4 Reasons Why This Isn't Our Year

[sflegend89]

I want to win a SB this year just as bad as any of us. Ed deserves a ring more than anyone in football. But I refuse to be disillusion and put faith in winning a SB when I can clearly see this team isn't ready. I'll be a ravens fan til I die but this is honestly my conclusion on this team THIS YEAR.

1. [b]Cam Cameron[/b]

- What needs to be said that hasn't already been said. He's stubborn, has no creativity, no sense of offensive rhythm, can't adjust. You won't find Flacco's name on this list, the offensive struggles are on Cam's system. Flacco is good enough to win a SB, but Cam isn't good enough to even get him there. I could sit here and elaborate but I don't think it's necessary at this point. We all know this is easily our biggest flaw.

2. [b]Learning Curve[/b] [b]In the Secondary[/b]

- We have a very young secondary, specifically our top CB's (Smith, Webb, Williams, Gorrer). The good news is these guys are VERY talented. The bad news is playing CB in the NFL has a somewhat long transition period. This has effected Jimmy the most and we've seen him make some great plays and seen him make some typical rookie mistakes. Williams also has had to learn on the job, as this is his first year starting. The Chargers really exposed our secondary and it's clear that these guys have plenty of room to grow. It's hard for me to believe that we can effectively stop a top 5 passing attack this year. These guys need more experience before they begin to truly mesh and be consistent.

3. [b]Billy Cundiff[/b]

This one has been a shocker for me. Cundiff has just been as mediocre a kicker as they get this year. His inability to make the shortest of kicks off the left hash baffles me. His missed chip shots take the wind right out of our sails and turn the tide of the game completely. Billy is far too mentally fragile and he's a MAJOR liability in the playoffs. We need all the points we can get, I don't trust him and I feel he performs worse under pressure. The kicking game is a very underrated aspect of football and Billy's personal collapse is crippling to our playoff chances.. when every game can come down to a single point, having a shaky kicking game is a shot in the foot waiting to happen. Also the fact that he can't kick more touchbacks than last year even with the extra 5 yards just makes no sense to me.

4. [b]Clock Management[/b]

Realize I'm not saying John Harbaugh, clock management skills is the only problem I see with John. Last night the Chargers had the ball on our 2 yard line with about a 1 minute left in the half. The fact that we didn't call any of our 3 timeouts is again baffling. Even if they still score a TD at least you give yourself a minute and possibly a timeout to get into FG range and make it a 7 point game. Bad clock management cost us potential points and it's not the first time John has done something similar to this. In the playoffs bad clock management can be a nail in your coffin. This is the most easily corrected problem on this list and I have no confidence in it being corrected any time soon.

[1/28/01]

1 Titans
2 Jags
3 Seahawks
4 Chargers

[wizard1]

Someone forgot to mention the F word.

[I*Bleed*Purple]

Here's a few more:

-Any of our corners not named Webb get abused.

-Joe Flacco isn't "the" guy. I've been a huge supporter of him until now. I'm not saying he is a BAD QB, I'm just saying he doesn't have the "it" factor. He's average to above average. I was hoping he would make that jump to "Elite", but I think after 4 years it is safe to assume he won't make that leap at all. Cam might be a part of it, but I simply can't ignore the facts. Cam doesn't under- and overthrow his receivers.
-Ray Lewis. As much as I'm gonna get blasted for this...he just isn't a 3 down back anymore. His speed is fading fast. I love him for everything he did for this organization and this city, but I believe his age has finally caught up with him.

I know most of you will take offense, but I'm sorry. I've finally taken off the purple shades, and that's how I see it. It doesn't mean that I don't think we are a good team, but we aren't ready for the Superbowl.

[McBoller]

Here's 4 reasons why this IS our year.
The offense isnt gonna have any more Jags/titans/seahawks games.
The defense isnt going to see SD in the playoffs(thank God)
Our players are hungry.
It is our destiny

ok, that last one is a stretch,

[frezeal33]

I'm gonna completely disagree with this thread. You obviously have no faith. You never know what can happen. We aren't out of the superbowl run AT ALL.

[TreTheRaven]

Here's 3 main reasons the Ravens won't win it this season:

The Super Bowl is on the road.
The Ravens suck on Prime Time
Road games to get to the Super Bowl

[PurpleDrink]

I would give the Defence a pass on this one but they never made the Chargers punt the ball away.....that is not surpose to happen in the NFL, Never!!! Game was over when they score more then 14 points.

Offence is sooooo bad, cant be because of the lockout, why do our WRers just stop when their done running there routes??? When the play breaks down why cant they come back to the QB to make a play???

And of course your Messiah Joe Flacco....Never have I seen an Elite QB(sarcasm) play sooooo badly as much as him. If you watch the game, Rivers did what you expect an Elite QB to do...MAKE PLAYS. Read the defence and use it to your advantage , put the ball where only your WRers can catch it,but bottom line MAKE PLAYS. The NFL is a passing league, the rules are set up mostly for the QB to get the ball to his WRers without them really getting touched. If this is to hard for a Elite QB ( sarcasm) to do why are you in the NFL?

[sflegend89]

[quote name='frezeal33' timestamp='1324343461' post='914320']
I'm gonna completely disagree with this thread. You obviously have no faith. You never know what can happen. We aren't out of the superbowl run AT ALL.
[/quote]

I do have faith in our team. But the things I mentioned aren't one time occurrences, they're consistent trends. sorry but this team still hasn't proven it can be consistent and that doesn't bode well for our SB chances. I recognize that all you gotta do is just get into the tourament. All the records go back to 0-0. I considered us the AFC favorite prior to this week. I no longer say we are the favorites. Doesn't mean we can't still get hot and go all the way, but it's not a good sign either.

[PurpleDrink]

..... And we all know Killer Cam sucks, he's so bad in so many ways I could write all night about him as drunk as I am atm lol.

[frezeal33]

[quote name='sflegend89' timestamp='1324344418' post='914349']

I do have faith in our team. But the things I mentioned aren't one time occurrences, they're consistent trends. sorry but this team still hasn't proven it can be consistent and that doesn't bode well for our SB chances. I recognize that all you gotta do is just get into the tourament. All the records go back to 0-0. I considered us the AFC favorite prior to this week. I no longer say we are the favorites. Doesn't mean we can't still get hot and go all the way, but it's not a good sign either.
[/quote]
So you lost faith because we lost a game? I'm gonna quote Mr. Ray Lewis here:

[i]"If You're A Raven, You're A Raven. If Your Part Of Us, You Win With Us, You Lose With Us, Whatever We Do, You Do. That's Kinda What My Commitment Has Always Been. No Matter What The Day Might Look Like, I Still Remain A Raven."[/i]

What he is talking about right there is what we need to do. We still have a chance to get home field advantage. GO 49ers!

[edreedfromtheu]

Good grief, people STILL don't see the common factor in the losses? JOE FLACCO is still making rookie mistakes.

The four real reasons this might not be the Ravens year?

1. He's BLIND. There's just no evidence that this guy can really see what is going on down the field, or even what the defense is planning on doing. I don't care if the play-calling gives him no rhythm at all, some of the throws he misses are ridiculous.

2. He routinely breaks the pocket by stepping into the pass-rush instead of remaining calm and letting the offensive line protect an area like they are supposed to... and not a moving target that has no reason to be moving when the protection is fine.

3. He throws into double/triple coverage... (here comes the people saying that receivers are getting open...) well, let's assume they aren't getting open... that still means that if someone is double or triple covered, that pretty much ANY OTHER RECEIVER is a better option to throw to. And his picks? They aren't Eli Manning type picks where they bounce off receivers hands and up into the air. They look like the is throwing directly at the defender.

4. When he finally does see a receiver, the throw is usually late. Or it's on time, but it's a lob that the receiver has to stop and wait for. OR... it's just severely overthrown or underthrown. NOT TO FLACCO... Ray Rice is NOT 7 feet tall. In fact, I'm pretty sure no running back in the NFL is 7 feet tall.

Again, all this could have been masked this weekend, and everyone would ignore his bad/mediocre play if he did one simple thing is not turning the ball over. But, he couldn't even do that. If you all still can't see it, I'm worried for you.

You really can't tell me that the Steelers have better play calling, can you? And they don't even really have the threat of a run game. Roethlisberger just makes the plays. Sadly, that big oaf is actually smarter than Flacco and actually understands the game. And you can't tell me he has better pass protection either!

[BenDufusberger]

My four :

1) Cam
2) Our OC
3) Mr. Cameron
4) that guy on the sidelines that talks into the i-hop menu

[Dfence4champs2052]

I agree with all that was said. That loss hurts bad........can't wait until my Steeler co-worker comes in on Thursday to eviscerate me. Yay!

[redrum52]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1324339899' post='914210']
1 Titans
2 Jags
3 Seahawks
4 Chargers
[/quote]


You beat me to it

[Yoonkeem]

Ofcourse Flacco will recieve blame, but i think overall, it was the defense,
and as i hate myself for saying this,
Lewis should keep them motivated, as he isnt the sideline to sideline guy anymore.
We need fresh legs, and we better find them soon if we want to compete in the playoffs.
Ray Lewis is great, no arguments there.
But age is a non-avoidable obstacle that he has been facing this season.
Maybe he'll show up the next game, but without the homefield advantage,
i dont think Lewis will shine bright enough...

just my opinion though,

[ravensfan520]

I believe if we don't win the superbowl this yr it is only because of our qb situation... not saying Tyrod is the answer but Flacco is not. His completion percentage is not much better than 50 percent... not all those are drops or deep passes. Flacco is a game manager and he is managing to give the ball away as much as he is scoring... fumbles/int. We are a lock for the playoffs why not play Tyrod and save Flacco for the playoffs and or see if we need to look at this draft to find a player to become the future... I don't think you can blame Cam for everything like we always do... Flacco is the qb and he is not having a great year... to prove my point just look at Boller he had games where he played great and then he would always fail at the end... just like our current situation and we have the weapons and they are getting open... he is just missing the target...

[frozen joe flacco fan]

You're all wrong! Please don't insult my intelligence. Joe Flacco didn't miss a chip shot field goal that took the wind out of our sails. Joe Flacco is much better than the 14 year journeyman QB who guided us to our 1st SB victory. Joe Flacco threaded the needle through double coverage on his 1st TD pass last night. Joe Flacco wasn't playing Corner Back, was he? Jimmy Smith will be a fine CB in time but it will not happen overnight and he was burned repeatedly last night. The Ravens should have brought in a bona fide CB as soon as Dominque proved he wasn't healthy. The Chargers had something we lacked --- a solid game plan. Their goal was to stop two players and they did it effectively --- they stopped Ray Rice and Terrell Suggs. That was the ball game, folks!!!! When that happens, others on the team need to step up and make plays. Our offense and defense are too dependent on two players. Sad but true. I was totally unimpressed with Lee Evans and Anquan Boldin. Ask yourself this ---- Why was Joe Flacco able to complete passes last year to two "Go To" receivers named Heap and Mason? Could it be that they ran better routes and found seams in the defense/ Who is Joe Flacco's "Go To" receiver this year? Is it a rookie wide receiver, named Smith? As I used to tell my youth football team players, "never assume your teammate will make the tackle; he might not." If it is to be, it is up to me. Those are ten of the shortest but most important words in the English language. Cundiff has no business playing with a left calf injury. Its up to the coaches to know that. Joe's performance last night was lackluster but it wasn't entirely his fault. The Chargers were a desperate team last night and there is nothing more dangerous than a desperate team. Maybe the Ravens organization will wake up and take note of some of their fans' comments. Notwithstanding the above, I still believe we are going Indianapolis. This loss may have been a god send and was definitely a wake up call. Go Ravens!!!

[Ravenslifer]

[quote name='ravensfan520' timestamp='1324346255' post='914457']
I believe if we don't win the superbowl this yr it is only because of our qb situation... not saying Tyrod is the answer but Flacco is not. His completion percentage is not much better than 50 percent... not all those are drops or deep passes. Flacco is a game manager and he is managing to give the ball away as much as he is scoring... fumbles/int. We are a lock for the playoffs why not play Tyrod and save Flacco for the playoffs and or see if we need to look at this draft to find a player to become the future... I don't think you can blame Cam for everything like we always do... Flacco is the qb and he is not having a great year... to prove my point just look at Boller he had games where he played great and then he would always fail at the end... just like our current situation and we have the weapons and they are getting open... he is just missing the target...
[/quote]

Just out of curiosity, what would you call Flacco's season last year? Because Boller never, ever did anything like that. Ever.

[Militant X 1]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1324339899' post='914210']
1 Titans
2 Jags
3 Seahawks
4 Chargers
[/quote]

now that is keeping it real bruh! i couldn't have said it better!

~Mili

[I*Bleed*Purple]

The stopped Suggs, I'll give you that. But our coaching staff stopped Ray Rice...like usual.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

I think Joe had a great season last year. We would have gone to the SB were it not for some less than smart play calling. If Joe Flacco called the play when Troy stripped the ball from him, I beg your pardon. Pittsburgh didn't beat us in that game; we beat ourselves with stupid plays. The long interception Joe threw in the playoff game against the Squealers was even a worse play call. If Pittsburgh is as good as all of the NFL pundits say, what does that make us --- chopped liver? I can see we have a lot of fair weather Ravens fans who are fickle. Go Ravens! Go Niners!!

[nk02442]

[quote name='PurpleDrink' timestamp='1324343920' post='914335']
I would give the Defence a pass on this one but they never made the Chargers punt the ball away.....that is not surpose to happen in the NFL, Never!!! Game was over when they score more then 14 points.

Offence is sooooo bad, cant be because of the lockout, why do our WRers just stop when their done running there routes??? When the play breaks down why cant they come back to the QB to make a play???

And of course your Messiah Joe Flacco....Never have I seen an Elite QB(sarcasm) play sooooo badly as much as him. If you watch the game, Rivers did what you expect an Elite QB to do...MAKE PLAYS. Read the defence and use it to your advantage , put the ball where only your WRers can catch it,but bottom line MAKE PLAYS. The NFL is a passing league, the rules are set up mostly for the QB to get the ball to his WRers without them really getting touched. If this is to hard for a Elite QB ( sarcasm) to do why are you in the NFL?
[/quote]
Our whole offensive scheme is garbage. Cam and John both set the team up for failure. The Air Correl system works when A. you have a good QB and B. You have large, fast recievers who can go up and get the ball. We should have been running the west coast for years and cultivating joe. All of our plays are timing and its easy to throw them off by jamming at the line and playing cover 2 zone. We dont have any recivers who can both get seperation and catch the ball reliably. Our Offensive line is weak and they have trouble both running the ball and in pass pro. Bottom line is the Offensive scheme is set up for failure. In this league you need to get rid of the ball fast and let your athletic recivers (or TE NE) make YAC.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

Antwan Barnes, a former Raven, and others stopped Rice. Jared Gaither, a former Raven, and a double team stopped Terrell. Maybe we taught them too well! PS --- I said our game plan was non-existent. Also, Brian Billick et al did a much better job of half-time adjustments.

[usmccharles]

Ill just say one thing- ray rice 10 carries

I was pissed when we didnt give him the ball on the first drive down on their 30

[nk02442]

[quote name='usmccharles' timestamp='1324351643' post='914965']
Ill just say one thing- ray rice 10 carries

I was pissed when we didnt give him the ball on the first drive down on their 30
[/quote]
Thats what i dont understand.. ray was getting almost 6 yards a carry. At the very least by running the ball we keep rivers off the field and he doesnt score. Game plan was fail and no adjustments.

[Ravenslifer]

[quote name='nk02442' timestamp='1324351296' post='914934']
Our whole offensive scheme is garbage. Cam and John both set the team up for failure. The Air Correl system works when A. you have a good QB and B. You have large, fast recievers who can go up and get the ball. We should have been running the west coast for years and cultivating joe. All of our plays are timing and its easy to throw them off by jamming at the line and playing cover 2 zone. We dont have any recivers who can both get seperation and catch the ball reliably. Our Offensive line is weak and they have trouble both running the ball and in pass pro. Bottom line is the Offensive scheme is set up for failure. In this league you need to get rid of the ball fast and let your athletic recivers (or TE NE) make YAC.
[/quote]

Funnily enough, when Joe had Zorn, one of the biggest West Coast believers in the game, and we didn't have the personnel to play Air Coryell, he played brilliantly.

[usmccharles]

[quote name='nk02442' timestamp='1324351847' post='914986']

Thats what i dont understand.. ray was getting almost 6 yards a carry. At the very least by running the ball we keep rivers off the field and he doesnt score. Game plan was fail and no adjustments.
[/quote]

Yea...suprise suprise

[Ravenslifer]

[quote name='usmccharles' timestamp='1324351643' post='914965']
Ill just say one thing- ray rice 10 carries

I was pissed when we didnt give him the ball on the first drive down on their 30
[/quote]

You know what's even worse? This game, Rice averaged 5.7 yards a carry, and got the ball 8 times. In Seattle, he averaged 5.4 yards a carry, and got the ball 5 times.

[usmccharles]

[quote name='Ravenslifer' timestamp='1324352728' post='915039']


You know what's even worse? This game, Rice averaged 5.7 yards a carry, and got the ball 8 times. In Seattle, he averaged 5.4 yards a carry, and got the ball 5 times.
[/quote]

Well considering all our losses hea gotten the ball a insanely small amount but yet thats not adressed, so frustrating