JamesA119

"Max looks like a great possession receiving Te, but I don't think he is as elusive compared to Gilmore and Boyle." Agree. Don't understand why you were negged. Coach Harbaugh said it himself. He is not very athletic. He does run good routes, but can't really make tough tough catches. The positive is that he is only 21. If he has a high ceiling, then that's good because he has a lot of time in front of him. I wasn't very impressed this year. I thought Boyle was more formidable. Does Maxx have a higher ceiling? It's possible.

"@NCMan... I agree on Monroe dead Money situation is the hold up. Thats why Im not onboard with cutting him. People want to cut him then we will have 20million in dead money like this year and be screwed, unable to make moves. Stop overreacting people. Hes 6 million in dead money not good. Only way to cut him is Post June 1, where he is 2million dead money. Lastly, unlike everyone else...Im not so giddy with signing KO at LT money, and downgrading 2 positions. 1) Either sign him as a pro bowl G he is, keep line in order..or cut Monroe post June 1. Option 2, Dont resign KO, cut Monroe post June 1. So you have Uerschel at G who has been more then good enough, then draft a franchise LT in first 3 rounds." Really? Don't resign KO, and cut Monroe post June 1 and draft a franchise LT in the first 3 rounds? This would've been funny if it wasn't so ignorant. Many draft classes could pass before a franchise LT comes out of college ok.

""For fans clamoring for Pagano to return keep in mind he had a ball hawk in Ed Reed, a intimidating hit man in Pollard, and while not great Foxworth and C. Williams are better CBs than what the Ravens have now. Colts defense looks terrible. I like Pags and his attacking style, but the bottom line is the Ravens don't have the safeties and CB to be aggressive. Pags would need time to build that." I guess we would never know this. However I think that if Reed played under Pees he wouldn't have been the Reed that we know today. Just about every player in the secondary looks bad under Pees - in my opinion. As far as how the Indy defense has played... I just don't know why fans want to blame an HC when the unit they had once coordinated falters. That is not their job anymore ... they are dealing with the entire operation. The failure of the team as a whole may call into question Pagano's ability to be an HC, but his defenses performance has little to do with what his performance would be if he returned to his DC duties. I keep saying the same thing when people talk about Trestman. Heck, I lived in MN and watched Brian Billick OC for the Vikings back in the late 90s ... of course he had phenomenal talent but still showed ingenuity in his ability to use it. How was the offense in Baltimore after he got here? Yeah - not a reflection on what kind of OC he was. " Pagano is not the DC for the Colts. He is the HC. It's not clear how that usually translates - when a defensive minded head coach takes over a team or an offensive minded HC takes over a team.

" "For fans clamoring for Pagano to return keep in mind he had a ball hawk in Ed Reed, a intimidating hit man in Pollard, and while not great Foxworth and C. Williams are better CBs than what the Ravens have now. Colts defense looks terrible. I like Pags and his attacking style, but the bottom line is the Ravens don't have the safeties and CB to be aggressive. Pags would need time to build that." I guess we would never know this. However I think that if Reed played under Pees he wouldn't have been the Reed that we know today. Just about every player in the secondary looks bad under Pees - in my opinion. reed had more picks , tackles and fumbles recovered under pees then he had under pagano at age 34. he also had more passes defended and even scored a TD under pees. seriously you can just look this up before making assumptions....." Reed played under Pees for just one year in 2012. The majority of Reed's career was under Rex Ryan and then later Pagano. Reed didn't change his playing style for Pees because he was already a legend. If Pees was the DC during Reed's early years, it's clear to see it would have been different. Its not hard to see that our secondary has struggled under Pees. Many players have been given that opportunity in the secondary since he became the DC, and nearly all of them have failed despite history of prior success with other teams, and success after they leave our team. You can have all the stat in the world, there's no denying that the defensive is no longer a great defense. Just this year for example the defense will be ranked in the top 10, but this defense blew 4th quarter lead after 4th quarter lead, gave up several big players, couldn't get off the field, and were 5-10 ok. For most of the season, Suggs was the only starter on defense on IR. The offense was decimated, the defense not so much. Yet the defense is the main reason we're not in the playoff this season. Your stats does not hold water.

"For fans clamoring for Pagano to return keep in mind he had a ball hawk in Ed Reed, a intimidating hit man in Pollard, and while not great Foxworth and C. Williams are better CBs than what the Ravens have now. Colts defense looks terrible. I like Pags and his attacking style, but the bottom line is the Ravens don't have the safeties and CB to be aggressive. Pags would need time to build that." I guess we would never know this. However I think that if Reed played under Pees he wouldn't have been the Reed that we know today. Just about every player in the secondary looks bad under Pees - in my opinion.

It's just undeniable that we have lost our identity under Dean Peas. We are no longer the smothering, hard hitting, intimidating Ravens defense. I don't think ifs because of personnel but rather scheme and philosophy. The front office has brought in several players to help improve the secondary in the last 2 - 3 yrs, but they all end up playing worse for us than they did for their previous team, and then again better for another team when they leave us. It's hard to say that Dean Pees is not responsible.

Our biggest problem on the defense is not so much the players as it is the philosophy. With Dean Pees in charge, no player looks good especially in the secondary. In the last 2 seasons there easily have been 20 players that have seen action in the secondary. Only Will Hill has looked good.

"Ed Reed, Chris McAlister, Ray Lewis, Adalius Thomas, Bart Scott, Haloti and Suggs". What a team! What a team!! This brings an incredible sense of nostalgia. Can this franchise ever assemble and develop a group of players like that ever again? Somewhere behind closed doors, they must be trying to find a way to rediscover the formula that made that possible. What most people forget is that this year Suggs is the only starter on defense that was on IR, before last week when Canty was placed on IR. Yet our defense has been mediocre. My point is that something has gone horribly wrong with the way the Ravens usually play defense, and injury has little to do with it.

"All in all, for a team playing with it's 4th string players, the Ravens looked good today. Shows the coaching is sound. When the 1st string comes back next year they ought to be a force to be reckoned with." Not really playing with a lot of 4th strings on the defense. Still the defense is the most disappointing part of this team.

I still don't see how Dean Pees is doing a great job. He calls defensive plays the is sure to make sure the other team converts their 3rd downs. When he gives his weekly news conference, he is always blaming the players. I have never seen a defense where all the players are playing horribly. If this in not the DC, then I don't know anything about football.

Has anyone noticed how most players don't look good on Dean Pees' defense? Just saying. This defense has not looked like a Ravens defense since he took over. Does Harbaugh believe in him or is Habaugh mostly interested in having continuity?

" I think it is time to rethink what we do in the off season. We have to find a way to keep some of these good defensive lineman. We let one get away every year and it is killing us. We also need to find a way to keep KO. Don't know how but it has to change. We do not have enough talent to let these guys get away after 4 years." I have been saying this forever. What good is it to draft a potential talent, develop him, and then let him go in his prime. The chemistry alone that is lost is immeasurable. Ozzie might be doing a good job of drafting talents, but he needs to do better retaining them.

What was Jeremy Butler doing on the PS, while Marlon Brown was starting? Daniel Brown wasn't even on the team! Go figure.

Clausen can help us nail a high draft pick.

"Any qb in the league would throw a lot of ints with this offense, which is basically our preseason offense at the skill positions. We've even played 2 of the worst defenses in the league the last couple games. It's going to be interesting to see what happens against when we play some competent defenses." I disagree. Schaub is not a good QB. His career was over 2 or 3 yrs ago. Just look at his release, his wind- up. He throws from the hip. A lot of QBs would take our offense today and beat a lot of teams. At this point, the organization knows we aren't going to the playoff, so they're just going to go with whomever is playing QB. Signing Matt Schaub would be hurting a lot more now if we we're playing for a playoff spot. One thing is certain; Schaub is not here next year, and Claussen isn't either. All of a sudden with Flacco injured, and his return to form in question for at least several weeks into next season and Tyrod Taylor gone, the QB situation for next year has become a big problem.

Unfortunately Schaub will get another $1M. That's the problem with NFL contracts. 2 games; how many INTs, and how many pic 6s? Just hoping the rest of the season finishes without any major injuries that will linger on any of our good players. If I were making the decision, I will play the rest of the season like a preseason games. 1st Quarter play starters, and the rest will be the second or 3rd teamers. That will secure losses, and high draft picks. Now that Schaub has his $1M already, let him play all he wants. He isn't going to win any games anyway.

"Can we just flex this season out?" I'll call Roger. It's worth a try. By the way this MNF against the Browns has been flexed out indefinitely. New date TBD.

Matt Schaub had really good week of practice? Wow! That's nice to hear.

"Give Darian Stewart Von Miller, Demarcus Ware, and a bunch of other guys who get after it and he will look great. He was a bad solid saftey for us, just not a huge playmaker/TO creator. Replace Tamba Hali, Justin Houston or JJ Watt with the mix match D-Line we had this year and Kendrick Lewis doesn't look the same either. Pass rushers make saftey's and corners look real good. " Suggs and Dumerville combined to lead the NFL in sacks the year Dorian Stewart was with us. Pass rushing was not an issue that year. I don't understand why many of you always have an excuse for everything.

This is what I think of "How did the Ravens get here?" : This has been in the making for several years. It just happened to have culminated this year. 1. Ozzie and his crew took the "right player right price" too far. They have drafted fairly well, however they have never had a good plan on how to retain good talents. I understand some will neg me and say that we can't sign everyone. Keeping talents is a challenge in the salary cap era, but to me it's something that has to be done. Figure it out. Out of the Bengal's 53 players, 38 of them have been with the Bengals since their rookie season. 2. Coaching. The defense especially has been on the decline since Chuck Pagano left. Dean Pees' philosophy has not worked well. For example Dorian Stewart was horrible with us last year, but this year, he is a top 5 safety with the Broncos. Conversely Lewis was great in Kansas City and Houston, and horrible here this year. Coach Harbaugh also has focused a lot on the esoteric but less on substantive issues. I believe that we have never benefitted from joint practices. Joint practices are cute, but in my mind have never accomplished anything but press coverage. Teams will never tip their hands in pre-season games much less in a joint practice. It's one of the most useless things we can do. I guarantee you that you will not gain anything by disrupting your team's plan for a joint practice. Why can't we just spend more time trying to improve our players, rather than giving the impression that we are? 3. Emotional leadership. This is tough because you cannot blame any one player. Leaders are leaders. However when there's a void, the coaches have to take up the slack, or find that person in the locker room. The reason leadership is important is that it can make players perform to the level that they normally wouldn't.

"This question is like the guy who smoked 3 packs a day for 25 years and then talks about his bad luck being diagnosed with lung cancer. Really dude?? We have been heading for this place relentlessly for over 3 years. Inability or unwillingness to replace lost leadership due to retirement or Harbs quest to purge the team of Alpha's. Very bad FO moves, continual merry go round of OC and DC plus QB coach. Unwillingness to accept the need for quality receivers and a stout O line. Unwillingness to admit Joe's lack of progress due to the above. Caviler attitude about lack of offensive weapons. Unwillingness to fix secondary. Lack of conditioning being some of the cause for unending injuries. (yes, I know it's football and injuries happen.) This is more than injuries happen. Bad management and bad coaching. Complete lack of discipline - again coaching. Poor game planning etc. etc etc. Yes, and a ton of bad luck. Bad luck - good teams make their own luck. Good teams start with good management. It's been a perfect storm created and executed by a ton of bad management, lack of vision, lack of discipline and lack of leadership." AGREE!

"Bad news about Joe. Tyrod would look good now in a Ravens uniform. He's the #2 passer in the AFC and #3 in the NFL. I guess we'll find out what Schaub has left in the tank. our offense is not suited for his skill set plus lets see where he is ranked by seasons end. " Really? Could you explain why our offense is not suited for his skill set. He can make all the throws; deep, intermediate, and short. He is very accurate, very smart, and very athletic. What type of offense are we running, that disqualifies such a QB?

"I don't know what worries me more now Joe throwing a pass or Ozzie picking players in the draft." I couldn't agree more. There seems to be more emphasis on getting a bargain than drafting or signing great players. "...If you have a high draft pick , trade down and collect lesser talents that will require lesser pay. If a great proving talent becomes available in the free agency, forget about him lest you will be paying more. Just wait a few more years when he is near 40 and sign him on the cheap."

"we don't have receivers, returners, and corners.. this team is a mess" Having good players on the team is not as important as saving money and staying under the salary cap. If we continue to sign players that only make only rookie minimum, may be one in a hundred of them will actually pan out. And when that player proves that he is a great player, we will let him sign with another team instead of playing the market value - but don't you worry we've got another undrafted player making rookie minimum ready to take his spot. We've got it covered!

"There was serious pay inflation after the Ravens won the last super bowl, where we lost a lot of guys who got contracts they really didn't merit. Too bad there's not a lot of contracts up for renewal this year, so that we could benefit from the opposite effect." Couldn't agree more. Jimmy Smith for instance wan signed in a haste. He was never a proven CB. All he ever had was a great fraction of a season. He then got injured, and before he even got back on the field he was rewarded with a huge contract. Same with Webb a few years back. We on the other hand keep letting proving talents walk out the door - McPhee, Corey Graham, etc. The Jimmy Smith phenomenon is very glaring. Here's a guy whose most memorable play was that play against Crabtree in the Super Bowl. Prior to then, he was near being labelled a disappointment. Boom! $20 M guaranteed.