[News] Late For Work 10/12: Is Ravens' Season Over? What They're Saying

[OzzieBisciotti]

Injuries are an excuse baltimoreravens.com-

All teams deal with injuries. It's on Oz to have good backups, and we didn't have any- so let's write about the truth (not addressing secondary/ WRs, etc..) and why we we went from superbowl contenders to superbowl pretenders-- there definitely seems like there is a lack of leadership and emotion from out team this year and last year.

[RavensAllDay1987]

Time to let Pees go, and promote Clarence Brooks to DC, some may not know him but hes been our DL coach for a very long time and he always has that unit ready to play and stuff the run.

[Sammy1000]

I used to think that Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were the Real Head coaches of this team. I was constantly told it ain't so!? Now it has been proven in stone to anyone that has eyes. Our head coaches have retired in Feb 2013. D gets worse each year they have been gone and their supposed replacements were sold or traded to the highest bidder instead of keeping them NO MATTER THE COST to keep the continuity of the D (thanks front office.) We scored 30 points against the Browns, Raiders! We are supposed to win when you score 30.

[rmcjacket23]

The only good news this week for the Ravens and 49ers is one of them will get win #2 if not a tie breaker. We just have to hang in there till next year. Dead money plays a major role in whether teams gets above average players. Consider the top 8 teams with the highest amounts of dead money this year. Saints-$31,660,558 (1-4), Dolphins-$24,503,975 (1-3 Bye week 5), Bears-$23,494,322 (2-3), 49ers-$22,897,529 (1-4), Buccaneers-$22,283,311 (2-3), Ravens-$21,316,534 (1-4), Chiefs-$20,317,354 (1-4), Lions-$18,529,741 (0-5). The Bengals have the least amount of dead money at $1,432,294 and are 5-0 followed by Broncos-$2,884,840 (5-0). The more dead money there is, the less chances the teams can signed above average positional players to plug holes. 

 

We just have to hang in there till next year. The Ravens have 2nd least amount of dead money for the 2016 season at only $168,693 so far (The Bengals has the least amount of dead money in 2016 at $90,946). $21 million is a lot of money that cannot be used (15% of salary cap), it is the main reason the Ravens cannot sign top tier positional players this year. The Ravens hands are tied this year but starting next year, they will have a lot more freedom to fill out the roster with top tier positional players. We just have to ride out the storm till the sun shines next year. 

 

Here is the link for dead money info - http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/

A bit premature though, since we know we are going to cut people. 

 

For example, I'd bet we strongly consider moving on from Webb, which brings $6M in dead money. The biggest elephant in the room is the $7.2M cap hit for Dennis Pitta, who is a player we may very well never get any production from ever again.

 

If that's the case, you went from peanuts to over $12M in dead money from just two players.

 

To put it simply... I'd expect our dead money cap impact next season to be north of $10M. Would not surprise me to see 10% of our cap spent on dead money in 2016.

[CHARMCITY187]

Dean Pees MUST GO!!!! His defense is a joke. No Lead is Safe, not a 1 point lead or a 21 point lead. His weak defense stays the same. Whoever our DB's coach is also needs to go. Everyone on the back end of the D sucks except for Will Hill and he sucks only when we need him to not suck. This Season has been over since the 2nd Pre Season game, right there anyone with any Football sense could see this team sucks. The Defense has no Heart at all and gives up at Halftime. And the offense under horrible play calling from Trestman is content with Field Goals instead of trying to put teams away. This team is a joke and if Harbaugh is still "at peace because he knows we have a Great Team" there is something mentally wrong with the entire coaching staff.

[rmcjacket23]

I used to think that Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were the Real Head coaches of this team. I was constantly told it ain't so!? Now it has been proven in stone to anyone that has eyes. Our head coaches have retired in Feb 2013. D gets worse each year they have been gone and their supposed replacements were sold or traded to the highest bidder instead of keeping them NO MATTER THE COST to keep the continuity of the D (thanks front office.) We scored 30 points against the Browns, Raiders! We are supposed to win when you score 30.

Yeah the "no matter the cost" thing doesn't work in a salary cap era.

 

Finite amount of money being spent, and the "no matter the cost" concept only leads to long-term losses. Not a single NFL team wins with a "no matter the cost" type thinking.

[jravens13]

Josh McCown threw for 457 YARDS. The defense blew 2 4th quarter leads and gave up the final score in OT. We make mediocre QB's look like hall of famers. Something has to change on defense. We are getting exposed because our scheme allows WR's to run free, we can't get to the passer, and our DB's are not as good as we thought they were. Dean Pees hurts

[CanadaEH]

Everyone says that the Bradys, the Mannings, the Rogers make everyone around them look better but look at ALL the weapons they had. Manning had Marvin Harrison, then Reggie Wayne and now Demaryius Thomas. Rogers has a whole arsenal that if one goes down they have another #1 Wr to step up. Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson are both #1 Wrs. Flacco has been disrespected long enough. We give him an aging Derrick Mason, an aging Boldin, an aging Steve Smith who can still ball but all of them are past their primes as #1s. We finally draft some skill position players who could help but Perriman is out. What we need to do is get some more talent on offense even with Perriman we need more weapons for Flacco. Look at Andy Dalton, he has AJ Green, Sanu, Marvin Jones, Tyler Eiffert, Jeremy Hill, Giovani Bernard. BIg Ben has Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Bell, Markus Wheaton and they still drafted Sammie Coates this season. The Browns have weapons, that TE that caught it between his legs, Duke Johnson, Tishaun Gipson. They all have potential but the OC was putting them in places and scheming around them to put them in better positions to win. Not to say Trestman can't do that but I'm surprised that Flacco even threw for 250 yards with who he was throwing too. And we need to run better earlier, Forsett is a great back but we need a GAMECHANGER type back like Bell and the way Duke Johnson was playing he's a Bell Jr.

If we pick high in the draft, we should get a Pass Rusher or an offensive skill position. Trae Waynes and Justin Gilbert show a high draft pick on a CB recently won't work out. We have talent on Defense but they're being misused by Dean Pees. Bottom line, he needs to go and if Chuck Pagano gets fired we need him, or elevate Monachino. Our biggest mistake was letting Teryl Austin go with Caldwell to Detroit. The cornerbacks are pretty bad, Webby was playing pretty well but he gets injured too often. Jimmy is doing what he can because we're not playing to his strengths which are close and press. Aside from the Cincy game he's been doing pretty well. Whenever, you see him near a big play, its been most often than not, him trying to cover up his teammates mistake. He's trying to do too much. Will Hill is playing well but Kendrick Lewis is up and down. Hopefully Terrence Brooks can step up and play FS. The pass rush is there but another rusher would help.

[SuRihtanil]

The defense is bad needs fixed asap.

[OzzieBisciotti]

What cracks me up is the FO thought Aiken, Camp,and Marlon Brown to be sufficient replacements for Torrey and Jacoby because these guys were catching everything during training camp- keep in mind that they were catching everything against our crappy secondary- no wonder the FO didn't do anything because the trio above looked like the Posse of Washington in the 80s. As it turns out now, without Torrey and JAcoby, there is no one to stretch the field and now intermdiate catches are hard. Also, at one point, we were going to have SSS return punts- now it's Lardarius? With our secondary so thin and crappy, is that a smart move for Webb to be returning punts? These are two big holes that Oz could've addressed. I definitely feel that Oz could be drafting better over the past 4 years. Where is Mosely now? He was getting burned yesterday by the tight ends and running backs- he's playing like Matt Elam now. Stop picking people from Bama and lets start using high draft picks for skilled positions, Oz.

[jboy19]

Wish we still had Smith and Boldin... SF is sooooooo good

[OzzieBisciotti]

Why on Earth would we rather pay millions to SSS rather than trying to keep our own in Torrey Smith/ Jacoby. I know Harbs loved SSS forever, even before he came to the Ravens, so this probably was Harbs fault as well (in addit) to Oz. Torrey wasn't number 1, but he led the league in PIs last year and the year before, and he opened up routes for other receivers when stretching the field.

Oz- I don't understand why we'd let proven and younger receivers go to keep a 36 old receiver when we don't have any other experienced receivers behind SSS. It's like every fan knew about this issue (with WR) along with the CB issue, yet we did nothing to address this Perriman would've been a rookie as well and not experienced either- plus, knee injuries are pretty bad so who knows if he'll come back- he might just be fragile like the rest of our team (pitta, Webb, Jimmy, etc..) and who knows if he'll ever be the same- also, he wasn't a sure fire WR like Julio Jones, AJ Green bc he had a rep for not being able to catch balls- both in college and our training camp- please don't pick skilled positions- just stick to lineman- that's what your best at.

[RavensFootballFan]

A bit premature though, since we know we are going to cut people. 

 

For example, I'd bet we strongly consider moving on from Webb, which brings $6M in dead money. The biggest elephant in the room is the $7.2M cap hit for Dennis Pitta, who is a player we may very well never get any production from ever again.

 

If that's the case, you went from peanuts to over $12M in dead money from just two players.

 

To put it simply... I'd expect our dead money cap impact next season to be north of $10M. Would not surprise me to see 10% of our cap spent on dead money in 2016.

 

I know players may be cut next year and could add to dead money, anyone knows that. Starting with the 2nd lowest cap space in 2016 is a very good start. Who's to say Webb will be cut next year? He has been doing decent this year. Who knows, maybe he will restructure again to stay with the Ravens next year. Could Pitta play next year? It's possible. Assuming both guys will be gone next year is a bit premature. How about waiting till season is over with and look on the bright side instead of already assuming gloom in dead money for 2016?

[OzzieBisciotti]

Wish we still had Smith and Boldin... SF is sooooooo good

 

jboy- Anyone on this Earth would take Smith and Boldin that our high school WRs- the reason why they can't produce is because San Fran's line stinks and because Kap = RG3.  If San Fran beats us, then we'll know we'll have hit the bottom of the barrel.  I thought that's what I said about CLE, but I guess things can always get worse...

[Legendary Ravens]

The Browns? We just don't want it bad enough

[Baller MD]

I used to think that Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were the Real Head coaches of this team. I was constantly told it ain't so!? Now it has been proven in stone to anyone that has eyes. Our head coaches have retired in Feb 2013. D gets worse each year they have been gone and their supposed replacements were sold or traded to the highest bidder instead of keeping them NO MATTER THE COST to keep the continuity of the D (thanks front office.) We scored 30 points against the Browns, Raiders! We are supposed to win when you score 30.

 

I wish people would stop saying this. I'd be just as impressed if we scored 6 points and won than if we scored 30+ points and won.   30 points is a lot but it doesn't guarantee a win as you can see.  Twice this year it hasn't been enough for this team.  It also wasn't enough in that divisional playoff game against NE that ended our season last year - nor our last game against San Diego.  And apparently, it wasn't enough for Jacksonville this week either.   

 

In short, it doesn't matter how many points we score, 40, 30, or 10,  it's about who can score the most at the end of the game.   But if our defense can't stop a neighborhood flag football team in the 4th quarter or if our offense can't be clutch when it matters, then we will continue to have loses like this - no matter what we score.   

Edited October 12, 2015 by Baller MD

[Rat]

Like most of you, I was disappointed with the loss and our performance.....some on here said that Jimmy Smith has played well.....not what I saw yesterday. Our secondary is put together with rubber bands and paper clips....it just can't get it done. The effort and desire is there, but not the talent.

All now realize the value of Suggs. Always got double teamed....allowing for someone else to step up.....with Elvis playing more time....his getting injured was a real possibility....and now we have no pass rush.

Injuries are taking us down.....not our coaching staff (IMHO). Assigning blame is always what happens....but it really serves no purpose....we have what we have. As to the foolish comment that "spend no matter what it costs"...I think MCJacket answered that....

It appears that we may be in for a long season...this year and possibly next year.....but the Ravens are our Team so get behind them....and stop the foolish, uneducated comments....they change nothing. Our schedule is not very hard the rest of the way.....except for the Bengals and Steelers.....so we "may" still be able to manage a winning season.....just not the playoffs.

Go Ravens..

[Rat]

And PS: Reed and Lewis are gone....get over it.

[Roadrunner1970]

The team needs a shake-up. Dean Pees should be removed now. There is no question there will be coaching change next year, so may as well get an early start. If you consider the pre-season this team is 1 win and 9 loses in the last 10 games. The Ravens have shown in the past they are not afraid to shake things up. Maybe this is the message the players need.

[Purple Dawg 96]

Is the season over Nope Nope Nope! The Browns know they got lucky but if you think the season is over turn in your wings! Lol 12-4 LETS GO!

[GageRage]

Our Season is over I don't see how our guys can go 5 games and not have any fire by now. We need to save what stars we have and continue on this season RE-Building, and hope for a high draft pick this up coming year so we can find a replacement for Joe Flacco (lets be honest he isn't going to last for ever) and more Wide Receivers, and get some people on Defense that will boost up the moral and people who would actually make players elevate their level of play, like how Ray Lewis did.

[rmcjacket23]

I know players may be cut next year and could add to dead money, anyone knows that. Starting with the 2nd lowest cap space in 2016 is a very good start. Who's to say Webb will be cut next year? He has been doing decent this year. Who knows, maybe he will restructure again to stay with the Ravens next year. Could Pitta play next year? It's possible. Assuming both guys will be gone next year is a bit premature. How about waiting till season is over with and look on the bright side instead of already assuming gloom in dead money for 2016?

Because there's no point in looking at the bright side of something that's incredibly likely to change.

 

All that's accomplished from looking at future dead money at this point is getting fans to think that we will all of the sudden going to have $50M to spend, which we won't even be remotely close to that.

 

If we want to be REALISTIC (not optimistic) about our 2016 cap situation:

 

The Ravens, as currently assembled, would have about $13M in cap space with 46 players under contract. That would rank us 24th out of 32 NFL teams. While our dead money situation right now seems like its great, keep in mind that 20 of the 32 NFL teams currently have less than $1M in dead money on their books for 2016, and all three of our division rivals fit in that category, including the 5-0 Bengals, who have the least amount of projected dead money in the league.

 

Additionally, just looking at our division rivals, the Bengals, who again are 5-0, are currently projected to have in excess of $30M in cap space.

 

Bottom line... its a pointless discussion to even look at the positives in regards to , because there really aren't any without context and the likelihood of it dramatically changing is so high that its not worth trying to sugarcoat.

[rmcjacket23]

Our Season is over I don't see how our guys can go 5 games and not have any fire by now. We need to save what stars we have and continue on this season RE-Building, and hope for a high draft pick this up coming year so we can find a replacement for Joe Flacco (lets be honest he isn't going to last for ever) and more Wide Receivers, and get some people on Defense that will boost up the moral and people who would actually make players elevate their level of play, like how Ray Lewis did.

Yeah, Joe's got a good 5+ years left in him. You don't start drafting QBs (particularly in an era where good QBs are basically impossible to find) five years in advance.

 

QB won't be a position we will be addressing until at least late in the draft or as a FA, if at all.

[RavensBaltimore]

What cracks me up is the FO thought Aiken, Camp,and Marlon Brown to be sufficient replacements for Torrey and Jacoby

No they didn't. They used a 1st round pick on a receiver who may be the fastest player in the league when healthy. They had no way of knowing that a guy who stayed healthy in college would fall on his knee and be out for an eternity. When your top 2 WRs and TEs are out, you are going to lack playmakers in the passing game.

[Zeus]

Isn't it great to watch espn and hear how amazing the Browns team is all of the sudden? Once again we make an unknown QB look like a HOFer

[b93333]

It's over all right. Time to start planning for next year. We should finally get a low pick and it may be time to move a few veterans who still have some value. More to the point we need to look at both coordinators. We have absolutely no "D", and the "O" is sputtering badly every time we get to crunch time. Did I mention... we need a much more cap-friendly number out of our QB for next year.

[Sheek]

Couple of things. I like to blame Dean Pees as much as the next guy but yesterday wasn't him. Safeties biting so hard on a fake that a person can get behind them for 50 yards is on him. A freak catch after a decent play by Will Hill isn't on Pees. Two defenders missing a running back after a check down isn't on him.

I'm also starting to think that players are playing off on their own. There was a play where a linebacker was telling Jimmy to move up to press and Jimmy shook his head and stay in off coverage.

Secondly I still love Newsome. I think Carl Davis since preseason may be leading the league in batted balls. Jernigan got back into his old self. Zadarius was doing well. Jimmy almost had a stellar over the shoulder int if he had had a step or two more. The offense has actually looked good when it's not penalizing itself. The team has been playing well but not closing. That's a mental thing. I think this year we just aren't mentally tough enough to close the door on a team. And I think that's a bit more on coaching. Harbaugh needs to discipline this team.

But all in all I think a team can hit the playoffs with 9 wins in the AFC this year because of the parity. We still have games against the Chargers, Chiefs, (other wild card teams) and within our division. And luckily the other wild card teams are either playing Manning or Brady or the Bengals. We can make the playoffs. Can we make the bowl...shrug who knows? But I like this team this year and I'm with them for the ride.

LET'S GET IT!!!!

[bpytnjr58]

Injuries a big part of the Defensive play but those penalties are killers. Was it over 100 yards in penalties???

[Zeus]

Mosley got schooled all day long, terrible

[RavensBaltimore]

I used to think that Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were the Real Head coaches of this team. I was constantly told it ain't so!? Now it has been proven in stone to anyone that has eyes. Our head coaches have retired in Feb 2013. D gets worse each year they have been gone and their supposed replacements were sold or traded to the highest bidder instead of keeping them NO MATTER THE COST to keep the continuity of the D (thanks front office.) We scored 30 points against the Browns, Raiders! We are supposed to win when you score 30.

In what fantasy world has it been proven that Ray and Ed were the real head coaches of this team? Let's look at the facts.

 

Ed Reed was drafted in 2002, so he and Ray played 6 years together before Harbaugh was hired in 2008.

 

In those 6 years, the Ravens won 0 playoff games, they failed to make the playoffs 4 times, and they had a losing record 3 times.

 

The lack of a qb was a major factor there, but the team still had a ton of talent, and they were wildly inconsistent, and never contended for a SB. Last year, without Lewis or Reed, the Ravens overcame a ton of adversity, beat the Steelers in the postseason for the first time in franchise history(destroyed them actually), and despite having 19 players on IR, almost beat the eventual SB champs. It's not like the Ravens have never had a 1-4 stretch with Lewis and Reed. We finished our SB season by going 1-4 in the last 5 games, and we had a 5-11 season.