5 Things That Might Go Wrong This Season

[lowrider]

[quote name='RayZ27' date='25 June 2010 - 08:55 AM' timestamp='1277470533' post='426264']
Too many penalties can also make us lose. For example, the Week 16 game us at Pittsburgh taking on our rivals. I was shocked everytime they called one.
[/quote]
More like, I was shocked when they didn't call one.

[K-Dog]

[quote name='Rav'n Maniac' date='25 June 2010 - 08:50 AM' timestamp='1277470214' post='426262']
I'm not one of those homers out there that thinks Joe hovers about 6 inches off the turf. [/quote]


after all we all know he hovers eight inches above the turf.

[BuckWilds]

[quote name='K-Dog' date='25 June 2010 - 06:53 PM' timestamp='1277506381' post='426553']
after all we all know he hovers eight inches above the turf.
[/quote]

Hehe. I knew someone would eventually measure the hover.

There's nothing wrong with believing in our Ravens a little more than the rest of the sports world. We're fanatics, after all. Sometimes it's not about being right, or predicting which team will win. Sometimes it's about believing in your team and its players even when the odds are stacked against them. I'd be a little disappointed if everyone just listened to the analysts about what this or that Raven could do...

[ClintLB8]

[quote name='Ravensfan23' date='24 June 2010 - 06:53 PM' timestamp='1277423593' post='426070']
Ok let me start by saying that, obviously i have just as much confidence that the Ravens will win the Superbowl as any other fan this time of year. I think my recent posts show that. I absloutely love the moves we have made this offseason, be it Trade, Draft or Free Agency. The level of excitement and expectation is as high as i can remember, probably even more so then the 2001 post SuperBowl season.

However with all that said, at some point we all have to put the kool-aid down(only for a while) and have atleast a small amount of realism right?......Or maybe not.

Ok so here it goes. The top 5 things that could prevent the Ravens from winning it all. imo

5. The PassRush fails the Ravens again this season. Last season the Ravens just couldn't get consistent pressure on QBs from week to week. That will have to improve this season for the Ravens to go far. Will the real please Suggs stand up? If the Pass rush is there then the secondary will play well imo.

4. Flacco isn't able to take the next step despite the added weapons. As good as Joe Cool has been the last 2 regular seasons, he's struggled towards the end or in the playoffs. Flacco has to improve on his late season performances in order to really take that next step. With the added weapons, as well as his maturity level, i fully expect Joe to be the man this year.

3. The Ravens have a slow start in the first 7 games of the season all against AFC opponents. The Ravens play 3 division opponents, and 2 other playoff teams in the first 7 games of the season. We start off with 2 road games @NYJ and then six days later @ Cincy. We follow that up with road games in Pit and NE, that's 4 out of our first 7 games on the road. It will be very important for the Ravens to start out fast, with games against teams like Pit, No, Hou, and Cincy in the last 5 weeks of the season, we might not be able to overcome a slow start this year.

2. This team doesn't click chemistry wise as well as everyone hopes. This really relates to #3, with the Tackle switch, the addition of Boldin, Stallworth, Pitta, and Dickson, the offense will have to gel quickly during camp. Then on the defensive side of the ball, the Ravens will have to identify which young guys can stand out and help improve this 3rd ranked defense. Also we'll have to find a group of DBs that play well together. All in all i don't see this as a problem, but if it does become a problem early it could lead to a slow start.

1. The top thing i see holding the Ravens back from winning the Superbowl this season is the injury bug. The Ravens have been fortunate enough to overcome the injury bug over the last 2 seasons. Names like Suggs, Washington, Reed, Webb, Heap, Mason, Flacco, Gregg, Yanda, Gaither and even JJ have had to battle injuries the past 2 seasons. Some worse then others but all impacting the team in someway. Either it was being forced to play the AFC Championship with backup DBs, Suggs playing in that game with one arm, Mason being forced to play with one arm for half the season, Gaither being forced to play with one shoulder, Flacco's hip this season, Heap's back etc, not to mention both Boldin and Stallworth have been injury prone during their career. Reed is the biggest concern imo, mainly because we haven't heard from him yet, but i'm confident he'll return ready to go and continue to be the "Pick-a-Man" as my 6 year old son calls him.

My intention of this thread isn't to bring the mood or excitment down about the Ravens. However these are 5 realistic things that could prevent the seemingly well balance and Super Bowl ready Ravens from winning it all.

The only one i see as being a major concern is #1, only because no-one can either control or predict when the injury bug will hit or if at all. But for what it's worth i fully expect the Ravens to be a #1 or #2 seed and bless us with 2 home playoff games this year.

Let me know what you think of the list, or even create your own. Just trying to past the time over this last month before camp starts.
[/quote]


Well, first off I would say that we have done a great job providing insurance policies and quality backups to help us out with injuries. The good part about the offseason moves is that we have added the neccessary guys in order to take pressure off of guys like Ed Reed, Gaither, and all of the rest of those guys. They will not take the physical beating that they have taken in years past because we have plenty of guys to rotate with them to keep them healthy. Lets say Gaither gets a small injury.. Then we simple give him the rests that he needs and puts in Cousins to take his spot and its not to tremendous of a drop off. That relieves the pressure on Gaither because he does not feel like he has to play through something that he should probably rest because he thinks that his backup won't get the job done. That way he can rest his injury and get it better. That in itself will help us tremedously once the playoffs role around. Now, if Flacco or someone like that goes down it is a different story.. BUT there is a risk on every team like that. What if Payton Manning goes down? Same thing..its part of it. But the Ravens are VERY hungry this year. Guys like Flacco, Oher, Ray Rice, Boldin, Ed Reed and all of them have gotten a little taste of getting close.. but still have no ring to show for it. They want that ring.. and the guys like Ray Lewis who have gotten that ring will be the ones to help show the others what it is going to take to get it done. I feel confident that the Ravens will win the Super Bowl this year because they are HUNGRY!

[ClintLB8]

[quote name='Twoo' date='25 June 2010 - 06:06 AM' timestamp='1277463970' post='426250']
The only thing I see derailing our season is...

1) We lose DB's to injury (Foxworth, Harris, Reed)

2) Boldin is injured, Stallworth doesn't pan out and we're stuck with Mason/Clayton again

3) Our pass rush is non existent for a second year in a row

4) We face the Colts in the playoffs
[/quote]




As far as facing the Colts in the playoffs, I actually have a lot of confidence that the Ravens will be able to take them if it came to it. With Kindle in the mix, between him, JJ and Suggs, we should be able to get consistent pressure from the outside because they will constantly be fresh. Also, ibig Mt.Cody will be collapsing the pocket from the middle along with Ngata so they will be able to just force Manning right into Kindle, JJ, or Suggs. Another thing is that I really feel like our offense will be able to keep up as far as scoring with the Colts than it has done in the past. That being said.. I feel as though the Ravens defense would win out and be able to stop the Colts more so than the Colts defense being able to stop the Ravens offense. Therefore, Ravens win!

[BloodRaven]

I have a feeling that Rice won't be as effective this year as teams have more tape on him and how to slow him down. I also wonder how much age is going to affect Pryce, Birk and Gregg in particular.

[RavensAllTheWay]

[quote name='BloodRaven' date='27 June 2010 - 11:14 AM' timestamp='1277651690' post='426992']
I have a feeling that Rice won't be as effective this year as teams have more tape on him and how to slow him down. I also wonder how much age is going to affect Pryce, Birk and Gregg in particular.
[/quote]
Birk is one thing, but we added two more NTs in Arthur Jones and Cody if Gregg doesn't play well. We also added depth at DE, and Krueger is likely to switch to 3-4 end, helping to take pressure off of the aging Pryce. We've done a good job filling holes this offseason. Center should be on our list for next offseason.

[hawkprey]

Biggest obstacle to overcome -> predictable playcalling on offense.

I know we have more weapons now, but last year we got so stale on offense I could smell it over my own Sunday football BO.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='BloodRaven' date='27 June 2010 - 11:14 AM' timestamp='1277651690' post='426992']
[b]I have a feeling that Rice won't be as effective this year as teams have more tape on him and how to slow him down.[/b] I also wonder how much age is going to affect Pryce, Birk and Gregg in particular.
[/quote]

Rice probably won't catch as many passes but assuming Flacco gels with Q and Stallworth, the running lanes will be bigger than ever.

[DrMoonTooth]

[quote name='RavensAllTheWay' date='27 June 2010 - 11:10 AM' timestamp='1277655049' post='427007']
Birk is one thing, but we added two more NTs in Arthur Jones and Cody if Gregg doesn't play well. We also added depth at DE, and Krueger is likely to switch to 3-4 end, helping to take pressure off of the aging Pryce. We've done a good job filling holes this offseason. [b]Center should be on our list for next offseason.[/b][/quote]

100% agree. Center is the one position that we have absolutely NO depth at. Isn't Birk's backup David Hale??? Enough said.

Edit: Although...I guess a guy like Chris Chester could fill the role at center, but I still think we should be looking at the top centers in next year's draft...

[lowrider]

[quote name='DrMoonTooth' date='27 June 2010 - 02:26 PM' timestamp='1277663185' post='427032']
100% agree. Center is the one position that we have absolutely NO depth at. Isn't Birk's backup David Hale??? Enough said.

Edit: Although...I guess a guy like Chris Chester could fill the role at center, but I still think we should be looking at the top centers in next year's draft...
[/quote]
Agreed. I have little faith in Chester. His play is inconsistent and it's kind of disappointing that he didn't pan out as a second round pick. The only thing thats good is he is versatile so he can be a good backup at a lot of positions.