Good Read

[bce086]

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/News/Articl...avens_Loss.aspx

Dunno how many of you have read this already but figured i'd post it for those who havent.

The (underthrown) interception by Smith everyone's been ranting and raving about is mentioned.

"The pick towards the end of the half was totally my fault,

[RavensIQ]

Troy's comment on the interception was pretty good.

[Troy SmiTH Xx]

Yeah, from a coaching perspective, he did what a QB is supposed to do. He managed the offense, got them out of tight spots (ex. Rice's 40 yard run when Smith changed the play at the line), and got points on the board after the Vikings did.

[smashmouth]

Troy's comment on the interception was pretty good.

[Corvus]

He only threw the ball 5 times because He was too worried about running out of the pocket WAAAAYYY too early, HE HAD A TOTAL OF 10 PASSING PLAYS, is that hard to understand? Want me to explain? Sacked twice for a loss of 13 yards, thats +2 to His passing attempts, He ran it 3 times, they were passing plays. Thats +3 more, so you have 5 pass attempts + 2 = 7 + 3 = 10. He diddnt drive nothing, Ray Rice was the sole contributor on Offense.

I really can't understand your logic, those 3 runs were worth something like 35 POSITVE yards, that is driving it with his feet, which a quarterback is allowed to do...he made his decisions and that means he had 4 negative plays out of 10 which is still the minority...

[RavensIQ]

He only threw the ball 5 times because He was too worried about running out of the pocket WAAAAYYY too early, HE HAD A TOTAL OF 10 PASSING PLAYS, is that hard to understand? Want me to explain? Sacked twice for a loss of 13 yards, thats +2 to His passing attempts, He ran it 3 times, they were passing plays. Thats +3 more, so you have 5 pass attempts + 2 = 7 + 3 = 10. He diddnt drive nothing, Ray Rice was the sole contributor on Offense.

..carry the 1, subtract 4, add 4, divide by 3 x 2, square root that then add pi x 10 = WHAAAA??

He still only THREW the ball 5 times. So to base your judgment on Troy Smith as a PASSER don't you think it's a lil premature to draw any conclusions based off of 5 pass attempts???

[BuckWilds]

The praise of any of them is premature. Troy ran a little well. Flacco showed some improvement and threw decent for a 3-week NFL player. Boller checked down the world. "Meh" is all I can muster at the moment. I just wish all of them well.

[berad]

..carry the 1, subtract 4, add 4, divide by 3 x 2, square root that then add pi x 10 = WHAAAA??

He still only THREW the ball 5 times. So to base your judgment on Troy Smith as a PASSER don't you think it's a lil premature to draw any conclusions based off of 5 pass attempts???

10 dropbacks is the real number you need to look at.

[catty112]

10 dropbacks is the real number you need to look at.

Same goes for any QB... then but you never see 11 passes completed out of 23 dropbacks. He attempted 5 thats it.

[berad]

Same goes for any QB... then but you never see 11 passes completed out of 23 dropbacks. He attempted 5 thats it.

Ok, and..

[catty112]

I don't think you can evaluate his passing game by going on number of dropbacks instead of attempts. He attempted half the passes he was supposed. on 2 he got sacked and on the other 3 he tried making the play with his legs. He was also supposed to attempt a pass but instead called an audible and Ray Rice broke a nice run. If you were going to evaluate his passing game look at his 5 attempts not his 10 dropbacks.

Im not sure why someone decided to bring in the fact that he dropped back 10 but only passed it 5...

[smashmouth]

..carry the 1, subtract 4, add 4, divide by 3 x 2, square root that then add pi x 10 = WHAAAA??

He still only THREW the ball 5 times. So to base your judgment on Troy Smith as a PASSER don't you think it's a lil premature to draw any conclusions based off of 5 pass attempts???

EXACLY my point, A QB is there to throw the ball, Fine I love the fact that He can scramble and buy time, BUT He diddnt try He would drop back and THINK RUN. Mick Vick did this but would get 100 yards from His runs, Smith is not even close to Vicks level. As I've said He had 10 passing plays, out of the 5 actual plays He thought pass 1 was WAY to high for Figures, ( a awesome way to get Him hurt ) another was picked because He threw it way behind Clayton on a slant route. He had 25 passing yards.. not good by any standards, 2 of them He was sacked.. Fine its gonna happen but He can use His legs IN A GOOD way and keep LOOKING down the field, Mason was WIDE OPEN and He diddnt even think about passing it. The other 3 pass plays maybe the recievers wernt open? Fine He ran it, I have no problem with that, But to say He diddnt get a chance to throw the ball is inaccruate.

[smashmouth]

I don't think you can evaluate his passing game by going on number of dropbacks instead of attempts. He attempted half the passes he was supposed. on 2 he got sacked and on the other 3 he tried making the play with his legs. He was also supposed to attempt a pass but instead called an audible and Ray Rice broke a nice run. If you were going to evaluate his passing game look at his 5 attempts not his 10 dropbacks.

Im not sure why someone decided to bring in the fact that he dropped back 10 but only passed it 5...

How do you know it was a pass? It could have been a run to the left gap, He audabled to the right of the center or guard? cant remember, AWESOME, but If He is showing He cant move the ball that still is not good enough, anyone can get behind center and change the run play, and hand it off, Hell put Ray Lewis back there, He can read offenses better then DC.

[berad]

I don't think you can evaluate his passing game by going on number of dropbacks instead of attempts. He attempted half the passes he was supposed. on 2 he got sacked and on the other 3 he tried making the play with his legs. He was also supposed to attempt a pass but instead called an audible and Ray Rice broke a nice run. If you were going to evaluate his passing game look at his 5 attempts not his 10 dropbacks.

Im not sure why someone decided to bring in the fact that he dropped back 10 but only passed it 5...

Yeah, that's a problem. One of his sacks, he could've gone to a wide open Derrick Mason, that mistake's been beaten to death. His other sack, he could've stepped up into the pocket and avoided the rush completely, but he backstepped right into the DE. Amount and efficiency of dropping back is a big portion of his "passing game", so why would anyone overlook it?

[Troy SmiTH Xx]

Ok, here are some points we can hopefully agree on:

*Smith was sacked a couple of times, and those times he looked as he was going to pass, but our O-Line didn't do a great job, so the pass rushers got to him

*Smith passed five times and they were pretty good ones, except for the interception (which wasn't just his fault)

*Yea, sure, he threw a couple passes last season that would've been interceptions, BUT THEY WEREN'T...End Of Story!

*Let's just say between the two quarterbacks in the competition is 0-0.

Ok, now let''s wait till the Rams game and see how they do before we start plotting ways to downgrade our team even more. People sitting here bashing Troy Smith is hurting ourselves as fans for trying to point out a players flaws and rubbing salt all over it. The same way people are bashing Troy. Let's leave the decisions up to the coaches!

[ROH522155]

Ok, here are some points we can hopefully agree on:

*Smith was sacked a couple of times, and those times he looked as he was going to pass, but our O-Line didn't do a great job, so the pass rushers got to him

*Smith passed five times and they were pretty good ones, except for the interception (which wasn't just his fault)

*Yea, sure, he threw a couple passes last season that would've been interceptions, BUT THEY WEREN'T...End Of Story!

*Let's just say between the two quarterbacks in the competition is 0-0.

Ok, now let''s wait till the Rams game and see how they do before we start plotting ways to downgrade our team even more. People sitting here bashing Troy Smith is hurting ourselves as fans for trying to point out a players flaws and rubbing salt all over it. The same way people are bashing Troy. Let's leave the decisions up to the coaches!

agreed

check out the new signature

[I*Bleed*Purple]

Ok, here are some points we can hopefully agree on:

1. Smith was sacked a couple of times, and those times he looked as he was going to pass, but our O-Line didn't do a great job, so the pass rushers got to him

2. Smith passed five times and they were pretty good ones, except for the interception (which wasn't just his fault)

3. Yea, sure, he threw a couple passes last season that would've been interceptions, BUT THEY WEREN'T...End Of Story!

4. Let's just say between the two quarterbacks in the competition is 0-0.

What the hell are you smoking?

1. Blame all the bad decisions on the O-line. I watched him turn his back to the line of scrimmage and start to run before being sacked. Just giving yards away.

2. Wasn't just his fault? It was a 10-yard slant pass so far behind Clayton that he turned toward Smith, reached out with his right arm and barely got a hand on it. Yup, Clayton should have definitely hauled that one in.

3. So, that makes everything ok? As long as the other team doesn't catch them, he's playing great!

4. Boller played better both with the first team and the second team offenses. Neither of them played great but the competition is far from 0-0

It's clear that you'll defend Troy Smith to the death. He's a runner that can throw a little bit. He's not a starting QB in the NFL. Period.

[Troy SmiTH Xx]

What the hell are you smoking?

1. Blame all the bad decisions on the O-line. I watched him turn his back to the line of scrimmage and start to run before being sacked. Just giving yards away.

2. Wasn't just his fault? It was a 10-yard slant pass so far behind Clayton that he turned toward Smith, reached out with his right arm and barely got a hand on it. Yup, Clayton should have definitely hauled that one in.

3. So, that makes everything ok? As long as the other team doesn't catch them, he's playing great!

4. Boller played better both with the first team and the second team offenses. Neither of them played great but the competition is far from 0-0

It's clear that you'll defend Troy Smith to the death. He's a runner that can throw a little bit. He's not a starting QB in the NFL. Period.

Your gosh darn right I'm going to defend him....You know why? Because I can believe he can get the job done. Don't criticize me on my opinions because they are clearly correct.

*Look at his stats, only 1 interceptions this preseason, none last season. Go out there and look and if you find somewhere where it says otherwise, tell me.

*I re-watched the game on MASN ....TWICE!!...I saw the pass to Mark Clayton, the ball hit him in the hands, bounced off his pads and landed in Sharper's hands

*Watch the O-Line again, i'll admit they're good sometimes in blocking the pass rushers, but 99.9% of the time, they're getting man-handled by the defensive front end. Just because Troy is a prized runner, doesn't mean he's going to get away 100% of the time.

*And lastly, John has already said that neither QB has jumped up and claimed the job, nor has either of them fallen flat on their face....and here's the quote

“It would be easy if one guy would just jump out there or if one guy would just fall flat on his face. That would be easy. Neither guy has really done either. They’ve played well, but neither one of them has played great. Neither one of them has fallen on their face, and we don’t want that, either.”

[I*Bleed*Purple]

Your gosh darn right I'm going to defend him....You know why? Because I can believe he can get the job done. Don't criticize me on my opinions because they are clearly correct.

Your opinions are clearly correct? Isn't that another opinion? You all act like he is the 2nd coming, and he's just not that good.

[Corvus]

Why are people even arguing about this? I can believe fans are already out for the blood of our "failing" players.

I will continue to hold my reservations until I see us play the Bengals...

[Slick]

EXACLY my point, A QB is there to throw the ball, Fine I love the fact that He can scramble and buy time, BUT He diddnt try He would drop back and THINK RUN. Mick Vick did this but would get 100 yards from His runs, Smith is not even close to Vicks level. As I've said He had 10 passing plays, out of the 5 actual plays He thought pass 1 was WAY to high for Figures, ( a awesome way to get Him hurt ) another was picked because He threw it way behind Clayton on a slant route. He had 25 passing yards.. not good by any standards, 2 of them He was sacked.. Fine its gonna happen but He can use His legs IN A GOOD way and keep LOOKING down the field, Mason was WIDE OPEN and He diddnt even think about passing it. The other 3 pass plays maybe the recievers wernt open? Fine He ran it, I have no problem with that, But to say He diddnt get a chance to throw the ball is inaccruate.

the pass to Figurs was in a place where ONLY Figurs could have caught it. Unfortunately he got smashed before he hauled it in. Clayton has to make that catch wether the ball is behind him or not, and when Mason was wide open, Troy was rolling to his left, making it MUCH more difficult to make an accurate pass. Instead of risking an interception he chose to hold on to the ball and outrun the two defenders chasing him down int he backfield. I saw him even bring the ball back like he was going to make the throw but he decided not to. To say that he didn't think about the best option for the play at hand is inaccurate.

[I*Bleed*Purple]

the pass to Figurs was in a place where ONLY Figurs could have caught it. Unfortunately he got smashed before he hauled it in. Clayton has to make that catch wether the ball is behind him or not, and when Mason was wide open, Troy was rolling to his left, making it MUCH more difficult to make an accurate pass. Instead of risking an interception he chose to hold on to the ball and outrun the two defenders chasing him down int he backfield. I saw him even bring the ball back like he was going to make the throw but he decided not to. To say that he didn't think about the best option for the play at hand is inaccurate.

Wow...typical Troy cronie. Blame everyone but him. He can do no wrong.

[Slick]

Wow...typical Troy cronie. Blame everyone but him. He can do no wrong.

hahahahaha thats funny because idc who gets the starting job. im not pulling for any of the 3 quarterbacks i just want one who can give us a win. just because you cant come up with a valid (and relevant) point doesn't mean you can call me a "cronie"

Yes, Troy could have done better, there's no doubt about that. And in reality, the QB has to take responsibility for the result of the plays he's in control of. But you have to remember, this is preseason. All 3 QBs are still learning the playbook and learning the capabilities of their teammates. So far it's been rough, but this is the time to iron the kinks out, and Troy hasn't been all bad. Some of his passes have been amazing, and some obviously were not. I've liked the good passes and hope he can pull them off more frequently. I've seen what Boller can do and if the front office thinks he can finally get it done then I'll cheer his inconsistent *** on all the way.

everybody needs to stop hatin'

it's our team

let's freaking stand behind em through the good AND the bad.

oh...and lets not tear ourselves apart in the process. we're all ravens fans, so stop bashing other people for their opinions.

[Troy SmiTH Xx]

Wow...typical Troy cronie. Blame everyone but him. He can do no wrong.

Why are you making people who support troy smith into a stereotype. It's no different from people supporting Barack Obama or John McCain. Don't sit here and make up names to call us just because we support someone "WHO WE THINK" can lead this offense.

And btw, I completely back everything he said up. Though im not just putting blame on the WR, but to everyone, everyone is responsible, there is no "I" in team.

[smashmouth]

the pass to Figurs was in a place where ONLY Figurs could have caught it. Unfortunately he got smashed before he hauled it in. Clayton has to make that catch wether the ball is behind him or not, and when Mason was wide open, Troy was rolling to his left, making it MUCH more difficult to make an accurate pass. Instead of risking an interception he chose to hold on to the ball and outrun the two defenders chasing him down int he backfield. I saw him even bring the ball back like he was going to make the throw but he decided not to. To say that he didn't think about the best option for the play at hand is inaccurate.

So What He's was Rolling to the left, Mason Catches everything, A pocket passer who roll's out to the left could have made that EASY throw. Hey if He wants to be a scrambling QB, fine, but He better learn to throw while on the run, These are auto Instincts. Apparntly He dont have Him. The pass to figures could have been in a place where only Figures could have caught it even if it was 10 yards lower. The defender was Beat, and the 2nd defender coming would have not got there in time if the Ball was catchable, But since He threw it way High and outside,Figures had To JUMP and got LAID OUT

[judge]

Both quarterbacks performed mediocre in their chances against the Vikings, who coming into the season have the top ranked defense(whatever thats worth.)

Smith threw behind the receiver on the pick and left figurs out to dry on the other incompletion, but all that being said, we've been watching boller's "second chances" for how many years?

Boller did just as "sub-bar" as Smith did in this game, except Boller did so against the second defense for the vikings.

Anyway, the game against the Rams should show a lot and I'm expecting there to be some definitive division between the 2 signal callers. Against a depleted defense in St Louis there should be no excuses.

I'm also looking forward to some more development from the rookies in this game.

[I*Bleed*Purple]

Both quarterbacks performed mediocre in their chances against the Vikings, who coming into the season have the top ranked defense(whatever thats worth.)

Smith threw behind the receiver on the pick and left figurs out to dry on the other incompletion, but all that being said, we've been watching boller's "second chances" for how many years?

Boller did just as "sub-bar" as Smith did in this game, except Boller did so against the second defense for the vikings.

Anyway, the game against the Rams should show a lot and I'm expecting there to be some definitive division between the 2 signal callers. Against a depleted defense in St Louis there should be no excuses.

I'm also looking forward to some more development from the rookies in this game.

I'm looking for another loss since Smith will be starting and probably playing the whole first half.

[b-morebrotha]

So What He's was Rolling to the left, Mason Catches everything, A pocket passer who roll's out to the left could have made that EASY throw. Hey if He wants to be a scrambling QB, fine, but He better learn to throw while on the run, These are auto Instincts. Apparntly He dont have Him. The pass to figures could have been in a place where only Figures could have caught it even if it was 10 yards lower. The defender was Beat, and the 2nd defender coming would have not got there in time if the Ball was catchable, But since He threw it way High and outside,Figures had To JUMP and got LAID OUT

Troy throws on the run al the time you don't follow football that much do you?? If that ball was ten yds lower it would be picked off. How bout the PRO BOWL safety darren sharper acted as such and made a play?

Have you ever thrown a football yourself how about any ball? If your right handed start running to your left and throw a ball to your right 45 to 90 degrees, with a car going 10 mph behind you with no breaks. It ain't easy and it ain't gonna be accurate either

I'm looking for another loss since Smith will be starting and probably playing the whole first half.

There's no way you bleed purple!! Troy is better than kyle and kyle has been here for 6 yrs. Should Kyle be a superstar by now? Troy has 2 starts and is slightly better? Please explain you rlogic behind your blatent HATE!

You can say im defending him as i know you will. But its just simple understanding the game. Troy is clearly no all pro (yet) but he IS our best option and WILL get better. You too will be a fan soon enough. Mark this day

[catty112]

I'm looking for another loss since Smith will be starting and probably playing the whole first half.

Yeah because everyone loves losing. I know its preseason and it doesn't matter but i hope your not looking forward to losing in the regular season if Troy Smith is named the starter

[Troy SmiTH Xx]

ok, he's been named the starter. Now let's not bash anyone till this game is over. Than we can start discussing this again.