Maryland

First and foremost, I want us to win a lot of games and make the postseason. Having said that, if we can't make the postseason, I want to go full Machiavellian and have a defense so bad Pees gets fired.

Good teams beat the Raiders. This may be the biggest upset we've surrendered since the loss in Jacksonville on MNF.

That's true. This game was uncharacteristically sloppy, even with making fundamental tackles and just being disciplined. Jimmy had an uncharacteristically bad game, maybe his worst game since 2012. Can't pin it all on Pees. Plus Webb seems to be at the point where he just can't play anymore. He has to play too far off to avoid getting beat deep. Maybe Rashaan Melvin can step in once he's healthy, but even then, this secondary is really thin. Point being, no defensive coordinator with Webb as his #2 CB can stop him from getting burned repeatedly.

The narrative seems to be "oh look how much Suggs meant to this defense," but the mere presence of Suggs isn't going to make our guys stop missing tackles or Webb faster. However, it was noticeable how much worse our pass-rush was and how much easier it is to run on McClellan and S.Smith. However, Ravens never cease to surprise me. They always seem to bounce back somehow and tear off several W's. We'll see.

Mattison would play prevent-nothing defense to end games. It's kind of like watching Don Capers, very frustrating and inevitable. Really surprised people miss him.

^Good points. Colts' GM has made some really questionable decisions. At least Pees has no HC aspirations. If we did, for some reason, bring back Pagano, it could be another 1-year rental until he finds a new HC gig. No doubt he would work wonders with our talented roster and be right back in the HC discussion.

Pees' blitzes were actually very effective and well-disguised last week. I still hate his philosophy when it comes to allowing easy underneath routes, but I can't complain about week 1.

Pretty early to call this defense one of the best in franchise history. I think we're good, but not great. Definitely behind the Broncos and Bills, and probably the Chiefs. I think our D-line rotation has betterdepth, and will improve once Urban comes back. LB corps is strong on the inside, and Upshaw is a good SAM on running downs, but now we have no proven edge other than Doom. I would definitely take 06's LB corps over this one. Secondary is pretty shaky still imo. Yes, we have one shut-down corner in Jimmy and a dynamic safety in Hill. However, beyond those two, I can't really feel supreme confidence in anyone. Webb almost got beat deep on several plays last week, and there was no safety to help him. A better QB completes those passes. If Melvin comes back and lives up to the training camp hype, I'll feel a lot more comfortable with our #2 CB because he shouldn't get beat as easily or have to play as far back as Webb (I see him being another Cary Williams, minus the attitude). Arrington is solid in the slot, but not spectacular or anything. I want to see Terrance Brooks come back and make a push for playing time. Our secondary is not better than 06 (although it raises the question: how does Jimmy compare to McAlister?)

If we had let Monroe walk, we would have received at least a 5th round compensatory pick in return. If Monroe had stayed with the Jags and then signed here in the off-season, we would have surrendered at least a 5th round compensatory pick. The pick is pretty irrelevant when you consider how compensatory picks work. We basically paid a 5th rounder to get him now, and for cheap (Jax ate some of his salary) and make a push for the postseason. I would still trade a 5th rounder for him early in that 2013 season, considering we were stuck with Bryant McKinnie at the time. It's very hard to get a LT, especially when you're always drafting late, and Monroe looked like a good payer in each season prior. He has been hit hard with injuries, but it was never a problem prior to joining the Ravens, so your argument falls under hindsight being 20/20. Jacksonville drafted another LT (who is entering bust territory btw) because they knew Monroe was going to leave in FA, Jax sold Monroe for the same reason any team in any sport starts selling expiring assets once they realize they can't make the postseason.

I expect them to struggle against arguably the best secondary in the league as they did last week. However, if they can't put up some passing yards on a heavily-injured Oakland secondary that wasn't any good to begin with, then you know you have a problem.

Apples and Oranges to compare a rush-LB to an ILB. They are both shaping up to be elite players at their respective positions, however. Ravens actually considered trading up for Mack during the draft, but obviously it didn't work out: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-ravens-draft-day-trades-0426-20150426-story.html#page=1

Very surprised anyone would look at the Julio pick as a success. Yes, they got a good player (albeit one who was injury-prone), but they ended up with a very bad team for a couple season afterwards because they had no talent on defense or O-line. Those extra picks could have addressed those holes on the roster. The best strategy is to throw as many darts on the draft board as possible by hoarding picks, using cheap talented rookies to fill your roster, developing your draft picks, paying your elite players, and letting the average-good ones go (earning you more comp. picks). It is really hard to get on top like this when you think about it: you have to have sustained success over several years when it comes to drafting/developing talent. Ozzie is in a good place right now having 10+ picks every year. There are only a few non-QB positions worth multiple picks in my eyes (LT, edge rusher, WR), and your scouts had better be damn sure he's a lock because you're out several picks instead of just one if you miss (Cordarrelle Patterson comes to mind).

$1 mil in travel/lodging fees is nothing to a man who owns a franchise recently appraised at $2 billion. I've always said, any money you can spend outside of the cap to make your team better is a no-brainer (as long as it isn't spent on spy cameras and radio signal jammers, of course).

This is when I think fantasy football and Madden trick fans into thinking GMs can just wheel and deal for what they need when they need it. I wonder if the Giants board was filled with OBJ bust proclamations and trade scenarios

"The Raiders have a 4-3 defense, but can get similar pressure with defensive ends Khalil Mack, Justin Tucker and newly-added Aldon Smith." Not sure how I feel about Justin Tucker ligning up on the D-line for Oakland

Yeah, I'd be confident that any team in the league can rebound vs the Raiders injured defense. We win this game by 20+. If the Bengals can smoke 'em, we can too.

Hill was a big part of why/how our blitzes worked too, dropping into coverage just a second before the ball was snapped, creeping up to the box on some running plays.

Not really expecting much from Babin. Hopefully he can push Za'Darius to do his best and earn his playing time.

Eh, Ware and Miller are two of the best edge rushers in the league. Couple that with the fact that Monroe went down immediately and I'm surprised we even did as well as we did. We will never face a defense this good the rest of the season.

No team, especially a contending one, would ever give up a good pass-rusher, especially week 1 of the season. Trades can happen closer to the deadline once bad teams know they're bad, but not in week 1. Also Dee Ford is shaping up to be a horrible draft bust. Not sure what KC was thinking with that pick.

I actually think most are just coping with the shock and disappointment of losing such a long-time great player. I'm with you though; I think our depth can work to mitigate the loss, but it'll mean less flexibility from our OLB and more substitutions between downs for a run-defender/pass-rusher. Za'Darius is bad at run support, but he can rush the passer on an obvious passing down.

I was astounded at how well Pees was disguising his blitzes. Looked like Cover 1 on a number of plays before Hill dropped back, never quite knew who was going to blitz (although Upshaw and a few others would tip their hands on a few hard counts). And since you brought it up, I liked what I saw out of KLM on that one sack. Announcers praised Canty, but KLM caused the most disruption by pushing the pocket in. Hopefully a sign of more to come. Losing Suggs hurts bad, but I still think we'll be average, possibly above average at generating pressure (especially interior pressure) and still good at stopping the run.

I think we may see more 4-3 looks, especially once Urban returns, but for all of the reasons already mentioned, a permanent 4-3 defense isn't the best solution. Personally I think the best idea will be to just get creative with our blitzes, sending more pressure up the middle, maybe do more ILB blitzes (since our ILBs are surprisingly all good at that).

He did have a bad game, especially on those two plays, but it's never on one player. We need our O-line to play better and have our other receivers step up. On the bright side, this is probably the best defense we will face all season, and yet we still almost won despite unexpected injuries and our own mistakes.

Positive Spin: If we can stay in contention until Urban comes back, we will have a decent pass rush down the stretch. We can use some Za'Darius Smith on obvious passing downs (since he is terrible vs the run), and possibly sign a veteran FA such as Freeney or Babin.