Next Up: Vikings

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Fred Sanford' date='16 October 2009 - 05:55 PM' timestamp='1255730122' post='258321']
The left side, Bryant McKinnie and Steven Hutchinson, are still two of the better players at their positions, though.
[/quote]

Definitely. I'm interested to see Suggs battle McKinnie and Ngata go against Hutchinson.

[Dan The Man Ravens #1 Fan]

I dont take any of this serious but just for fun I check it out every week.On ESPN they do a simulation of each game for every week.Here is the link to check out this weeks matchup for Ravens and Vikings.
[url="http://espn.go.com/videogames/simulation/nfl2010?id=4560064"]My link[/url]

I know it means nothing and I see the score being flip flopped.

[J-man]

We need this game. This is a desperation game early in the season.

[mhead66]

[quote name='jarodthegood' date='16 October 2009 - 10:12 AM' timestamp='1255702364' post='258100']
i have to tell you one more time dont look at who we played and try and compromise the wins they have had. I am a vikings fan but a fan of the nfl and I am no homer,and I am a realist and I have to tell you this is team is the most complete team this team has ever had in the 80s 902 and today.. thier only weakness is the safety postions! this team may go 14-2 this year with or without favre!
[/quote]
Okay, I'll play along.

The Vikes play at home vs. the Ravens, Cincy, the Giants, Chicago, Detroit & Seattle.
The Vikes play at Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Chicago, Carolina and Arizona.

You predict (even without Brett?) that you'll only lose 2 games... who will you defeat, and who will you lose to?

[darklight1216]

[quote name='J-man' date='16 October 2009 - 09:38 PM' timestamp='1255743493' post='258411']
We need this game. This is a desperation game early in the season.
[/quote]
The Ravens needed the last game too. They were angry coming off of a close and controversial loss. They hosted a divisional rival that was on a winning streak. It was the game to determine the early lead in the AFC North. They needed that game...

And most of the players not named Ray, Ed, or J.J. didn't even bother to show up.

[Ed_Reed_Pick_Six]

It depresses me we have to question the intensity of the team - that used to be a given.

[PurpleChaos]

We could be undefeated at this point and I still do not like the way we match up against these guys. The Vikings are scary on both sides of the ball and I respect their intense D My gut tells me Flacco will be on his back gazing at the roof of the dome alot in this game but I hope I'm wrong. Does anyone else kinda get a sense of deja vu on this one going back to a few seasons ago when KC had that long streak going at home and all the hype about how tough it is winning in there and we bumped them off? Well obviously Minnesota is much better than that KC team was but it just reminds me of a similar type of situation the way all the experts are saying it is such a difficult place for the visitors .

[mhead66]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' date='16 October 2009 - 05:59 PM' timestamp='1255730340' post='258323']
Definitely. I'm interested to see Suggs battle McKinnie and Ngata go against Hutchinson.
[/quote]
The question is, does Mattison send the blitz on passing downs?

According to SI.com, [b]Favre has a passer rating of 113.54 against the blitz[/b]...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/adam_duerson/10/16/week.6/index.html?xid=CBSsports

FYI - The author of the article, Adam Duerson, picks the Ravens, 31-17.

[flynismo]

[quote name='PurpleChaos' date='17 October 2009 - 08:43 AM' timestamp='1255783418' post='258530']
We could be undefeated at this point and I still do not like the way we match up against these guys. The Vikings are scary on both sides of the ball and I respect their intense D My gut tells me Flacco will be on his back gazing at the roof of the dome alot in this game but I hope I'm wrong. Does anyone else kinda get a sense of deja vu on this one going back to a few seasons ago when KC had that long streak going at home and all the hype about how tough it is winning in there and we bumped them off? Well obviously Minnesota is much better than that KC team was but it just reminds me of a similar type of situation the way all the experts are saying it is such a difficult place for the visitors .
[/quote]


I dont get what you're saying. One of the reasons I think we'll win this game, and possibly convincingly so, is because of how well our strengths matchup to them on all sides of the ball. How do you figure we don't match up well to them?

[ravensfolife]

maybe I read it too fast, but did mattison just throw the defense under the bus on the front page?

[flynismo]

[quote name='ravensfolife' date='17 October 2009 - 10:36 PM' timestamp='1255833411' post='258806']
maybe I read it too fast, but did mattison just throw the defense under the bus on the front page?
[/quote]


No, he didn't. But I've lost some faith in him after reading that.

[Saxxin]

This is going to be a tough game against the vikes.

Cam needs to run the ball against them. I don't care how good he thinks the vikes are against the run. A heavy dose of McGahee and Rice will win the game for them.
The play action pass doesn't work unless they actually believe it will be a run play. Flacco isn't a Payton manning caliber QB yet. He can't carry the team on his back. It's to soon in his career to expect this from him.

As far as the defense:
Mattison needs to go back to controlled chaos. Move those guys around so the QB's can't get a read on the defense. His base 4 defense isn't getting enough pressure on the QB's and they are lighting the secondary up because of it. He has two very fast CB's that can stick with any reciever. Use that to your advantage. Get pressure and force the QB's to throw early. Thats how the ravens do it.

To both Cam and Mattison. Play like a Raven. So far you're not.

[Purple Punishment]

Your logic doesn't make sense to me. Vikes are tremendous at stopping the Run, just like us. They aren't very good against the Pass, just like us too. We should walk away with the Win this week if we game planned against ourselves. I agree, we need to run the ball more, but I think Flacco can light the Minn. D up like a Christmas Tree.

Defense? Well stopping AP should be Priority #1 because if he gets off to a good start, it could get bad for us. Percy Harvin is their most versatile player and we should put Fabian Washington on him due to the fact that hes outplaying D Fox right now. I think we should stay 4-3 this game to cover more run gaps and stop AP in the trenches.

After the bye, I hope Mattison seriously considers going back to the 3-4 so we can get a good pass rushing LB in there like Barnes or Kruger

[Saxxin]

If the 4-3 didn't stop Benson what makes you think it will stop AP?

I have been a ravens fans since day 1 and right now I'm seeing the same mistake Bilick made when he was HC. They are trying to fix what isn't broken. It didn't work for him and it won't work for Harbaugh.

The ravens defense used to be feared because they were so hard to figure out. This year they arn't. Hardly any movement on the line before the ball is snapped. Easy to read now.
The offense is built to run the ball. Run it. It's great that Flacco is a much improved QB this year but they are overuseing him which is a bad thing.

[RavenRB23Fan]

Well fellow Raven's Fan's I have been Displaying my 2 Raven's jersey's all week & even wore them to work.
It's QB #4's Turn to get knocked on his "A@#$ from the duo of #52 & #55 I hope Ray/Ray & Sugg's knock his block off
I hope Flacco has a Pick free game & we come out of Minnasota with the W. "Play like a Raven"

[JoeFlax]

I agree about the defense part, you've summarized well on some of our problems but I am still not sure of what would be the solution to our defense or if our defense really is the problem..

but I think Flacco has to be used more than RBs on this game because Bengals and the Vikings are two different teams. Bengals had very good cornerbacks and Vikings do not. I do think that Cam shoudl have ran the ball more against the Bengals but I'm not too sure about the Vikings.

[Ravens549]

I feel sick to my stomach about this match up...sick to my stomach!

[Steelerkillers]

[quote name='Ravens549' date='18 October 2009 - 10:38 AM' timestamp='1255876711' post='258892']
I feel sick to my stomach about this match up...sick to my stomach!
[/quote]
lol,im super sick to my stomach right now!

[Jamal]

As if they needed another edge, they are also healthier than us.

[JoeFlax]

It will come down to whether Oher can contain Jared Allen by the end of the day... we need to be able to throw the ball well since their Rush D is solid

[Steelerkillers]

[quote name='JoeFlax' date='18 October 2009 - 12:03 PM' timestamp='1255881794' post='258939']
It will come down to [b]whether Oher can contain Jared Allen [/b]by the end of the day... we need to be able to throw the ball well since their Rush D is solid
[/quote]
Thats the Key Matchup!