[News] Late For Work 9/20: Respect For Joe Flacco Inside Ravens Locker Room Is Clearly Evident

[BR News]

Even more vocal leaders stepping up. Ravens ranked dead last among 2-0 teams. Elvis Dumervil could be a boon to solid pass rush so far. Browns quarterback Josh McCown won’t play in Week 3. Watch out for Dennis Pitta in fantasy.

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[whobilly]

Hope Joe can put up some numbers in Jacksonville. The Jags game, like just about every road game in the NFL is going to be a tougher game than most people think. Any 0-2 team knows that if you go 0-3 it's pretty much an obstacle that you can't overcome. Ravens need to be ready right out of the gate on both sides of the ball.

[ellicottraven]

The game against Cleveland was a trap game and we escaped with a W. The game against Jacksonville is much more than that. We are coming off two weeks where we struggled generally speaking. The Jags' backs are against the wall and they're going to be playing for their lives. There is enough tape against Baltimore that can be exploited as does Baltimore against Jacksonville. It'll come down to two areas finally. The first is coaching and game planning with adjustments. Second is our offense and defense playing like they're capable. If any of these two areas is lacking we will most definitely lose. So, its really up to us to win this game. Because this is the game that'll truly define our season and our young players' confidence.

[757RavensFan]

I'd rather be ranked dead last of the teams w/ a 2-0 record than ranked first of the 0-2 teams.   

[Ravenshine]

This season is scheduled in a way to give time to iron out plays, and yeah, the second half of season is what we're building to imo, as its MUCH harder face offs. And I don't mind us being ranked last of the best. I get the 'rationale' behind it. I just know come Nov-Dec that's when we all see what these teams are made of this year...even the highest ranked have to pass the test, 2 games doesn't show enough of any team. I 'get' the predictions, but I'm not worried we're considered lowest on list because I see us focused on improvement. And I do see Joe as a great leader...always have. He's just so calm under pressure and never quits, never gives up on a game. That's got to be respected.

[dirtybird66]

iv'e only recently become a FLACCO basher,it's taken many years for him to reach my point that he'll alway's be inconsistant,i find it hard to call a QB. elite thats not consistant,but i'm learning that there are other ways to be ELITE,yes it's maddening to me sometimes how he seems to lose focus from series to series,it's just like it takes something to light a fire under him for him to start producing,but as long as the guys in the locker room are behind him,so am I.if we could find something to make him come alive like he does in the playoffs,we won't have to sweat close endings all the time.it could always be worse,we could have JAY CUTLER,i'm sure i'd jump off a cliff if that were the case.GO FLACCO!

[dirtybird66]

I'd rather be ranked dead last of the teams w/ a 2-0 record than ranked first of the 0-2 teams.   

AMEN!

[sami]

I'd rather be ranked dead last of the teams w/ a 2-0 record than ranked first of the 0-2 teams.   

ABSOLUTELY! cuz in the end those rankings don't mean squat but being 2-0 is great.

[dirtybird66]

the one thing that BILLICK did was he always had the guys going intogames with a chip on their shoulder,us vs. them mentality,so it helped us never come out flat in road games.and I did say ONE thing,HARBAUGH is so good in so many areas,it seems he's grown as a coach year after year.

[Ravenshine]

iv'e only recently become a FLACCO basher,it's taken many years for him to reach my point that he'll alway's be inconsistant,i find it hard to call a QB. elite thats not consistant,but i'm learning that there are other ways to be ELITE,yes it's maddening to me sometimes how he seems to lose focus from series to series,it's just like it takes something to light a fire under him for him to start producing,but as long as the guys in the locker room are behind him,so am I.if we could find something to make him come alive like he does in the playoffs,we won't have to sweat close endings all the time.it could always be worse,we could have JAY CUTLER,i'm sure i'd jump off a cliff if that were the case.GO FLACCO!

Yeah, I'd say there's definitely room for improvement. Such as inconsistencies...id add red zone play execution. It's on all the Os shoulders to improve. So I agree somewhat with you. I wouldn't want any other qb ...poor cutler...in the league than Joe. Not even the elite of the elite (lol)...Cam, Brady, what's his name (Seattle), yuck. No I'm glad we have Joe Cool. He's the best just some things got to improve so we don't always have cliff hangers. Ofc if we still got by winning games at last second I suppose that 'fine'...good enough, but I'd rather we kinda stop doing that some. I'd like to see some stompings...in Pittsburg, New England, Cincinnati, NY...and especially in Baltimore.

[slowboater]

1 hour ago, ellicottraven said:

........ It'll come down to two areas finally. The first is coaching and game planning with adjustments. Second is our offense and defense playing like they're capable. If any of these two areas is lacking we will most definitely lose. So, its really up to us to win this game. Because this is the game that'll truly define our season and our young players' confidence.

Um, those two areas are pretty much everything. But I agree, they need to play a solid game to win. The Jags will be fired up as this is their "season" if they don't win.

[griffrb]

2-0 is good but we're hardly there yet so an ugly win is a win. There are no soft games. On any given Sunday, any team can kick any other team to the curb. Let's just keep working to get the blocking scheme and run game going, while continue to also improve the defensive scheme and tackling.

[bioLarzen]

I'd rather be ranked dead last of the teams w/ a 2-0 record than ranked first of the 0-2 teams.   

Sure... but these aren't the only options. How about ranking in the middle of the unbeaten teams?

[757RavensFan]

17 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

Sure... but these aren't the only options. How about ranking in the middle of the unbeaten teams?

maybe if the 2 teams we beat were not collectively 0-4.  

Edit:  If we win vs the Jags next week, it's quite possible that our 3 opponents will be 0-9 collectively.

Granted their wins for us but still not a good win.   

Edited September 20, 2016 by 757RavensFan

[ravenscavecreek]

  1 hour ago, 757RavensFan said:

I'd rather be ranked dead last of the teams w/ a 2-0 record than ranked first of the 0-2 teams.   

Sure... but these aren't the only options. How about ranking in the middle of the unbeaten teams?

who cares. arguing over nonsense. 2-0 is 2-0. That's all that matters at this early point in the season.

[crazyboutravens]

2-0 is good but we're hardly there yet so an ugly win is a win. There are no soft games. On any given Sunday, any team can kick any other team to the curb. Let's just keep working to get the blocking scheme and run game going, while continue to also improve the defensive scheme and tackling.

Better to win ugly rather than lose ugly 2015

[ellicottraven]

1 hour ago, slowboater said:

Um, those two areas are pretty much everything. But I agree, they need to play a solid game to win. The Jags will be fired up as this is their "season" if they don't win.

They may be pretty much everything in all games, but hey, we can win with one of those areas clicking most Sundays. But, here we will have a motivated team at home looking to salvage their season. They'll come out with energy and leave everything on the field. So, again to reiterate if we come out flat because our game plan is conservative and unimaginative or the players come out flat and get behind like they did in Cleveland, this game is over. Jacksonville will win.

[ellicottraven]

59 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

Sure... but these aren't the only options. How about ranking in the middle of the unbeaten teams?

If only being ranked #1 would win us the SB... sigh. Peter Kind tried that last season with the Ravens and that didn't work out too well for us. Ever since, I don't give a dang where we are ranked because we all know where we should be ranked. We aren't playing the best football by any means. We got by 2 losing teams by the thinnest of margins. It doesn't matter where we are ranked because right now we aren't looking like world beaters. The great thing is we are 2-0 with only one way to go in terms of improvement - up.

Edited September 20, 2016 by ellicottraven

[Purple Dawg 96]

Joe is the leader of this team no one else! And if you want to be ranked higher earn it! Don't give away Super Bowls to the squeelers and pats anymore because troy stripped one from Joe and that very very very bad pass was another that should be FOUR Super Bowls and not two! You want juice you got to earn it period! "BOSSES" on three 123 BOSSES!

[steelcityraven]

This is a huge game for us. A 3-0 start cannot be underestimated (a 9-7 record could possibly put us into the playoffs and 10-6 most certainly would). A 3-0 start would mean that we could go 6-7 over the last 13 games and still possibly get in.

A 3-0 start would mean that if we only win our home games after that - we would end up 10-6.

A 3-0 start would mean that just winning vs teams who did not make the playoffs last year... would put us in the playoffs

A 3-0 start will set us up for a very good chance at a 4-0 start vs a Raiders team flying cross country for a home game at M&T

A 3-0 start means that we should be undefeated before we even start to see a full compliment of players (getting Dixon and Elvis back and even Waller who looked dynamic in the preseason after week 4)

A 3-0 start will make it difficult for the Sqeelers, Bengals and Browns to continue to keep pace in a tough division.

A 3-0 start will give us half of our win total from all of last season.

A 3-0 start will be a great confidence booster for some of the young players on this roster who will be beginning to find their way and find their comfort zone.

Finally a 3-0 start will be a good sign that Harbs has put 2015 behind us and given us a lot of hope in 2016!! Lets beat up on the JAGS and take the next step!

[cobrajet]

RG3 wasn't the answer for the Browns and Kessler is certainly not going to make them better but McCown can ball at times. We seen it on Sunday. The Browns may be the worst team in football with RG3 and Kessler but they were not on Sunday with McCown, especially for a game that is circled in red on their calendar. For the Browns fans this is their Super Bowl. Clevelanders hate the Ravens that much. That team was motivated and we had to dig deep and we did. Yeah we came out flat, but we had to go on the road right after learning CB had just passed away and really had no time to digest the news and properly grieve his lose. Let's not lose sight of this. If we start the same against Jax, then by all means bash away.

[OUravensfan]

1 hour ago, steelcityraven said:

This is a huge game for us. A 3-0 start cannot be underestimated (a 9-7 record could possibly put us into the playoffs and 10-6 most certainly would). A 3-0 start would mean that we could go 6-7 over the last 13 games and still possibly get in.

A 3-0 start would mean that if we only win our home games after that - we would end up 10-6.

A 3-0 start would mean that just winning vs teams who did not make the playoffs last year... would put us in the playoffs

A 3-0 start will set us up for a very good chance at a 4-0 start vs a Raiders team flying cross country for a home game at M&T

A 3-0 start means that we should be undefeated before we even start to see a full compliment of players (getting Dixon and Elvis back and even Waller who looked dynamic in the preseason after week 4)

A 3-0 start will make it difficult for the Sqeelers, Bengals and Browns to continue to keep pace in a tough division.

A 3-0 start will give us half of our win total from all of last season.

A 3-0 start will be a great confidence booster for some of the young players on this roster who will be beginning to find their way and find their comfort zone.

Finally a 3-0 start will be a good sign that Harbs has put 2015 behind us and given us a lot of hope in 2016!! Lets beat up on the JAGS and take the next step!

Sounds like we need to make sure we start 3-0

[terpmaniac]

Man 2-0 and still no love. Not all that surprised. Let'em fawn all over New England(ugh)and Pittsburgh for the time being. Ravens will have plenty of chances to prove themselves but its important to get better, game by game and to keep the injury bug at bay. Fingers crossed.

[KidNme]

Joe is Joe and after 9 years, I'm not sure we'll see too many wholesale changes in his game. The whole team needs to play 60 minutes, it's just the way we're built. Joe isn't going to win many games by himself like a couple other QB's can do but if everyone around him is hitting on all cylinders, we'll win more than we lose. This last, come from WAY behind win, will go a long way in building our character and Jacksonville will put even more pressure on us this week so we'll see how we respond. It's all bumps on the road to the playoffs that builds a winning team and I believe we'll continue to grow. Our schedule is actually built for that kind of a season this year. Let's hope we can take advantage of it.

[terpmaniac]

The game against Cleveland was a trap game and we escaped with a W. The game against Jacksonville is much more than that. We are coming off two weeks where we struggled generally speaking. The Jags' backs are against the wall and they're going to be playing for their lives. There is enough tape against Baltimore that can be exploited as does Baltimore against Jacksonville. It'll come down to two areas finally. The first is coaching and game planning with adjustments. Second is our offense and defense playing like they're capable. If any of these two areas is lacking we will most definitely lose. So, its really up to us to win this game. Because this is the game that'll truly define our season and our young players' confidence.

The Browns backs were up against the wall as well. They certainly did not want to go 0-2. That was a huge game for Cleveland and they were at home as well. RAVENS WON! Not worried about the Jags this coming Sunday. Their defense is garbage and Bortles has been mediocre at best. I like our chances. Must win game or not.

[20306cab]

  4 hours ago, ellicottraven said:

The game against Cleveland was a trap game and we escaped with a W. The game against Jacksonville is much more than that. We are coming off two weeks where we struggled generally speaking. The Jags' backs are against the wall and they're going to be playing for their lives. There is enough tape against Baltimore that can be exploited as does Baltimore against Jacksonville. It'll come down to two areas finally. The first is coaching and game planning with adjustments. Second is our offense and defense playing like they're capable. If any of these two areas is lacking we will most definitely lose. So, its really up to us to win this game. Because this is the game that'll truly define our season and our young players' confidence.

The Browns backs were up against the wall as well. They certainly did not want to go 0-2. That was a huge game for Cleveland and they were at home as well. RAVENS WON! Not worried about the Jags this coming Sunday. Their defense is garbage and Bortles has been mediocre at best. I like our chances. Must win game or not.

Just bad karma, man.

[Edug27]

3 hours ago, slowboater said:

The Jags will be fired up as this is their "season" if they don't win.

We were "fired up" last year coming home at 0-2 to face the Bengals with our "season on the line"... Then AJ Green decided to end our season.

[20306cab]

Joe is Joe and after 9 years, I'm not sure we'll see too many wholesale changes in his game. The whole team needs to play 60 minutes, it's just the way we're built. Joe isn't going to win many games by himself like a couple other QB's can do but if everyone around him is hitting on all cylinders, we'll win more than we lose. This last, come from WAY behind win, will go a long way in building our character and Jacksonville will put even more pressure on us this week so we'll see how we respond. It's all bumps on the road to the playoffs that builds a winning team and I believe we'll continue to grow. Our schedule is actually built for that kind of a season this year. Let's hope we can take advantage of it.

Yeah, same old, same old. Joe is right at his career rating avg. this year, at 84.5. Every time there is an article like this, Joe tends to lay a giant egg. And Jacksonville is just the place to do it.

[Kraven]

The group of people who decide who is most valuable, which team is better,Power rankings etc include a lot of Pretend football enthusiasts (Fantasy) and Joe Flacco as well as the Ravens Defense both are murder on the stats not only of their own stats but of those they play against as well. This lead to a lot of negativity towards them both. The very Team that Last year was expected by many to be a playoff contender fell completely apart due to injuries as you all know. This team has actually gotten better at least talent wise over last years team. It is beginning to show. The fact that the Ravens do not play a team that is expected to be a playoff contender until the eighth week (Steelers) may actually be a very good thing as it will allow this team to adjust and Gel before they have to play a seriously difficult team. This will have No effect on the ranking for the Ravens. Even if the Ravens go 8-0 they will still not truly be respected by the Pretend football guys until they beet Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh and by that time it will be too late to matter. The Playoffs will only be a week away and if the Ravens are in them it may be steamrolling time.

[OLD SCHOOL SMASH BALL]

Take one game at a time, stay focused on doing your job at hand. Not sure what happened at Cleveland, but now you know you can beat anybody if put your mind to it.