How Did Troy Do?

[footballfan1221]

How can you give Kyle any credit. 5 years is more than enough time to learn an offense and play decent football. It is time for people to give up on him. We saw what Steve McNair did when he was healthy last year.

just so you know Troy has had a ruff time learning his plays this year!!

[bigmacattack2123]

Credit was given but he did pretty much nothing as you would expect a rookie to do. You should give Kyle more credit, the game would have been a lot closer if he started.

Haha say Boller didn't get a concussion last week. We would have lost 18-13 in regulation Boller would have hooked us up with that safety when we were backed up inside the 5 and Troy got away. Troy still would have played today cuz Boller would most likely have received a concussion because he would have been handing out sacks like raffle tickets. I'd also bet on him throwing at least one if not two or three interceptions. Troy was never given a chance to sit and read the field yet he put up just as many yards as Matt did. Yet Matt was playing against our lackluster cornerless defense that couldn't stop me or my 7 yr old sister from getting down the field. Troy would have had a better shot completing passes at the running of the bulls. And please no one mention that he came out of the game cuz his replacement only had 2 attempts. Chalk up at least 10 incompletions of Troy's to being a better alternative than a sack. A few bad throws who doesn't? Some balls that should have been caught but that also happens. The guy at tight end whoever that was who is really an offensive lineman was a wooden duck, a mere christmas ornament serving no purpose. Troy was also less than 20 yards away from being our rushing leader for the day. Which we had no rushing game. When you have no rushing game how can you have a passing game? Seattle only gave up TEN passing tds all year prior to Smith's gorgeous pin-point 79 yarder which was Mason's LONGEST td reception of his TEN year career! Their pass rush is a nightmare regardless of how foul our o-line is. That stadium is also arguably the loudest in the entire nfl. I mean how much harder could you make a ROOKIE's very FIRST nfl start??? I'd love to see someone try (Maybe throw in some defensive lineman at WR?). Troy did an excellent job given the circumstances. So Matt the probowler going against one of the worst pass defenses in the league (if not THE worst[currently with injuries that is]) who was supposed to have a career day and carve us up like a christmas ham...yeaa...turns out he had a qb rating that wasn't even 5 points higher than that of Troy Smith's very first start under the conditions listed above. Someone tell me now that he had a bad game.

[Tiz]

No better or worst then any other rookie with a team like the ravens. All yea , no better then Boller his first time starting.

This I agree with. To me for someone to have his performance jump from a 5 to an 8 based on one play lacks the ability to look at the entire game analytical and instead makes a decision based purely on emotion. If you judge like that then he could be woeful except on 3 plays and you'd still give him a 9 out of 10.

Troy looked like what i expected him to look and like any other QB we've seen in a Raven's uni. He looked like he needs to improve. He more than likely will and that's all that matters in the end.

[smashmouth]

Troy played smart. Alot smarter then Boller ever played.Troy Smith has not had many reps with the 1st string and it shown today, I mean how many times will you see Derrick Mason drop a catch that was in his hands? Well i seen him drop like 3 that was in his hands.Clayton droped a couple and #80 which is Lee Vickers dropped a couple. Also a huge number diffrence is look at how many times would Boller have been sacked today where Smith had got away from defenders.Smith wasn't perfect by any means but he did show me something that i enjoyed from the offense that i havient seen from the QB postion in B-more for a while. Keep your head up Smith,Better days will come!~

[Tiz]

Troy did just as well if not better than Kyle Boller would have and he is a rookie making his first start, Kyle Boller is in his fifth season in the same offense. Give Troy some credit.

Kyle is way too inconsistent to say Troy did better than what Kyle would have done or even to say he did worse. Kyle has had good games and kyle has had his share of woeful unathletic looking games too.

[bigmacattack2123]

alot of you think he did a good job!! i dont want to be mean or anything but anyone in there right mind could see that he did a horrendous job out there!!!

First of all he kept running back 20 yards and losing the ball I mean i dont know what to say it just wasnt pretty!!!

So...I take it you prefer sacks over incompletions? Or...maybe intentional grounding? They were getting pressure with just a 3 man rush when they went that route...8 men covering 3 maybe 4 tops...hmm those are pretty messed up odds. He did what smart qbs do who are capable of escaping the pressure...they throw it away. Boller throws int's in those situations constantly cuz he thinks the way an 8 yr old would playing madden. He's what you call a jack@$$ always has been...so he has his "good" games but so does Rex and all of Chicago want his head on a stick. We'd be the same had we ever been experienced having a legit qb on our roster.

[footballfan1221]

Troy played smart. Alot smarter then Boller ever played.Troy Smith has not had many reps with the 1st string and it shown today, I mean how many times will you see Derrick Mason drop a catch that was in his hands? Well i seen him drop like 3 that was in his hands.Clayton droped a couple and #80 which is Lee Vickers dropped a couple. Also a huge number diffrence is look at how many times would Boller have been sacked today where Smith had got away from defenders.Smith wasn't perfect by any means but he did show me something that i enjoyed from the offense that i havient seen from the QB postion in B-more for a while. Keep your head up Smith,Better days will come!~

you are partly wrong he really didnt get away from the deffenders he was almost sacked like a hundred times believe me boller could do a better job! I dont want to sound harsh but i have always been a fan of smiths but he will never be as good as you all think he will be!!!

[Troy Smith IS the future..]

you are partly wrong he really didnt get away from the deffenders he was almost sacked like a hundred times believe me boller could do a better job! I dont want to sound harsh but i have always been a fan of smiths but he will never be as good as you all think he will be!!!

key word almost, i didnt watch the game but ill take your words. if smith was quote unquote almost sacked, what would kyle have been? are you trying to say that kyle boller is quicker than troy smith? thats laughable.

[footballfan1221]

So...I take it you prefer sacks over incompletions? Or...maybe intentional grounding? They were getting pressure with just a 3 man rush when they went that route...8 men covering 3 maybe 4 tops...hmm those are pretty messed up odds. He did what smart qbs do who are capable of escaping the pressure...they throw it away. Boller throws int's in those situations constantly cuz he thinks the way an 8 yr old would playing madden. He's what you call a jack@$$ always has been...so he has his "good" games but so does Rex and all of Chicago want his head on a stick. We'd be the same had we ever been experienced having a legit qb on our roster.

I know that he isnt the best QB but just making it to the NFL is a big deal and I am not counting Smith out of this I am proud of the things he has done but Now that i see him is not going to be a all time great QB but he is still good

[footballfan1221]

key word almost, i didnt watch the game but ill take your words. if smith was quote unquote almost sacked, what would kyle have been? are you trying to say that kyle boller is quicker than troy smith? thats laughable.

I never said that but all I'm saying is he isnt as fast as you all think I give a Partly decend game but that is all

[footballfan1221]

I never said that but all I'm saying is he isnt as fast as you all think I give a Partly decend game but that is all

sorry about the sentence bad grammer sorry!

I'll give him a partly decent game

[bigmacattack2123]

This I agree with. To me for someone to have his performance jump from a 5 to an 8 based on one play lacks the ability to look at the entire game analytical and instead makes a decision based purely on emotion. If you judge like that then he could be woeful except on 3 plays and you'd still give him a 9 out of 10.

Troy looked like what i expected him to look and like any other QB we've seen in a Raven's uni. He looked like he needs to improve. He more than likely will and that's all that matters in the end.

That will be the difference with Troy...he's the one guy who won't spend one day resting in the offseason. He could come off the field next week with 158.3 under his belt and he'll still work on his game from sun up to sundown until next season. Troy will turn himself into a decent and consistent starter over the offseason. We need to lose McNair we don't have that kind of money (to waste?) and he gets paid way to much. Fire Billick cuz we could definately just pay my little sister in i-tunes.

[bigmacattack2123]

I never said that but all I'm saying is he isnt as fast as you all think I give a Partly decend game but that is all

It's not necessarily the speed...it's the quickness. It almost looks like he's playing basketball out there sometimes with the sidesteps, jukes, cuts, and being able to change direction with noteworthy agility. He had guys diving around him all game long and it didn't bother him. It seemed he was thinking in his head "damn these guys are annoying" instead of "holy $&%# I almost got raped" Just stays calm and poised always with his eyes down field. Something tells me he'll be even quicker next year too. Polymetrics do wonders.

[itlstl7]

I can't believe there are people on here bashing Troy Smith's play or saying he didn;t do anything better than Boller, etc... Are you kidding me?!?!?! Do you actually watch the game or just look at the stats??? Billick and his horiible offensive genius didn't even give Troy a chance to do anything... (and the O-line)

Billick ran the ball all of the time when we were down 21 points and in the 2nd half! Troy was left throwing it on 3rd and long all the time even since the very beginning of the game ...Troy would throw it away or the WR's would drop it...can you blame him on that??? Would you like him to just throw a pick and not care? and how predictable can our offense be??? run it down the middle and then we have to throw on 3rd down all the time... same nonsense all season

There was only like 2 plays the whole game I could criticize him on... he wasn't given anything!!! He had absolutely no help today yet he didnt throw any picks and whenever he did have a chance, he made the play...

Another thing, his passes were right on the money all game! I saw the WR's actualy have a chance to make a move before they were takled unlike when Boller and McNair were at the helm and threw the ball at everyone's feet or over their head all game... that TD pass was beautiful!!!! Boller wouldnt have made that pass and McNair doesnt have the arm...

Billick is a terrible coach and he doesnt even look like he cares just like half the team... Troy did everything he could with this terrible coach and OC... dont blame him, blame Billick...

Troy played like the stud he is... go back and actaully watch the game

If Boller or McNair were playing that game they would have had 5 turnovers like just about every game they were in... and tell me how bad we would have lost then?

[bigmacattack2123]

So just as a little fun fact. Troy Smith had a higher passer rating than 19 of week 16's quarterbacks thus far. Only tomorrow will change that number. Of those notable were: BRETT FAVRE, CARSON PALMER, DREW BREES, DEREK ANDERSON, ELI MANNING, TRENT EDWARDS, and others but of course the 1st overall pick JAMARCUS RUSSELL. LOL Here's the best though...the almighty Brady went against the olphins and ended up with a 79.7 just skimming over Troy's 77.7 I found that to be interesting. They both had just as many attempts and Brady completed 2 more passes than Troy but thats with Brady doing what he always gets to do (eat sandwiches, call his mom, play scrabble, etc. in the pocket). Plus you know that a ton of those incompletions weren't products of having to run for his life and throw the ball away. Ha and something tells me there were 5 times as many drops to blame in seattle. He threw 2 more tds which troy could have done if we didn't start inches away from our own endzone half the game but Brady threw 2 picks and was sacked one more time than Troy with one of the best o-lines and a pass rush from miami that doesn't compare to the one Troy went up against. Brady also had a fumble and didn't run for as many yards as smith. Back to those two more completions Brady had--they only gave Tom 16 more yards than what Troy ended up with. 199 yards isn't a ton but its more than 21 others this week-but to be completely realistic on that note he had more than 14 that had double digit attempts a decent amount of those had at least 20 attempts. Just some fun stats for the nay-sayers!

[Troy Smith IS the future..]

So just as a little fun fact. Troy Smith had a higher passer rating than 19 of week 16's quarterbacks thus far. Only tomorrow will change that number. Of those notable were: BRETT FAVRE, CARSON PALMER, DREW BREES, DEREK ANDERSON, ELI MANNING, TRENT EDWARDS, and others but of course the 1st overall pick JAMARCUS RUSSELL. LOL Here's the best though...the almighty Brady went against the olphins and ended up with a 79.7 just skimming over Troy's 77.7 I found that to be interesting. They both had just as many attempts and Brady completed 2 more passes than Troy but thats with Brady doing what he always gets to do (eat sandwiches, call his mom, play scrabble, etc. in the pocket). Plus you know that a ton of those incompletions weren't products of having to run for his life and throw the ball away. Ha and something tells me there were 5 times as many drops to blame in seattle. He threw 2 more tds which troy could have done if we didn't start inches away from our own endzone half the game but Brady threw 2 picks and was sacked one more time than Troy with one of the best o-lines and a pass rush from miami that doesn't compare to the one Troy went up against. Brady also had a fumble and didn't run for as many yards as smith. Back to those two more completions Brady had--they only gave Tom 16 more yards than what Troy ended up with. 199 yards isn't a ton but its more than 21 others this week-but to be completely realistic on that note he had more than 14 that had double digit attempts a decent amount of those had at least 20 attempts. Just some fun stats for the nay-sayers!

naysayers = owned

[CaptainMorgan]

FootballFan1221, sorry but you just aren't making yourself look very smart today.

Every drive started with terrible field position because the defense never accomplished much of anything.

The receiver corps for the Ravens isn't spectacular by any means without injuries. Did you see all the dropped passes that were right on the money? Several of those would have converted third downs and kept drives alive.

With play calling that consists of a lot of running when you lose a guy lie McGahee it is going to hurt. When his backup comes in and despite a fumble that is returned for a touchdown (which the one camera angle clearly showed his back on the ground before the ball shook loose) performs well and then gets injured it's going to hurt. Then on the first handoff to the next running back Troy plants the ball right in his stomach for the handoff and the guy drops it, that

[CaptainMorgan]

Oh and as far as the whole Brady comparison, it's a bit skewed.

A lot of Troy's yards came against second string defense. At first I was going to claim that Brady's yards all were against a first string defense, then I realized to say that Miami has a first string defense is absurd.

Seriously though, it's a silly apples to orranges comparison. Brady went up against a real defense, but he did it with a real offense. Like everyone said, he has all the time he needs, guys who actually catch the ball and get open, and a running back that wasn't being put on IR. Give Troy time and a team.

Anyone know if Billick has talked about who will start next week? I know it's Boller if he's ready to go, but that's the question.

[MKdave]

FootballFan1221, sorry but you just aren't making yourself look very smart today.

Every drive started (and so on, and so forth...)

Damn skippy!

Great post captain!

I have little doubt that anyone who genuinely feels that troy played poorly did not watch the game ( I didnt watch it live, but EARLY this morning On Demand)

I think they're just looking at the stats. which werent THAT bad, the completion percentage was pretty bad for reasons that have already been discussed (Sieve like state of O-line. seriously, 5 leprechauns would have done better up front!)but he had a positive TD:INT ratio. lack of Mcgahee hurt him late, even though Mike anderson did a pretty good job when he came in.

[BmoreLAT52]

Does anyone remember even last year when a healthy McNair had to avoid sacks all the time(Which he did beautifully), Kyle either needs to be more athletic, other than his arm imo, especially under pressure. I think Troy, save for the unexperience and the rookie mistakes that WILL happen, did a great job avoiding sacks and getting up 200 yards despite his situation. I am not a Boller hater, i wish he wouldve been a great franchise QB for us but he wouldve been sacked a lotm more, thus getting his confidence owned, thus having a horrible game. Kyle lets things get to him and it shows. I like the heart Troy had in sticking through all that and getting that TD late, it shows he still had will to play left in him and we need that. we suck making comebacks

[T-Sizzle55]

All I have to say is well done Troy. Every team passed you up even us (5 times). But you are who we thought you were with maybe even more potential. Honestly, I'd still rank Boller higher just based on more experience. However, Troy is 2 years ahead of Boller when he was a Rookie. No batted down balls at the line of scrimmage like all the critics thought would happen and no picks. With no help from the O-line, the weather, terrible playcalling, and a scheme apparently no QB can thrive in, he did quite well. He should have had more completions and 1st downs but Clayton dropped several balls, then McGahee got hurt, but this young man fought hard through all this stuff like a veteran. None of it phased him in a negative way that rattled his consentration and he was able to throw for a long TD. All the players seem to genuinely admire this kid. I believe he will have a much better game his 2nd start.

[minford]

Captain Morgan brought up a lot of the points I was going to, especially the one about all the dropped Clayton passes. Smith was putting them pretty close to as good as you could have asked, but Clayton kept dropping em (ie the first pass of the game).

Let me break it down for you in a nice little equation:

Rookie QB vs playoff team w/ probowlers on D + WR's dropping balls + WR's not getting open + crappy O-line play = bad outting

That being said, I think he did better than Boller would have cuz of how mobile he was.

[oldcoltfan]

Boller won his first start.

That's my point. But I whated someone else to say it out right. First it was all kyles fault. Now it's the Oline. It's been the Oline all a long. I've said that for the last few years and in my first few post on this board. I'm just happy other are starting to notice.

[smashmouth]

Give Boller our defense this year back when he was a rookie and his 2nd,3rd year. We would have been blown out every game. Our defense was always top 5,look at how well we played against the pats with both our CB's and our O-line giving Boller time. This year and last if Boller would play for a offense that is pass happy and the o-line shows up I think he would put up Favre like numbers, Big yards every game,along with acouple TD's and acouple picks.

[smashmouth82]

That is essentially the only thing that needs to be said.

Troy played like a champion.

The O LINE played like the rookies today!!!

End of story.

i was watching my eagles , but if the o-line played as bad as everyone on here is saying than you can't point the finger at troy. with the inevitable soon to come retirement of JO, i guess this just solidifies the urgent need for upgrading at this position! troy is just a rookie, and even though he may be the future of this franchise, he will make some rookie mistakes, and that is to be expected. when was the last time a rookie stepped in and took a team to the promised land? things will work out....just be patient.

[72Marshall]

Give Boller our defense this year back when he was a rookie and his 2nd,3rd year. We would have been blown out every game. Our defense was always top 5,look at how well we played against the pats with both our CB's and our O-line giving Boller time. This year and last if Boller would play for a offense that is pass happy and the o-line shows up I think he would put up Favre like numbers, Big yards every game,along with acouple TD's and acouple picks.

It's not the defense that has held Boller back or helped him out, it's been the talent around him on offense. He never had talent around him on offense when he was the starter, he's had Jamal who was ok, and he's had Heap who actually spent more time on the side lines then in the lineup.

Troy did ok, not great, maybe good, but definitely OK. He showed he could run but he showed he couldn't go through his reads, it was first read he's not open run, look again keep on running, throw it away or low. That's not a knock on him because I realize he's a rookie, Kyle stands in the pocket waiting for the receivers to get open and would have had more then 1 first down in the first half, we would have had at least been in field goal range at least two times.

It's easy to take shots at Kyle, some of it he deserves but a lot of it he doesn't. If it was my team at this point I'd have Kyle starting over Troy or McNair. I would definitely get a better oline, it's hard to get in a rhythm when your not sure who's coming unblocked and where they're coming from. Our oline flat out stinks, no one can qb behind this line, I've never timed it myself, but I bet our qb's have at least 2 less seconds then what the average qb league wide has. I've just never watched another team that blocks as poorly as the Ravens oline does on a consistent bases. You'll see maybe 5 to 10 times a game from other teams where the qb is combined hurried and sacked a game, but most of the time they have 3 or 4 seconds to scan the field and they have an actual pocket to stand in. Our pocket collapses 2 seconds after the ball is snapped if not sooner.

[72Marshall]

Haha say Boller didn't get a concussion last week. We would have lost 18-13 in regulation Boller would have hooked us up with that safety when we were backed up inside the 5 and Troy got away. Troy still would have played today cuz Boller would most likely have received a concussion because he would have been handing out sacks like raffle tickets. I'd also bet on him throwing at least one if not two or three interceptions. Troy was never given a chance to sit and read the field yet he put up just as many yards as Matt did. Yet Matt was playing against our lackluster cornerless defense that couldn't stop me or my 7 yr old sister from getting down the field. Troy would have had a better shot completing passes at the running of the bulls. And please no one mention that he came out of the game cuz his replacement only had 2 attempts. Chalk up at least 10 incompletions of Troy's to being a better alternative than a sack. A few bad throws who doesn't? Some balls that should have been caught but that also happens. The guy at tight end whoever that was who is really an offensive lineman was a wooden duck, a mere christmas ornament serving no purpose. Troy was also less than 20 yards away from being our rushing leader for the day. Which we had no rushing game. When you have no rushing game how can you have a passing game? Seattle only gave up TEN passing tds all year prior to Smith's gorgeous pin-point 79 yarder which was Mason's LONGEST td reception of his TEN year career! Their pass rush is a nightmare regardless of how foul our o-line is. That stadium is also arguably the loudest in the entire nfl. I mean how much harder could you make a ROOKIE's very FIRST nfl start??? I'd love to see someone try (Maybe throw in some defensive lineman at WR?). Troy did an excellent job given the circumstances. So Matt the probowler going against one of the worst pass defenses in the league (if not THE worst[currently with injuries that is]) who was supposed to have a career day and carve us up like a christmas ham...yeaa...turns out he had a qb rating that wasn't even 5 points higher than that of Troy Smith's very first start under the conditions listed above. Someone tell me now that he had a bad game.

I'm not taking anything away from Troy, he did OK. He avoid a safety but did he do what he was supposed to do? Did he go through his reads? take the check down? or did he look at one guy and then run? I think your over estimating Troy, he did OK for a ROOKIE, he did nothing great, spectacular or even outstanding. He threw a couple of nice passes that where dropped, it happens. The Ravens only got 1 first down before the 2 minute warning because Troy Smith is a ROOKIE making his first start. That's not a knock on him, it's what NFL teams do to ROOKIE qb's. They take away the running game and bring the house, if the Ravens were going to win Sunday the Seahawks made sure it was going to be Troy Smith that won it. He didn't have what it took to get the job done, he's a ROOKIE. Kyle Boller would have had more success, he's done it in the past against better defenses, he's played and won against the Steelers defense that is consistently a top 10 defense.

[itlstl7]

I'm not taking anything away from Troy, he did OK. He avoid a safety but did he do what he was supposed to do? Did he go through his reads? take the check down? or did he look at one guy and then run? I think your over estimating Troy, he did OK for a ROOKIE, he did nothing great, spectacular or even outstanding. He threw a couple of nice passes that where dropped, it happens. The Ravens only got 1 first down before the 2 minute warning because Troy Smith is a ROOKIE making his first start. That's not a knock on him, it's what NFL teams do to ROOKIE qb's. They take away the running game and bring the house, if the Ravens were going to win Sunday the Seahawks made sure it was going to be Troy Smith that won it. He didn't have what it took to get the job done, he's a ROOKIE. Kyle Boller would have had more success, he's done it in the past against better defenses, he's played and won against the Steelers defense that is consistently a top 10 defense.

He also did it with Willis Mcgahee...

no he didnt just look at one guy and run... he looked at like 4 huge linemen running at him ready to take his head off every signle play...

It's not what the NFL does to rookies... it's what Baltimore does to quaterbacks...

[bigmacattack2123]

He also did it with Willis Mcgahee...

no he didnt just look at one guy and run... he looked at like 4 huge linemen running at him ready to take his head off every signle play...

It's not what the NFL does to rookies... it's what Baltimore does to quaterbacks...

amen dude! Troy was never given even the slightest chance there was maybe...what...TWO PLAYS? where Troy had what you could maybe call a "pocket" on an off-day. Boller has always played with a JO in his prime with a non-rookie o-line. Boller would have done nothing against that d. He would have been sacked backed to the 3rd grade several times.

[bigmacattack2123]

I'm not taking anything away from Troy, he did OK. He avoid a safety but did he do what he was supposed to do? Did he go through his reads? take the check down? or did he look at one guy and then run? I think your over estimating Troy, he did OK for a ROOKIE, he did nothing great, spectacular or even outstanding. He threw a couple of nice passes that where dropped, it happens. The Ravens only got 1 first down before the 2 minute warning because Troy Smith is a ROOKIE making his first start. That's not a knock on him, it's what NFL teams do to ROOKIE qb's. They take away the running game and bring the house, if the Ravens were going to win Sunday the Seahawks made sure it was going to be Troy Smith that won it. He didn't have what it took to get the job done, he's a ROOKIE. Kyle Boller would have had more success, he's done it in the past against better defenses, he's played and won against the Steelers defense that is consistently a top 10 defense.

Tom Brady couldn't go through his reads man running for his life like that. In fact Tom Brady would probably have a few broken bones getting rushed liked that with no o-line. He'd have to speed-dial his mommy to maybe find out where his chech down was. No one is overestimating troy. The numbers stand in just about the worst conditions possible. You must not have read all of my post on sunday's quarterback stats. I honestly think that Troy would have had a better shot against New England IN New England than the situation he had to deal with on sunday. Other than that Merry Christmas guys and Merry Christmas to Troy Smith and his brilliant future.