JamesA119

Marshall is sort of a team wrecker. He's usually good for one year, then things start to go downhill. If we sign him next year, we should make it a one year deal and make a run for the championship and see how things go.

Why should we care about what Flacco did 4 yrs ago?


If Matt Ryan wins the Super Bowl that should inspire Flacco to play batter. That's what a Ravens fan would rather have than protecting a stat. Can we try and live in the present?

  19 hours ago, JamesA119 said:

  22 hours ago, ellicottraven said:

With a 9th ranked O-line we had Joe Flacco of 2016? We better have the betterO-line for the coming year for us to even sniff the playoffs. We need to give Flacco a running game that he can use consistently and to get out of blitzes where he's prone to the worst mistakes and turnovers. A top O-line and having a beastly run game will win us time of possession against the opposition. This will also tremendously help the defense knowing before they can catch their breath there was a real chance in 2016 that our offense would go 3 and out and get off the field. I really want our offense to be led by our running backs moving forward, like it used to be when Jamal Lewis was the face of our offense. Personally I wouldn't mind going RB if eiher Fournette or Cook are available when we pick, but we may have to trade up to get one of them.

Imagine that! 9th ranked Oline and all the "apologists" did was blame the Oline for Flacco's ineptitude. Many a QB could take a 9th ranked Oline deep into the playoffs
I just get tired of hearing"Joe needs this, Joe needs that" I guess we need 10 starting first team pro bowl players on offense around Flacco to make the playoff.

Its 9th ranked by PFF... who, while are very valuable for individual player ratings, seem to vary wildly on the OL ratings as a whole. Yes, #9 ranked, but we never ran the ball so their terrible run blocking didnt bring their grade down as much as it should have.

And, i believe the #9 ranking is the rating of the 5 starters together - so Stanley, Lewis, Zuttah, Yanda, Wagner.... who played a sum total of 4 games together. 4 wins by the way.

So, actually, yes. thanks for pointing it out - with a #9 ranked OL Flacco does win. It's when you have to put out 8 different starting OL combos in the other 12 games with guys like Hurst at tackle, they struggle. And not just Joe, the run game as well.

The 9th ranking is for the season. It ranks in game performance as a unit over 16 games. This was not a ranking based on potential of the "starting 5" Oline men as you erroneously stated. Flacco can't win without superstars around him. There's no doubt about this. It's already been established.

With a 9th ranked O-line we had Joe Flacco of 2016? We better have the betterO-line for the coming year for us to even sniff the playoffs. We need to give Flacco a running game that he can use consistently and to get out of blitzes where he's prone to the worst mistakes and turnovers. A top O-line and having a beastly run game will win us time of possession against the opposition. This will also tremendously help the defense knowing before they can catch their breath there was a real chance in 2016 that our offense would go 3 and out and get off the field. I really want our offense to be led by our running backs moving forward, like it used to be when Jamal Lewis was the face of our offense. Personally I wouldn't mind going RB if eiher Fournette or Cook are available when we pick, but we may have to trade up to get one of them.

Imagine that! 9th ranked Oline and all the "apologists" did was blame the Oline for Flacco's ineptitude. Many a QB could take a 9th ranked Oline deep into the playoffs
I just get tired of hearing"Joe needs this, Joe needs that" I guess we need 10 starting first team pro bowl players on offense around Flacco to make the playoff.

If Marshall winds up a free agent as a cut/cap casualty, signing him is a perfect Ozzie Newsome move. Actually, I think it's a great move for both sides. Marshall gets to be on a team with real playoff potential and a locker room culture that allows players to fully be themselves, while the Ravens get a proven and big receiver who makes insanely tough catches and holds himself and his teammates accountable in the locker room. The Ravens love guys like this, 10 year vets who were hotheads early in their careers and have since become more introspective and team-oriented. Also, there'd be a UCF connection between him and Perriman. I know I'd love to have him on board.

Marshall is a team wrecker. I don't see him in Ravens' uniform. He is nothing like Smith Sr. Smith Sr May be feisty but he is a great team mate.

I think that it would be very difficult for an all world superstar hall of fame player like Ray to be a coach. There is no doubt that he can teach anybody the game, however it would be torture for him to stand there and watch players under perform while he is helplessly standing on the sideline.

Remember Michael Singletary. It just ate him up.

I think that it would be very difficult for an all world superstar hall of fame player like Ray to be a coach. There is no doubt that he can teach anybody the game, however it would be torture for him to stand there and watch players under perform while he is helplessly standing on the sideline.

My opinion is that a team only needs one GM. This article insinuates that DeCosta has been making the decisions on our recent drafts, and Ozzie is in a more or less supporting/supervisory role. So who is directly responsible for the less than stellar drafts we've had recently?

I think that DeCosta needs the Ravens more than they need him. He is quite lucky to have a kind owner like Bisciotti. If DeCosta had accepted a GM position several years back, there's a high likelihood that he would have been fired by now.

There is no question that the Belichik/Brady Pats being in the AFC East helps them get 2 or 3 more wins per season over then the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals AFC North which usually gives them home field advantage in the Playoffs. Even with a mediocre team they squeak out 9 or 10 wins and win there division. Anyone saying anything different regarding this one fact does not know football. Home field advantage in the Playoffs and/or a bye week is a big deal. Have they ever made the playoffs as a wildcard??????Having stated that fact, they are coached well, limit mistakes on the field and they do take advantage of every little advantage to win, including taping defensive signals and deflating footballs in cold weather. It is really hard to root or respect that team who has been caught cheating twice.

Ravens are the only team to go up to Foxboro and win 50% of Playoff games but we all know it should of been more. The Pats do not have a good record on the road in Playoff games. This puts more emphasis on the above point about going 6-0 or 5-1 or at worst 4-2 in your division every year. and getting home Playoff games. I am not a hater just making the case. If Patriots play Ravens in Baltimore this year, Ravens will win.

They play 10 non divisional games but only 6 divisional games.
They usually win 13 to 14 games a year. Rarely 12 games. I never know them to win 9 or 10 games

Pats are a good club, not that I am a fan. However they also have greatly benefited from being in a division where the competition is not great enough to really challenge for the division. IMHO this accounts for 3-4 wins every season, which is also the difference of making the playoffs and not, as well as having home field advantage versus not. My point is, while a good club, they have a lot of outside factors that also play a big role to their success. Any team that can win their division so many years in a row, pretty much uncontested does not play a very competitive division. Competitive implies the skill/talent level is roughly the same (overall). The reality is the Pats division is so far from competitive, and to be a team involved in several rule breaking scandals only adds salt to the wound and sullies the reputation, rightfully so.

I do not subscribe to your argument that the reason the patriots have been very successful for almost 2 DECADES is because they are in a weak division, and that being in a weak division is equivalent to a 3 - 4 game mulligan. This year they went 14 - 2. 5 - 1 in their division and 9 - 1 against non divisional opponents. Patriots usually win 13 to 14 games year in year out, so that should put that argument to rest.

I have to tell you that I never root for the patriots. I will root for any other team playing the patriots any day and twice on Sundays, but you have to agree that they are the most focused, most serious, most over achieving team in recent memory. What worries me with your line of thinking is, it's that same line of thinking that makes excuses for Flacco, and Ozzie. My dad would say to me when I brought a bad grade home "that kid that excelled in the test does not have 2 brains"
It sounds like we are giving the Ravens an excuse for not being as great as the Patriots. You can see that winning just seems to mean a little more to Brady than Flacco, or Belichick than Harbaugh or their front office than ours. We won't come out and say that, but what we put in, be it the QB, or the coach who gets out-slicked by their coach. Just how many times have you seen our team try a flee - flicker? Or our QB quicken the snap count to catch that defender before he runs out if the field, or before the entire defense is set? I mean there are multiple examples of one team using every thing within their power to win, while the other doesn't.

Cannot tell a lie I'm a big Bellichick fan since he was a DC for the giants and when he came to Cleveland I was so excited and hoped he was the coach in Bmore during the move smh! But living in Cleveland rite next door to squeeltown i was a squeeler as a child because of T. Bradshaw but changed to the Browns because of where I'm from and the fights Lol but having alot of squeelers friends i do not want to hear their mourhs Lol! GO NFC! : )

When the Ravens play the browns, which team do you root for?

Cannot tell a lie I'm a big Bellichick fan since he was a DC for the giants and when he came to Cleveland I was so excited and hoped he was the coach in Bmore during the move smh! But living in Cleveland rite next door to squeeltown i was a squeeler as a child because of T. Bradshaw but changed to the Browns because of where I'm from and the fights Lol but having alot of squeelers friends i do not want to hear their mourhs Lol! GO NFC! : )

So why are you on the Ravens website?

  9 hours ago, outkast1 said:

Why are we talking about running backs when this coaching staff won't run the ball when West & Dixon CAN run the ball !

They said they"Believe in running the ball"

"They said they believe in running the ball"

I guess not on Sundays lol

I just can't root for the patriots.
There's no team playing in the NFL today that I despise more than the patriots and their fans.
I hope those fans cry tonight.

  38 minutes ago, ellicottraven said:

If Fournette or Cook is available, it would be foolish not to pick one. We need star playmakers on this team because we are riddled with mediocrity everywhere on offense right now. Look at the AFC North, almost every team has better running backs than we do. When Rice was here, we were the best, but now?

Also, taking one of these top playmakers in the first round will force the hand of the coaches to use the run more too. It'll relieve pressure on Flacco to just hand the ball over when he is being blitzed instead of dinking and dunking all day long or committing stupid and costly interceptions.

We need a superstar offensive player that can become the identity of our offense and the face of it. Fournette and Cook have the potential to be that player. I say the Ravens should strictly stick to the best player available strategy in the first and second rounds period. That is the only way we are going to amass talent again.

Finally, John needs to keep his butt out of the draft room and try not to force the scouting department and front office to draft position players only if they are ace special teamers too anymore. He needs to get back to focus primarily on coaching and let Ozzie, Eric and Hortiz do the drafting.

The RB's we have now are good enough if the coaches use them correctly Dixon was carrying steelers on his back 10 yards down field and he will be a lot better this year and west also

Agree with both point of views. We clearly didn't use our RBs nearly enough or even put them in advantageous position when we did. Granted drafting a phenom could force Flacco to get out of that back yard football mentality of "every body go long" that we've seen so much of since 2013. However at what price? We have holes all over the field on both sides of the ball. CBs, safeties, pass rushers, ILB, WRs, potentially Center, RT and return specialists.
Drafting a RB in the first round is very risky, not unlike a first round WR. If our scouting department is what it's cracked up to be, it should find that game breaker of a RB in later rounds.
That would make a whole lot of difference given our limited picks and cap space this year.

"RBs ... combined for only six plays for over 20 or more yds" A very disingenuous assessment. Put simply, we didn't run the ball much last year. The RBs didn't get enough opportunities. This is so emblematic of this coaching regime. They never look in the mirror but always puts the onus on the players.
There were many games this last year when they started the game with a pass and never stopped passing. There was so much lack of feel for the game. It happened all over the field but especially in the red zone. It seemed like they were in such a hurry for Flacco to throw that TD, that they throw on 1st and 2nd downs and usually all incomplete passes and we are left 3rd and goal, then a dump off pass behind the line of scrimmage. End result? Tucker field goal!

It doesn't matter if you have Elliot, if you don't use him, he is not gonna produce.

  3 hours ago, RaRaRavens said:

  22 hours ago, sami said:

We've got the WR 1&2, we also have the OLB and RT as of right now. Quit being so pessimistic.

Ok, we do have WR2 in Wallace, I'll give you that. I was exaggerating a bit with that one. But if you truly believe we are nice and set on all the other positions then you are naive optimist. 

Perriman should not be considered a starter until he shows he can regularly catch passes when wide open. 

Even if Doom returns for another year we still need much more production from starting pass rushers. Maybe we already have an in-house solution in Z. Smith or Judon. But the fact remains, we need upgrade at OLB.

Claiming we have a RT in a situation where he's about to hit open market is just ignorant. By that logic we also set with our D-line by having one of the best DTs in football. Do you want to say that we should not prepare for the situation where he decides to go after more money? I consider the chances of both Williams and Wagner leaving over 50%.

If I was pessimistic I'd throw Juice into that list as well. But I think there's higher chance of him resigning with us than Williams or Wagner, which is why I didn't add FB into the list of imminent needs.

All that is called being realistic, something that can't be seen too often from our fans.

I think Juice leaves, esp listening to him about how excited he is to test FA. And he just made the pro bowl..he's gonna cash in and leave. To be honest, I hope he does. No way we need to pay 2+ mil for an overated FB. He played hard for us, but I hope he cashes in elsewhere. The FB position is overated, unless you have a true Vonte or Lorenzo Neal leading the way. I'd rather have an extra TE on the field....and Pitta shouldn't even count as a TE

Insightful. Boyle could be a capable replacement.

  37 minutes ago, balfan23 said:

I still don't know what Correa is - I thought we drafted him to be an edge rusher, but then we tried first to using him inside and ultimately he didn't give any indication where he can play and be effective. We need Correa to step up in 2017 and contribute somewhere in a significant way. I don't want to hear that we need to draft for Orr's loss. We have too many other places that need to be addressed. Back fill ILB and draft secondary, edge rush and O line.

"ultimately he didn't give any indication where he can play and be effective."

It seemed like they were liking him at ilb, but Orr was just better. Team wasn't expecting it. Wanted to get Correa on the field so started working him outside. High learning curve for Correa, learning 2 spots as a rookie, when his really not a "smarts" player but an instinct/motor guy. Should do better this year.

Insightful comment but I think the drop off between Orr and Correa is too much for Correa to be the replacement this coming season. I still don't know how Correa looked so good in college and appear so overmatched in the NFL. Look Judon was a 5th round draft pick, which means he didn't look nearly as good as Correa looked in college games, but he comes in and makes a quick impact.

The hit keeps on coming. Ozzie's job just got a bit tougher. We had that position secured and now instead of focussing on CB, safety, pass rusher, Oline and WR, we now have to worry about ILB.
Salary cap space is minimal, and only 7 picks in this draft

  7 hours ago, ellicottraven said:

  9 hours ago, The Greek said:

hope harbaugh does not promote hewitt or horton. go out and get somone with a history of success. college ranks possibly?

Harbaugh's lack of a great network (being a special teams coach and because he has only coached on 2 NFL teams) and the fact that he is fiercely loyal even if at the cost of improvement means he'll promote from within.

Seriously? Pretty sure almost anyone in the NFL would recommend one of their guys to work under Harbaugh, and he's worked with or for many of the best/well connected coaches in the league.

Kubiak, Roman, Pees, Caldwell, Leslie Frazier, Steve Spags, Trestman, etc... all guys from outside his immediate coaching "tree" that have come to work for him. In several cases former HC's coming in as assistants or position coaches just to do so.

Add to the fact that Belichick recommended him for the coaching hire here and his close relationship with Andy Reid, plus all the guys that have been promoted to other jobs after working under John... Harbs is probably just as well, if not more connected throughout the NFL coaching circles than anyone else.

Connection to Spags means hes got connections to the Giants and the Coughlin tree. Connection to Kubiak he can tap Denver. Caldwell and Teryl Austin in the Lions. Pagano to the Colts staff. Reid to the Chiefs staff. Pederson at the Eagles. Belichick and Pees for the Pats. Frazier now gives him ties in Buffalo.

Not to mention he can lean on Ozzie and the FO's connections for relationships with Hue Jackson and the Browns, Marvin Lewis and the Bengals so by association Gruden and the Redskins as well as Zimmer and the Vikings; Del Rio and the Raiders, Mike Pettine, Rex Ryan, Mike Smith , Jim Schwartz at the Eagles, Ken Whisenhunt, Mike Nolan, and a slew of guys present and past both pro and college like Mangini, Cam Cameron, Neuhisel (sp), etc...

Include his brother Jim and his connections from both playing days, coaching in the NFL, and NCAA which go nearly as deep; plus his father whose contemporaries/buddies influenced an entire generation of coaches -- Harbs is easily one of the most well respected, well liked, and well connected guys in the league.

He could make a call into almost every NFL organization and a wide range of the NCAA game and get the blessing to interview who he wants, or be able to talk to a trusted confidant to get a recommendation.

Your response is just a massive brainstorm. You are essentially saying that everyone in the NFL is connected to everyone. This is somewhat true however the previous posters were making the point that Coach Harbaugh went from being The Eagles special teams coach to a head coach with the Ravens. That Eagles job was his first job in the NFL. There's no doubt that he has hired more people connected to the eagles than any other franchise. Would it surprise you to know that Frazier and Spagnuolo all were with Harbaugh in Philadelphia. We all know about Juan Castillo. Harbaugh even loves Eagles players even the washed up ones like Jason Babin whom he chose over Dwight Freeney.
In terms of connectivity the senior Harbaugh was never in the NFL. He was at Western KY university in Bowling in Green as a head coach and an assistant to Bo Schembechler at university of Michigan.

The Harbaugh family is an excellent family, and a great great football family, but in NFL sense as a coach, John Harbaugh is the most accomplished.
In my opinion I think he had too much affinity for everything eagles, and that's not using the full breadth of the NFL

With regard to his accuracy with a hurt knee (assuming it wasn't completely healed), what was his completion percentage this year vs years past? Was it so much worse this year or not? In fact out of curiosity I dug up his career stats and guess what? 2016 was his best completion percentage ever! So, why do we keep creating scenarios as to why Flacco underperformed? Could it be his knee? Sure but was it? Don't know but at least it didn't affect his completion percentage. Well this article seems to say he was inaccurate because of it, but the stats debunk that theory. Here are the stats:

SEASON TEAM GP CMP ATT CMP% YDS AVG TD LNG INT FUM QBR RAT
2008
BAL
16 257 428 60.0 2,971 6.94 14 70 12 6 45.0 80.3
2009
BAL
16 315 499 63.1 3,613 7.24 21 72 12 6 63.0 88.9
2010
BAL
16 306 489 62.6 3,622 7.41 25 67 10 7 63.1 93.6
2011
BAL
16 312 542 57.6 3,610 6.66 20 74 12 9 66.3 80.9
2012
BAL
16 317 531 59.7 3,817 7.19 22 61 10 6 54.9 87.7
2013
BAL
16 362 614 59.0 3,912 6.37 19 74 22 8 50.9 73.1
2014
BAL
16 344 554 62.1 3,986 7.20 27 80 12 2 71.6 91.0
2015
BAL
10 266 413 64.4 2,791 6.76 14 50 12 2 53.3 83.1
2016
BAL
16 436 672 64.9 4,317 6.42 20 95 15 4 58.6 83.5

This is one of those instances where stats doesn't tell the true story.
His accuracy was inflated because of dumpoff passes - remember the New England game lol.
Also most career passing yards. Last season the pass run ratio was something like 70:30. 70:30!!!! Imagine that.
Garbage yards.

the Ravens might not be as sold on Flacco as people think

Well this upcoming year is when we find out. He has been called out by both the owner and the head coach. If he struggles a change could be made.

I'd draft a good prospect if one is available. We don't have to struggle with Flacco till his contract runs out. If the new guy can play why not play him. How much money you make doesn't legislate that you are actually on the field. Flacco can ride the bench till such a time that we are able to move him.

  6 hours ago, Molson Man said:

I can't stand fans and media that say we were inches away from the playoffs.
As I remember it we were inches shy of beating Pittsburgh but far from the playoffs. We did completely get blown out by the Bengals the following week. So that's one lose and a few inches away from being tied with the Steelers. Wake up we aren't that close in fact we could be getting even worse next year you never know.

The makeup of this team right now is stuck in the mud of mediocrity.

Unfortunately true.

  1 hour ago, outkast1 said:

  4 hours ago, Purple Dawg 96 said:

Keep Mallet if you can or get another veteran and get a youngster in the draft with legs and size! I'm preparing myself for more bad play because Joe just doesn't show or have any motivation what so ever like I see out of QBs in the playoffs! Smh still cannot believe we're not in the playoffs! Smh

You can see the fire in every Qb that made it to the playoffs.Flacco looks like hes going to a funeral .

ah, that's because they made it to the playoffs. Joe is just fine, I'm sure you could go out there and throw for 4100 yds after coming back from a torn ACL. but hey, you are something else right. And you only want the Ravens to have Brady, is that it? You want a cry baby? You want a Falcon team who couldn't field a defense for 8 years? you want a Green Bay team who by the luck of the green Irish 4 leaf clover got just enough out of James Starks to put them over the top in 2010. Sure Rodgers is a gunslinger but it may take until Lacy to get back to the big show we will see. And we turn to Piggy Ben, well, well, Mr. extend-a-play he is something its like a Cave man on Steriods and then his band of merrymen always seem to bail him out...except when it comes to Tomlin. This is where Kaos meets pride and the two collide in a foolish looking way. So get me a 1000 yard runner, give me Joe, Pitta and a couple WR's with the team we have and I say we get to the playoffs. Adios QB dreamer

The way Flacco is playing, the only thing keeping him in Baltimore is his contract