Ravens-'skins: Thoughts & Observations

[Florida Ravens Fan]

[quote name='Eurich' date='13 August 2009 - 11:54 PM' timestamp='1250222047' post='219231']
[img]http://i25.tinypic.com/2ymygz7.jpg[/img]
[/quote]


^ who is that? And can someone tell me if foxworth played tonight, thanks!

[Eurich]

Thats Oher

[TheRavenouseD2008]

[quote name='Florida Ravens Fan' date='14 August 2009 - 12:00 AM' timestamp='1250222448' post='219238']
^ who is that? And can someone tell me if foxworth played tonight, thanks!
[/quote]

willis is your answer

[FlaccoFlicker]

[quote name='Florida Ravens Fan' date='14 August 2009 - 12:00 AM' timestamp='1250222448' post='219238']
^ who is that? And can someone tell me if foxworth played tonight, thanks!
[/quote]
oher piledriver in the first that busted his head open.
and foxworth did play tonight and had 2 tackles both solo

[Florida Ravens Fan]

Thanks! Couldnt read his name.

[Alexandra]

Oher looks like one of those players that look like thugs but not in a bad way
I haven't been paying attention and was pleasantly surprised at the depth we have at running back
Troy Smith was impressive even if he completed only half of his attempts
Justin Harper looks to have a lot of confidence to be dropping several passes but still continue and end up making good plays
Jayson Foster went from me not knowing him to him being a receiver I hope we keep
^ Oniel Cousins did the opposite
Our defense looks good as always (so much for "they'll be bad without rex ryan")
Was it McClain or Gooden that kept not being able to sack Colt, whichever it was needs to work on tackling since he's getting to the Quaterback fine
Did Samari Rolle play today?

All in all I'm just glad I'm not the coaches

[1/28/01]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' date='13 August 2009 - 11:43 PM' timestamp='1250221423' post='219223']
dont troll here
[/quote]

I don't "troll".

It was just a simple request so that we can actually understand what you're saying. It was a tough read in all seriousness.....

[YABOY]

the ravens looked good the defense is still aggressive flacco is showing progess but cousins looked horrible & the offense needs to score touchdowns in the redzone other then that the ravens are good

[1/28/01]

[quote name='edreedfromtheu' date='13 August 2009 - 11:37 PM' timestamp='1250221053' post='219217']
WOW. Okay folks... enough with the jokes.

Figurs was CLEARLY out? They never showed the slow motion replay, first of all. Secondly, to me... it looked like his right foot was CLEARLY still on the ground when he caught the ball BEFORE he took the next step which was out of bounds.

And secondly... you people are just like the commentators on TV were tonight. SO ANTI-TROY, it's funny. They were hating on him within his first 4 passes! His first TWO passes hit the receiver in the hands. The receiver dropped both of them. If anything was clear, it was that!

Look, I'm not against Joe Flacco. But PLEASE stop hating on Troy Smith.



But I guess we'll truly get to see who is better next year, because Troy Smith isn't going to sign an extension with the team if he's not going to be able to play. He's going to be a starter in the league. That is why Ozzie was interested in Vick, because he knows he'll need another QB for next year.
[/quote]

1 - Figurs was out, ball was being "bobbled" and when caught one foot was clearly out.....no question
2 - I like Troy, but he will not start in the NFL. He's not accurate enough.
3 - IF Ozzie wanted Vick, we would have signed Vick....there was no real interest there

[1/28/01]

[quote name='codizzle' date='13 August 2009 - 11:51 PM' timestamp='1250221898' post='219230']
umm he's not a troll.
[/quote]
Thanks codizzle

[1/28/01]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' date='13 August 2009 - 11:57 PM' timestamp='1250222240' post='219234']
heckling posters for punctuational usage with no mind for freedom of will alone is being a troll in my book , guess he never read e.e.cummings . I don't talk down say some one is horrible for a post , because its scattered. keep in mind I am tired and I do not take to some one who does not personaly know me telling me how I should write in a forum who is NOT a mod.

I am starting to see a new breed of ravens fan on this forum and I might just move on because of it remember my prior posts not just my last 2
[/quote]

Didn't mean to piss in your cereal, but it was really tough to read your post. Just helping you out and letting you know that your points probably weren't projected due to some incomplete thoughts and run ons.

Cheer up

[BloodRaven]

Just remember... last season the Lions won all their preseason games

Just a bit of perspective to keep us grounded.

[Kevin Mullins]

My Positives and Negatives for tonight's game:

[b]Positives[/b]

1. Michael Oher is worthy of a 1st round pick, and his future is solar. He blasted Wynn onto his ******.
2. Mcgahee had spring back in his step. He really does seem to be in great shape and healthy.
3. Ray Rice looks prepared to be a every down back. Especially with his pass catching ability.
4. Mclain looks as if he never left fullback. He smashed some people.
5. Flacco looked under control (with the exception of the almost pick)
6. Troy Smith was absolutely ELUSIVE. His passes were in need of better vertical placement, but all in all I was astounded at his command, poise, and frankly his athleticism. He looks to be a VERY integral piece of the Ravens puzzle.
7. The tight ends were in routes tonight, which means more trust will be placed upon the O-line, and more recievers in patterns.
8. Kelley Washington seems to have the energy and attitude our receiving corps may need.
9. Defensive Line is just fantastic. It's a shame you can't keep em' all because they all make for solid rotations.
10. Kruger and Barnes may give QBs hell this year.
11. Tavaris Gooden can be a GREAT LB in this league. (may need more bulk)
12. Starting Corners seemed to fit billing; all be it against lame passing game.
13. Nak and Zibby seem very poised to serve large secondary roles. Their abilities can not be ignored.
14. Webb is versatile and quick. Another tool in the box.

Summary:
The Offense may have more athleticism and attitude
The Defense has more tools and better depth to bring havoc

Negatives:
1. First Team O struggled in Red Zone again.
2. The Secondary may play too soft.
3. Our discipline is lacking
4. Drops will kill drives, which lose games, and ruin seasons.

[ItFigurs16]

IMO, I am just happy its football season again and I am excited to see who is going to emerge the winner out of this WR core...and I wish we could keep all of our RB's...they all played sick today. I can't wait for the season to start!

[theFRANCHISE]

If there was a positive to stalling in the red zone, it was that the kickers got to show the coaches a bit more in game action. The sooner we get this kicking competition settled, the better.

Also, I'm convinced that the coaches will be more aggressive in the red zone in the regular season. They went for it on 4th-and-1 on the first possession, after all. They could've just settled for a FG there, but going for it was probably meant to test their short-yardage and goalline packages.

[susejniesiugsid]

[quote name='1/28/01' date='13 August 2009 - 08:16 PM' timestamp='1250219811' post='219198']
Thank you!

All this "Smith was player of the game" crap doesn't make sense.

14 for 30 with lots of balls way off - high, low, behind the receiver on slants etc..... He was really 13 for 29 for about 140 (Figurs was clearly out) while Flacco was 9 for 15 for 100 with some guys making drops that they'll catch later in the season.

All in all, I'm happy, but leave the Smith stuff alone. He is a sold backup.
[/quote]

Um, that was an incredible throw. Rolling out to his left, he put it on the money. If that's an incompletion it's on Figurs, not Troy. 2 of those incompletions were spikes and about 3 others were drops. He was closer to 14/25 than 14/30.

[tweety]

I would like to see Flacco use more of a variety when throwing the ball. Troy Smith was able to spread the ball to TE, WR, and RBs pretty equal. Flacco seemed to be very bias to dump-offs and Washington. Flacco didn't seem as confident with his throws like last year. Where are the bombs he use to throw against the Bengals and Jags. I want to see that trend again. Hopefully Flacco gets more snaps next game, so he can be better accessed. I'm sure after this poor performance he will break out next game.

[Bullrush]

Wonder what that fat guy from the Sun is going to write now that Flacco played the way we all expected him to play.

Anyway, i was impressed with the O-Line. Oher looked awesome, ready to start from the get go. Barnes looked great. Zbikowski is a playmaker. If he continues to do that he should get the nod over Landry. Kruger looked great. Harper showed some flashes but he's still inconsistent, drops too many passes. 4th or 5th receiver this season. Kelley Washington surprised me, he can step in for Smith and be our #4. Rice looked great. Troy Smith looked good. Overall a great performance.

[Bullrush]

[quote name='tweety' date='14 August 2009 - 10:33 AM' timestamp='1250238792' post='219305']
I would like to see Flacco use more of a variety when throwing the ball. Troy Smith was able to spread the ball to TE, WR, and RBs pretty equal. Flacco seemed to be very bias to dump-offs and Washington. Flacco didn't seem as confident with his throws like last year. Where are the bombs he use to throw against the Bengals and Jags. I want to see that trend again. Hopefully Flacco gets more snaps next game, so he can be better accessed. I'm sure after this poor performance he will break out next game.
[/quote]

Flacco is not going to throw any bombs in the pre season unless he really has to. The game plan was to get Ray Rice the ball and see how he looks catching the ball out of the backfield and what the O-Line is gonna look like blocking and getting to the 2nd level. We couldn't do any of that last season because Rice was hurt all the time.

[plesiosaur]

Stuff I noticed:

Starting O line looked very tight and tough (how could you not notice).

Flacco relaxed and in control, not great, but in control.

Nak and ZB will be dangerous.

Ray Rice catching passes!

Goose egg for the 'Skins.

[TSizzle00]

If can get 3500 yards 23TDs 11-12 INT's from Flacco we will get to the super bowl

[smashmouth]

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d811e0899/Ravens-23-Redskins-0

NFL.com highlights.
Oher is nasty! I only seen one play at the begining of the game where he got beat on the pass rush, other then that he played amazingly.

Ray Rice is the real deal. He made a statement as a good every down back, but really made a statement as as reciever out of the backfield. McGahee is running with attitude like he did in 07.

Chris Carr, kepp this guy on special team's and he's a playmaker, put him at DB and he looks like a practice squadder.

Flacco looked good, picking up where he left off last year. Kelly Washington and Justin Harper looks to be good depth at reciever, and we might be able to run some 3,4 and 5 reciever sets this year.

Defense looked good for only running vanilla cover and blitz packages. Gooden lookes as good as advertized, and barnes should see more playing time this year. Kruger should see some snaps at DE on passng downs, he does not stop.

The penaltys was downright horrable. Harbaugh better be all over that, or it's going to haunt us this year. 9 penaltys in a pre-season game is hedious.

Good game all around, the whole team came and to prove something, even if it was just pre-season.

[Twoo]

All in all I thought we played pretty well. People get too caught up in pre-season games. Performance in the pre-season games means next to nothing. Last year we went 1-3 in the preseason and went to the AFC Championship. BUT... with that being said...

- Flacco looks really comfortable in the pocket and has definitely matured.

- Our defensive live was absolutely suffocating.

- Troy looked pretty rusty but warmed up after a couple passes and you can definitely see a difference between the power of his throws and Flacco. A Flacco pass comes out like a bullet, Smith's passes are direct, but significantly slower.

- Our ground game is solidified and that new guy Lawrence is going to have an NFL future.

- Watching Flacco throw over the O/D line to taller receivers was a breath of fresh air, he looked much more confident throwing level than down.

- Oher is a monster. Plain and simple. A monster.

- Our secondary was a bit scary to watch. We definitely need to fine tune or it's going to be 2008 Colts every single week.

- Kruger played well but you had to really watch him. He kind of blends in.

- Harper had the jitters but warmed up. Now if he does this for all 4 pre-season games we might have a problem.

[berad]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' date='13 August 2009 - 11:08 PM' timestamp='1250219301' post='219189']
Smith didn't impress you? Wow. He probably would've completed 60% of his passes had it not been for some inexcusable drops.
[/quote]

Just because he threw a TD pass at the end of the half does not totally make up for a few errant balls he threw. Sure, the receivers dropped some, but many of his passes were off the mark. He didn't impress.

[berad]

[quote name='susejniesiugsid' date='14 August 2009 - 03:35 AM' timestamp='1250235303' post='219294']
Um, that was an incredible throw. Rolling out to his left, he put it on the money. If that's an incompletion it's on Figurs, not Troy. 2 of those incompletions were spikes and about 3 others were drops. He was closer to 14/25 than 14/30.
[/quote]

A missed pass is a missed pass. People don't usually edit statistic

[Twoo]

[quote name='berad' date='14 August 2009 - 07:32 AM' timestamp='1250249550' post='219323']
Just because he threw a TD pass at the end of the half does not totally make up for a few errant balls he threw. Sure, the receivers dropped some, but many of his passes were off the mark. He didn't impress.
[/quote]

Smith had pre-game jitters- and his passes seemed pretty lofty and he was being overly cautious with his throws. He was putting the balls far outside the receivers so no one else could catch it... including the receivers. If you watch his passes you'll notice this. Flacco has the arm strength to put the pass through traffic, hit you in the numbers and bruise your hands. Smith doesn't, so he passes outside and makes the receiver run to the ball.

[Tighthead420]

Since I am posting at work, I had not the time to read all the posts...so if any of my points are repetitive...oh well.

O line--Solid for the starters. Cousins looked like he was having major issues. Overall I am impressed with the discipline, good blocking. A few protection issues, which I attribute to rookie and "time-to-gel". Birk's leadership showed up as well.

QB--Flacco looked like he did last year. Played smart, managed the game well and made the plays he had to. Smith looked impressive, but had some accuracy issues (although a few drops should have been caught...more to come). Beck looks like a solid up and coming back-up QB. Decent arm, needs to work on pocket presence/footwork.

Backs--VERY impressed with Lawrence. I put him first because I did not expect him to play as well as he did. Rice ran well as did McGahee. In all a good night. When the O line gets their stuff together (not that they do not...but improvement is a given as the pre season moves along), they can only get better.

Receivers--Good night. Williams looked like he was back, a little rusty. Harper looks like he can be a go to guy, just needs to work on the hands. I think the first game jitters and trying to make plays before he cathes the ball contributed to this. Route running looked solid (it appears that they were getting open and running proper routes...did not see much confusion). Awareness of the sidelines/endline and concentration on the ball are two areas of improvement.

D line--As good as ever. GREAT to see Gregg back in action. Need more pressure...but that's always the case.

Linebackers--I say outstanding. Gooden looked good (no pun intended). The always seemed to know their assignments and got to the ball quickly.

D Backs--Looked really good. Suprised by walker (previous poster addressed this). Safeties looked outstanding. For the most part a shutdown night.

ST--Kickers looked like kickers. I think either one could be a starter.

That's my 2 cents...if anyone cares.

[macbrak]

Every thing that can be said for statistics, can be said for both QBs. There were a lot of mistakes that weren't their fault.

Dumping off the ball is what we want to see, not a sack or int.

Overall I was pleased 6-0 was the score for the real game and I can see that extrapolated through the game. Oher is a beast and we have too many decent running backs. Running back by committee should be huge this year.

[Twoo]

In your free time you should take a look at extremeskins.com, great stuff over there on the "PostGameRelax What's the verdict

"Only reason we didn't play well is because we didn't have our starters on the field, we would have won in regular season."

"I;m still having a hard time dealing with the FACT that the wimpy Ravens offense sliced through the Redskins FIRST TEAM DEFENSE and ended up inside the 5 yard line to kick a field goal on the very first drive of the year."

"We're going to win the Super Bowl this year."

"What impressed me was Colt Brennan. Even on that interception he looked spectacular!"

[macbrak]

Amusing, but please show respect to the skins crowd if for nothing else then to keep the trolls down here for the mods sake.

In their defense, it is preseason, all it really shows is that our depth is amazing and our back up QBs are better. I'm hoping the points Flacco left on the board are a mark of how good the Skins D is.