something about passion; his legendary pregame entrance is oft-imitated and revered as sacred performance art league-wide. Not to mention that the future Hall of Famer also played every snap of football like his life depended on it. While what provoked Lewis' diatribe about his former quarterback's cool demeanor isn't clear -- he was originally asked why Flacco had been inconsistent -- the linebacker clearly had to get something off his chest.

"I don't know how many times you hear somebody really just go out on a limb to defend, He's the greatest teammate I've ever had. ... Maybe his personality is just not that personality. He's not a ra-ra guy; he won't say much. But still, in the game of football, there has to be some burning fire behind you, there has to be something that speaks that is bigger than me. This is us, this is a core. Whether you understood that I used to do or why I used to do it, sometimes I didn't ra-ra for me. Sometimes I ra-ra because my boys need to ra-ra." "He's always isolating himself to go sit on the bench, never talking to anybody after a big play, bad play, whatever it is. Teammates figure out how to create this core that we all get along. Then there's a fact, right? Some people will be co-workers, some people will be teammates, some people you may call friends. I call Joe Flacco a teammate; we won a Super Bowl together. What the Ravens have is a Steve Smith, is a Mike Wallace, is different personalities now that can make him rally because that's the only thing that can really bring him out of that.

Flacco caught wind of Lewis' comments and went on SiriusXM's Schein on Sports on Friday to read between the lines.

"It's something that I've always dealt with. It's my personality," Flacco said when asked about Lewis' comments. "When things are going well, people are asking why it's a good thing. When things aren't going well, they want to question you and different parts of your game. I'm not going to sit here and talk too much about it. It is what it is. Ray can think what he thinks. I'm here to lead these guys, keep us on top and keep us moving forward."

No one has ever argued that Flacco was an inspiring sideline presence, akin to Tom Brady or Russell Wilson. But it's interesting to hear from someone who knew him well that Flacco's lax attitude is actually a detriment to the team.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000741896/article/ray-lewis-questions-joe-flaccos-passion

 

Ok!  As much as I love Ray...and he is definitely my dude for sure and always will be; this was a very personal attack on Joe!  I believe it was a retaliation of what Joe said in the past about Ray's pregame speeches....

For the second time this offseason, Flacco has said that while Lewis was a great player and teammate, the pregame speeches that were intended to fire up the locker room often left Flacco feeling more confused than anything else. In March, Flacco said Lewis use to lose him while addressing the team.  Flacco has said that as he takes more of a leadership role, he’s not leading the way Lewis did.

“That’s not me,” Flacco says. “I love Ray, and I love how he always spoke from the heart, but if you listened to those speeches, a lot of them didn't even make sense.  He meant everything he was saying, but I didn’t know what he was talking about 90 percent of the time.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/23/joe-flacco-i-love-ray-lewis-but-his-speeches-didnt-even-make-sense/

Initially, I though Ray might have been saying this to indirectly inspire and rally the Ravens to fight hard for Joe on Sunday against the Cowboys. But after this?  Naw!  It was very spiteful and vindictive.  C'mon Ray!  SMH!!!!!!!

I think spiteful and vindictive may be a tad strong...if he took Flacco's comments a certain way, then I can't knock him for wanting to get a retort in there.

My issue is, Ray seems to think there are two ways of doing things: his way, and the wrong way.

Maybe if every other teammate Joe has ever had didn't have his back, or would have said something similar to what Ray did, this would be a non-issue.

No love lost for Ray, I have always said he has a ridiculous ego, and too many people have no clue what leadership is, when they mistake squirrel dances for leadership. Ray is a legend, love him to death. But when you're wrong, you're wrong...

“It’s just odd that you hear Ray Lewis saying something. Joe Flacco won you a Super Bowl, did you forget about that?” Weddle said. “I don’t know. It is what it is. We love Joe. He’s our guy. He’s a great teammate, professional, leads, everything you want. It’s kind of irrelevant. We don’t really care what the outside thinks. For an old teammate to say that, it’s just like, ‘Don’t you have something better to talk about?’ I guess he didn’t.”

1 hour ago, Deflated Football said:

Who cares what Pryce did? He's not even half of what Ray Lewis was. 52 was the heart and soul of Baltimore for so damn long and now we're going to act like his rah-rah was obnoxious and unnecessary just to protect Joe Flacco? This thread is getting embarrassing now. He's in media. What do you expect him to say? I'm not saying that he's right or wrong; I actually believe the latter because everybody goes about being "passionate" differently, but to take away Ray's qualities and importance of getting the team fired up is extremely nonsensical. 

Did you even read what I said? "Ray was a great leader, but not because he waved the pom poms."

I bring up Trevor Pryce because it illustrates the point that grown men don't give a crap about how many dogs are in the house and squirrel dances. That's for the fans, and Ray.

Nobody is diminishing what Ray meant to this franchise. If you want to construe it as bashing Ray to protect Flacco, go right ahead.

Not going to bother reading all the comments...the usual bridge dwellers are going to like what Ray said, the more sensible people will see it for what it is.

I remember being at our playoff game in 2006 and watching Trevor Pryce roll his eyes and look away when Ray started the pregame hooting and hollering.  People need to stop equating loud and obnoxious with leadership. Ray was a great leader, but because he waved the pom poms

13 hours ago, Tru11 said:

people seriously disrespecting ray in favor of flacco.

hilarious

It is hilarious how huge Ray's ego has always been. Me me me me....

This is one massive pill for me to swallow, since he has been one of my favorite players for a dozen years, but if it comes to having to choose between Suggs or keeping both Brandon and Jernigan, we have to let Suggs go. Jernigan and Williams are too important to lose, especially to keep a guy at the end of his career.

Preferably, we figure out what to do with Webb and his inflated contract, and Doom is likely gone anyway.

9 hours ago, Ravenseconbeast said:

His defense has been good.

Umm...they've given up 111 points the last three weeks alone lol...

8 minutes ago, BmoreBird22 said:

I'd disagree with this. He's long had one of the better pass blocking offensive lines in the league.

I actually agree with this; the run blocking has generally been mediocre, sometimes pretty bad, but from what I've seen, pass pro has usually been solid for the most part. Probably ranks in the 10-12 range over the past five years.

4 minutes ago, PurpleCity5 said:

Maybe I have gotten you mixed up with someone else because I have seen people turn down legit criticism of Joe as trolling. I'm a Joe Flacco fan but I have to be honest with what I'm seeing. Definitely liked what I saw against Cleveland in the 2nd half but I would like to see him play better than that or at least at that level.

I just edited the answer instead of making another reply.

13 minutes ago, PurpleCity5 said:

I've watched a couple of Packers game and Aaron Rodgers rarely has anyone open. He's holding the ball for a very long time. Randall Cobb is having a disaster of a season and while Jordy has played well recently but he isn't what he used to be. They've relied too much on Jordy. Aaron Rodgers has missed plenty of throws admittedly but if we're talking about Greenbay struggles, then Aaron Rodgers isn't at the top of the list. I would honestly look straight at that defense, play-calling and the lack of separation by the WRs. 

How can we legit argue or throw away some of Joe's struggles and yet say that Aaron Rodgers is having an awful season throwing twice as many TD passes and less INTs. I don't see how you can say that Aaron Rodgers is having a bad year and just look past Joe's struggles. 

Well, that's because I'm not doing that LOL.

The problems in GB are somehow simple, and complex, at the same time. Part of Rodgers' struggles is as you mentioned, his WRs not getting open, and a complete lack of contributions from their TEs. And the OL.

On the other hand, those guys still make great plays often enough to make things work, primarily in the red zone. Nelson and Adams have been frackin' crushing it. Rodgers has been great in the red zone, as always this year -- thanks in large part to those guys. In between the 20s is where the offense struggles.

Rodgers is NOT the main problem there, or really even a problem at all. But he is not doing as well as the 22 TD / 7 INT ratio would suggest.

3 minutes ago, PurpleCity5 said:

Aaron Rodgers has still thrown for 22 TDs on 7 INTs. Some people forget that QBs are human, I don't think Aaron Rodgers has been playing bad at all. His defense has been a complete disaster, I personally think the offense isn't great either but how is 22-7 remotely bad? We would be calling Joe an All-Pro if he had those numbers. 

Oh, Rodgers has been struggling, quite badly at times, this is again a case of stats being bogus. I haven't seen Stafford play a single game this year, but I have seen several GB games. GB and the Saints I follow religiously as well as Bmore.

Just now, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Smh.

And that is Mili's line. +35

Just now, OUravensfan said:

Imagine fans from the game thread after we go down 10-0 to start a game running the team 

"No Sami, we cannot legally cut Flacco during the game, can we?"

Just now, Ravenseconbeast said:

If you actually watched Aaron Rodgers throughout this season and Matt Stafford this season, then yes Matt is actually better than Rodgers.   Rodgers has struggled this season early in the season badly.  

Matt has been great so far.  Watch the games.  B/C you will agree.

I'm not disagreeing that A-Rod has struggled quite a bit. But, what I am getting at is -- why? And how does that affect his stat lines?

10 minutes ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

It's good to know Ryan Mallet is a top 15 QB. Maybe we can trade him for a first rounder next year!

I'd be happy with a bushel of crabs and a case of Corona!

5 minutes ago, Ravenseconbeast said:

I see what you are doing there.  But you might want to put only starters into factor.   Murray/Terrell Pryor are QB in your eyes then.  Ok...

That is the statistics that they accumulated while passing the ball. Strange what happens when you start applying context to those stats, isn't it?

Lets try this another way. Stafford is the 5th rated starter on the list. Rodgers is the 15th rated starter. Is Stafford REALLY that much better than Rodgers? Would you really have Stafford as your QB than A-Rod? Or would you look past the stats to evaluate them?

Just now, Deflated Football said:

I can't stop laughing 

Hey, what are you doing in Brady's locker anyway?? I still havent figured that out

Just now, Ravenseconbeast said:

Yup, statistically this year they are what they are.   

If you wan't to take out 'stats' completely you can leave out the TDs/INTs from Superbowl season and give that credit to AQ and the oline.    WIthout that Flacco would be less than a dud.

Guessing you wont do that. 

I'd be thrilled to take stats out of it and show you the many great plays (and a couple non-plays) Flacco made during that run!

1 minute ago, Ravenseconbeast said:

oh my goodness *facepalm*   

whatever you want to believe.   it's hopeless.   just check through all the QBs that surround Flacco's QB rating and it's pretty obvious the stats are pretty consistent with who is good and bad.   

 

So then you agree Aaron Rodgers is the 25th best QB in the league? Luck the 26th best? Rivers the 27th best? LOL

3 minutes ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

But he has a better completion rate than Flacco. Therefore he must be a better QB. It just proves that anyone can play QB

I like how all of the sudden, NOW he wants to add context to stats LOL