zwerrell

My prediction is that next year the Ravens will have a tremendous season. Analysts will continually bring up the fact that the Ravens lost 10+ games last year by one score, and that nobody should be that surprised. We are making up for a lot of 'lucky' breaks in the past few seasons... we are in prime position to get the next great Raven (or two) in the draft next year, and this season will be recognized for what it is - a horrific statistical anomaly in an otherwise stellar tenure for Harbaugh and Flacco. If our 'luck' regresses to the mean, this team (which would otherwise be 9-7 playoff contender) improves significantly next season in the ultimate statistical category, W&L.

One other observation, one that may have already been stated, but I will state here since I lack the time to thoroughly examine every post in this thread. Since I can remember, whenever we had the lead in the 4th quarter, there was no doubt in my mind that we would win the game. Never. Yes, sometimes we would loose, but that was usually because of superhuman heroics from one or more players on the other team. It happens. However, since Pagano left (the year of our Superbowl win and Pees matriculating to the Defensive Coordinator), I have not once felt confident that we would go on to win the game if we had a lead in the 4th, unless it was simply insurmountable. (And as evidenced by the Patriots game last season, even 14 is surmountable... to feel comfortable I need to see a 17 point lead with less than 7 minutes to go) This goes back to killer instinct. Where is it? I hope it did not die with Ray Lewis's retirement. Will firing Dean Pees bring it back? Who knows. Will keeping Dean Pees bring it back? If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you got.

There are two main problems with our defense. 1) Vanilla playcalling - 3-4 man rush, 7-8 man zones on far too many plays. There does not seem to be much complexity at all. Is that always a problem? No. If you have elite players and playmakers, you can get away with simply being better at your job than the opposition. But this is not the case with our team. We do not have Ray, Ed, Terrell, and Haloti (or even C-Mac if you want to go back that far) any more. You cannot play call as though you do have them. 2) No killer instinct. The reason I came to love the Ravens, and football more generally, was the absolutely nasty nature with which the Ravens D would play. Now, we just seem like a bunch of nice guys who happen to be very athletic. And instead of getting flagged for illegal hits, we just get bonehead penalties for stupid nonsense at inopportune times. I think this is a systemic problem, and maybe Harbaugh is to blame, but I would suggest it has more to do with the Defensive Coordinator and Position Coaches of the positions in question (secondary and linebackers to some extent).