Merged: Season Isn't Over (or is it)

[sflegend89]

This isn't bind optimism for the sake of optimism. The season is not over.

 

Is it time to hit the panic button? Absolutely, many of us are far past that point but the fact remains that this team has fought through adversity before, the will of this team is strong, we will not roll over and live to fight another year, we are coming out guns blazing with our backs up against the wall. It's so easy to give up, it's so easy to quit on this team right now, I know the character of this team and I will not say die until we are mathematically eliminated, take a deep breathe, you just might be surprised how this shakes out.

 

1. We have played 3 GOOD football teams and lost in the dying seconds of all 3 games

 

- The quality of competition is better than many of us seem to think. Broncos and Bengals could easily be the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the AFC behind New England. The Raiders game we absolutely should've won but that Raiders squad is seriously on the come up. We are conditioned to treat the Raiders like a doormat but they are no pushovers this year. Carr is for real, Cooper is for real, their front 7 is for real. Don't be surprised if they're in the mix for a WC spot.

 

2. Game of Inches

 

- It's a cliche but it's never been on better display. You literally can pinpoint one exact moment where games 1 & 2 were lost, truly the finest margins between victory and defeat that are possible. Steve Smith drop in Denver, he makes that catch more often than not, lost that game by a fraction of a second on that pass. The Will Hill hold, 50/50 call, most refs do not call that with the game on the line, bad roll of dice back to back weeks. 

 

 

3. More Unlucky Than Bad

 

- With the exception of this Bengals game which we deserved to lose, the first two games pure luck undeniably played a large role in the outcome. Good teams don't rely on luck but there is no denying that both games basically came down to one single play and we got the short end of the stick both times. When you play good teams sometimes you need a bounce to go your way and the luck has been firmly against us thus far. WInners make their own breaks and I've always preached that but the presence of luck in the outcome of games 1 & 2 deserves to be acknowledged, you might as well have flipped a coin on the end of both games and much like a coin toss even though your odds are 50/50 sometimes you just get flat out unlucky. Not under playing the defensive breakdowns, those are still the primary issue, but the games were still close enough that luck had to play a huge factor.

 

4. There are ISSUES

 

- Back down to earth, there are serious issues with this team. You can't chalk up 0-3 purely to bad luck against good teams even if it's true to an extent. There are underying issues that put us in those situations in the first place and that can't be denied. The defensive scheme issues have hit a boiling point, we don't put our defensive players in the best position to succeed and that comes back to Pees. There needs to be a defensive evolution scheme wise, the rest of the top tier teams have evolved in scheme to keep up with how the game has changed and much like Dick LeBeau in Pitt last year, we are running an outdated system that has been thoroughly exposed by OC's. Obviously Pees won't get fired midseason, our season is now riding on him, make the necessary tweaks in scheme to starting getting stops or the season WILL be over. Pees is coaching for his job right now. 

 

 

Steve Smith Deserves Better

 

- Somewhat unrelated by it needs to be said. This guy is playing his freakin' tail off week in, week out in his final season and his teammates/coaches have let him down so far. If the rest of our team played with half of the fire SSS does we would be 3-0 these games have been so close. We fought so hard to send Ray out on top, SSS deserves the same type of passion and conviction from his teammates. This is his last ride, since he got here Steve's given us his blood, sweat, and tears.. rest of the team needs to wake up and play for this man if nothing else. 

Edited September 28, 2015 by sflegend89

[Cillmatic]

Here were the major signings and resigning:

J.Smith

Arrington

Forsett

Schaub

Canty

Hill

Lewis

Here's a review of those signings:

J. Smith(ok)

Arrington(sucks)

Forsett(meh)

Schaub(pray Flacco never goes down)

Canty(who?)

Hill(good)

Lewis(smh)

Here a stat line for our receivers(let's s today's stats):

Steve Smith Rec:13 (great for a #1 WR)

Kamar Aiken Rec:0 (hes an awful #2 WR, if Steve goes down Aikens the #1, gulp.)

Marlon Brown: Rec: 2 (he's irrelevant)

Campanero: Rec: 2 (good when played, coaches refuse to let him play)

Now, guess who's retiring this year:

Steve

(Maybe Suggs)

(Probably Webb or he's cut)

So not only are we losing The MVP of our offense but we also lose our LG, our best pas rusher and our #2 corner.

Ladies and gentleman welcome to.........................REBUILD MODE 2.0.

[January J]

Good post, couldn't agree more and wish all fans would see things this way. It ain't over till it's over.

[Cillmatic]

1. The raiders aren't a good team. People fail to remember that most of the Raiders secondary was injuried, we lost to backup CB's and a 40 year old safety with a dislocated shoulder. That's not a good team. The fact that we have to consider them a bad team compared to us is sad.

&

2. Look at our schedule how many wins Do you see there? Now look at our division.

That's all.

[sflegend89]

Good post, couldn't agree more and wish all fans would see things this way. It ain't over till it's over.

 

There's still a couple of us here that aren't letting our emotions get the best of us. Disappointed how quickly people have given up on this team. It's not about denying there are issues, clearly there are. Clearly we're on the ropes. But anybody who is waving the white flag after 3 close games against good teams is just being a quitter, we can still lose 3-4 more games and still be in the mix for a WC spot, is that really so far out of the realm of possibility that we should give up on the team?

 

You would think we're 0-6 and asking us to go undefeated from here on out, we just have to get hot and take out the softer part of our schedule and still have some wiggle room to drop a few games. If we get in the playoffs all bets are off, that's how I look at it. I will go out on my sword rooting for this team to get back in the hunt, it's way too early not to. These haven't been blowouts, these have been games that came down to one single play. It's not over.

[Purple_City39]

I agree the season isn't over and came into this game thinking we needed to go 2-1 at worst in this divisional stretch to still have a shot.  Problem is, this team is proving it can't finish.  The offense will take a lead with 5 or so minutes to go and the defense will falter.  And then the offense, if it has a chance, will falter.

 

Jimmy needs to stop playing like Foxworth, especially with Webb actually looking competent today.  Pees needs to never but a player of Lewis' caliber on a player of Green's caliber in single coverage.  
 

The offense needs to stop starting so slow and Aiken needs to be benched.  

 

These changes happen and we will start winning games again.  All 3 games were very winnable, which is what makes the losses so much worse

[ravensdfan]

Don't know if the season is over or not. Mathematically it isn't over. 13-3 should get you into the dance. 12-4, even 11-5 usually buys you a ticket. Many times 10-6 is enough. 

 

Doesn't matter though - can't tank a season. 

 

You find pride in what you can in times like this. Let's begin by handing the Steelers a loss and hurt their playoff chances. 

[OLD SCHOOL SMASH BALL]

Season aint over, we are just tied with Bears and Saints for the WORST TEAM AWARD.

It starts with DEFENSE. Can we teach these guys how to play a RAVENS STYLE Defense? Does PEES even know what a REAL RAVENS DEFENSE looks like?

[Purple_City39]

We have too many corp players for a rebuild mode.  People throw that phrase around too much.  Losing a handful of good players (3 from your post) on a 53 man roster doesn't equal a rebuild.  The salary cap purge of 2002 was a rebuild.  Even the players lost after the 2012 superbowl equaled a rebuild.  Right now we just need players to step up and play how they are expected

 

As of now, every offensive player sans Smitty and likely Osemele should be back next year (I pray Aiken is gone).  That's 9 of 11, 8 of 11 at worst.  Canty is the only defensive player I don't expect back.  Maybe Webb unless he continues to play like today and maybe D.Smith retires.  Again that's 8 of 11.  That's not a rebuild.

[ratedr]

Technically no, but this team hasn't shown anything to make me believe they're capable of a 10-3 finish to the season.

 

We're one of three 0-3 teams, and 2 of those teams didn't play their starting QBs today.

[sflegend89]

1. The raiders aren't a good team. People fail to remember that most of the Raiders secondary was injuried, we lost to backup CB's and a 40 year old safety with a dislocated shoulder. That's not a good team. The fact that we have to consider them a bad team compared to us is sad.

&

2. Look at our schedule how many wins Do you see there? Now look at our division.

That's all.

 

Raiders are better than you think. Carr is the real deal, Murray is the real deal, Amari Cooper so far has been the best rookie in the entire NFL, kid is a gamechanger for them. Khalil Mack and Aldon Smith on the edge, that is a nasty duo even with a sub-par secondary. They aren't going to set the league on fire but they are a respectable team this year, especially at home.

 

That loss was inexcusable even with all things considered but it's not like we lost to a doormat team, we played a terrible game and were still a 50/50 call away from winning on the road against a mid tier team. 

[JoeyFlex5]

trestman has been very, very, VERY, VERRRRYYYYYY, VVVVVVVEEEEEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY, bad. i can not emphasize that enough, god he has been absolutely abysmal, id rather have cam cameron and i mean that 100%. 

 

dean pees, well ive always had his back, but i cant anymore. he knows what works, and he wont do it. he sees week in and week out, that the only thing that works, is aggressive to semi aggressive man coverage, a rover SS, and stunt blitzes, and he still wont call those plays. we can break up passes, run a delayed blitz and blow up the whoile backfield, i mean we can really give an offense hell on first and 2nd down, and then we have to watch a vanilla 4 man rush and our db's squatting on the markers on 3rd and long, only to give up a huge play almost every time. i swear i am more scared of 3rd and 20 than i am of 3rd and 3. 

 

we need breshad perriman to be everything he is advertised as. we need to become less predictable on offense, stop running on first down, it never works, forsett has been absolute garbage, taliaferro is only good in the open field and cant follow blocks to save his life, and buck allen has looked solid in his limited workload. our OL cant hold up against the blitz, we need to take advantage of our size, quick hits to crockett and maxx williams more often, open up the seam and run drags to smitty, do SOMETHING! we cant run the ball, its clear kubiaks system isnt universal for all playcallers and trestman cant call it. 

 

we have a young core, and a talented one at that. this team has a future, and i absolutely still see another super bowl in our future, but we have some work and maturing to do as a team first. 

 

we also need joe to stop throwing ill-advised dump offs to backs who are triple covered for losses of 3-6 yards, hes been missing some throws this year but its understandable, some of his dump offs though have me scratching my head

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

Trestman is not the issue. Vs a good defense we came back. Trestman isn't the issue. Now lack of playmakers on offense. I can agree with that. But not that Trestman is the problem.

 

No.It's not over. Very possible we make the wild card. 

[JoeyFlex5]

1. The raiders aren't a good team. People fail to remember that most of the Raiders secondary was injuried, we lost to backup CB's and a 40 year old safety with a dislocated shoulder. That's not a good team. The fact that we have to consider them a bad team compared to us is sad.

&

2. Look at our schedule how many wins Do you see there? Now look at our division.

That's all.

and we torched that secondary, but aside from that secondary, they are a good team. i have been waiting for the past 2 years for the raiders to finally come on out, and theyre doing it this year. that front seven is one of the better ones in the league, carr is for real, amari cooper will be a perennial pro bowler and he has a few more targets to work with as well. 

 

saying we lost to a raiders backup secondary is just not the right explanation for that game. it was a shootout in which each secondary got burnt to a crisp. 

[4everraven]

Definitely not over until mathematically eliminated. Playing as the Ravens have been playing though could see that eventually realize itself sooner than we all would like. Do things differently. First, the old mantra of " We have to run the ball " has to be abandoned. We have to do what the rest of the NFL does. Pass, pass, and pass some more until a surprise run or two will work. The scheme of having to run the ball to set up play action and be successful at passing is ancient in the NFL. The Ravens offense philosophy has to get with the times.

To that end I think 3 games is enough to make the case that Aiken and Marlon have to drop to the bottom of the depth chart. Time to go with Waller and Camp and Perriman when he can play. These youngsters can certainly do no worse than Aiken and Marlon. Plus there is still SSS just playing his heart out so it doesn't matter if it's the youngsters or the two UDFAs on the field with him. This will give the youngsters valuable experience for next year when SSS is gone.

As for the defense, I have no clue - seemingly like the present DC. It's evident if they aren't blitzing they aren't getting pressure so that will have to be the scheme. Also start benching players who are missing assignments or are just flat out inept. Not sure that will send a message or not. But something has to be done. The Ravens are perilously close to just playing the season out and that won't be fun for the fans or players.

[ratedr]

I don't trust Trestman but agree that it's unfair to pin things on him, though some of his playcalls baffle me. But fact is our offensive personnel is among the worst in the league,

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

And let's also put this into perspective Cillmatic. 

 

Our team younger than normal. We've been in the transitional phase since 2013. We've added on offense alone since then

 

1. Wagner
2. Juice
3. Maxx
4. Crockett
5. Perriman(well.. We don't know when he's coming back sadly)
6. Campanaro(who actually had a pretty good play today)
7. Boyle
8. Lorenzo
9. Buck Allen(who I think can be a solid #2).

 

That's the draft alone. We've also acquired

Zuttah

SSR

Monroe.

Forsett

 

Not a lot of veteran presence. So by default, we should get better soon. 

 

Defense is also younger. 

 

Again

1. Elam(okay bust)
2. Brown(don't know)
3. Brandon Williams(beast)
4. CJ Mosley(super stud)
5. Timmy Jernigan(he played well last year and hasn't been horrible. Good run defender. Potential to be a stud)
6. Terrance Brooks(up and down. I think he improves)
7. Brett Urban(again. Don't really know)
8. Carl Davis(who's been fantastic for a rookie btw).
9. ZDS

 

So again. Young. Veteran aquisitions are

Canty(who's been mediocre)

Daryl Smith(who's been awesome)

Elvis Dumervil(who's been awesome)

Will Hill(who's been awesome).

 

We're younger than normal. So we should improve next few seasons. We're missing a few pieces on defense. That's my opinion anyway. 

[sflegend89]

I'm not disagreeing with a lot of the negatives people have drawn from this first 3 games. But how often do you lose back to back games on 1 single play/call. If we were getting spanked I would be right there with a lot of you with the torches and pitchforks. But the reality is we are extremely unlucky to not be 1-2 at the very least, if we can take top 3 AFC teams (Which imo the Broncos and Bengals are) to the brink we are pretty good team even if we didn't finish which is no doubt a big issue.

 

I'm not crazy about our odds of going 10-3 or 9-4 from here on out but the fact remains, we have a good football team, we just haven't put it together on the field. We have a knack for finding our way when our back is up against the wall, hopefully getting Babin in there will spark the pass rush and Pees can shake up the scheme now that he's coaching for his job next season. Plenty of football to be played and momentum to be swayed here.

[Sami84]

people living in a dream world. Watch the 2013 season.

 

we might have a spurt of 2-3 wins..we will follow it up with 2-3 losses.

 

most games will be close..only for us to throw it away..

 

there will be a thrashing vs the cardinals ( whom I'm rooting for to win it all)

 

this isn't going to be fun folks.

[Cillmatic]

And let's also put this into perspective Cillmatic.

Our team younger than normal. We've been in the transitional phase since 2013. We've added on offense alone since then

• Wagner
• Juice
• Maxx
• Crockett
• Perriman(well.. We don't know when he's coming back sadly)
• Campanaro(who actually had a pretty good play today)
• Boyle
• Lorenzo
• Buck Allen(who I think can be a solid #2).

That's the draft alone. We've also acquired

Zuttah

SSR

Monroe.

Forsett

Not a lot of veteran presence. So by default, we should get better soon.

Defense is also younger.

Again

• Elam(okay bust)
• Brown(don't know)
• Brandon Williams(beast)
• CJ Mosley(super stud)
• Timmy Jernigan(he played well last year and hasn't been horrible. Good run defender. Potential to be a stud)
• Terrance Brooks(up and down. I think he improves)
• Brett Urban(again. Don't really know)
• Carl Davis(who's been fantastic for a rookie btw).
• ZDS

So again. Young. Veteran aquisitions are

Canty(who's been mediocre)

Daryl Smith(who's been awesome)

Elvis Dumervil(who's been awesome)

Will Hill(who's been awesome).

We're younger than normal. So we should improve next few seasons. We're missing a few pieces on defense. That's my opinion anyway.

You don't see a BIG issue on offense? Who replaces Steve when he leaves? Who's our #2 WR? Our LT is a injury prone mess, our LG is erratic, our center is starting to be a detriment to our team and our RT is looking like a one year wonder. "Missing a few pieces on defense"? Like pass rusher, #2 CB and a safety? Edited September 28, 2015 by Cillmatic

[FlackAttack]

kendrick lewis, schuab, kyle arrington, forsett.. all 4 of these players i highly criticized for signing or re-signing and boy was i right. complete garbage. although some may argue schaub hasnt even played a regular season snap for us, his deal was way too much money that could've been spent on other talent, and if he DOES play then that pretty much will get us 1st pick in the draft next season. 

 

and timmy jernigan is continuing to prove hes completely overrated, as i stated before the season started. also was very questionable of trestmans hiring. people all over this board were so stoked on all these signings and the words "super bowl" were in almost every thread. smh

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

You don't see a BIG issue on offense? Who replaces Steve when he leaves? Who's our #2 WR? Our LT is a injury prone mess, our LG is erratic, our center is starting to be a detriment to our team and our RT is looking like a one year wonder. "Missing a few pieces on defense"? Like pass rusher, #2 CB and a safety?

Breshad Perriman replaces Steve. We can draft a #2 WR. I think we also draft a few pass rushers. #2 corner can be acquired in free agency and I have tons of confidence in Brooks.

[ratedr]

For the decade, the top 2 picks in every draft:

 

2010: Kindle, Cody

2011: J. Smith, T. Smith

2012: Upshaw, Osemele

2013: Elam, Brown

2014: Mosley, Jernigan

2015: Perriman, Williams

 

Only 2011 and 2014 were decent, and one of the 2011 players isn't even here anymore. 2015 is too early to call but it's not off to a promising start.

 

EDIT: I guess 2012 was okay...but if current trends continue neither will be on the team after this year.

Edited September 28, 2015 by ratedr

[Cillmatic]

Breshad Perriman replaces Steve. We can draft a #2 WR. I think we also draft a few pass rushers. #2 corner can be acquired in free agency and I have tons of confidence in Brooks.

1. Perriman's not replacing steve, Perriman's skill set just isn't a #1 WR skill set. He Torrey Smith with injury problems.

2. Good pass rushers aren't simple draft picks. Gotta be first rounders for the most part.

3.idk

4.Did you not see Brooks get beat deep today and then get immediately Benched?

[GoBillsGo]

I wish you guys played us.  I'd love to see T-Mobile against his old team.  Great football all around, hopefully we play you guys in the Wildcard game

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

1. Perriman's not replacing steve, Perriman's skill set just isn't a #1 WR skill set. He Torrey Smith with injury problems.

2. Good pass rushers aren't simple draft picks. Gotta be first rounders for the most part.

3.idk

4.Did you not see Brooks get beat deep today and then get immediately Benched?

1. I believe he does. He's a natural hands catcher with good speed and fluid movement. Bad route runner and occasionally has a concentration drop. But I like him as a #1.

2. Agreed. And we'll take one in the first. No doubt in my mind.

3. Yup. I think a good #2 can be found in free agency.

4. Yeah. He's a second year player playing a very difficult position. He will get better. At least he can tackle

[JoeyFlex5]

people living in a dream world. Watch the 2013 season.

 

we might have a spurt of 2-3 wins..we will follow it up with 2-3 losses.

 

most games will be close..only for us to throw it away..

 

there will be a thrashing vs the cardinals ( whom I'm rooting for to win it all)

 

this isn't going to be fun folks.

yeah thats how i see it going too. we MIGHT pull a win against cleveland but i think the best we do is 1-5 in the division. we will get dragged up and down by the field by 3/4 NFCW teams, the chargers are going to wear us out, the chiefs are a toss up, if JAX has healthy receivers then we honestly could see another game like we saw last week. 

 

i just cant trust this team to beat anyone because of our secondary, i mean we can get picked apart by anyone.

[JoeyFlex5]

1. Perriman's not replacing steve, Perriman's skill set just isn't a #1 WR skill set. He Torrey Smith with injury problems.

2. Good pass rushers aren't simple draft picks. Gotta be first rounders for the most part.

3.idk

4.Did you not see Brooks get beat deep today and then get immediately Benched?

you listen to alot of media and do very little analysis of ur own, dont you...

[Purple Punishment]

As much as I dislike your views most of the time. I have to agree with you. Also, our season is done. Pees defense is horrendous. No fight, no nasty, they will never bail us out. Stewart might have been an all pro for us, if we had a good defensive coordinator.

[sflegend89]

I would love to know what Ozzie is thinking right now. Make a major power play in a trade to try to salvage the season? Realize there are major issues but not enough time or resources to address them right now? 

 

I really wonder how Ozzie plans to attack this, I'm sure he felt like he built a contender this offseason and the return on his investments has been nothing short of a train wreck. Ozzie isn't the type to go shipping off high draft picks but what else can he do at this point, the most logical move is to move on from Pees as the coaching has been a bigger problem than the personnel. But as we all know midseason coaching changes are rare, but I really do think it's the right move to get Pees out of there and promote an interim DC like Monachino. Even if we keep all of Pees calls/scheme for the rest of the season getting a new pair of eyes from the coach's box could be huge

 

Like getting Caldwell to take over for Cameron, even though the playbook was the same the philosophy and effectiveness still saw massive change. I think Monachino could do something similar even with Pees defense installed.