Pros And Cons: Divisional Game 2011

[Clutch Ravens]

To save venting on a number of other threads, I though I'd start one to let everyone vent just what, of the many things, made you scream at the TV when watching this game.

To balance it out, a Pro or 2 to gleam from it would be nice.

Cons:

* Flacco looked scared, but that's thanks in large part to my 2nd point...

* The offensive line was AWFUL. Grubbs has had a down year, Birk seems to be losing "it", Yanda can't really play tackle (but is a good guard), Chris Chester is a back-up/unbalanced line guy in the NFL and Michael Oher does not look like a left tackle. I love Oher, but he has the build, skill-set and mind-set of a Right Tackle. He is a great right tackle, but this game really highlighted how much he struggles on the blindside.

* Dropped passes- Wow, just wow. TJ Houshmandzadeh is a possesion receiver that can't catch, what exactly does that make him? Boldin's drop was gut-wrenching, but Housh's was inexcusable.

* The secondary (Lardarius Webb) got destroyed on a 3rd and 19 by some rookie receiver called Brown. Not cool.

Pros:

* With Gaither's injury we are more likely to retain him. That means we can move Oher back to right tackle, Yanda back to guard and Chester back to the bench.

* Excluding Webb, our secondary played phenomenally well. Josh Wilson played like a legit #1 corner that would be a great #2, while Carr also played a very good game.

* The front seven got pressure and learned how to tackle Ben! We could stand to add a player or two, but it didn't look like a pressing need against Pittsburgh.

* Hey, atleast we now have the 25th overall pick which Ozzie can work wonders with.

* This'll probably come accross wrong, but not winning the Super Bowl this year probably means Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Derrick Mason are more likely to return.

[Ed_Reed20]

I honestly Gaither is re-signed but I've heard so many negative things about him over the season, I don't know if it happens.

To your last point, I don't see failing again will increase the chances of those three returning. Ray and Ed may but Mason has been disillusioned with offense all season and even if Cam is let go, Derrick may just decide to hang it up.

[-Truth-]

[quote name='Clutch Ravens' timestamp='1295159547' post='608679']
To save venting on a number of other threads, I though I'd start one to let everyone vent just what, of the many things, made you scream at the TV when watching this game.

To balance it out, a Pro or 2 to gleam from it would be nice.

Cons:

* Flacco looked scared, but that's thanks in large part to my 2nd point...

* The offensive line was AWFUL. Grubbs has had a down year, Birk seems to be losing "it", Yanda can't really play tackle (but is a good guard), Chris Chester is a back-up/unbalanced line guy in the NFL and Michael Oher does not look like a left tackle. I love Oher, but he has the build, skill-set and mind-set of a Right Tackle. He is a great right tackle, but this game really highlighted how much he struggles on the blindside.

* Dropped passes- Wow, just wow. TJ Houshmandzadeh is a possesion receiver that can't catch, what exactly does that make him? Boldin's drop was gut-wrenching, but Housh's was inexcusable.

* The secondary (Lardarius Webb) got destroyed on a 3rd and 19 by some rookie receiver called Brown. Not cool.

Pros:

* With Gaither's injury we are more likely to retain him. That means we can move Oher back to right tackle, Yanda back to guard and Chester back to the bench.

* Excluding Webb, our secondary played phenomenally well. [b]Josh Wilson played like a legit #1 corner that would be a great #2, while Carr also played a very good game.[/b]

* [b]The front seven got pressure and learned how to tackle Ben! We could stand to add a player or two, but it didn't look like a pressing need against Pittsburgh.[/b]

* Hey, atleast we now have the 25th overall pick which Ozzie can work wonders with.

* This'll probably come accross wrong, but not winning the Super Bowl this year probably means Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Derrick Mason are more likely to return.
[/quote]
This was probably one of the first games against Pittsburgh where there was only 1 time someone whiffed by Ben instead of just bringing him down. I feel like Wilson has really come on towards the end of the Season. He showed poor technique on that PI, but I could name several plays tonight where he was a factor in different aspects, like stopping Wallace on a surefire TD off of a reverse, jarring the ball loose from a WR to force a 4th down and making a great diving effort to bat away a pass.

[Clutch Ravens]

Another Con:

* Ray Lewis was hanging his head at numerous points when we started to blow it. He saw what was happening and it looked like for the first time in his career he didn't believe he could do enough to change it. Seeing the greatest linebacker of all time and the definition of Raven Football sitting there, seeing what could be his last chance at another ring slip away made me well up. He, for the first time in his career, had a defeated look on his face and in his body language.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Clutch Ravens' timestamp='1295160246' post='608700']
Another Con:

* Ray Lewis was hanging his head at numerous points when we started to blow it. He saw what was happening and it looked like for the first time in his career he didn't believe he could do enough to change it. Seeing the greatest linebacker of all time and the definition of Raven Football sitting there, seeing what could be his last chance at another ring slip away made me well up. He, for the first time in his career, had a defeated look on his face and in his body language.
[/quote]

I don't think it was the first time he's looked defeated. According to Mike Preston, Ray's body language when the offense is shaming themselves has been the way it was last night a number of times this season. I've seen it on camera at times too. I won't say I feel for him as well the D because they failed at times too but they certainly deserved a better second half performance by their offensive teammates.

[darklight1216]

[quote name='Clutch Ravens' timestamp='1295159547' post='608679']
Pros:

* With Gaither's injury we are more likely to retain him. That means we can move Oher back to right tackle, Yanda back to guard and Chester back to the bench.[/quote]
That may be true, but that just means that Baltimore is a little closer to retaining an injury prone player.

[quote]
* Excluding Webb, our secondary played phenomenally well. Josh Wilson played like a legit #1 corner that would be a great #2, while Carr also played a very good game.[/quote]
Fair enough.

[quote]
* The front seven got pressure and learned how to tackle Ben! We could stand to add a player or two, but it didn't look like a pressing need against Pittsburgh.[/quote]
Pitts O-line isn't exactly the best in the league, but I'll take it. However with Kindle's status up in the air, it's safe to say that pass rusher (besides Suggs) is still a bit of a question mark imho.

[quote]
* Hey, atleast we now have the 25th overall pick which Ozzie can work wonders with.[/quote]
If Seattle or the Jets lose (or both) Baltimore is going to have a higher pick.

Also, didn't Baltimore have the 25th last year? I can't yet say that it turned out well.

[quote]
* This'll probably come accross wrong, but not winning the Super Bowl this year probably means Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Derrick Mason are more likely to return.
[/quote]
That's really not a positive to me. Reed is injured, suffering from a loss, recently contemplated retirement, and now he's a loser on top of all of that.

Mason has voiced his frustrations with the offense, and like someone already mentioned, he might be fed up with the offensive failures.

Lewis will be one year older and though he's fought valiantly against time, he's only human.

All in all I really don't think there are alot of positives. Obviously the Ravens had a good year, far better than most teams and for that I am thankful.

However, with all of the talent that they brought in and with the above mentioned players playing in their twilight seasons, this really was Superbowl or bust...

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='darklight1216' timestamp='1295161079' post='608721']
Also, didn't Baltimore have the 25th last year? I can't yet say that it turned out well.
[/quote]

So far it hasn't but there's still time(assuming Kindle is brought back).

[Jamal]

[quote name='Clutch Ravens' timestamp='1295160246' post='608700']
Another Con:

* Ray Lewis was hanging his head at numerous points when we started to blow it. He saw what was happening and it looked like for the first time in his career he didn't believe he could do enough to change it. Seeing the greatest linebacker of all time and the definition of Raven Football sitting there, seeing what could be his last chance at another ring slip away made me well up. He, for the first time in his career, had a defeated look on his face and in his body language.
[/quote]
Yeah, that was a depressing sight. I guess the whole decade of offense costing the team games is finally getting to him.

[Overleafan66]

The offence made mistakes and could not hold the ball in the second half. Despite this, the defense played well in nearly every instance. The problem with every Steeler long play in the game and every other disastrous play this year has been the prevent defense. It has already been so obviously a sore point that Harbough is defending the indefensible. We need to can the DC and get an agressive one that stops using that stupid 3 man rush. Every play that gave up long yardage all year was when we used that defense. We scrapped it in KC but brought it back yesterday. We lost the game due to poor coaching. DO NOT bring back Mattison.

[poedacrow]

For the sake of brevity:

[b]Pros:[/b] Everything about the Defense...including our supposedly suspect secondary...I liked the play of [b]Ladarius Webb[/b] and the addition of [b]Josh Wilson[/b] in the backfield

[b]Cons: [/b] Nearly everything about this offense. Had this group simply gone 3 downs and punted in the second half we could have won this game.

The defense handed this game over on a silver platter and the offense squandered it in the worst way. I would trade [b]ALL[/b] of the talent on the offensive side of the ball...[b]ALL of it[/b], for the 2000 Ravens defense.

[GrimCoconut]

Not a lot to add that hasn't been added, but there are some sweet sides to this for me:

PROS:
+Steeler's O-Line is such a MASH unit it is ridiculous. No way they can beat the Patriots (Or the Jets if a miracle happens today) next week. Whoever wins in the NE VS NY game will go on to the Superbowl.
+Because we lost to Pittsburgh and they are advancing to the Championship match, we will draft before they will, getting a potentially better selection than they will!

[Ed_Reed20]

Obviously it was negated by the penalty and his bad coverage doomed the team later but I have to give credit to Webb on the punt return. The spin after receiving the ball, the burst through the lane and the vision to to read his blocks and run to daylight was outstanding.

[MMIller]

Cons are we lost and it is because we played worse in the second half than pissburgh did in the first half. Pros are we have been there 3 years in a row and I think I future is bright to return and win.

[RavensAllTheWay]

The only positive I can take from THIS LOSS was the fact that it was the worst, most sickening defeat in the franchises history and nothing will ever match it. Some will come close and some already have, but this is at the top and will stay there forever and ever. I doubt we'll ever feel this much pain again.

[RavensAllTheWay]

As for the offseason, I don't think anyone's gonna retire. We thought Mason was gonna retire last year and he didn't (although partly because we gave him a new 2 year contract). So he still has another year left on it. Idk if that really means anything, but all I know is that the guy is a warrior and wants a ring anyway he can get it.