sp3ctor

I'm so glad the trolls on this board are not any of the following people: this team's owner, this team's GM, this team's President, or any other position of authority within the organization. Steve Bisciotti is a self-made BILLIONAIRE, CEO, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He knows how to run a business. It isn't coincidence that two superbowls have come to Baltimore since he took over as owner. He's steady, calm, cool, and collected. He isn't going to make rash decisions based off of small sample sizes. Joe had a down year, but not when his offensive line held up. Harbs made a few bad calls this year as HC, but ultimately had his medicre, unbalanced lineup poised to take out the second, or possibly best, AFC team this year on Christmas day, Ozzie missed on some top picks, yet his gems in the later rounds, including multiple starters. The fact is that this team is fine and would benefit from a season of continuity. We are one offensive weapon away from being a powerhouse offense and if Mornhinweg can get back to the simplified West Coast offense Kubes installed in 2014, we will be a force next season. Think about it: Kubes offense WITH legit burners means Flacco moves on from the check-downs. But honestly most important factor I really hope the critics keep in mind this off season: one season is not a sufficient sample size to tell what you do or do not have. Scientists don't run two or three experiments and declare it 100% proven. They run hundreds of tests and weigh all options that might prove their hypothesis wrong. The simple fact is that all of the people criticizing the main pieces of this organization always point to one or two things and try and pass it off as "fact" The only fact I see here is that this organization is a great position to compete with the Steelers next season for AFC North supremacy and that's all we can hope for at this point, because last I checked, had we made the playoffs, with the absolute garbage competition during the Wild Card Weekend, we could have made a splash. The critics would have fizzled out had that happened. We were 8 inches away from that. Remember how close we came and come talk to me next year if we've regressed.

I just want to take this opportunity to say Mike Williams, WR, Clemson. Let's begin the petition now

Some of the mistakes made this year my Mornhinweg were typical of a coordinator who takes over mid-season, and some of the mistakes were to do with the lack of play-makers on the offensive side of the ball, but Mornhinweg still called some truly baffling games and mostly ran an imbalanced offense. That being said...who exactly is out there who can come in and be a guaranteed improvement to the guy? If Kubes wanted to come back or Rick Dennison becomes available, sure why not. But there isn't a whole lot floating around out there in the way of coaching talent. With that said, why not open it up to a few candidates, with Mornhinweg being a possible hire? Why not at least test the water? Where exactly was Mornhinweg going to disappear to? Regardless, this off season we NEED to find an offensive weapon and take the time to slowly readjust the offense to suit Flacco's strengths. I've said it all season, Flacco has not lost a step. Flacco isn't going to Drew Brees his way to 5000 yards season after season. He needs a solid run game to open up single coverage and get teams biting on the boots and PA. So long as Mornhinweg can bring balance the offense and keep Joe from leading the league in attempts, and so long as Ozzie can get his hands on an actual offensive weapon, we'll be locking horns with the Steelers again next year for the AFC North title. But we need both of those things to happen in order to do that. Ozzie doesn't pick based off of need you say? & he doesn't trade away draft picks to chase players in high rounds you say? Well that's too bad for Ozzie. He should trade away everything, including his shirt to move up and get the top offensive prospect in this years draft. We cannot come away with a defensive player in the first round if we hope to right the ship in 2017.

Steve Smith Senior should absolutely retire a Panther, not for the organization, but for the fans. I was at that Baltimore Carolina match in 2014. The Carolina fans I met said basically the same thing, "We miss you Smitty, have a great time in Baltimore" They love the guy and he loves them. You can never take away the city a person loves. But that doesn't necessarily mean he will retire a Panther because Gettleman is basically all the words I can't say on this website for fear of being banned. And he is the type of callous, heartless, thick-headed so and so who would prevent Steve from returning off of a one day contract to retire in his home town and to that, well, if Mr. Smith Senior is the man we all know him to be, his reaction will be priceless and he will hang up his cleats in Baltimore and never look back. Besides that, we may miss out on his retirement, but that jersey hanging in Canton of the thousandth catch, that's Baltimore purple baby, and that's just alright by me.

The day after, watching the highlights, all I can say with any great certainty is that this is absolutely without a doubt the game of the year. The only other thing I can say with great certainty is that Lev Bell is the best offensive player in all of the NFL. As much as I want to hum and haw about the loss, John Eisenberg is right. We had no business being in the post season this year. We need to go back to the drawing board, find a new OC, and work toward getting an offensive playmaker. And if Ozzie decides to, once again, focus his attention on the defense, then I think it's time to seriously consider moving on from the guy. They paid Joe tens of millions a year. Give the man an AJ Green or an Antonio Brown. The closest thing Joe has had to a #1 WR was Q and that was back when Joe was still developing. It's time for a philosophical change in Baltimore. Defenses may win championships, but they didn't win our last one. Joe did, along side Q, and Torrey, and Jacoby, and Rice, and Pitta. We have a top-tier LT whose paid for the next 4 seasons, we have the best damn FB in football, a whole host of young TEs that can contribute, a young up-and-comer in Dixon, and a whole crop of good WR that could fill out the depth-chart and then some. One playmaker away & I'll See you at the Super Bowl next year.

After the Lee Evans drop and Cundiff shank Ray said in interview that basically you can't blame those guys for one play because it shouldn't come down to that. He pointed to himself and how he didn't make a tackle in the 3rd quarter. I agree with Ray that it's a 60 minute game and in the playoffs one play can look like it makes all the difference but the game is still 60 minutes. When it's the regular season it isn't 60 minutes, it's more like 960 minutes. Sure one play could make or break your season, and for those who weren't paying close enough attention after the stretch by Antonio Brown (you know, because you were dry-heaving your Christmas turkey), had he not streched the steelers would not have had time to get set for a field goal and the clock would have expired. It was that close, a game of inches. But, what about CJ's fumbled pick-6 that would have sprung a momentum shift against the Washington Racial-Stereotypes? What about the absolute embarrassment of a game against the New York Jets? What about a one point loss against the Oakland Raiders? The season often comes down to a play or a game that decides everything, but only because most people have short memories of the plays and games that didn't go our way earlier on. One win in October would have been the difference between the post season this year. The defense crumbled against good offenses all season so we shouldn't be surprised. We should be hungry for change and stability this off season. A lot of good happened this season and from an outsider's standpoint I saw a few things that are better to me than a post season berth: 1) Flacco still has it. He's never going to be a lights out kinda guy, but he appears to be moving past his injury and with him on the books for the next 5 seasons that's a Christmas gift in itself. 2) The defense has potential to be a shut-down unit, they just need help in the secondary, which is doable this off season. 3) the offense has a new weapon in Dixon. If he can continue to develop he will be the teams #1 next season. 4) We are one true #1 WR away from being an explosive offense. If I were Ozzy I would do everything in my power to get the drafts #1 Wideout, even if that means trading up and giving away a few picks. & finally 5) Maybe the bittersweet ending to this year will prompt Smitty to come back for one last dance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he does. I want him to go out fighting against bigger dudes deep in the post season and I'm sure Ravensnation wants the same. Good year of rebuilding. Take the momentum and bring it into 2017.

This game was everything it was promised to be, of course minus the preferential outcome for the Raven's Flock. This defense fell apart right after the Miami game and hasn't been able to put together a solid performance since, while the offense which was, let's say tepid to be nice, played extremely well ever since the miami game (minus new england but that was tough sledding to say the least). If only we could have pulled it together sooner and not dropped 4 in a row in october we would have run away with the division. Instead we're out. All I can say with any great optimism is that if the second half of the season is a sign of where this team is headed next season, we are bound for sunnier shores. But it stings to say the least. On the plus side I don't have to worry about missing the opening game of the playoffs on a count of my gf's Orthodox christmas celebrations. #silverlining Regardless we are at worst 8-8 on the season with a 3 game improvement on the previous season, some nice momentum moving into the next season, and the possibility of a big bounceback year next year. There's a lot to be optimistic about for 2017.

I feel like a lot has been said about Flacco recently and a lot of it is justifiable based on his performance, but I would like to add my two sense for those who think Flacco is done and will need replacement moving forward. 1. Flacco has an incredibly high ceiling. For those who think he's over-the-hill, or just middle of the pack, you need to reevaluate Flacco's abilities. Accuracy isn't something that can't be fine-tuned, say, during an off season where you're not rehabbing a major knee injury. With that being said... 2. Flacco is coming off of a major knee injury. The nay-sayers do need to take a step back and realize that QBs don't typically return from tearing the knee of their plant leg right away. What a lot of people seem to forget it that making it back onto the field is a far-cry from being healthy. Flacco is still wearing a knee brace because the injury is still relatively fresh. It explains a lot of his woes this year, including his inaccuracy and tendency to throw off of his back foot. Not to mention he missed an entire training camp and basically the whole preseason. 3. Flacco needs weapons. We built a #1 defense by throwing money at a lot of great off-season free agents (Weddle is the best free safety in the league and that's just alllllright by me). But here's a thought: give Flacco a weapon. Big Ben has a weapon. In fact, he has two. Gingersnap over in Cinci has AJ Green. Heck, even the Browns have had better wide outs than us. And as much as it may have upset SSS, Rodney Harrison was right. This team should not rely as much as they do on a 37 year old WR. 4. 5 OCs in 5 seasons...soon to be 6 in 6 seasons. That is not a recipe for success. Jim Caldwell continued to run basically the same offense as Cam Cameron. Kubiak came in and installed just an amazing offensive system, then packed his things for the mountain top. Trestman was a bad hire and he has basically forced the team to abandon Kubiak's offensive system and revert back to the one used during Cam Cameron's tenure, only with an extreme focus on Flacco throwing the ball...a lot. 5. Finally, as I mentioned already, Flacco has been expected to do a whole lot more than he ought to coming off of an injury. Hey, tore your ACL, how's bout we get you to drop back and throw 50+ passes in a game, when you didn't do that before the injury. A lot of why this offense has been ineffective is because the offensive gameplan doesn't utilize Flacco's strengths and feels that 1 or 2 runs that go nowhere is cause for concern and thus the run game must be abandoned. Pound the rock. Let Flacco capitalize on one-on-one matchups when teams are forced to stack the box. Wallace isn't a #1 receiver, nor is SSS, or Perriman, or anyone else on this team, but we shouldn't need to worry about that because all of the names mentioned (plus some others who are good but not great in the passing game) could easily beat one on one coverage should teams start stacking the box. Basically to sum up this long-winded rant, people shouldn't complain as much about Flacco's performance this year because Flacco wasn't set up to succeed this year. It's like a teacher not telling you what's on the exam, then punishing you for failing. More weapons, offensive stability, a solid off-season workout + training camp, and a dedication to the run game will turn the ship around. Don't be like the guys on Russel Street Report, who are the very definition of the spoiled fan, and prep Flacco idols to burn at the stake. Just take a few deep breaths and look forward to a Christmas day showdown, and win or lose Ravensnation will still fly high. There's a lot to look forward to next season. We'll be alright. And if there's one thing to take away from this extremely long post: we aren't the Browns anymore, but we could be if we decide to move on from a Super Bowl winning QB and Head Coach.

People can say what they want about Flacco's interception. Was it a bad throw? Yes. Were the receivers running the wrong routes? Yea, it sure looked like it. Is there blame to place on the side of the offense, including Flacco? Absolutely. BUT! MARTY MORNHINWEG! C'mon! Why are you even calling a throw to begin with! Why? Just simply why? I know the guy isn't going to be the long-term solution at OC and he hasn't been the greatest thus far, but even the most inept offensive coordinator or grade 3 student knows when you're up by 10 points with 6 minutes left to go and you have a first and goal you run, run, run, run that ball. Like I said, bad throw. No excuses for Flacco and that offense today. They looked inept once again. But c'mon, Marty. Call three straight run plays and kick a field goal. I'm fine with that. Instead he call a quick pass over the middle, the same pass we've used quite often this season, the sort of pass that can be easily tipped for an interception, or read for an interception like the Eagles LB did. My goodness, what a gigantic mess of a game. Our defense looked bad. Our special teams were only special because Tucker continues to be the best darn kicker in NFL history, and the offense is just so utterly flat. Dixon and West are averaging over 4 yards a carry. Keep pounding the rock. SMH. I'm going to need a valve replacement and a lifetime supply of Warfarin by the time the season is up.

Easy fix, fire Morningweg this off season and replace him with a youngster who has no hope of leaving for a head coaching position for years to come. Think about it. Did the front office think Kubes would stick around for the necessary time it would take to properly install that offense? He was a great head coach who had a bad year and got fired (mostly Shaub's pick-6s to blame for that), and they hire him to come in and install a new offense that is a complete reversal of the offensive ideology of this team. Then he leaves a year later, we hire a guy who was more fit to antagonize Adam West in the classic Batman series than lead an offense, fail to move on from him in the off season when they should have, and handed an imbalanced offense to a guy who also isn't fit to lead an NFL offense. Like I said, this front office needs to smarten up and start thinking of the future. Look at Pees. He has no interest in leaving because he's settled as a defensive coordinator. Does that mean he wouldn't leave if the offer was right? Of course not, but he isn't going to be actively perused. He likes where he's at and there's very little chance he'll move on anytime soon (probably not until he retires). Hiring Kubiak was like signing Aaron Rogers to a one year contract and building an offense around him. You just don't do that. Plan ahead. Gain some stability. Drew Brees has had 5 offensive coordinators in his 16 years in the league. Flacco has had 5 in the past 5 years, soon to be 6. Stability starts at the top.

BTW Not meant as a smug comment, I may actually have the tie breaker wrong for the wild card lol.

How would Miami project higher than Pittsburgh if Miami won their head-to-head matchup?

Webb should have said, "So long as they have Belichick, they keep doing the same thing" I swear it's all him. You can give him a group of freshmen and he'll still game plan to stay competitive. Belichick = Patriots success. The rest are just pieces in his puzzle, as was evident when two other QBs came in this year and played well in the same system.

I felt from the moment Ray made the statement, that it wasn't about criticizing Joe. It was about Ray itching to be a part of the team again. Joe's own father called him dull. Jimmy Fallon's superlatives segment hilariously voted Flacco to be most likely to yell out "Let's party!" then stare at a wall for 3 hours. We know Joe is not a ra-ra kinda guy, which I love about the guy. The last thing a QB needs is to be a ra-ra kinda guy. The QB should be level headed, always. Joe Montana wasn't a lively guy. He was the original Joe Cool and it showed in his play. But sometimes teams get into funks that require a leader to step up and shake them out of it, and Ray Lewis could very well be the greatest leader of all time. He was the General for 17 years and even though he doesn't always make sense, his passion is unquestionable. There isn't another player in the league that comes close to that level of passion, and that is what I believe Ray was really saying when he made those comments. It was sorta like Ray sitting on the sideline waiting for Joe to come off the field so he could pull him aside and help him get out of the funk he was in, only he couldn't because he isn't on the sidelines anymore. That's what this was all about, Ray missing the game and feeling frustrated because it's out of his control. That's why he didn't pan out as an analyst. Analysts spew nonsense all the time (I'm looking at you Warren Sapp, Marshall Faulk, and Michael Irvin), but to them the nonsense they spew is the typical nonsense players-turned-analysts say. Ray couldn't leave the field and the passion he has for the game behind, which is a shame because you'd think that would make the best analyst. Anyways, that's just my two-cents. Go Ravens!

Simple fact: Flacco should not be throwing the ball 44 times in a game. We can't say "Flacco has lost a step" or "His best days are behind him" because it simply isn't true. He has made some bad throws this year, but that's going to happen when he's throwing the ball that often. The simple rule of domination in the AFC North: win in the trenches. If we had an O-line capable of keeping Flacco upright, we would more likely than not have an o-line that can run block more efficiently. More runs = more play action = Joe at this best. The sad reality is that we can't fix the o-line this year. We just do not have enough talent, even with Stanley in the lineup. I just want to stress to all those out there who feel a switch to Mallett will fix our problems, it will not. Simply put, any QB would flounder in the same situation. Receivers who fail to get open. Dropped passes. Pressure after pressure after pressure. I honestly feel bad for Joe at times. Then I remember he's making millions whether he wins or loses and the feeling lessens. Still, we can't be so quick to write him off. This team is missing a lot at key fundamental positions.