Disrespect

[FerrariFan87]

An article on Yahoo! Sports lists the Ravens as the 29th best team in the NFL coming into 2008, just above the Chiefs, Dolphins, and Falcons. I am perplexed seeing as we still have a corp group of players from a 13-3 season and we haven't even had the draft yet! Not to mention a new O-Coordinator, a Top 5 returning Defense, and a sure-fire Special Teams unit, headlined by TWO Pro Bowlers! I would personally put us in the late-teens, early 20's but 29th is ridiculously low and a slap in the face (as usual) by the media around the country... Your thoughts?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Aj9t...o&type=lgns

[austrianravensfan]

i'm sick and tired of this never stoping Disrespect shown by the medias arround country just look at th sweet 16 thing they made on nfl network th redskins and broncos have made it into thebest 16 teams in th nfl , the broncos!!!

And they mentiont the raiders and the Ny Jets also.

redicolous!!

[minford]

I'd rather be ranked really low than in the middle because it means when we're kicking a** next year we'll be a "surprise" team. Besides, we all know that being ranked so low is laughable- especially when we were ranked preseason 3 or 4 last year!

[austrianravensfan]

I'd rather be ranked really low than in the middle because it means when we're kicking a** next year we'll be a "surprise" team. Besides, we all know that being ranked so low is laughable- especially when we were ranked preseason 3 or 4 last year!

It hurts my pride as an ravens fan when my team gets ranked that low, but i also think but you're right, that it also brings some positve things with it.

[Drkraven]

What upsets me more is the Browns at 6--what have THEY shown except they can spend money.

[Guest Birdfan]

May I remind you that it is MARCH! I'll "worry" about rankings in December, thank you.

[austrianravensfan]

What upsets me more is the Browns at 6--what have THEY shown except they can spend money.

The Browns made some big moves in this offseason, i think that's why they're rated that high

[Sub-Zero]

Niners, Raiders, Rams all ahead of us? ouch! Niners? They continue to treat free agency like its a gold rush. Guess they haven't learned from the Redskins! I don't think taking old players from your own division is going to help you much! Raiders aren't any better. Mr. Cryptkeeper changes coaches more than J-Lo changes husbands! Right now as it stands the Raiders logo has two eyepatches I think the Rams D will continue to suffer, it hasn't been relevant since their last Super Bowl appearance. Because their offense surely isn't going to save them especially after losing Bruce, they were once the greatest show on turf but their no longer great, and their no longer a show. They've been reduced to a team that just shows up on turf!

[neepo13]

I am so glad you bought this up. I was going to post a topic about it the other day but got side tracked. Talk about the ultimate slap in the face. I think that whole rank was basically politics. The yahoo writers dont like being criticized by readers, if they would have given us an accurate ranking based on all the facts, fans from certain other teams would have written in crying about it.

[Corvus]

I don't understand how the Titans are #11. The only reason they even got to the playoffs is because Rob Bironas kicked them into it.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about this too much. It's a contributor writing for a massive internet entity who goes with what's trendy and what he reads in the headlines.

[theFRANCHISE]

May I remind you that it is MARCH! I'll "worry" about rankings in December, thank you.

That says it all.

And I'm not too worried about being disrespected by the media, because it's things like this that the media is paid to do.

The media is supposed to be a polarizing entity, because at the end of the day, as long as they're selling their respective brand, then that's all that matters to them. If they keep people reading or watching, then they're doing their job, simple as that.

[FerrariFan87]

I am not saying it's a federal deal or anything I am just pointing out how bad the media thinks we will be this upcoming season, and as BirdFan said, it's only March so any sort of rankings now is actually quite preposterous!

[Black&Purple]

Our team plays very well when we are predicted to lose, or are the under dog. I hope we are ranked 32nd after pre-season so the team is motivated to show the country what they are capable of.

[smashmouth82]

I'd rather be ranked really low than in the middle because it means when we're kicking a** next year we'll be a "surprise" team. Besides, we all know that being ranked so low is laughable- especially when we were ranked preseason 3 or 4 last year!

surprise to them but not to us. can't wait to kick @ss next year!

[Raven07]

being ranked is laughable material in some aspects of this whole deal BUT you know whats even more Hilarious to think about?........seeing such a Low ranked Team such as our beloved Ravens...completely dominate the opposing competition and win the Greatest Game in NFL history....now talk about a huge slap in the face.

[PuppyPuncher]

This is sickening, especially when he has the Bears rated so high.

"Well their offense will suck, but IT'S THE BEARS!"

[minford]

This is sickening, especially when he has the Bears rated so high.

"Well their offense will suck, but IT'S THE BEARS!"

Haha yeah, the Bears are a perennial overhype. Another good example of why pre-draft rankings are laughable.

[justifythegame]

I read this a while ago. All i felt was this empty feeling of hopelessness as always. I am a diehard Ravens fan living in MD...but near the DC metro area. Basically if you wear a Ravens jersey around here...people are willing to stab you lol. They think the Ravens are a rival to their precious Redskins.

But also, what makes me more pissed than anything is that the Ravens are ALWAYS IGNORED all around the country. Some people don't even realize that it is a real NFL team, especially considering its one of the newer teams. What about our 13-3 season? If you live in bmore, i am sure everyone was going crazy. But everywhere else no one noticed. The only time anyone would even mention the Ravens was when they had to bring up the current standings...and a commentator would say something like..."and 13-3...ohh...the baltimore ravens". Like they needed a few seconds to remember the 2000 team that won the superbowl and that they are an actual team. I'm sorry, but all of you in baltimore may notice the Ravens obviously, but outside of baltimore...even in the state of MD...the Ravens get NO RESPECT.

If the team sucks...fine...i guess you could understand...but when a team stays competitive like the Ravens, thats what pisses me off. When people say Ravens....they think of a few things like "ray lewis" "ed reed" and "defense". but thats about it. we got plenty of players that should be known by name because they put up great stats every year, like Kelley Gregg, Ngata, Suggs, Chris McAllister, Ogden. But of course everyone pretty much knows the name of every player on a team like the Seahawks instead.

When they think of teams by area, the Redskins always overshadow the Ravens, it doesn't even matter that they have been sucking for several years, they have history. So when people mention Ravens, they have nothing to say other than that they probably suck. Our 13-3 season....we flew under the radar ALL SEASON. Even by playoff time people were confused when looking at the standings. We had the 2nd best record in the nfl and no one noticed.

So you can see why it doesn't surprise me why we are projected below the worst teams in the nfl going into next season AGAIN. Thats just how its always been. The only people who take us seriously are fans of the teams of the AFC North. With us having basically the hardest schedule next season i wouldn't even be surprised if we didn't make the playoffs. I guess thats how the NFL works, they want to keep the popular teams popular like the Pats getting the easiest schedule.

[neepo13]

The other thing to is that the Ravens are not a "sexy" team meaning we dont beat teams by 30 points or more. We win games on defense. Offense sells. We really dont have any offensive players that the media is just in love with. You mentioned New England. New England has Tom Brady and the media drools for this guy. Thats why the media loves the Bungals and now the Browns even though in this decade the Ravens have been consistantly far better then both and have managed to always remain competative with the Steelers. But its ok, they kiss our butts when we are holding the Superbowl trophy next year.

[Raven07]

thosr kinds or types of people have yet to come to their senses and come back to reality......if im not mistaken...a few weeks/months ago i heard and watched, analysts and heard reports on various sports websites (espn, Foxsports exc) that the Ravens arent that far off from getting back on top.....they said we just need some security at certain positions on the team, like Quarterback and they'll be pretty much set and honed in on making another Run.

[minford]

I read this a while ago. All i felt was this empty feeling of hopelessness as always. I am a diehard Ravens fan living in MD...but near the DC metro area. Basically if you wear a Ravens jersey around here...people are willing to stab you lol. They think the Ravens are a rival to their precious Redskins.

Don't you guys love being called traitors by Redskins fans?

[Raven07]

personally i dont see how or why people call us "rivals" to Redskins because if you think about it, we really dont play them, except in the very first scrimmage at M&T Bank Stadium.....and sometimes during the pre-season. thats about it, so i see no reason as to why they call us "rivals" lol if anything we are or WERE allies.

[minford]

personally i dont see how or why people call us "rivals" to Redskins because if you think about it, we really dont play them, except in the very first scrimmage at M&T Bank Stadium.....and sometimes during the pre-season. thats about it, so i see no reason as to why they call us "rivals" lol if anything we are or WERE allies.

Cuz we supposedly stole their fanbase.

[Raven07]

lol thats insane.......did the Texans steal the Cowboys fanbase as well? or did the Chargers steal the 49ers Fanbase after the 2006 campaign? lol i would hardly think so.....that type of thing is ludacris and obsurd if you were to personally ask me about this whole deal.

[neepo13]

Cuz we supposedly stole their fanbase.

They returned the favor when they got the Nats, so we are even. But in all honesty most people in Baltimore have never been Redskins fans. In fact, I only know one Redskins fan that actually lived and grew up in Baltimore and thats my uncle. And he is only a Redskins fan because he hopped on the bandwagon during Joe Gibbs first tour with the slurs (lol. Birdfan). Everyone else I know were Eagles, Cowboys, Bronco's, or Squeelers fans when the Ravens came to Baltimore.

[FellsPointRaven]

personally i dont see how or why people call us "rivals" to Redskins because if you think about it, we really dont play them, except in the very first scrimmage at M&T Bank Stadium.....and sometimes during the pre-season. thats about it, so i see no reason as to why they call us "rivals" lol if anything we are or WERE allies.

We play them once every four seasons, when our turn to play the NFC East comes around. Last time was in 04 when they lost to our D and Special Teams. We play them again at home this year.

I think the bitterness probably comes from our relative success since 1996 and the fact we have better ownership and a nicer stadium.

[robbcs3]

If its any consolation, ESPN puts us at 26th

[neepo13]

We play them once every four seasons, when our turn to play the NFC East comes around. Last time was in 04 when they lost to our D and Special Teams. We play them again at home this year.

I think the bitterness probably comes from our relative success since 1996 and the fact we have better ownership and a nicer stadium.

It's also media hype to. We do play them every preseason in the "battle of the beltway".

[neepo13]

If its any consolation, ESPN puts us at 26th

That means alot coming from the "great experts" at ESPN.

[Sub-Zero]

If its any consolation, ESPN puts us at 26th

oh yeah I rank ESPN about the same