Ravenshine

And he almost generated a game changing comeback for W. SSSr one of the best in the league.

No fan of any stadium should leave that way. Prayers and best wishes on a full recovery.

“I thought early on in the game, we were pretty good, and then as the game went on, they started to ramp it up a little bit and get some edges and do some things that were pretty good,” Flacco said. “I still think we did a good job.” Had to think about this for a bit. As in, how could Joe think the O still did a good job yesterday. From where I was watching, he was under pressure for most all of the game, they never dominated except for maybe late in game when they got the lead, and there were mistakes on the O that cost them big time. Where he may have seen any good, I finally figured, was because they were doing more variety of plays and getting more yards from those various kinds of plays. And up until yesterday only he and Wallace had any TDs, so now Smith and West join the list. So, if this falls in the catagory of gelling and playing good, yeah, there was some presentations of that yesterday. Building complex layers by hitting new targets and a couple of those resulting in scores and shaking up the play calling to be a little unpredictable for the other team to guess what they would do next, particularly as the run game got going. Ok, yes that's improved. But watching the Oline yesterday just scares me...I worry for our QB's protection and avoiding injury down the road. That seemed worse. So, being so reliant on Stanley apparently. And needing him to stay healthy. One player leaving the game has such a huge impact on the line? That's got to be concerning.

Yup, we lost this week. Only good thing about this week was Patriots lost too ? They were the "undefeated favs" ... by the end of these 16 weeks the other 3 teams will have lost their undefeated status as well. At least I would bet on that statistic! So who cares we lost our undefeated record? I wanted to keep it as long as possible and all the way really, but it didn't change all that much but 1 loss, and 1 loss doesn't bump you out of playoff contention this early in season. Now it's off the table and we can play with less pressure to be perfect (in score anyway). Because our playing was never perfect thus far and we all knew that. But now we no longer need to be concerned about staying undefeated, we can truly slip under the radar, cause you know we are now off ALL the top 10 lists lol. And we'll be the underdogs again, and can feed off that motivating force.

I understand Harbs decision even if I don't agree with it. The only part I don't agree with is it was 4th down...take it. Yet, he makes a valid point...that field goal from further away could have been missed. Then we'd all be happy he accepted the penalty. Hindsight is 20/20 it's always easier after the fact...so, an honest mistake even tho we should never do THAT again...I understand it's strategy in theory.

NFL has a new meme: the "taunting spinning ball" someone needs to animate it with eyes and smirky mouth and give it a voice of Don Rickles. That ball is wreaking havoc all around the NFL, that's one rude ball. LOL...give us all a break, and let these football players be themselves and celebrate their plays. Quit trying to turn beasts of the wild into zoo creatures.

Osemele had his day in court...and won. That's reality. BUT...we got Weddle, Wallace and Watson...which have paid off and will continue to pay off. So, yeah that's life in the NFL. We do indeed miss KOs presence, but someone can fill his shoes. The sooner the better.

The run game was established and that benefitted us. Weak Oline really hurt us and it's a good way to get Flacco injured. He took way too many blows. Oline is the weakness of our Ravens, it's so easy to see. And many teams down the road will attack us on this Achilles heel obviously, so it's got to be fixed. One loss isn't end of world, but the weaknesses that have exsisted since week 1 proved to be too much to overcome this time. I was really hoping we'd get in Tucker's range. Yeah probably should have just let him kick from 68 yards. But,... this is all good review to repair and prepare for next match. As usual, you fought hard. Which is commendable. But fixing the major problems which are truly a major issue for this offense, is imo the priority rather than saying "we always find a way to win, we win ugly." Yeah grit you have no doubt, but it's going to be an issue of keeping such a demanding momentum going. Better to look for other ways to bring strength to the Offense rather than relying on "finding ways to win" by the skin of your teeth.

What makes the defense better this year? Well, ...last year when Suggs went out @ first game in Denver match...I went "that's alright, that's okay, we'll be fine" (but said in a scared Richard Prior voice as he and Gene Wilder are about to get in a bar fight with two big biker guys.) And you know, we might have been okay with just one strong player out...except...that was merely the beginning of injuries last year as we all know. So now everyone is back, and we've got new members...obviously it's the intuitive playing and adjusting play by play that is one aspect making this group so successful. And..you can see them communicating on field with each other and that reminds me of how the 2012 defense looked. Can't hear what they are saying to each other...but whatever it is...it's working.

"How does the team handle being 3-0? John Harbaugh is relentless, too. His mantra in a nutshell is: Get better." Amen

I agree.

I miss the old stoic quarterbacks too. It's like you could hear the theme from "the good, the bad and the ugly" playing while they stood there in the pocket.

Not really...because in this NFL players are evaluated on their performance and their pay is based ...on their performances (stats). As are coaches. So while winning by 1 point is definitely good simply because it's a win...game after game the whole idea is to rack up TDs by the QB connecting with RBs and Receivers. Players want this. AND they want to win regardless. But getting LOTS of points scored helps the team and the individual players develop their resume AS players (hence how their value and pay as an offensive player is determined) and also, it's the only way to win consistently playing all 16 games. So yeah...they'd rather have 30 points than 1... There's a huge difference to them personally and it's what they practice for week after week.

It makes me so happy to see Suggs and Smith back out there doing what they do. I agree with the reason for the rotation schedule... Nov/Dec best football!

The past is the past...what these 2 did back then had everything to do with rival teams being competitive and nothing to do with personally knowing each other. Now they can know each other for who they really are.

"The Ravens miss Osemele, but don't regret losing him" yeah I think that aptly sums it up. Ofc his loss hurt our line, we're adjusting. But Ravens didn't have the cap space to pay what Raiders paid. So, KO could look at it that way - Ravens vs Raiders $ have different budgets to work with. And for Ravens they've already benefitted with Weddle and Wallace. Losing KO hurts but I agree they wouldn't be 3-0 without W2s (plus Watson when he returns will be interesting to see what he brings).

Who cares if a win is pretty or ugly? I care. Cause I see our team this year is capable of those pretty wins. Last year wasn't the case, and hasn't been the case for a long while with all the building UP to this year, but never say never...always room for improvement...when it's time, it's time...and guess what? ...it's time. Always can go beyond the status quo. If I didn't feel they could do it this year I wouldn't mention it. I know they can do it. So much talent, let it shine!

that pretty much sums up the life of a Raven fan. I know ? But...we have a 3-0 record so, a record worth fighting for to stay undefeated...time to protect our preeeccciiiousss (Gollum voice) I kid...but yeah...it'd be fun to keep the streak going. Which we can do the old painful last second win way...maybe....OR ... We can do it by just not giving up the leads we get ? my preference.

Yeah, in a way...at least thus far on paper, it looks like an ideal match for Ravens...Oakland Defense is soft so gives our Offense an easier match up and more time to gel...and Oakland Offense contrarily is strong which give our also strong Defense a good test/challenge to sharpen their claws on and keep them moving up their levels. All this is based on stats ofc, and a 3 game analysis...but...we'll see. Lets be 4-0 this time next week! It sure seems these teams really get their act together for one game, against us! I think they may actually become quite formidable as their season goes on. Getting Jack Del Rio seems to have given them more life than before 2015. Not that I know this team well...but just found out Del Rio was former Ravens Linebackers Coach. That was about 5 years before I became a Ravens fan, so didn't know way back when what his tenure here was like.

Wow...congrats on baby girl!!!?? Evelyn Renee is beautiful name. Can't help but wonder tho if she'll be in some tag team family football games? I say...make her the quarterback! We need the first female QB!

Yeah, in a way...at least thus far on paper, it looks like an ideal match for Ravens...Oakland Defense is soft so gives our Offense an easier match up and more time to gel...and Oakland Offense contrarily is strong which give our also strong Defense a good test/challenge to sharpen their claws on and keep them moving up their levels. All this is based on stats ofc, and a 3 game analysis...but...we'll see. Lets be 4-0 this time next week!

Have no problems with our record...love our record. 3-0 ... doesn't get better than that. The O did have something to do with that ofc. But moreso our D and Tucker and special teams...okay. But our O IS capable of stepping up. And really, don't you think it's time? It's time to STOP this MO: "We get a lead mid game after a slow 1st quarter and better 2nd...so aro the 3rd we lead by at least a score, or two. Then all the sudden (almost as if it's BECAUSE we have the lead), we stall out on O, and the other team catches us by scoring TD, field goals...Takes the lead from us by 2 points in 4th. We have just over 2 minutes on clock and all timeouts, so we use them, then Flacco and O gets the ball down field but not TD, but close enough for a 'good' kicker to make a field goal. Not great field goal range but good enough, but stall out there just past midfield. Send Tucker out and because he is clutch he makes it and we take lead by one point...sometimes 2...But still a minute on clock so our D goes out and holds the game but it literally winds down to final seconds before we at home realized we haven't been breathing for the last 2 minutes and our neck muscles need a good sauna and massage...not to mention if we are at sports bar watching game we have to make rounds to give our smirks and 'hell yeahs' out to all the Raven haters there who thought we blew the game...but luckily we managed to eek out yet another win..." Yeah, just stop doing this already ????... Still glad you are 3-0... But just stop this MO?...and instead get the lead and KEEP the lead and don't let the other team ...even ...get ...close ?

Our D has been explosive and exciting to watch. They hunt! CJs one hand catches... great.

So we play the lowest ranked defense in NFL, the Raiders...yeah I'd think our offense can take off playing them, certainly hope so. But when we play the Giant, Eagles, Bengals, Jets...NE defenses later this year (Giants game is 3 weeks away), that's when we not only need to have taken off...we need to be a cruising altitude by then ? So,...yeah...Raiders game is def the one to take off with. Then the Washington game...again not thus far a strong defense, can be another one. Lose these next two games...that's not a good sign. Win these next two games it's not a 'great' indication of O strength (facing weaker defenses 2 weeks in row), but it's 5-0 and hopefully is enough warm up for the pounding defenses we face to come following these next 2 weeks.

"If you ask Pro Football Focus (PFF), West is deserving of more playing time after out-grading Forsett in the Jaguars matchup." Sure, the last game we played West stood out vs Forsett...but their 3 game average is still really close:West 33ATT and 119 yards @ 3.6 A and Forsett 31 ATT and 98 yards @ 3.2 A...so last game Forsett didn't do so well which no doubt affected his overall average, but for the first 2 previous games he's stayed ON pace with West (rather than being a huge trailer by comparison) ...Let's see how he does in this game coming up. I hope both he and West do well, it will mean our running game is getting on track. As for making the other guy miss...this is based on the Jag game, which was not Forsett's best game. And as Ray Lewis says lol, 'some games you make lots of mistakes and next game you do everything right' ?