Bat-mite

Bengals just don't have it this year....

Sorry to hear about Reuland. Brain aneurysms are life-altering, and not in a good way. Often takes years to fully recover ... if you do. :(

And that is because the corners will allow the short pass. They back up to the 1st-down line, then pounce.

The offense didn't play poorly enough to take away from the joy of the four things I mentioned. We ran the ball well, we had a TD pass. Not great, but adequate.

We are now in the interesting situation that, in order to make the postseason, all we have to do is match Pittsburgh. If they win, we have to win. If they lose, we get a game of breathing room. That, of course, is assuming that Cincy doesn't win out and we and Pittsburgh lose out.

That was a fun game to watch all the way through. Judon with his pass blocks, Doom with his strip sacks, Tuck with his FG record, and the final play was the grand finale. Good stuff!

In all fairness, I don't think any of the teams on our remaining schedule are as tough as Dallas, and we only lost to Dallas by 19 points, and that was without our #1 corner. We could possibly win out, or go 5-1; and I don't rule out a 4-2 getting it done, with us owning the tie-breaker and being unbeaten in the division. What happens after that is really up in the air. Can we win the Wild Card game? It will depend on the opponent. This season isn't over, yet.

Nailed it!

Let's get Kubiak back ... but as a head coach.

I was on the fence about that. My theory was that if your offense is good enough, then the kicker doesn't get very much to do. he only comes in to kick FGs when the O couldn't get into the end zone. Okay, I confess, out offense is nowhere near as good as I thought it would be, and now having Tucker is a life saver. But, it's only a life saver because our O can't get us in the end zone.

I think we can go 4-2 in these last six games, which would give us a 9-7 for the season. I truly believe that should take the division. One thing is sure: we MUST take the division -- we will not qualify for a wild card berth with our record, unless we win out. But if we win out, we still win the division. I am so tired of hearing that we need to take more big shots down field, and about Flacco's arm strength. Flacco frequently underthrows the receivers, and they have to slow, stop, or even backpedal to catch the ball; and in those cases, they usually don't. And then, of course, sometimes he overthrows. A strong arm is not as valuable as an accurate arm, and Flacco has lacked accuracy all season. It will be good to get Boyle back, especially on blocking plays. I never thought I'd see day when you would need an active passport to play in the NFL!

"Justin Kicker comes out to tuck...." :D Wow, we have had Tucker and Stover. What an amazing legacy for a single team.

Enjoy it while it lasts, Dak. Soon you will be eligible for a big contract, and you will ask for lots of money, and you will get it. And then the cap will kick in, and you will lose other key offensive players because you can't pay them, including that number one offensive line. And then you will become mediocre and start losing. Okay, we all know I'm talking about the Ravens.

Wow, new respect for Ray. Takes humility to say "I was wrong" and apologize, and "humility" is not a word I would have associated with Ray. ;) Good for him. And yes, we all feel the frustration. Ray may well have been right, but it was still unfair.

I think it is unfair to assume that Mallett would walk right off the bench and start winning games. I'm not sure what our long-term solution needs to be, but right now, Joe has the advantage of being out there on field for every snap. I don't know what chemistry he has with the receivers, but is more than Mallett right now. Mornhinweg, or somebody, needs to figure out what is going on with Joe, and how to fix it. Maybe they already know, and just can't fix it. But putting Mallett in there would look to the world like we have given up on the season, and I don't think that's the message we want to send.

Sadly, that's been the story all year. No sense of urgency. Walking up to the LoS nonchalantly. Running the ball with :30 on the clock and a need for a TD. Unfortunately, it didn't start yesterday. I have screamed at the TV in every one of these close losses in which we needed to score in the last minute or two.

No doubt.

Well, the game went the way I expected, of course, not the way I hoped. We looked the best we have this year, I thought. Officiating was horrible. My wife, who is usually very even-keeled, said to me, the "the officials seem really biased." Well, I guess it's like boxing: if you are the underdog, you have to win by a knockout. Ravens dominated the first half, but Dallas figured us out and had the tools in the second half. Sign of a great team if they can assess what's wrong at half-time and make adjustments. Still, we were outclassed. Not much defense in the backfield, and their O-line is the best in the game. From here on out, we just need to match Pittsburgh. If they win, we have to win. If they lose, we can afford to lose.

Well, Kevin certainly has my psyched for the game!

Depends on your definition of a "fan." If a fan is essentially a cheerleader, shouting "Go Ravens! Rah rah rah!" all the time, then I guess very few people qualify. But if a "fan" is someone who watches every game, hopes for a win, gets mad when they lose, analyzes and tries to figure out what's wrong, is realistic about the problems and shortfalls of the team, then I'm one. The bottom line is that true fans expected more of what we saw in 2012; we want another Superbowl. We want to see Flacco grow as a player, and our coaches to learn from their mistakes and start calling better games.

It's like I said in another thread a week ago ... seems like Flacco just wants to have babies and be a family man.

I think I would.

Two problems with your line of thinking. 1) Our Superbowl-winning QB isn't playing like a Superbowl-winning QB this year, as evidenced by the numbers. 2) We haven't beaten any good teams this year with these players. What we did two years ago doesn't mean squat.

I figure the Browns have to win a game this year, so why not against Pittsburgh?

Two thoughts: 1. Since this is neither a conference nor division game, and since no believes that the Ravens will win out (12-4), this is not a critical win. Perhaps we save the recovering players for Cincinnati, since that is a critical division game. 2. Since the Ravens really haven't beaten a good team this year, this is a critical win because it will show if we are playoff caliber. Thoughts?