Here's my bone to pick

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Didn't read the whole post(whew!), but if you recall we weren't looking like a SB team during the regular season in 2012. Give it a chance, there's a lot of talent on this squad that could start to gel at the right time.

I agree totally give it a chance. Your right no one really thought we were true contenders that season.

 

Going to have to disagree about the defense being anti clutch. After all they did give us the ball back at the end of the browns game and forced a miraculous fumble to give our offense a shot at getting us into overtime. If anything it's our O that lacks being clutch. 

I have to agree with you first against the Bengals for the defense to hold them to 15 points for the most of the game well the offense did not give the defense a rest and really did not even show up for the first 2 1/2 quarters. Then against the Colts and their red hot offense the defense kept us in that game and kept giving the offense a chance to work but once again the offense just seemed to sputter at best for most of the game.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

lol......Reading some of this stuff you would think the Ravens have been a bottom dweller for the last 10 years.

I think you're missing the point, dude. Its OK to critique the team's lackluster performance in the

hopes that they can enhance it in future games. If they lose on Sunday in TB, we could be in big

trouble the rest of the way, Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until the good gets better and the better gets best. Bottom line: Do you think that this is the best they can play with the talent they

have? I don't think so.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

You said I couldn't tell the difference in talent...which I pretty  much spelled out in my original post. I'm just confused as to what you were implying...you havne't said anything I disagree with tho... just seemed to think I wasn't aware of things I am aware of

 

 

I don't mind losing...it's how we lose. We're so inconsistent. I predicted a loss to the Colts. I didn't fathom the offense wetting themselves for 2 and a half quarters while the defense forced 4 turnovers. And losses like these aren't hard to come by. 

 

Joe is the face of the franchise, with the big money contract. Where your money is, that should be winning you games. So for it's been up and down, a couple bright spots this year but also some more of the same struggles. That was the point hidden in my rant. Joe's paid to lead this team, to win games, and for his part he plays his butt off...but we don't seem to be helping him enough.

 

And I know you can't just surround him with All Pro talent, but between things we can control (resigning players, drafting and signing new ones) and things we can't (injuries, starters struggling) we're not doing him as many favors as some think we are.

I was just pointing out that you seem confused about why we are so inconsistent. It's not rocket

science. Gary Kubiak expected to have two more offensive weapons in his arsenal --- Pitta & Rice.

They're gone. That being said, the players Kubiak has on the field have to play better. By your own

admission, you predicted a loss to the Colts. I said I did not like the matchup for a number of

reasons but I thought we could still win it in a tough struggle. On a day when our defense forced 4

TOs, their defense forced 3. Had we not turned the ball over 3 times and had the O-line given Joe

better protection on the 4th & goal play in the 1st half, we could have won against a team that is

arguably a playoff contender. I absolutely agree with your assertion that we're not doing Joe any

favors. I think we may be on the same side of this debate. Too many of Joe Flacco's detractors are

willing to give him all of the blame for our inconsistency when we lose and none of the credit when

we win. There is only one solution to silence his critics: Work ---> Success ---> Confidence --->

Winning

Unfortunately, just when it seemed that most of our O-line problems had been resolved, injuries have

forced Castillo & company to go with a line that resembles a patchwork quilt. Prior to the Indianapolis game, the O-line had done a pretty decent job of protecting Joe. Indy sacked him 3 times and would have had more except for our offensive holding.

[3-4ravdef509]

I was just pointing out that you seem confused about why we are so inconsistent. It's not rocket

science. Gary Kubiak expected to have two more offensive weapons in his arsenal --- Pitta & Rice.

They're gone. That being said, the players Kubiak has on the field have to play better. By your own

admission, you predicted a loss to the Colts. I said I did not like the matchup for a number of

reasons but I thought we could still win it in a tough struggle. On a day when our defense forced 4

TOs, their defense forced 3. Had we not turned the ball over 3 times and had the O-line given Joe

better protection on the 4th & goal play in the 1st half, we could have won against a team that is

arguably a playoff contender. I absolutely agree with your assertion that we're not doing Joe any

favors. I think we may be on the same side of this debate. Too many of Joe Flacco's detractors are

willing to give him all of the blame for our inconsistency when we lose and none of the credit when

we win. There is only one solution to silence his critics: Work ---> Success ---> Confidence --->

Winning

Unfortunately, just when it seemed that most of our O-line problems had been resolved, injuries have

forced Castillo & company to go with a line that resembles a patchwork quilt. Prior to the Indianapolis game, the O-line had done a pretty decent job of protecting Joe. Indy sacked him 3 times and would have had more except for our offensive holding.

We are on the sanre side. I understand our struggles, my confusion was mainly over the FO and some of their patterns and decisions. And overall venting.

It's one thing to lose a game, it's another to lose because of an embarrassing performance

[redrum52]

That's a myth though. Its not a coincidence that the two games we scored the least amount of points (and subsequently lost) were also the two games where the offense has the LARGEST number of possessions (12).

Also not coincidentally is the two games where we seemed to "dominate time of possession" and the two games where we were our best on offense (PIT and CAR) were the two games where we had the SMALLEST number of possessions (8).

For some reason, fans have actually started believing that because the defense can't get off the field, that the offense has less opportunities to score. Yet statistically, thats highly inaccurate. We've actually had MORE opportunities to score in those games... the offense just simply hasn't done it. In the Colts game, we possessed the ball 12 times with the intent of scoring. Our average drive time length in those games was less than 2 minutes of game clock.

That has literally nothing to do with the Ravens defense whatsoever. That is 100% on the offense. IF it were true that the defenses lack of getting critical stops actually led to the offense getting less opportunities to score, then I would agree with your sentiment. But in 2014, the exact opposite is occurring.

You responding to my above post shows how delusional some fans here are becuase you really believed I meant that. Keep forgetting sarcasm doesn't always travel well through text. I completely agree with what you said though. There is no way the defense should be held at fault and not enough people hold this anemic offense responsible for its failures.

[3-4ravdef509]

You responding to my above post shows how delusional some fans here are becuase you really believed I meant that. Keep forgetting sarcasm doesn't always travel well through text. I completely agree with what you said though. There is no way the defense should be held at fault and not enough people hold this anemic offense responsible for its failures.

Lol...I picked up on the joke, but forum posts sometimes will get ya

[frozen joe flacco fan]

We are on the sanre side. I understand our struggles, my confusion was mainly over the FO and some of their patterns and decisions. And overall venting.

It's one thing to lose a game, it's another to lose because of an embarrassing performance

Yep. Sometimes the decision-making process of the FO defies logic and is based more on emotion IMO. It is confusing. For me, the Cincinnati loss was embarrassing because of our performance in the 1st half, i.e., 15-0. We played poorly in the 1st half of the Indy game too, i.e., 6-0, but the score could have easily been 6-3 them or 7-6 in our favor. I think our head coach often seems desperate. We

could have won both games. I think losing a close game is more frustrating than losing by a blowout.

Go Ravens & go O's!

[rmcjacket23]

It is also no coincidence that those 2 games we had none or one time starting field position for our offense outside our own 20.

 

Colts game - once, started at our own 41. Started 6 times inside our own 20. 5 times at our own 20.

 

Bengals game- twice outside our 20. (40, 30). Once at Cin 41. One an INT, one a FG, one a missed FG. 5 times inside our own 20. 4 times at our own 20.

 

And that is directly related to the defense being unable to get off the field and allowing teams to march unabated between the 20s.

 

For comparison:

Steelers - 4 times outside our 20.

Cleveland - 5

Carolina - 3 but none inside our 20.

 

That doesn't even figure in how many times we started inside our own 10 in those losses.

Thats great, but the average punter in this league is getting around 50 yards net on a punt. So even if they were to punt from their own 20, we still wouldn't likely have field position beyond our own 30 to 35 yard line.

 

We are possessing the ball for about 2 minutes on offense in our losses. Regardless of where we start from, whether its the 20, 30, 40, or even 50 yard line, that's not going to get it done.

[rmcjacket23]

My interpretation was based on Joes wealth portfollio which should have considered Boldin as he (and others) helped Joe attain his lofty status. I did not address an exodus of players. Boldin was pipe lined after Joe got his.

In 013 we could have made the playoffs if we won the last two games.  This year, signing SSmith was a bonus from nowhere..

Easy to say when you're a fan. In reality, no person in the real world is taking less money so that somebody they like can stick around. That's just not realistic.

 

Boldin's made plenty of money in his career, and Joe hasn't. Joe was vastly underpaid throughout his entire rookie contract, and he earned the right to name his price.

 

Frankly, I'd argue that it was Boldin who should have just taken the pay cut. Remember, at no point during his entire regular season tender with the Ravens did he play like a $6M a year WR. Not a single fan complained about the fact that he wasn't brought back (even when fans knew this a year in advance) until we got to the playoffs, when he stepped up.

 

The idea of Boldin not being brought back for 2013 was addressed in the media multiple times even before the 2012 season started, so fans can't claim they were surprised by this.

[ravensdfan]

Thats great, but the average punter in this league is getting around 50 yards net on a punt. So even if they were to punt from their own 20, we still wouldn't likely have field position beyond our own 30 to 35 yard line.

 

We are possessing the ball for about 2 minutes on offense in our losses. Regardless of where we start from, whether its the 20, 30, 40, or even 50 yard line, that's not going to get it done.

 

 

Offense: 12 in TOP

Defense : 21st in TOP

 

'nuff said.

 

Perhaps the issue of TOP is the defense's own fault. At least, judging by ranking.

 

The 30 and 35 is a far cry from our 4 and 5. That is just excuses for their ineptness at getting off the field and trying to discount the importance of field position.

[HoldingCall]

First up.  You did that on your phone.  Bonus points for that.  We could have kept a few players but the most ridiculous move was pipe lining Anquan to SF.  You know, Joe could have sliced a couple mil to keep Anquan.  I mean whats the wealth difference between 121 and 115 mil???. He still ate cheap chicken tenders

lol, true!

[HoldingCall]

Not really. it's not like Flacco had this elite receiver to pass to for the majority of his career and Anquan Boldin was not a number  one receiver in our offense and if anything it was Torrey Smith whom was getting most of the attention from opposing defenses.  I don't see how any one can really say that we have giving Flacco nothing after his big contract  because I litterally saw us last year trade for pretty solid left tackle  and re-signed  him, We traded for a center and gave up fifth round pick for him whom's playing pretty well so far, we re-signed a pretty good tight end in Dennis Pitta whom we all know is Flacco favorite target, We re-signed Jacoby Jones whom was playing pretty well last year and is one of the best kick returners in the league which is a major plus for a quarterback/overall offense, we signed Steve Smith whom clearly not playing like 35 year old receiver, we signed Owen Daniels whom clearly is a upgrade from Ed Dickson and Dallas Clark, and  the most important  thing we ever did which we probably should had done years ago was to get offensive coordinator that can really help excel Joe Flacco game .

I agree with this. The front office has done a lot, though maybe not exactly the way some wanted. Also, Pita and Rice are unfortunate situations that changed the offense. It's going to take a little time to fully adapt to those changes.

 

This weekend's game should be interesting.

[3-4ravdef509]

I agree with this. The front office has done a lot, though maybe not exactly the way some wanted. Also, Pita and Rice are unfortunate situations that changed the offense. It's going to take a little time to fully adapt to those changes.

This weekend's game should be interesting.

Both heartbreaking situations...

Still, you'd think we could manage to not look so pedestrian for these long stretches....and one this year happened home where we usually play well all the time

[redrum52]

Both heartbreaking situations...

Still, you'd think we could manage to not look so pedestrian for these long stretches....and one this year happened home where we usually play well all the time

I can't blame that first half against the Bengals on Joe. There were too many dropped passes that game. He could've played better the second, but I do give him blame for the Colts. I know the O line didn't do their job, but he was still getting rid of the ball too slowly and was inaccurate. He also wasn't able to make anything happen when he did actually have time.

[HoldingCall]

Both heartbreaking situations...

Still, you'd think we could manage to not look so pedestrian for these long stretches....and one this year happened home where we usually play well all the time

Agreed! Sometimes, I think we just need to give the opposing team credit for keeping them off their game plan. Hopefully, they will learn from it and be better prepared if the opportunity to play them comes again this season or post-season.

[HoldingCall]

I can't blame that first half against the Bengals on Joe. There were too many dropped passes that game. He could've played better the second, but I do give him blame for the Colts. I know the O line didn't do their job, but he was still getting rid of the ball too slowly and was inaccurate. He also wasn't able to make anything happen when he did actually have time.

 

I can't blame that first half against the Bengals on Joe. There were too many dropped passes that game. He could've played better the second, but I do give him blame for the Colts. I know the O line didn't do their job, but he was still getting rid of the ball too slowly and was inaccurate. He also wasn't able to make anything happen when he did actually have time.

Even though there were opportunities to win, I see the Colts game as a loss caused by all three phases of the game.

[redrum52]

Even though there were opportunities to win, I see the Colts game as a loss caused by all three phases of the game.

I get ST and offense, but I don't see how anyone can blame the defense for that loss.

[3-4ravdef509]

I can't blame that first half against the Bengals on Joe. There were too many dropped passes that game. He could've played better the second, but I do give him blame for the Colts. I know the O line didn't do their job, but he was still getting rid of the ball too slowly and was inaccurate. He also wasn't able to make anything happen when he did actually have time.

Well the Colts game was a perfect storm. The offensive line was leaky, their corners shut down our receivers and Daleks is a serviceable back up for Pitta but nowhere near as athletic.

For his part Joe didn't play well either though.

[jdynamite]

That is a long post. Some points are cool to discuss like how both offense and defense units appear anemic at times. I agree the Bengal & colt game was eerily similar to most of last season offense playing pathetic for most of the game finally have a spark but the defense no longer holds up. Or the defense gives up a long drive at the worst time.

I do not share your feelings on keeping the same team following the Super Bowl. Because it's not like we were a dominate team. Our defensive was terrible most of that year and finished middle of the pack. We got hot at the perfect time. ( looking back on last offseason sure we all would have liked to have Boldin but Pitta's injury still happens, Gino G still replaces Birk horribly. ).

Also if we kept Boldin we still wouldn't have fielded the same team due to the Dolphins and Browns overpaying Ellerbe and Kruger.

[3-4ravdef509]

That is a long post. Some points are cool to discuss like how both offense and defense units appear anemic at times. I agree the Bengal & colt game was eerily similar to most of last season offense playing pathetic for most of the game finally have a spark but the defense no longer holds up. Or the defense gives up a long drive at the worst time.

I do not share your feelings on keeping the same team following the Super Bowl. Because it's not like we were a dominate team. Our defensive was terrible most of that year and finished middle of the pack. We got hot at the perfect time. ( looking back on last offseason sure we all would have liked to have Boldin but Pitta's injury still happens, Gino G still replaces Birk horribly. ).

Also if we kept Boldin we still wouldn't have fielded the same team due to the Dolphins and Browns overpaying Ellerbe and Kruger.

Didn't mean we should have kept all the same players. I was alluding to the fact that we tried doing that the first time we win a Super Bowl and it didn't work, so Ozzie tried doing differently this time. Some of it was, as you said, unavoidable. But we didn't seem to make an effort to rebuild the offense, and seemingly out more effort into the defense (which didn't pan out all that well, only Canty and Doom [who we got basically on accident] are still here from the players we got).

Basically I just feel as most of our money is in our qb, he should be the face of the franchise and the diving force of the team, the reason we win games. Hopefully we continue to build around him and he continues to progress in this system. I don't expect perfection, but pathetic outings like the Colts and Bengals games shouldn't happen. There's no reason we can't score at least 21 points a game. That's at least somewhat respectable.

Today was great, but I just wonder how much of it was us and how much was how bad they were.

[ravensdan]

Didn't mean we should have kept all the same players. I was alluding to the fact that we tried doing that the first time we win a Super Bowl and it didn't work, so Ozzie tried doing differently this time. Some of it was, as you said, unavoidable. But we didn't seem to make an effort to rebuild the offense, and seemingly out more effort into the defense (which didn't pan out all that well, only Canty and Doom [who we got basically on accident] are still here from the players we got).

Basically I just feel as most of our money is in our qb, he should be the face of the franchise and the diving force of the team, the reason we win games. Hopefully we continue to build around him and he continues to progress in this system. I don't expect perfection, but pathetic outings like the Colts and Bengals games shouldn't happen. There's no reason we can't score at least 21 points a game. That's at least somewhat respectable.

Today was great, but I just wonder how much of it was us and how much was how bad they were.

21 points every game? You do realize this is the NFL. Every team is going to lose some games. And even the best offenses will put up less than 21 points some times. A quick look at the packers, saints, broncos. They all scored less than 21 points in their losses this year.

[3-4ravdef509]

21 points every game? You do realize this is the NFL. Every team is going to lose some games. And even the best offenses will put up less than 21 points some times. A quick look at the packers, saints, broncos. They all scored less than 21 points in their losses this year.

And that does happen, and when it does you either call it a rough outing for the offense, or they were facing av tremendous d. There aren't too many tremendous defenses anymore, usually with us it falls in the former category. A good offense on it's misty average day usually scores sty least 20, when it doesn't something wasn't normal

[EricH]

You do realize our offense and defense are both ranked better this year than that of the SB season?

In fact the SB team was a team that was underperforming during the season and then caught fire in the playoffs. A season which included a 1:1,000,000 catch against the Broncos and a 1:999,999 run by Rice against the Chargers.

[3-4ravdef509]

You do realize our offense and defense are both ranked better this year than that of the SB season?

In fact the SB team was a team that was underperforming during the season and then caught fire in the playoffs. A season which included a 1:1,000,000 catch against the Broncos and a 1:999,999 run by Rice against the Chargers.

So far we've done well, but it's too soon to tell if we're as good as we seem it if the teams we've faced were just that bad or unprepared. We've looked so bad on offense for 6 out of 8 total quarters in our losses, that I still pause a bit when celebrating our success. Hopefully we've built some confidence up and with our offensive line hopefully soon back to full strength in the coming weeks we'll see some more good performances.

[Tank 92]

I think you're missing the point, dude. Its OK to critique the team's lackluster performance in thehopes that they can enhance it in future games. If they lose on Sunday in TB, we could be in bigtrouble the rest of the way, Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until the good gets better and the better gets best. Bottom line: Do you think that this is the best they can play with the talent theyhave? I don't think so.

Yeah, whatever. Been out of town for a few days...what's your view now? Seems like they did OK TB. lol

[callahan09]

Well the Colts game was a perfect storm. The offensive line was leaky, their corners shut down our receivers and Daleks is a serviceable back up for Pitta but nowhere near as athletic.

For his part Joe didn't play well either though.

But seriously, Joe doesn't deserve any blame against the Colts in my opinion.

I've been of the opinion since early 2009 that this kid can play a hell of a game of football at the quarterback position. It's a myth that the likes of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning don't need receivers and pass protection to carve up defenses, because they do. When Flacco's had protection and his weapons get open and catch the ball, Flacco carves up defenses with the the best of them.

Against the Colts, it was yet another perfect storm of the pass rush being in his face and harassing him all game long, and the receivers doing him no favors either. Also didn't help that for some reason Kubiak couldn't an answer with his play-calling. Let's face it, the Ravens and Kubiak can't win in Indianapolis. Some day that could change, but it's been that way forever, and it obviously didn't let up in that game this season, and that's just the way it went. Kubiak has great offenses, the Ravens have a great offense this year, and have had great offenses in the past (particularly 2006), but playing in Indianapolis, both the Ravens and Kubiak's offenses in their respective time in the NFL, always makes the Colts defenses, which aren't always great, look like the 2000 Ravens or '85 Bears. It's just what it is. Not sure I believe there is an explanation for it. Maybe they're in our head, maybe it's just coincidence, but whatever the case, this game this season was another tick in the timeline of that history, they got through our O-line and harassed Joe from jump, they covered our receivers perfectly, and there were a lot of mental mistakes and lack of adjustments throughout from all players and coaches, and so it was a bad game, not a bad game by Joe, but a bad game by the offense.

This is what I will say without a doubt: I don't see Joe Flacco just simply *have a bad game*. The offense has a bad game, and those are the games where Flacco is ineffective, but I see the entire unit faltering and I think to myself, how is a quarterback supposed to look good and make plays when the entire unit is playing like garbage? I honestly don't even think it's possible. They always go hand in hand. If Flacco has a bad day at the office, you can look at the O-line and say "He had no protection", you can look at the receivers and say "They didn't get open, they didn't make plays," and you can look at the coaches and say "Why didn't we do this instead? Why didn't we adjust, since this wasn't working?"

I know there are Flacco haters here who see people like me as Flacco apologists, but you can't convince me that Flacco is part of the problem in a game like that one against the Colts. I analyze the game, and I just don't see it. I see a guy who is put in a position to fail by having all the pieces around him failing, and I know that when everybody else is doing a halfway decent job, Flacco can work magic as good as any of them.

On the bright side, this season, so far we're averaging over a touchdown more points scored per game than we did last season. 20.0 last season, versus 27.3 this season. Huge improvement, to this point.

[3-4ravdef509]

But seriously, Joe doesn't deserve any blame against the Colts in my opinion.

I've been of the opinion since early 2009 that this kid can play a hell of a game of football at the quarterback position. It's a myth that the likes of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning don't need receivers and pass protection to carve up defenses, because they do. When Flacco's had protection and his weapons get open and catch the ball, Flacco carves up defenses with the the best of them.

Against the Colts, it was yet another perfect storm of the pass rush being in his face and harassing him all game long, and the receivers doing him no favors either. Also didn't help that for some reason Kubiak couldn't an answer with his play-calling. Let's face it, the Ravens and Kubiak can't win in Indianapolis. Some day that could change, but it's been that way forever, and it obviously didn't let up in that game this season, and that's just the way it went. Kubiak has great offenses, the Ravens have a great offense this year, and have had great offenses in the past (particularly 2006), but playing in Indianapolis, both the Ravens and Kubiak's offenses in their respective time in the NFL, always makes the Colts defenses, which aren't always great, look like the 2000 Ravens or '85 Bears. It's just what it is. Not sure I believe there is an explanation for it. Maybe they're in our head, maybe it's just coincidence, but whatever the case, this game this season was another tick in the timeline of that history, they got through our O-line and harassed Joe from jump, they covered our receivers perfectly, and there were a lot of mental mistakes and lack of adjustments throughout from all players and coaches, and so it was a bad game, not a bad game by Joe, but a bad game by the offense.

This is what I will say without a doubt: I don't see Joe Flacco just simply *have a bad game*. The offense has a bad game, and those are the games where Flacco is ineffective, but I see the entire unit faltering and I think to myself, how is a quarterback supposed to look good and make plays when the entire unit is playing like garbage? I honestly don't even think it's possible. They always go hand in hand. If Flacco has a bad day at the office, you can look at the O-line and say "He had no protection", you can look at the receivers and say "They didn't get open, they didn't make plays," and you can look at the coaches and say "Why didn't we do this instead? Why didn't we adjust, since this wasn't working?"

I know there are Flacco haters here who see people like me as Flacco apologists, but you can't convince me that Flacco is part of the problem in a game like that one against the Colts. I analyze the game, and I just don't see it. I see a guy who is put in a position to fail by having all the pieces around him failing, and I know that when everybody else is doing a halfway decent job, Flacco can work magic as good as any of them.

On the bright side, this season, so far we're averaging over a touchdown more points scored per game than we did last season. 20.0 last season, versus 27.3 this season. Huge improvement, to this point.

 

I'm a big Doctor Who fan, so I guess that explains the stray Dalek...lol

 

I'm also a big Joe Flacco fan - he's my favorite player by far and I defend him so passionately sometimes my wife gets healous LOL.

 

What you and I said are in agreement - it was a perfect storm of things that led us to lose against the Colts. Even if Joe played better in spite of those things we would have been hard pressed to win. But there were a couple times, like the interception he threw, where nothing around him impacted his decision making and he just flat out missed. It happens. Doesn't make Flacco any less of a qb, everyone misses throws. Joe's a great qb, he and the offense had a bad game against the Colts.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

Yeah, whatever. Been out of town for a few days...what's your view now? Seems like they did OK TB. lol

They took the constructive criticism from their coaches and fans to heart and played up to their

capability. There is no reason they can't play that way every week. That's my viewpoint. There is no

excuse for not playing that way every week. Guys who ordinarily don't get to play stepped up and played well, e.g., Aiken, Campanero, Juice & Urschel. Hurst and Wagner did OK too. I think you'd agree it was a team victory led by an elite QB. Now, they have raised the bar to a new level. Sustained high level performance is the measure of a great team. I have no reason to think this was an anomaly.

Aside from two very good returns, Jacoby Jones had some problems catching the ball again but I think he is still a valuable part of the team.

[rmcjacket23]

They took the constructive criticism from their coaches and fans to heart and played up to their

capability. There is no reason they can't play that way every week. That's my viewpoint. There is no

excuse for not playing that way every week. Guys who ordinarily don't get to play stepped up and played well, e.g., Aiken, Campanero, Juice & Urschel. Hurst and Wagner did OK too. I think you'd agree it was a team victory led by an elite QB. Now, they have raised the bar to a new level. Sustained high level performance is the measure of a great team. I have no reason to think this was an anomaly.

Aside from two very good returns, Jacoby Jones had some problems catching the ball again but I think he is still a valuable part of the team.

Well, in general, there's another team on the other side of the field that is offering resistance. In my opinion, the Bucs offered about as little resistance as you can expect from a professional football team, and you probably won't see another team offer so little defensively again this season on our schedule.

 

In the end, they WON'T play at that level every week, nor is it reasonble to expect them to. If they did, they'd probably never lose a game, which we know is unrealistic, and it would require everything to get exact right all of the time.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

Well, in general, there's another team on the other side of the field that is offering resistance. In my opinion, the Bucs offered about as little resistance as you can expect from a professional football team, and you probably won't see another team offer so little defensively again this season on our schedule.

 

In the end, they WON'T play at that level every week, nor is it reasonble to expect them to. If they did, they'd probably never lose a game, which we know is unrealistic, and it would require everything to get exact right all of the time.

You obviously suffer from the soft bigotry of low expectations. I do expect them to play like that

every week. Great football teams spend more time concentrating on their own performance as opposed to

worrying about who they are playing. By scripting the 1st 15 plays of each game, Bill Walsh was able to give his players the experience of deja vu. Cincy and Indy did not beat us; we beat ourselves. Had we done a better job of game planning and execution, there is no reason we could not have been 6-0

right now.