[News] Eisenberg: The One Real Mystery Of The Ravens

[OzzieBisciotti]

  5 hours ago, OzzieBisciotti said:

We had the most people on IR in 2015 with 18 players out for the season, and we didn't come close to the playoffs.

The Squeelers had 16 players out for the season last year, and they made the playoffs.

The Patriots had 15 people on IR last year, and they also made the playoffs.

What does this mean? That the Squeelers / Patriots either had better coaching and/ or had a deeper, more quality roster because of better drafts in the past 5 years (when we didn't).

We actually had 20 players on IR last season, and that doesn't include Pitta, and our top corner was a shell of himself because of the injury he sustained the previous year. The Steelers and Patriots had fewer total players and fewer starters out with injury than we did last year. By the end of the season, we literally didn't have a single starting WR, TE, QB, or RB that was healthy. That's all of our skill positions. The injuries the Pats and Steelers sustained were not comparable to that at all. When Gronk and Edelman had injury issues, the Pats were mediocre at best. Even back in 2014, the Pats were struggling until Gronk got healthy. I don't think their depth is better than ours. They just didn't have the majority of their top players out like we did.

Broncos won the SB with a pitiful QB- no excuses

[Guest]

The coming season will likely demonstrate the injuries were irrelevant. Suggs was the only significant injury before we started losing like the Browns.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

7 hours ago, OzzieBisciotti said:

Broncos won the SB with a pitiful Peyton Manning as QB- no excuses....

And the Ravens once won a Superbowl with Trent Dilfer. Why? Because they had an awesome ground game with Jamal Lewis, a great O-Line, one of the game's best kickers who won five games for us alone with his leg because the Ravens scored no touchdowns, and one of the best defenses in the history of the game.

As I said earlier, it is tough to overcome the LOSS of your starting QB for a major portion of the season. But if you've got a strong team elsewhere you can overcome it. I don't recall the Broncos being on their 3rd and 4th string RB's, 4th and 5th string WR's, back ups starting on 2/5 of the O-line, without Von Miller (who is like Suggs for us), without their starting SS, back up FS, nickel corner.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

4 hours ago, Danny D said:

The coming season will likely demonstrate the injuries were irrelevant. Suggs was the only significant injury before we started losing like the Browns.

I am not trying to take a personal shot at you here, but I just can't see how anyone that witnessed what happened to this team last season can say something like this.

Jimmy Smith and Lardarrius Webb were shells of themselves due to injuries that didn't keep them out of the game, but probably should have if we had some decent depth. We didn't have that because of season ending injuries to a couple of guys behind them on the depth chart. The safety position was also decimated by injuries and how bad was this secondary last season? How many times did you see blown assignments and guys being wide open 50 yards down the field?

Eugene Monroe only played in 6 games and even in a lot of those games he played he left the game early. He missed game 2, game 4, game 8, and then games 11-16.

Only one game for the Ravens last year was decided by more than 1 score, and that game was lost by 8 points. Every other game was within a touch down or a field goal. You'd have to think that a healthy Ravens squad would have been able to pull off a few more wins.

[slowboater]

4 hours ago, EdTheMythicalOne said:

I am not trying to take a personal shot at you here, but I just can't see how anyone that witnessed what happened to this team last season can say something like this.

Jimmy Smith and Lardarrius Webb were shells of themselves due to injuries that didn't keep them out of the game, but probably should have if we had some decent depth. We didn't have that because of season ending injuries to a couple of guys behind them on the depth chart. The safety position was also decimated by injuries and how bad was this secondary last season? How many times did you see blown assignments and guys being wide open 50 yards down the field?

Eugene Monroe only played in 6 games and even in a lot of those games he played he left the game early. He missed game 2, game 4, game 8, and then games 11-16.

Only one game for the Ravens last year was decided by more than 1 score, and that game was lost by 8 points. Every other game was within a touch down or a field goal. You'd have to think that a healthy Ravens squad would have been able to pull off a few more wins.

I am not trying to take a personal shot at you here, but you are confirming what Danny stated. You stated Jimmy and Ladarius were not at full strength. The Ravens did not have roster depth last year as it was evident during the preseason games where other teams' second and third stringers took our backups to the wood shed. We lost 5 of our first six games and the only loss was Sizzle. This team was not very good. Yes the parity in the NFL is real and there isn't a huge difference between winning and losing. That was evident by all the close losses. But the Ravens didn't have the horses (all year) to get them over the hump. Sugar coat it all you want. Vegas has the O/U for the Ravens at 8 wins. That should show you something. Even through Purple colored glasses.

Hey. I'm all for the Ravens beating the Squealers and Cincy. I'm all for the Ravens getting into the playoffs. But at some point, fans need to be realistic.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, EdTheMythicalOne said:

I am not trying to take a personal shot at you here, but I just can't see how anyone that witnessed what happened to this team last season can say something like this.

Jimmy Smith and Lardarrius Webb were shells of themselves due to injuries that didn't keep them out of the game, but probably should have if we had some decent depth. We didn't have that because of season ending injuries to a couple of guys behind them on the depth chart. The safety position was also decimated by injuries and how bad was this secondary last season? How many times did you see blown assignments and guys being wide open 50 yards down the field?

Eugene Monroe only played in 6 games and even in a lot of those games he played he left the game early. He missed game 2, game 4, game 8, and then games 11-16.

Only one game for the Ravens last year was decided by more than 1 score, and that game was lost by 8 points. Every other game was within a touch down or a field goal. You'd have to think that a healthy Ravens squad would have been able to pull off a few more wins.

Ed, you're one of the reasonable posters here. I don't mind your critiques.  You didn't mention the Seattle and KC games which were blowouts, granting those were after Flacco departed and that's probably why you didn't mention them.

The secondary and especially safety issues are all Front Office creations.  Jimmy and Ladarius were good players. How much they still have is debatable. We were losing well before the injuries climbed.  We'll see how this year turns out. I think we'll be drafting highly, I just don't want Newsome and DeCosta making those draft selections.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

4 hours ago, Danny D said:

Ed, you're one of the reasonable posters here. I don't mind your critiques.  You didn't mention the Seattle and KC games which were blowouts, granting those were after Flacco departed and that's probably why you didn't mention them.

The secondary and especially safety issues are all Front Office creations.  Jimmy and Ladarius were good players. How much they still have is debatable. We were losing well before the injuries climbed.  We'll see how this year turns out. I think we'll be drafting highly, I just don't want Newsome and DeCosta making those draft selections.

Thanks for thinking I am reasonable.

I didn't mention those games but I should have. But yeah, those games were post Flacco..

I think Jimmy has plenty left, it isn't like he's ancient. It is just a matter of how healthy that foot is. Webb will be moving to FS so that will allow him to roam around deep in the secondary instead of being forced to run with a receiver and expose his knees to that kind of work. I think he will make for a good safety and he tackles better than people seem to think. We lost Julian Wilson for the season and he would have been one of the guys providing depth. Will Davis was injured for the season in game two and he would have been a nickel corner. Starting SS Matt Elam was lost before the season started as well. Sure he wasn't playing up to his 1st round pick status, but it was supposed to be a put up or shut up year for him. Terrence Brooks who probably would have seen a lot more playing time was banged up all season. Breshard Perriman was lost before the season even started and the Ravens foolishly put a lot of eggs in one basket there. We didn't really have anyone else on the team that provided a deep threat.

I know the Ravens are my team and I will not discount my home team bias, but I look at all of those injuries and then I see how close a lot of those games were. We were that close with an absolutely atrocious pass rush thank to Suggs being out and teams being able to key on Dumervil. In addition to that Daryl Smith was on his last legs and became a liability in pass coverage. The secondary was in a state of constant disarray and was giving up tons of big plays. We had an okay rushing attack while Forsett was healthy, the passing game was alright while Steve Smith was around. Despite all this, there were a lot of close games.

If this team is healthy again, and that is a big if and I realize that, they have improved in some areas. I think the Webb & Weddle combo at safety will be a big positive. It seemed like nobody knew what was going on in the back end of coverage and Weddle should at the very least settle that down. A healthy Jimmy Smith is going to play much better than he did last season. The question mark remains on Sharece Wright and if he's the real deal or not. I sort of think he might be a one year wonder, but we'll see. That being said, the Ravens went out and got a solid if not spectacular depth piece in Powers. We have Will Davis coming back and still have Kyle Arrington. We've got some depth there now. A healthy Suggs will be a huge factor for the pass rush. If he can't go I am not convinced the draft brought us much in that area. I don't think Kaufusi is an interior rusher. I am not sure what Correa is, but I am thinking he might be another Coutney Upshaw. Okay against the run, but not much in the rush. I am hoping he can at least be another Jarret Johnson if not better than that.

Perriman is hurt again, but we've got some insurance for him this year. I don't know what Mike Wallace has left or what Chris Moore can offer, but it is nice to at least have some speed on the team. Steve Smith Sr. is a bonafide stud and a certified G....and you CAN'T TEACH THAT! If healthy I expect nothing less than a 1,000 yard season from him. We added Ben Watson to an already good collection of TE's and we might even have Pitta back. That's huge even if he's a part time goal line sub in for pass catching only. We got some questions on the O-line with Stanley and potentially Urschel starting on the left side, but I am going to think positively about that until I see it being a problem in pre season.

I think the team can legitimately win 10 games this year, provided they don't have more of those serious key injuries.

 

[blairlee21212]

I understand that the Ravens switched from a synthetic turf field back to natural. I am wondering why there is 0% chance that it involves our injury riddled team. I wondering why no one will just say it.

[trevorsteadman]

On 7/27/2016 at 5:58 AM, slowboater said:

I am not trying to take a personal shot at you here, but you are confirming what Danny stated. You stated Jimmy and Ladarius were not at full strength. The Ravens did not have roster depth last year as it was evident during the preseason games where other teams' second and third stringers took our backups to the wood shed. We lost 5 of our first six games and the only loss was Sizzle. This team was not very good. Yes the parity in the NFL is real and there isn't a huge difference between winning and losing. That was evident by all the close losses. But the Ravens didn't have the horses (all year) to get them over the hump. Sugar coat it all you want. Vegas has the O/U for the Ravens at 8 wins. That should show you something. Even through Purple colored glasses.

Hey. I'm all for the Ravens beating the Squealers and Cincy. I'm all for the Ravens getting into the playoffs. But at some point, fans need to be realistic.

Only loss of Suggs makes it sound like you don't think that is a huge loss at all... Do you think the Broncos would have been just fine defensively without Von Miller? Suggs is the leader on the defense and plays almost every down, pass or run, and is huge in the pass rushing department. With him gone everyone double teamed or triple teamed Dumervil while Za'Darius was a rookie.

Point is a pass rusher affects how an entire game is played. The Ravens could not get a pass rush to save their lives without Suggs. And with Smith battling through his surgically repaired foot and not 100% until like week 10. There is a reason the Ravens lost that many games by one score or less.

I understand Suggs is old but watching every game you could tell the defense was never the same without him. It wasn't until week 9 until you could tell the Ravens finally figured out defensively how to scheme without him. You can blame Pees for not having a back up plan but what do you do when your best player on defense goes down.

This team is a lot better depth wise and talent wise to withstand these injuries. Pass rusher is probably still the biggest question mark if Dumervil or Suggs go down again but they drafted a lot of young guys hoping to create a pass rush. The best part of the offseason and will be the biggest underrated story of the year are the additions of Weddle and Powers. If the Ravens were the #2 offense in the league, and #1 against the pass the last half of the season in 2015 and Suggs comes back healthy with those additions... The Ravens will easily sneak back into the playoffs with a healthy offense.

[harfordravenfan]

On 7/27/2016 at 0:56 PM, EdTheMythicalOne said:

Thanks for thinking I am reasonable.

I didn't mention those games but I should have. But yeah, those games were post Flacco..

I think Jimmy has plenty left, it isn't like he's ancient. It is just a matter of how healthy that foot is. Webb will be moving to FS so that will allow him to roam around deep in the secondary instead of being forced to run with a receiver and expose his knees to that kind of work. I think he will make for a good safety and he tackles better than people seem to think. We lost Julian Wilson for the season and he would have been one of the guys providing depth. Will Davis was injured for the season in game two and he would have been a nickel corner. Starting SS Matt Elam was lost before the season started as well. Sure he wasn't playing up to his 1st round pick status, but it was supposed to be a put up or shut up year for him. Terrence Brooks who probably would have seen a lot more playing time was banged up all season. Breshard Perriman was lost before the season even started and the Ravens foolishly put a lot of eggs in one basket there. We didn't really have anyone else on the team that provided a deep threat.

I know the Ravens are my team and I will not discount my home team bias, but I look at all of those injuries and then I see how close a lot of those games were. We were that close with an absolutely atrocious pass rush thank to Suggs being out and teams being able to key on Dumervil. In addition to that Daryl Smith was on his last legs and became a liability in pass coverage. The secondary was in a state of constant disarray and was giving up tons of big plays. We had an okay rushing attack while Forsett was healthy, the passing game was alright while Steve Smith was around. Despite all this, there were a lot of close games.

If this team is healthy again, and that is a big if and I realize that, they have improved in some areas. I think the Webb & Weddle combo at safety will be a big positive. It seemed like nobody knew what was going on in the back end of coverage and Weddle should at the very least settle that down. A healthy Jimmy Smith is going to play much better than he did last season. The question mark remains on Sharece Wright and if he's the real deal or not. I sort of think he might be a one year wonder, but we'll see. That being said, the Ravens went out and got a solid if not spectacular depth piece in Powers. We have Will Davis coming back and still have Kyle Arrington. We've got some depth there now. A healthy Suggs will be a huge factor for the pass rush. If he can't go I am not convinced the draft brought us much in that area. I don't think Kaufusi is an interior rusher. I am not sure what Correa is, but I am thinking he might be another Coutney Upshaw. Okay against the run, but not much in the rush. I am hoping he can at least be another Jarret Johnson if not better than that.

Perriman is hurt again, but we've got some insurance for him this year. I don't know what Mike Wallace has left or what Chris Moore can offer, but it is nice to at least have some speed on the team. Steve Smith Sr. is a bonafide stud and a certified G....and you CAN'T TEACH THAT! If healthy I expect nothing less than a 1,000 yard season from him. We added Ben Watson to an already good collection of TE's and we might even have Pitta back. That's huge even if he's a part time goal line sub in for pass catching only. We got some questions on the O-line with Stanley and potentially Urschel starting on the left side, but I am going to think positively about that until I see it being a problem in pre season.

I think the team can legitimately win 10 games this year, provided they don't have more of those serious key injuries.

 

10 wins is the minimum I see us winning this year (call me a Homer if ya like), but only way I see us winning less is if we again lose key players.