Puntit

disagree with the article that this injury doesn't really hurt Flaccos bargaining power in contract negotiations. Its huge. For the same reason the Ravens now have uncertainty with how well Flacco will bounce back, his ability to go elsewhere for more money is similarly limited. And without the ability to say "I want X million because the Texans would pay me Y", the Ravens are in the drivers seat. Plus, after this injury I am pretty sure he will see a bit more self preservation benefit in freeing up money to retain KO and get some targets who can get open. If Flacco is smart he will try to get a restructure deal done before the draft because if not, and the Ravens go QB early, or if they sign a Kaepernick, Flaccos leverage will drop even further. He's in the drivers seat when the options are him vs Schaub, Clausen, Renner, Tebow, Mallett...

I was hoping we picked up Tebow for the Steelers game -- would be nice to see them relive that nightmare. But I'm ok with Clausen -- he was the QB out there most likely to get us a top three draft pick.

At what point are we allowed to start talking about draft picks? With the Lions waking up against Green Bay and the Jaguars moving out of the two win crowd I think we are on the short list for an early pick with the likes of Detroit, Tennessee and Cleveland (who already beat us). High first and second round draft picks could make this team a lot more fun to watch in 2016! I think Doom probably helped more than hurt this team today.

This was the RB we really wanted but got leapfrogged by Cleveland. But if his issues in Cleveland are really about sharing playing time and a prima Donna attitude, I have to wonder how he will respond to working his way up from the PS only to compete for a backup spot on our suddenly crowded RB roster. If you count the guys on IR he might be competing for the number three spot next year. But who knows, maybe the right coaching and playing behind the right veterans and being back in his home town can get him back on track.

Well Tyrod won and the Steelers won their battle but maybe lost the war. Also good news is with the Titans winning we didn't lose any ground on an early draft pick...

Root for Tyrod and Rex because they are Baltimore products. Root against Steelers because they are our arch rivals and if we miss the playoff it's some solace to know that they are sitting home too. Frankly it's hard to get excited about any of the other contests.

I see no reason this season not to keep turning over rocks hoping we find a diamond in the rough. We are unlikely to be playoff bound and so a lot of this is seeing who we have to build around when we actually do get to pick higher in each round of the draft.. If we have Smith Sr and Perriman healthy next year, even if we add another WR we probably have three spots to fill with the dogs with the least fleas from this season. If Morgan is an upgrade as number 4 or 5 WR, it was worth it. Nobody was going to release a Megatron for us to pounce on and we wouldn't have the money to do it if they did.

Monroe has no trade value. None. No real point dealing him for a seventh, and I don't even know who would give us that given the amount of time he has not been on the field and in consideration of his salary. In other news Oher is looking quite good this year, so maybe we jumped the gun too soon on him.

Ozzie has shown he drafts first round WRs about as well as Cleveland drafts QBs. It would be foolish to use another first rounder on another Perriman clone just so they can keep each other company in the training room on game day. He should stick with the things in his wheelhouse -- defensive players, TEs (although we don't need one this coming year) and RB and acquire everything else in FA. It's interesting to me that Torrey, Jacoby are having such lousy years on other teams. Probably should have just taken less $ in a system that works for them; it would be curious if we can get one or the other back at a big discount next year.

I'm totally fine with just a 2 win season as long as they are both vs Pitt. Beating them twice and still getting a top draft pick is about as good as this season can get at this point. I don't think we need to try hard for Rivers to pick our secondary apart, but we might have to help the Jags out with a timely gaffe to help them into the lead.

I actually think if someone wants to give up too much to get a high pick Ozzie should absolutely trade down. We aren't one high draft pick from contention. If the choice is to end up with one stud WR versus two or three pretty solid defensive players, it's a no brainer. Trade out of that high spot for that late first, second and third. Make that deal every day of the week, There are plenty of QBs out there with stud WRs who haven't got a ring. Stafford, Ryan, Cuttler , Romo all have had better targets than Flacco and none has a ring. It's about an entire team not a player and frankly the grind 'Em out lunch pail guys often get you rings while the Dez Bryants tend not to.Never play the "look who we could have picked" game. Every team in the league could have had Tom Brady throwing to Antonio Brown. You have to have faith in your scouting and stick with your board. Stefan Diggs etc might not have thrived on this team any better than Doss or Clayton or some of the other WRs we've drafted. He's the right guy for the right system, a system that, by the way, only works for Diggs because Walker draws away the coverage. without a Walker across from him Diggs might as well be Aiken. And you can't really fault Ozzie for injuries. All teams have their entire season dependent on one or two position players not ending up on IR. Most teams don't have as much of a plan B if they lose their QB as we do, some end up in turmoil if they lose a key OL or their RB. We happen to not be as deep at WR, pass rusher or CB, and are facing key injuries at all those positions. A lot is because of salary cap, dead money, and having been plundered each season by teams willing to overspend. But I see nothing wrong with a team that plans on Perriman and SSS as starters, and guys like Camp and Aiken as depth. it's absurd to focus on what would really be your plan D (not B ), which is guys like Buttler and Ross as your WR, but such is life, if you have multiple injuries at a position you get stuck. We lost multiple WR, corners, OLBs already this year. I don't see how that's on Ozzie when on paper everyone thought his initial starting lineup ought to be a contender. We topped the power rankings during tge offseason. Now we are close to the bottom, time to focus on next year, I think.

Ozzie isn't gonna pick another WR early anyhow. (He can't pick 'em in round 1 anyhow.) It's going to be heavy on pass rushers and secondary in the first few rounds.

Trading Doom doesn't make sense at all -- we have him locked up for a few more years, he can totally be a building block. SSS however has already committed to retiring at year's end so he won't be part of our rebuilding. If he could be made amenable to a trade, he could net us a pick that could actually help in 2016. SSS, for all his efforts, only makes us good enough to lose later in the game.

If we do nothing the rest of the year other than identify one or two youngsters who are worthy of starting, we have salvaged this otherwise ugly year. Why not play these youngsters? And tell Marlon Brown he's on borrowed time if he doesn't regain that rookie year aggressiveness and composure. With Perriman and Camp out and Steve Smith injured for a game the guy still didn't show up -- talk about missing opportunities. I feel like this is the year we assess what we've got to build around, and try to replace/upgrade everyone who isn't regarded as a building block. Make sure these guys know they are fighting for their football lives.

Without knowing what the injury is that's keeping Perriman off the field, it's too early to label him soft or a bust. That being said, maybe it's time to put him on IR and just shut him down for the year, rather than have him on the injury report week after week as an ugly reminder of what could have been. Use the spot to take a look at someone from another teams PS. In other news, SF showed last night that they really aren't a good team at all, with Kaepernak unable to move the football until late in the game and Torry Smith a total non-factor, so I think that's more proof that our defense isn't good enough to hang with even the worst teams in the NFL. First pick here we come. I note that neither Torry Smith nor Ngata are playing well enough this year to suggest Ozzie was wrong in not ponying up the big bucks -- each one is regarded as grossly overpaid by their respective teams. That doesn't fix our own problems but makes it harder to point to loss of these players being the culprit for our woes. Saw an article suggesting the Ravens deal SSS back to the Panthers so he gets a shot at the post season and the Ravens get something for next year nice he's retiring. While I think Green Bay could use him better, it would be foolish for Ozzie to not at least explore these options. We probably finish last in our division and then he will retire and our starters will be Aiken and maybe Perriman, which doesn't bode well for 2016. A draft pick from a team that wants to win now could be huge in filling a big hole. Maybe after we get shellacked on Monday night the phone calls will start.

We would still have the same lack of talent next year when he retires. But if he's worth a pick to somebody at the trade deadline this year that's one more building block to work with next year. Again, nobody really cares what he does this year in the Ravens losing effort. 150 receiving yards is meaningless when the team still loses. We can lose with Aiken at least as effectively. And without Smith we get to see more of what, if anything, these other guys can do, and see if they ought to be Ravens going forward. Which right now is the best we can hope for -- finding another piece to build around.

I see no point in firing Pees mid season -- we aren't going anywhere and there will be better replacements once places clean house at year end. Pags might be available even. Yes we are 1-5 but the 1 was against a QB-less Pitt and of the five welipst to three bottom dweller teams (including Cleveland at home). Saying 9 wins can get you a wildcard is a bit too ambitious based on what we've seen. This is a deeper hole than the Ravens have ever been in -- ever.While having SSS for next year would be great, if he really truly plans to retire whatever draft picks he might bring from a WR needy contender are going to be worth more. This is a sunk season, except insofar as it paves the way to better and more draft picks for next year.

While I get that you cost yourself some fans in 2015 if you decide to tank the year to get better draft picks, don't you lose those same fans if you have to endure multiple years of this? Certainly Indy is much better off franchise-wise for having tanked a year with their "suck for Luck" campaign. It's probably actually not the worst idea to try out youngsters and not be too upset letting the Jags and Chiefs pick up an extra win when we see them. I mean sure, SSS might go all out on his own and snag us five wins on tge season and move our draft pick outside of te top ten, but who does that benefit? What fans are going to debate whether the Ravens were awful with 1 win or 5? I hate to say it, but the focus really needs to be 2016 and how we get back in the game then, not now.

It didn't help, for sure. But maybe we were just deluding ourself into ever thinking we were that good. We did get beat up ugly by the Eagles in our preseason with Suggs on the field. Everyone chalked it up to not having planned for them, but in retrospect I think we just weren't as good a team. My bet is we may have won a couple more of these overtime games with a deep threat and better pass rush, but most of our issues haven't really been putting points up, they have been poor coverage and tackles by the secondary. A better pass rush of course helps the corners a bit, but for the QBs that can release quickly or scramble we would still have real problems. The Ravens are half a team right now, even with the injured guys. A good corps to build around but we are far from replacing Reed, Lewis, Ngata. I'm just happy we've adequately replaced Rice and Pitta. Jury is still out whether we've replaced Torry Smith.

Um no, you misunderstand. When a team trades too many draft picks to move up a few spots for a player like an RG3 or a Trent Richardson, they "overpay". (money is irrelevant).

Honestly if we end up with a high first round pick and someone offers Ozzie something like a lower first round plus a second and third, I'd hope Ozzie does take it. We have more than 1-2 needs to fill. By my estimation we kind of need more than one pass rusher, two CBs, a WR and maybe a safety. And that assumes we resign KO and Tucker. So unless theres a specific Ray Lewis or Ed Reed or Ngata sitting right there when we pick (which is rare) absolutely trade a top five pick down to a top 20 pick and a few more early round picks. We won't hit gold on all of them and I'd rather have a couple extra shots in those first four rounds. The teams that move up for a top five player inevitably overpay and do worse than their trading partners. FWIW PFT kind of suggested this morning that Pags might be on the chopping block after the awful play he called against the Pats last night. Wonder if he might want his old job back...

I don't think it's just the losing that bothers Ravens fans, it's the lack of effort, of "playing like a Raven". A lot of us remember the Billick/Boller era where we really weren't a winning team, but other teams were still afraid to play us because even if they got a W they came out hobbling and bloody. We gave them a real battle. It was fun to watch, even if we weren't deep in the post season as much. That's what we are missing now. We have a better QB for sure, but lost too much on the other side of the ball. Ravens football is grind it out four quarters foot ball. A game of inches. We don't have the personnel for that right now. So no, I don't think the fans are abandoning the sinking ship over losing, I think they are giving up in a 2015 team that is, contrary to Harbugh, showing no heart. It's fine to lose but you'd better make the other team earn it, not just concede it. I don't know if firing Melvin and calling out Wright gets you there, but something better. Maybe we need Mosley or Doom in people's faces ranting and cursing like Lewis used to do when they botched a play. Or like you sometimes see Brady do to his troops. Because they sure aren't afraid of Harbaugh or Flacco.

Green Bay has a big need for a receiver and Smith Sr deserves a shot at a ring. Cards could also use a guy like that. We aren't going anywhere that Aiken, Ross and Brown can't take us. Make it happen Ozzie. As for the offensive line phoning it in at the end of the game, I guess when you watch the defense doing it week after week, you get jealous. We didn't really lose because of that, we lost because Wright is probably not a guy good enough to start against a Torrey Smith, for sure without safety help, and because we aren't putting much pressure on opposing QBs so they always have way too much time to make the long plays. I honestly didn't think we had as much of a shot at winning going in as we did during the game. SF, like Cleveland and probably Oakland is a BAD team. We made them look better than they are, and probably saved their QB from being benched. But we also probably leapfrogged them in a draft pick in March, so I'm okay with that. If we do the same with Jacksonville (who actually has a much better QB than SF right now, and probably a better QB TE combo than Cleveland ran over us with) in a couple of weeks I'm going to get real excited about who we can come away with in the top of the first few rounds. I know it's not the right way to be a fan, but come on -- 1 and 5 with a really bad matchup looming next week. The fat lady is singing.

@stampede hero -- im pretty sure i heard thr pats picked up Melvin (which is ironic because they are the team that targeted him so mercilessly last post season.). He has not been in their lineup thus far. I actually think Wright probably earned us a better spot in next year's draft, so not a total loss. The way I see it there are three other teams with awful records this year, and we get to play two of them (Jags and Chefs). Cleveland and Miami suddenly dont look like pushovers. If we keep phoning in the fourth quarter like most games, that should guaranty us at least the second or third pick, which is kind of the best case scenario for this season, I'm afraid to say. If we can resign KO and Tucket and end up with a top five draft pick, I'm willing to shrug this off as a rebuilding year, and expect bigger things for 2016.

The only way to get James back to the PS and move Magee up was to cut James, hope he clears waivers and sign him back to the PS. I'm guessing that's what they are doing. Was probably what they were trying to do with Melvin but he didn't clear waivers. We might get Melvin back when the Pats decide he's not a starter and cut him to try and put him on their own PS, but he was actually not wowing anybody this year. This year is about giving young guys some experience and seeing what we've got to build around. We might win a game or two along the way, but right now thanks to injuries and defensive lack of talent I expect us to finish close to the bottom. In the draft we will be shopping for multiple OLBs and CBs and a WR to play next to Perriman if he ever makes it onto the field. If we can resign Flacco to a more favorable dollar amount, get Ray Rice, Pitta and Ngata off the books, use that money to resign KO, Upshaw and Tucker, get Suggs, Camp and Urban back from injuries, I am excited about getting back into the race in 2016. So make lemonade out of lemons -- let's see what these youngsters can do and not worry about the scores. I probably wouldn't play SSS or Forsett if they are hurt -- why aggravate things? If somehow they go on a tear that's great but giving the current starting point let's assume it's not about that anymore.