Island.John

Coach Harbaugh is one of the best in the NFL, together with Ozzie and Mr. B. We have the best managed organization in football. Coach knows how to delegate, he never demonstrates any personal ego interference, and most of all he keeps the Ravens family together, tight, focused, and forward thinking. He makes the right move for the organization when needed, not after it's too late. Thes kinds of move take guts, courage, and proven intelligence to consider the big picture. Let's not forget the recent Super Bowl win, and many playoff seasons, each with a win. Do you detractors realize how hard this is to accomplish in this league? How many other cities have waited decades for a SB appearance? Much gratitude to coach and this organization who are demonstratively committed to continueing a winning football tradition in this city. I am old enough to remember the flailing Bert Jones teams if the 70's who couldn't win even 1 game in the post season, or the Chiefs and Fins of the 80s and 90s who were 1 and done with regularity. Hat tip to Coach Harbs and the front office, you bring much love and entertainment to me and my family each week, you are appreciated as much as the players!

WE DID NOT ATTACK THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD! All game long they pressured with their LB's we changed nothing until our final drive. We did not even try to add any twists. To start The 2nd half we ran the same exact two plays we started the game with. We throw 35 yards to the sideline to gain 3 yards instead of throwing 3 yd slants to gain 35. On D, once again our soft zone, (so we never get beat deep, until we do anyway) played 7 yds off their receivers. We never have any batted balls because we are never near the receiver making the catch. We will never improve unless we try to play some man coverage. The Ravens play like mechanized robots with little to no situational awareness, on both sides of the ball. With #52 and #20 on the field, those years, the entire D knew where to be and swarmed to the ball. They did film study and more film study. These guys appear to be so concerned with technique they have lost their football instincts. This starts and ends with the entire coaching staff. You can't expect these young guys to step up and fill the shoes of legends. The coaches have to set the tone for study and improvement. Who stepped up and took up the slack after they retired? Looks like no one. Hire some film coaches or something, offer more "volunteer" study sessions to the players, since they can't be forced to do more than a limited amount per week.

This year's squad reminds me of the 2007 Ravens, Billick's last hoorah. With SSS and a rookie replacing Mason and Clayton, Forsett for McGahee, etc. that team had R Lewis, E Reed, Ngata, Suggs, Ogden, this team has Suggs! The 07 squad started 4-2 and finished 5-11 ! Harbaugh, like Billick has become obsessed with winning arguments and having a clean locker room. Most of These guys have little on field situational awareness, football sense, and quite frankly seem to lack toughness. They play and move about the field like trained robots, unaware or afraid to make a play from instincts. Our coaching staff has been leeched dry from other teams promoting our best football minds. Don't get me wrong, I like coach Harbs, I think he is an excellent balanced competitor up top, but we need some serious changes in the X's and O's of game play and coaching. Maybe the other 31 teams are worse, now that the union has reduced training days to a minimum. As far as home field advantage, we need to win road games by coming out creative instead of scripting plays the opponent could guess from film study. All these 1 and 2 year receivers don't know how to thread zones, extend routes, and break getting jammed off the line. If Forsett with 1 good year has a sophemore jinx we are in even bigger trouble. It's easy to say we'll be fine, but it's smarter to be honest and realistic and start changing now.

If Melvin island were on a map it would rival the size of Australia.

We are in serious trouble if Rashaan Melvin is on this team. He gives a consistent 7 yard cushion and back pedals the entire coverage route, every play. Our defensive zones will get picked apart week after week with dink and dunk passes that every team is now employing. The game has evolved to nullify the pass rush when passes are thrown under 3 seconds. We need tight man coverage from the db's, but obviously we don't have the personnel to pull that off. There is no wow factor with this team, may be time for a 6-10 season, I hope not.

J. Jones will be missed. He was a big game player who did not crumble under pressure. Den playoff catch then SB kick return and 100yd receiving. He also saved the game vs Pit and the Tomlin interference, as well as several other key run backs and receptions. He was proven experienced commodity vs. now a bunch of could be/maybe returners. As important as special teams is to john H. I'm surprised we let him go. I hope we didn't get too cute with all this locker room squeaky clean image (no more Sweet Pea on the bus)...

I am severely concerned about our secondary, 1st thru 3rd on the depth chart. I cannot fathom watching another season of our db's in hot pursuit, trailing each and every receiver. They do not cover, they follow, and as for tackling, that's even worse. They square up 4-6 yards deep rather than come up for the tackle. Even Webb tackles shoulder high. While the team is solid in many respects, it is also very deficient in fundamental tackling and awareness. It's easy to say go Ravens! We got this, etc. what really benefits this team is sound criticism that can be worked on. Our schedule this year is a tough as it's been in the Harbaugh era. Another new O.C., mixed with a semi-retired Smith and a pile of sophomore and rookie Wr's and TE's and a one year wonder in Forsett and things could get ugly real quick if we get too complacent. I'm begging Pees to commit to getting the defense of the field sooner rather than the bend but don't break coverage we play every series. I'd like to see them Get more aggressive on D and force some things. What happened in NE, giving up (2) 14 point leads to dink and dunk offense needs to be addressed. Press coverage and better linebacker play is a must. Oh never mind, go Ravens, I'm sure we'll make the playoffs and take our chances and see where that gets us right? Or we could actually make proactive changes in coaching philosophy and demand results from the respective position coaches and win home field advantage for only the 2nd time in team history.

This reminds me of Coach Billick finally getting rid of Cavanaugh and replacing him with buddy Jim Fossel a carbon copy. Look how that turned out.... Don't expect anything different. At least it will be easy to see this will be Harbaughs Waterloo.