Have You Lost Confidence in Ray Rice?

[NaveSenrag]

[quote name='The Raven' timestamp='1357838388' post='1300594']
As a rusher, I'm beginning to lose faith in him. He just doesn't run with any sense of authority. He goes down easily, he tap dances to the hole, and has a tendency to disappear several games a year.

That being said, he leaves me in awe and amazement as a receiving back. The things he does in the open field are mind blowing. He's truly remarkable in the open field.

His blocking has improved a little bit from last year; I'll give him that.

As a whole, no. I haven't lost faith in him, but I would like him to be the explosive runner that he was in 2009. He hasn't run like that consistently since 2009.
[/quote]
Heh. I remember last year, Rice tried to pick up a blitzer and when the guy tried to jump over Rice to get Flacco, Rice just moved out of the way instead of trying to block.

[Gordo52]

I've gained some. I have a feeling he's gonna go off because he wants redemption.

[VA_Fan]

I voted option #2. I just don't think he is that good at running the ball. It seems if he gets a big run once or twice in a game, people forget all the other plays that be barely gets anywhere. He falls down way too easy, definitely not the answer to our short yardage situations.

He does a good job at catching the ball . But any quick RB would be a mis-match for a LB so I really don't know. My wife can't stand him since she saw that video of him mouthing off to Vonte Leach last year. lol

Bottom Line: I think we over payed him.

[blitzking33]

I still have the same confidence is Rice as an all-purpose back. Rice is WILD in open space, he can move one way and fake you out the other. He can take a short dump off pass and take it the distance, but what he doesn't do (IMHO) is [b]run[/b] more effective than Pierce.

Much confidence in Ray for the elite all around RB he is.
Much respect and confidence in Bernard for the authority he runs behind his pads.

[ThePurpleWall]

i dont understand why media and people here are making a big deal out of it,we won the game,Ray Rice was most likely the closest to Ray Lewis,give him a break.

[RavensDE]

What have you done for me lately?

Of course I have faith. Find me a more productive back over the last 4 or 5 years. Other than Adrian Peterson and maybe, Arian Foster depending on your rubric, Ray has been the best. He's the best offensive player on his team. It's crazy that we see another player do well and these questions pop up. He's elite and he's consistent. I love Pierce but wait until he's the focus of defensive gameplans before trying to make an apples to apples comparison.

[flaccopoe]

Keep Rice as the starter unless the situation deteriorates, but give Pierce more runs. He's a threat unto himself.

[RobFuseRaven]

[quote name='VA_Fan' timestamp='1357878593' post='1301378']
I voted option #2. I just don't think he is that good at running the ball. It seems if he gets a big run once or twice in a game, people forget all the other plays that be barely gets anywhere. He falls down way too easy, definitely not the answer to our short yardage situations.

He does a good job at catching the ball . But any quick RB would be a mis-match for a LB so I really don't know. My wife can't stand him since she saw that video of him mouthing off to Vonte Leach last year. lol

Bottom Line: I think we over payed him.
[/quote]

I think it's more than 2 big plays. He is a playmaker and has the potential to change the game and change momentum. Sometimes it seems like he's not getting yards because teams gameplan for him. I noticed when we put in Pierce and he gets good yardage, Rice gets good yardage after him. It really is a good one-two punch. Rice is really crucial to dump offs when Flacco has nowhere else to go.

As for Rice mouthing off to Leach, these guys are really close like brothers. Brothers fight, but at the end of the day, they always have each other's backs.

[A Fish Called Yanda]

[quote name='jaege' timestamp='1357868669' post='1301178']
Wow, you really have to be bored to create these foolish polls.
[/quote]

Why? There's been a lot of hating on Rice lately, and I wanted to see the general consensus of things.

Just because you have such a strong opinion (even though you failed to share that with us), doesn't mean that everyone else agreed.

Perhaps it's time to go look up the word "forum" in a dictionary.

[izvoodoo]

[quote name='Mr. Irrelevant' timestamp='1357863954' post='1301091']
Oh hell yeah. No questions asked. If Pierce works on his reciving skills, look out
[/quote]
How many carries do you think Pierce should be getting.

[blitzking33]

[quote name='izvoodoo' timestamp='1357916624' post='1301632']
How many carries do you think Pierce should be getting.
[/quote]
12-15 carries/game

[edreedfromtheu]

[quote name='terpsnation' timestamp='1357827919' post='1300460']
Let me start out this thread by saying that[b] I have not lost any confidence in Ray Rice[/b].

Looking over the boards, I see a lot of people hating on RR27, and announcing that Pierce is the new coming of Jesus, and that we should be feeding him the ball as much as possible.

So, on that note, I wanted to start a thread to see if people have, or are beginning to lose any of their confidence in our running back.

I rewatched the entire Colts game last night, and to be honest, I can't really see where the Ray Rice hating is coming from. Everyone seems to forget the play in the end of the first half where Ray Rice ran for 47 yards, ending up on the Colts 2 yard line, that set up our first touchdown of the game. This clearly swung the momentum towards us (even though our defense allowed the Colts to march down the field and score a FG on the subsequent drive) and without it, I think the game could have ended very differently.

So, anyway. If you have lost confidence in Rice, why? One big reason could be his 2 fumbles (even though one was incorrectly called as being recovered by Indy), but other than that, I don't really see any reason for all the hate.


EDIT: Also, for clarity's sake, I voted for "No - You're Stupid". I guess it's going to be one of those self-deprecating days.
[/quote]


I assume you're directing this post at me.

I never said "Pierce was the second coming of Jesus" or anything like that.

I'm also not losing confidence in Rice. I've stated what I've said for years... he's just not that fast, can't break tackles, and doesn't have the initial burst that gets RBs through holes quickly.

These are all attributes you'd like a back to have. Pierce seems to be better in all these areas, in my opinion, and I think giving him more carries helps the offense as a whole.

These opinions have nothing to do with Rice's fumbles last week. I've maintained this stance for a long time before Rice ever got his new contract, and said that RB is the easiest spot to fill with talent because there's so much of it out there and the NFL rules have really diminished the value of running the ball.

What Rice is... is a very good receiver and usually has great vision and usually makes the right cut once he's in the open field. I just wish he had some more speed to finish those runs with TDs.

In case you haven't noticed, the offense just works better with Rice losing carries to Pierce. To say the Ravens should be force-feeding Rice so he gets X amount of carries is just foolish. I believe they should be running the ball more and using the backs more... but Pierce should definitely be getting a share of that.

And my ultimate point to your question... if some team was looking for a back, with all that hype Ray Rice has built up through the media and fans, he'd probably garner a very nice draft pick or player or combination of the two. You replace him with a cheaper option, and Pierce is the new starter. If you're about continually improving the team, you have to at least consider that fact. It does no good to let him go for nothing once his trade value has diminished.

Ray Rice has produced nice numbers, but I'm not convinced the Ravens wouldn't get the same production or better out of many other backs. If you can improve other areas of the team, and get the same production from that position, it's just a smart move.

[Guest Mr. Nobody]

just make sure you do go and vote for little Ray [url="http://2012playoftheyear.nfl.com/"]http://2012playoftheyear.nfl.com/[/url]

[A Fish Called Yanda]

[quote name='edreedfromtheu' timestamp='1357917277' post='1301639']
I assume you're directing this post at me.
[/quote]

Sorry - my post wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Just from my observations of the board in general. You may have been one of the people posting about losing confidence in Rice, but I didn't create this thread because of you specifically

[izvoodoo]

[quote name='blitzking33' timestamp='1357916919' post='1301635']
12-15 carries/game
[/quote]
Agreed, I feel like it should be split.

[jaege]

[quote name='terpsnation' timestamp='1357915383' post='1301609']
Why? There's been a lot of hating on Rice lately, and I wanted to see the general consensus of things.

Just because you have such a strong opinion (even though you failed to share that with us), doesn't mean that everyone else agreed.

Perhaps it's time to go look up the word "forum" in a dictionary.
[/quote]


Actually, I did share. I went with "no you're stupid". While that is a bit of a misnomer. I am not completely sure you are stupid, but the poll certainly is. The "hating" on Rice is either from Steeler's fans that are posing as real fans, by bandwagoners who do not know the game of football and just watch with their "spouses" or by people who are just surprised by those two mistakes, and not really "hating" at all, so much as expressing confusion. It is seriously doubtful that anyone has really lost faith in our most productive player. Unless they have lost faith in the team.