Reads And Reflections....and A Poll

[Slick]

I know I've been rather quiet lately around on the forums, but I'm still here checkin' in on what's going on. I must say I've been more impressed with this Ravens team than any other before it (besides the 2000 team of course). Thus, I've been digging around the net looking for the rare quality articles concerning the Ravens. What I found was pretty impressive, as many analysts and "experts" are beginning to hop on the bandwagon. This guy even has us going 11-5, ousting the Steelers for the title (who he says will go to 10-6)

link: [url="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/80436-looking-ahead-afc-north"]http://bleacherreport.com/articles/80436-l...ahead-afc-north[/url]

If that isn't good enough, then check this: apparently if we beats the Giants, then ESPN will hop on Harbaugh's bandwagon and the Ravens will actually get some serious recognition.

link: [url="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/81046-led-by-coach-harbaugh-baltimore-ravens-shocking-nfl-world"]http://bleacherreport.com/articles/81046-l...cking-nfl-world[/url]


It does kinda stink that people are catching on that something special is forming in Baltimore, but at the same time, it feels good to finally be able to say something positive about our offense and have fans from other teams actually agree with you. If we do beat the Giants, I think we will finally hit the spotlight. If we don't, we will have to wait to beat Philly or Dallas for anybody to take us seriously. We definitely have what it takes to be a play-off level team if we aren't there already. With the rapidity that the offense is maturing, and the youth of the offense in general, we have a chance to be a tought opponent for defensive coordinators to game-plan for years to come.

You can't really say that Harbaugh turned this team upside-down. If that were the case, our defense would be horrid and our offense unbeatable. Instead, I'd say that Harbaugh has turned this team into a family. Everybody respects one another and works hard day in and day out to give this team the best chance to win come game day. Nobody is being selfish and speaking out against what's going on, and everybody is filling in the roles that they are supposed to play. With the way this season is going, I would not be surprised if we make it into the playoffs, though I'd rather not jinx our chances of going further.

As for the idea of wether Harbaugh can turn this team into a dynasty, I think it is very possible, though my personal opinion is that this year won't be the beginning of it. I would love for us to go all the way and win the big one but I don't see it happening just yet. If we address the issues we have at certain points in our team without drastically downgrading other areas then we have a legitimate shot at being downright scary for a good number of years. With Ray sticking around and a new offense emerging, he might get a few more rings before he gets into the HOF.

Anyways, I suppose I'll end with a little thought that occured to me. The Ravens' Dominant "D" was crafted with Ray Lewis as the centerpiece, and our drafting of him created something special for us on that side of the ball. Maybe our 18th pick this past year will be the beginning of as many years of success with our offense as we've had on D. If Ray sticks around a few more years and Flacco continues to improve week in and week out, the Ravens could seriously become one of the hottest teams in the NFl, if not the hottest.

I can't wait.

[Shadowalker]

I wanted to reply because I thought the way you set this post up is great and you deserve recognition. I and everyone else on this forum reiterates the "one game at a time" philosophy so I will strongly support it.

[Slick]

[quote name='Shadowalker' post='89195' date='Nov 13 2008, 10:37 AM']I wanted to reply because I thought the way you set this post up is great and you deserve recognition. I and everyone else on this forum reiterates the "one game at a time" philosophy so I will strongly support it.[/quote]

I appreciate that. but yeah I've been slackin' on my posts in here, lots of stuff going on with work, college, etc.

I shouldn't have been up til 2am looking up Ravens articles that night with work at 7am the next morning, but I'm just so stoked that the Ravens are showing legitimate progress in the offense. With a [i]rookie[/i] at QB no less. If he keeps it up, and we give him some more weapons, our offense may steal the show from the defense (if that's possible).

[Slick]

I just found another Pro-Raven article on NFL.com too, Vic Carucci likes "Shane Falco" and writes about how Flacco won the team over.

link: [url="http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80c7c546&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true"]http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8...mp;confirm=true[/url]

It's awesome hearing that Joe isn't a dull guy off the field. Apparently he cracks jokes on third-and-long...then gets the first.

Now [i]that's[/i] poise.