Thoughts On The Vikes Game..

[BloodRaven]

Liked

Derrick Martin, I was wrong about him, earlier this year I thought Pittman would beat him out but Martin has really been opening eyes since OTAs

Jarret Johnson, showing a lot of moves and quickness he didnt have last year. A few pressures. Did anyone notice that with his hand in the dirt he takes off twice as fast as when hes blitzing from the outside?

Ray Rice, no truckstick but I do like the open field speed and the leg drive on the TD, but if you watch the gametape the real reason Ray was able to run through the middle is because Jason Brown took Pat Williams out of each play by himself... bring on Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers

Didnt like

Offensive tackles, take your pick.

Antwan Barnes, for a 4.4 guy he was coming off the edge pretty slow, maybe hes hesitant or unsure. Also that hit he tried to put on T.Jackson looked sloppy as hell.

Mark Clayton, watch the footage he puts his hands up...Troys pass hits his hands...and then bounce out and into Darren Sharpers. Way to give Troy his first INT. WAKE UP! the ball hits your hands you CATCH IT!

Frank Walker, hes 28 now and still hasnt improved, sometimes you just cant make a workout warrior into a football player.

[smashmouth]

Liked

Derrick Martin, I was wrong about him, earlier this year I thought Pittman would beat him out but Martin has really been opening eyes since OTAs

Jarret Johnson, showing a lot of moves and quickness he didnt have last year. A few pressures. Did anyone notice that with his hand in the dirt he takes off twice as fast as when hes blitzing from the outside?

Ray Rice, no truckstick but I do like the open field speed and the leg drive on the TD, but if you watch the gametape the real reason Ray was able to run through the middle is because Jason Brown took Pat Williams out of each play by himself... bring on Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers

Didnt like

Offensive tackles, take your pick.

Antwan Barnes, for a 4.4 guy he was coming off the edge pretty slow, maybe hes hesitant or unsure. Also that hit he tried to put on T.Jackson looked sloppy as hell.

Mark Clayton, watch the footage he puts his hands up...Troys pass hits his hands...and then bounce out and into Darren Sharpers. Way to give Troy his first INT. WAKE UP! the ball hits your hands you CATCH IT!

Frank Walker, hes 28 now and still hasnt improved, sometimes you just cant make a workout warrior into a football player.

I agree with everything you posted. BUT, its not claytons fault Smith threw it BEHIND him, its unacceptable to throw a simple pass wasy behind His target. Although elite and really good reciever could have caught it, or would have been able to kncock it towards the turf.

[BloodRaven]

I just noticed something after going back to the replay a few more times, I still think the blame goes with Clayton, he got open, turned and the ball hits his hands in front of his face. It didnt sail high it simply bounced out of Claytons hands.

[smashmouth]

I just noticed something after going back to the replay a few more times, I still think the blame goes with Clayton, he got open, turned and the ball hits his hands in front of his face. It didnt sail high it simply bounced out of Claytons hands.

better look at it a few more times, when the reciever has to turn the oppisite direction and reach up to catch a grab then its the QB's fault, Clayton could have played the ball better but the blame is still on the QB, Clayton does have a problem battling for the ball.

Smith still should have Hit Him in stride, it was a bad throw and Clayton diddnt show fight in Him to try to keep the ball away from anyone.

[Redreed]

It hit his hands, come on. Football's rule of thumb: If it hit's your hands then you should've caught it. Period. I agree with BloodRaven. Catch the ball. Not every throw will be perfect, but if it's close enough to hit your hands, then catch it.

[Redreed]

Really, I thought we looked awful. No decency from the first team offense. All of you who declared Fabian Washington the starting CB looked stupid, because he gave up the easiest TD I've ever seen a CB give up, and to top it off, ALL of our QBs looked bad. Ray Rice had 2 nice runs, otherwise our offense was totally ineffective. The 1st team D stayed on longer than I thought they would, and gave up alot more yardage to Tavaris Jackson than I thought they would.

Realize: that is one of the worst QBs in the NFL, and he had his way. AND Gus Ferotte os all people had his way. We looked bad. I'm very disappointed by tonight.

[Eurich]

Well we did have 6 defensive starters out of the game.

Thats more than half.

[Redreed]

I don't care, so did they, and they whipped our ******, and depth is suppose to be one of our strengths... *Vomit...

[FerrariFan87]

If I am not mistaken, Brian Billick came back as honorary O-Coordinator last night

[Bullrush]

That was a good throw by Smith, Clayton ran a short slant to the inside, the ball hits his hands, bounces off of him and then Sharper picks it off and he's standing like 5 yards away from Clayton. I don't know how you can blame Troy for that one.

[FerrariFan87]

That was a good throw by Smith, Clayton ran a short slant to the inside, the ball hits his hands, bounces off of him and then Sharper picks it off and he's standing like 5 yards away from Clayton. I don't know how you can blame Troy for that one.

The throw was way behind Clayton... BUT it did touch his hands and if the ball touches your hands you MUST catch it.

[BaltimoreBulldog]

1. Frank walker should be released from the team as soon as possible

2.That was a bad pass by Troy smith, so what maybe the reciever should have caught it, but if your evaluating the QB race take a point away from Troy smith for that because it was a terrible pass.His reciever could have helped him, but the fact is it was a bad pass to begin with. I like how everyone makes excuses for everything Troy smith does, but if boller does it you guys would be calling for his head.

3.Our defense needs to make stops on 3rd downs

4. Ray rice is a total beast

5. All of the QB's once again looked below average. They are both so slow on reading the play and getting the ball out quick. Watch QB's like peyton and brady, they make there drop and the ball is out of there hands at the end of there drop. Boller and Smith sit there and stare the reciever down

6.Our offense is going to be in trouble with either QB starting, may as well get joe some gametime experience, because the other 2 aren't going to be much better.

7.We should run the ball 75% of the time this year with Mcgahee and rice.

[Ravens52]

You guys are overreacting about this preseason game. I know we had some minor problems there but seriously people are acting like we're in midseason and having all these problems. We still got about 3 weeks till the season opener and I'm sure we'll solve some of these problems like most of those guys in the 4th quarter of the Vikings game won't even make the main roster. Ray Rice is a monster. The QB situation still has also 3 weeks to go and there probably still trying to learn the Cam system. Stop arguing about the pass from Troy to Mark lol, people like Moss and Brady had miscommunication last season also. Sure there was a lot of bad plays but seriously what team has a perfect preseason, this is just ONE PRESEASON game. Remember the one against the Pats? We did pretty good in that one and so did the backups. Except for the Flacco drive haha. So I'm sure after a week of practice in Harbs' camp I'm sure we'll bounce back next week.

Sorry, just had to get that out

[RavensIQ]

I think people are starting to put 1+1 together. 2 weeks away till the season starts + the last 2 weeks of horrendous play from offense and uncertainty at QB= A lot of TVs getting broken.

You take last nights game and take that performance and put it against the bengals (or any 1 of the 7 playoff teams from last year we face this year) come the 7th of September and you realize..yup, we have no chance. So people start to put logic to use and try to think of ways to fix the problem that seems to be unfortunately inevitable or as some like to call it "overreaction", and you get people trying to cut the problem off from the root with passionate arguments for why and how things should be changed.

To the people that have realized and have foreseen what the ravens future will sadly be like if things don't change, and have also come to the understanding that if things don't get better from now till week 1, that we're screwed...Thank You. Thank you for using your brain. TY for using commonsense. TY for not being stupid and naive.

[theFRANCHISE]

You take last nights game and take that performance and put it against the bengals (or any 1 of the 7 playoff teams from last year we face this year) come the 7th of September and you realize..yup, we have no chance.

To the people that have realized and have foreseen what the ravens future will sadly be like if things don't change, and have also come to the understanding that if things don't get better from now till week 1, that we're screwed...Thank You. Thank you for using your brain. TY for using commonsense. TY for not being stupid and naive.

I'm not trying to call you out or anything, so please, don't take this personally, but...can I quote you on this? Can I quote you on this if you're wrong about the Bengals game?

I appreciate that you're using reasonable logic to express your opinion, but please, don't belittle others' opinions as "stupid and naive" if there's any possibility you might end up being seen as the same later.

[Ravens52]

Come on...other teams had wayyyy worse games than us. At least we moved the ball, did you see the Bengals game? They were horrid, there first team offense couldnt move the ball against a Packers D that didnt have Woodson or Al Harris. The Packers did horrid in there last preseason game also among other teams. The Packers like us...are probably gonna rebound from that preseason game.

[FerrariFan87]

The Bungles game is at HOME... The Bungles can't stop the run... We have Willis McGahee and Ray Rice... It will be a looong day for the Bungles...

[mcgaheewillrunyourassover]

Liked

Derrick Martin, I was wrong about him, earlier this year I thought Pittman would beat him out but Martin has really been opening eyes since OTAs

Jarret Johnson, showing a lot of moves and quickness he didnt have last year. A few pressures. Did anyone notice that with his hand in the dirt he takes off twice as fast as when hes blitzing from the outside?

Ray Rice, no truckstick but I do like the open field speed and the leg drive on the TD, but if you watch the gametape the real reason Ray was able to run through the middle is because Jason Brown took Pat Williams out of each play by himself... bring on Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers

Didnt like

Offensive tackles, take your pick.

Antwan Barnes, for a 4.4 guy he was coming off the edge pretty slow, maybe hes hesitant or unsure. Also that hit he tried to put on T.Jackson looked sloppy as hell.

Mark Clayton, watch the footage he puts his hands up...Troys pass hits his hands...and then bounce out and into Darren Sharpers. Way to give Troy his first INT. WAKE UP! the ball hits your hands you CATCH IT!

Frank Walker, hes 28 now and still hasnt improved, sometimes you just cant make a workout warrior into a football player.

if you wanna see the truck stick wait for mcgahee to get back...thatll be even better than ray rice was....watching us gash minnesota was awesome

and alot of our defense wasnt in there,so we cant be too worried

[mcgaheewillrunyourassover]

I don't care, so did they, and they whipped our ******, and depth is suppose to be one of our strengths... *Vomit...

uhh what 6 did they have out?

they had winfield,sharper,allen and the williams duo in there

[foreversunny23]

Just remember, thanks to Troy Smith's audible, Ray Rice was able to have that huge 42 yard run. So a point for Smith for that good call.

[#1 D]

The Bungles game is at HOME... The Bungles can't stop the run... We have Willis McGahee and Ray Rice... It will be a looong day for the Bungles...

true that, not to mention some unfinished business from last season, when they beat us last season in the national television stage, when we had like, what, 6 turnovers..? well, i think that troy, with hopefully terry and gaither back will solidify the line and give troy more time. also, mason, clayton, and hopefully williams will all be there for smith to find targets to. i think smith is doing a great job, but he's not really getting any good WR options out there with all these injuries.

[bossman419]

Just remember, thanks to Troy Smith's audible, Ray Rice was able to have that huge 42 yard run. So a point for Smith for that good call.

that was the highlight of troy's night in my opinion

[Redreed]

that was the highlight of troy's night in my opinion

Sad but true... LOL

[foreversunny23]

This game pretty much summed up our training camp if you think about it. Just like camp, it had good and bad moments. QB situation is still up for grabs. Ray Rice . Our rookie safeties are great. O-line is a major concern. Frank Walker .

A fitting yet disappointing end to training camp. Now everyone needs to get healthy for the regular season...

[Ravensfan420]

Hello I'm new to this forum! I'm a huge ravens fan since i was born and raised in Baltimore. All I have to say is take it easy on troy! He should have had some of his passes actually caught! He even admitted it was his fault about that pass to Mark Clayton.. quote from Troy Smith. "The pick at the end of the half was totally my fault," Smith said. "The inside read was there. I'm not going to say I was getting greedy, I was just trying to give a guy a chance to make a play. I should have gone elsewhere. i found it here..

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8...mp;confirm=true

[judge]

If only Troy could show a little more poise and consistency in the passing game we'd have an amazing threat. Think about it, its always bad news to the defense if you've got a guy as a QB who can pass and run, but when you add rice and mcgahee to the equation, when you can have smith play action and then take the ball and run the other way with it, or throw, or who knows. Building his passing confidence over time is the best way to create a significant guessing game for defenses and be successful just based on their players being out of position on a more regular basis.

[Ravensfan420]

His poise is the last thing he needs more of.... He's verrry calm and confident in the pocket. His stats would be much more consistent if we had WR's who could catch the ball when it hits their fingertips. I know he has a lot of improving to do, but atleast this isnt his 6th or 7th season lol. He will improve

[B-moreRavensfan88]

i liked:

The running game, troy smith's scrambling abilities, Troy's and flacco's 2 minute drives(before each of them got picked off of course).

I disliked:

The announcers, the refs making some of the most biased calls i've seen since last december, the O-line, the WR's inability to catch some balls every now and then in key situations, frank walker.

A lot of the media are saying troy didn't look that good because he didn't pass much... but he only had 5 pass attempts. The offense mainly ran the football... did anyone notice when kyle took the field most of the plays were passes? And that interception at the end of the 2nd quarter was so awful, it's like clayton was caught day dreaming when troy threw

All in all, I just hope our starters get healthy before the season opener. If starters can't get healthy, this could be ugly but keep in mind, it's only pre-season!

[berad]

His poise is the last thing he needs more of.... He's verrry calm and confident in the pocket. His stats would be much more consistent if we had WR's who could catch the ball when it hits their fingertips.

C'mon man. That's god awful analysis. I'm sure you remember his 18 yard scramble, a great play no doubt, especially since he evaded numerous defenders. But do you remember the play right after it? The Viking DEs doing outside pass-rush and Smith, inside of stepping up in the pocket and buying himself more time, panicked and scampered backwards only to be sacked.

His only drops were when he hung Yamon Figurs out to dry (Yamon would've caught it if he hadn't be obliterated), and when he threw the ball hopelessly behind Clayton and all he could do was swat helplessly at it.

[berad]

i liked:

The running game, troy smith's scrambling abilities, Troy's and flacco's 2 minute drives(before each of them got picked off of course).

LOL, all one play of it?