[News] Late For Work 10/23: Do Ravens Have More Injuries Than Other NFL Teams?

[BR News]

Ray Lewis: Ravens have to start all over. Brooks has thumb surgery. Only one expert picks Ravens to win.

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[Bat-mite]

I don't know. Man, you read stats like Flacco set to have his highest passing season ever, SSS having a banner year, Forsett still running at a high percentage per carry, and now we see that other teams have the same injury issues that we have. Makes you wonder what is going on.

[ryananth]

I like that the Ravens are involved in the "Only a punk would hurt a dog" campaign. BTW, whatever happened to Terrence Cody?

[RaRaRavens]

I hate to say this, but Ray is probably right. As I personally see it, elite players are not enough to be the cornerstone for a franchise. There has to be something extra. That X-factor. They have to be a complete full heart leaders, who other players would follow into fire. They have to have that clutch effect, whenever things seem utterly lost, they come out and make a play that denies all logic and the laws of physics. These are the type of players Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were. Or, a cornerstone player can be just a freak of nature, a player who pops up once a generation or so. That's what Ogden was.

Now, Sarah claimed that we have cornerstone players in Flacco, Yanda and Smith. Well, I hate to break it to you, but none of those guys meet the above mentioned criteria. None of those guys are the vocal leaders who will stand up in the locker room at half time to give a speech and make everyone else feel invincible. And it's okay, they don't have to be. But a cornerstone player has to be that. They also don't have that X-factor, the type knack to pull off game changing plays. There have been 5 opportunities to do something like that this season alone, and they haven't. I might be a little unfair against Yanda here, because he plays a position that limits his possibilities, but he's the only one that might be considered a cornerstone in the same manner as Ogden was. As for Williams and Mosley, only time will tell and we'll have to hope for the best, but neither of those guys is a known and vocal leader of this team either.

 

So bottom line is, I'm afraid Ray is right. We have bunch of great, tremendous athletes on this team. But none of them has that "something" that makes a player a leader, an X-factor, a weapon of his own, who everyone else listens to, who leads by example and makes that one play, who everyone plays for and who they don't want to disappoint. We don't have that guy on this team. And until we do, we will struggle with mediocrity.

Edited October 23, 2015 by RaRaRavens

[The Greek]

i disagree with ray. there are some good young pieces on this defense but i agree they need to draft some top talent and that will happen by drafting in the top 6. we also need to find an agressive style dc and upgrade some of the position coaches

[mckinney214]

I'm sorry, but Ray Lewis is 100% right. The Ravens have no cornerstone. Flacco is great, Yanda is great, Brandon Williams is great, but Jimmy Smith is definitely not a cornerstone, and Mosely has hurt our team more than helped it recently. We don't have a heart & soul. Steve Smith is gone after this year....who is going to be our offensive playmaker? We have no one. It's really sad but the Ravens are going to need low draft picks for the next few years before we have a good team again.

[RavensVAfan]

Ray Lewis's view of what Ray Lewis did for Ravens gets bigger every year. Love the guy but it is annoying to hear him constantly talk about how Raven's leadership today doesn't match what he did. Ravens of the past had down years too when he was in his prime. I partially agree with him, but he should let others say it. I also believe there are some insurmountable problems beyond leadership.

[Minionhunter]

It is not the quantity of injured players, it is the quantity of injured starters and playmakers. Add to that RR being exiled (factor because of the cap dead money who would otherwise be playing, and this excludes Nagta because he was traded) and it adds up to overwhelming losses.

[The Mom Gene]

I don't know. Man, you read stats like Flacco set to have his highest passing season ever, SSS having a banner year, Forsett still running at a high percentage per carry, and now we see that other teams have the same injury issues that we have. Makes you wonder what is going on.

Actually, yes, if you dig deeper, you have to shake your head and wonder what the heck is happening.  The analysts were talking about it last night...  the 49ers you can almost understand when you look at their mass exodus, but they picked up some good offensive players.  (Torrey dropped a couple last night too).  But that being said, other teams like the Seahawks, Ravens, Chiefs, and quite a few others who were all supposed to have successful seasons are ALL struggling.   With our receiving corps we're still putting up 20 - 30 points per game. 

 

All of this makes you wonder.

[ryananth]

Brandon Williams and Yanda set the tone through their work ethic and professionalism. They are leaders by example. This isn't a college team where all of that rah-rah stuff is necessary. Ray Lewis was a throwback and using all of his emotion worked for him. Remember Ray's got a job to do now and if everyone is talking about what he said on ESPN then he's doing it correctly. This is just more 'jounalistic fluff'.

[Dorota]

Ray Lewis is a great player a great motivator and full of BS when it comes to analyzing post-Ray Ravens. We do have cornerstones to build around. Players that Sarah named are it. We are just missing the passionate leader you want to win for.

 

Let me be bold, but if we have a chance to turn the season around, it's now. I don't know how it's possible, but Ravens since I know them are great at surprise losses to teams at the bottom of the table and then even bigger surprise wins where nobody expects them to - i.e. away, great offense, time difference, with multiple injuries in key positions.

 

The advert with Joe made me laugh No worried we're not winning, his timing is off :D

Edited October 23, 2015 by Dorota

[B.more careful 111]

at this point, I just hope we get the early round picks.

So we can draft a decent CB and pass Rusher.

[RavensVAfan]

As far as injuries are concerned the issue is depth. Injuries can be dealt with if there is decent depth. At RB and on the D-line depth has been pretty good. At offensive tackle and OLB, not that good. In the secondary and at WR it is horrible. Next man up would work if next man up didn't drop off so dramatically from the starter.

[Benjamin13]

"The two games where they struggled, the two games that they%u2019ve dropped, they%u2019ve had red-zone issues scoring touchdowns, but that defense will keep them in them game.%u201D Was Mark Schlereth talking about ours or the Cards D-fence? LOL

[January J]

It's the quality of players injured not quantity.

[salamander]

These slow starts are frustrating. Ravens are LAST in the league in slow starts? Last week at halftime, the analysts were talking about what the Ravens need to do to win the game. Across the screen was written for the Ravens, "WAKE UP". It doesn't get more humiliating than that. Ravens need to figure out how to come out on fire.

Edited October 23, 2015 by salamander

[RavensVAfan]

@Mom Gene. The offense does put up 20-30 points per game, sometimes its not pretty but that's ok, it's Raven football. Problem is the defense is allowing 25-35 point per game. If we can't blame injuries and we are saying it is not a lack of leadership, the only thing left is coaching.

Actually I believe it is both. Pees says to generate QB pressure it takes more guys than it took last year. That puts more on the secondary full of journeymen who can't keep up. However Pees also said the defense is inconsistent. That is 100% a coaching issue.

[stixfix69]

I would like to see the offense play more aggressively with the lead....Seems when we play conservative, it's 3 and out....We have to go for the kill and try to keep scoring with the lead....From my take we play a good half, whether it's the first half or 2nd half...We have to put together 60 minutes of solid football...JMO....

[Crusader]

"It's the quality of players injured not quantity." Just shows how Suggs was the most valuable player the Ravens could not afford to lose. No other on the list was no record of game change presence. Ngata compounded Suggs lose. Bad move Ravens. Good luck rebuilding that D line, receivers, linebacker, and secondary in one draft.

[Crusader]

O yea, with that salary cap amount.

[January J]

I would like to see the offense play more aggressively with the lead....Seems when we play conservative, it's 3 and out....We have to go for the kill and try to keep scoring with the lead....From my take we play a good half, whether it's the first half or 2nd half...We have to put together 60 minutes of solid football...JMO....

yep, we have failed to put together 60 minutes of strong play and we've failed to play well on both sides of the ball in the same game. If it's not the offense it's the defense and if it's not the defense it's the offense. Special teams is the only unit that has been pretty consistent. If we can actually just put these things together and play together as a unit we could win some games.

[January J]

"It's the quality of players injured not quantity." Just shows how Suggs was the most valuable player the Ravens could not afford to lose. No other on the list was no record of game change presence. Ngata compounded Suggs lose. Bad move Ravens. Good luck rebuilding that D line, receivers, linebacker, and secondary in one draft.

the d line is fine. It's actually probably the strongpoint of the entire team. We also have peices in place in every position you listed. Get a pass rusher and a corner or safety via the draft and sign a upper tier receiver in FA and we will be right back in the mix with Suggs returning next year.

[ellicottraven]

As much as I would like to disagree with our icon Ray Lewis, I am beginning to think he may actually have a point. Let's see since Harbaugh began coaching us and becoming actively involved in the Ozzie Newsmen draft strategy, how many pro bowl players have we actually drafted? I can't think of many but 1 - Ray Rice. Before he started coaching us, how many pro bowlers did we draft. I don't have the exact statistic, but it is definitely more. Food for thought to get Harbaugh out of the draft process and focus solely on coaching the team Ozzie drafts don't you think?

[bburnham89]

The main culprit is their cap money situation. Some moves they have made the past year or 2 may have been in anticipation of not being able to re-do Joe's deal to be more cap-friendly (if it does get redone there's always a chance it still won't be "friendly" enough).

Nonetheless, take a look at some of these numbers. They currently have $21,913,933 tied up in dead cap from player cuts or trades (some of whom are cut, brought back, and cut again, and may even be brought back again! Canty and Asa are great examples of this). Rice, Ngata, Jacoby and Canty add up to $20,291,667 of that money. In addition, they have $15,489,045 tied up in players on IR, IRDTR, and PUP, and $13,880,212 of that is going towards players that were expected to be large or major contributors (Suggs, Elam, Will Davis, Urban, Taliaferro, Campanaro, and Pitta). In total you have $37,402,978, nearly 26% of their total allotted cap space, tied up in players that aren't playing for this team right now or are playing but are being compensated for previous cuts from the team. That's insane. Hopefully that's all this year is, the result of so much dead money and little room to go and get talent. Next year Rice, Ngata and Jacoby are off the books and that's gonna be a huge help.

You can look these numbers up on Spotrac.com.

Is leadership an issue? Definitely. Joe and these other guys don't have to rah-rah guys doing the crazy chants pre-game and all that kind of stuff. But him and the other guys that are supposed to be leaders do need to communicate with guys on the sidelines between drives, gather them around, talk, plan, get in their face, whatever, and light a fire under all their asses. They do need someone to rally around. Joe, SSS, Forsett, the O-line the D-line, and J. Smith are the only one's who seem to play like they care right now. They need to wake everyone else up somehow.

But ultimately leadership can only get you so far. And as long as the cap situation is this bad, it might not matter how much leadership there is when you have no money to shore up the pitiful depth (if you can even say there is depth) on this team. Hopefully next year they have a better game plan.

Also, can someone please tell Trestman that on the occasions where they come out throwing and Joe's completing 1 pass after and getting in rhythm, don't take the ball out of his hands. Keep the foot on the gas in that situation. As long as he's passing well there's no reason to get cute. These past 2 games they came out looking pretty good and then they seem to take it out of Joe's hands at weird times when it seems like they shouldn't have. I don't want Joe throwing more than like 35 times a game, but if it's working, he's the only guy capable of carrying this team right now, don't take the ball out of his hands!

[ksk316]

"It's the quality of players injured not quantity." Just shows how Suggs was the most valuable player the Ravens could not afford to lose. No other on the list was no record of game change presence. Ngata compounded Suggs lose. Bad move Ravens. Good luck rebuilding that D line, receivers, linebacker, and secondary in one draft.

I call it bad karma for Suggs. It happens when you meaninglessly go after a guy's knees in a preseason game esp. after he is coming off an injury. Legal or not, bad things are bound to happen when you do that.

[vinnystp]

How many other teams have a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year on IR??? OK, so that has to count for something.

[budman]

Actually, yes, if you dig deeper, you have to shake your head and wonder what the heck is happening.  The analysts were talking about it last night...  the 49ers you can almost understand when you look at their mass exodus, but they picked up some good offensive players.  (Torrey dropped a couple last night too).  But that being said, other teams like the Seahawks, Ravens, Chiefs, and quite a few others who were all supposed to have successful seasons are ALL struggling.   With our receiving corps we're still putting up 20 - 30 points per game. 

 

All of this makes you wonder.

It's both the offense and defense. IF the offense would score at the beginning of games and more times in the red zone the entire game we would at least have 4-5 wins even though the defense has given up points and has not been able to get off the field. We have failed on both sides of the ball at crucial times each game. It will change, but not quickly.

[The Mom Gene]

It's both the offense and defense. IF the offense would score at the beginning of games and more times in the red zone the entire game we would at least have 4-5 wins even though the defense has given up points and has not been able to get off the field. We have failed on both sides of the ball at crucial times each game. It will change, but not quickly.

 

AGREED

[The Mom Gene]

How many other teams have a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year on IR??? OK, so that has to count for something.

 

Panthers had Kuechly out briefly, but I think he's back.

[budman]

The main culprit is their cap money situation. Some moves they have made the past year or 2 may have been in anticipation of not being able to re-do Joe's deal to be more cap-friendly (if it does get redone there's always a chance it still won't be "friendly" enough). Nonetheless, take a look at some of these numbers. They currently have $21,913,933 tied up in dead cap from player cuts or trades (some of whom are cut, brought back, and cut again, and may even be brought back again! Canty and Asa are great examples of this). Rice, Ngata, Jacoby and Canty add up to $20,291,667 of that money. In addition, they have $15,489,045 tied up in players on IR, IRDTR, and PUP, and $13,880,212 of that is going towards players that were expected to be large or major contributors (Suggs, Elam, Will Davis, Urban, Taliaferro, Campanaro, and Pitta). In total you have $37,402,978, nearly 26% of their total allotted cap space, tied up in players that aren't playing for this team right now or are playing but are being compensated for previous cuts from the team. That's insane. Hopefully that's all this year is, the result of so much dead money and little room to go and get talent. Next year Rice, Ngata and Jacoby are off the books and that's gonna be a huge help. You can look these numbers up on Spotrac.com. Is leadership an issue? Definitely. Joe and these other guys don't have to rah-rah guys doing the crazy chants pre-game and all that kind of stuff. But him and the other guys that are supposed to be leaders do need to communicate with guys on the sidelines between drives, gather them around, talk, plan, get in their face, whatever, and light a fire under all their asses. They do need someone to rally around. Joe, SSS, Forsett, the O-line the D-line, and J. Smith are the only one's who seem to play like they care right now. They need to wake everyone else up somehow. But ultimately leadership can only get you so far. And as long as the cap situation is this bad, it might not matter how much leadership there is when you have no money to shore up the pitiful depth (if you can even say there is depth) on this team. Hopefully next year they have a better game plan. Also, can someone please tell Trestman that on the occasions where they come out throwing and Joe's completing 1 pass after and getting in rhythm, don't take the ball out of his hands. Keep the foot on the gas in that situation. As long as he's passing well there's no reason to get cute. These past 2 games they came out looking pretty good and then they seem to take it out of Joe's hands at weird times when it seems like they shouldn't have. I don't want Joe throwing more than like 35 times a game, but if it's working, he's the only guy capable of carrying this team right now, don't take the ball out of his hands!

If it's Salary Cap issues or any other mony problems, I suggest you ask or get with Mcjacket on it. No joke, the man has got it covered and is quite accurate with it.