[News] Late For Work 10/31: Updated AFC North Standings; 8 Fixes Ravens Need To Make

[BR News]

The Ravens fell in the division, but can take the top spot Sunday. Improved health alone won't turn the season around. Joe Flacco inducted into the Delaware Hall of Fame. Za'Darius Smith was fined for his hit on Ryan Fitzpatrick.

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[Bat-mite]

It is absolutely insane that with a win on Sunday, we would be in first place. What has happened to the NFL?

[The Greek]

#5 could be improved if we used b. williams as a lead blocker on short yardage like we used to with ngata and hopefully taliaferro can help with that. not working with juice thus far and zuttah gets manhandled on short yardage as well.

[RavenSwag]

I'll add a ninth fix...the head coach need to make better decisions. You're the guy that's running the ship, act like it. Run the damn ball!! Some of the 4th down calls has been horrendous...you have the best kicker in the league, use him. Instead of saying what we have to improve on and all the other excuses our head coach come up with, just do it!!

[gr2522]

#1 Flacco's footwork wow c'mon are we talking about a rookie or what? He's a 9 year vet who's killing us with dumb plays game after game regressing on a weekly basis. There is motivation, no confidence, no passion it's like if Joe just sleepwalks. The idea about not being able to bench him is ridiculous. If Harbaugh had any good sense left in him he'd bench Flacco for Mallet in an attempt to save his locker room. I guess 120 million made Flacco LAZY! Go Ravens!!!!!!

[crazyboutravens]

It is absolutely insane that with a win on Sunday, we would be in first place. What has happened to the NFL?

You can have safety or good football but not both. Since you can't hit anyone and you have to work your way around the ridiculous number of flags and now we have multiple conferences on every flag the game
takes forever. The NFL is heading down a very bad road.

[jravens1313]

#1 Flacco's footwork wow c'mon are we talking about a rookie or what? He's a 9 year vet who's killing us with dumb plays game after game regressing on a weekly basis. There is motivation, no confidence, no passion it's like if Joe just sleepwalks. The idea about not being able to bench him is ridiculous. If Harbaugh had any good sense left in him he'd bench Flacco for Mallet in an attempt to save his locker room. I guess 120 million made Flacco LAZY! Go Ravens!!!!!!

Flacco is playing with a injured/crappy O-Line that can't protect. He is also coming off an ACL injury and playing through a Shoulder Injury and Missing his #1 WR. Your comment shows lack of knowledge of the current situation. Flacco is the guy. As a team we need to commit to the run for 4 quarters, and use play action to our benefit. Dixon could provide the splash plays that keep drives alive. FLACO SOULD NOT THROW THE BALL 40 TIMES!

[whobilly]

You're a mediocre team when you have a lot of roster filler mediocre players.

[jboy19]

I'd honestly rather face a hobbled Ben Roethlisberger than a healthy Landry Jones. 

[dirtybird66]

that will be the only HALL OF FAME FLACCO ever see's,lol,i'm sure the STILLERS are just saying BIG BEN might play so we don't focus on 1 QB. and i see no problem with TERRANCE WEST,he can put a team on his back and i'd love to see them bring back TRENT RICHARDSON if nothing else but a battering ram in the redzone.he's a huge guy.and i would defeniately bring CAMPANARO back for returns,you never want a guy slumping in the return game,plus CAMP can go in as a slot reciever if nessasary or used in a read option type player with his speed.

[eze17]

You're a mediocre team when you have a lot of roster filler mediocre players.

Yeah, you're talking about every team in the league...thank the NFL for their devotion to parity: sloppy, uninspired games.

[reddog54]

Wow! Look at all of the points scored this weekend! We only average 19 points per game for the last 7 games......Ever wonder what a Guy like QB Rivers would do with our receivers?? I bet it would be a lot more than a 19 point average

[metalraven]

  1 hour ago, gr2522 said:

#1 Flacco's footwork wow c'mon are we talking about a rookie or what? He's a 9 year vet who's killing us with dumb plays game after game regressing on a weekly basis. There is motivation, no confidence, no passion it's like if Joe just sleepwalks. The idea about not being able to bench him is ridiculous. If Harbaugh had any good sense left in him he'd bench Flacco for Mallet in an attempt to save his locker room. I guess 120 million made Flacco LAZY! Go Ravens!!!!!!

Flacco is playing with a injured/crappy O-Line that can't protect. He is also coming off an ACL injury and playing through a Shoulder Injury and Missing his #1 WR. Your comment shows lack of knowledge of the current situation. Flacco is the guy. As a team we need to commit to the run for 4 quarters, and use play action to our benefit. Dixon could provide the splash plays that keep drives alive. FLACO SOULD NOT THROW THE BALL 40 TIMES!

OK. What about his performance WITH a healthy o line? Not good. What about the times when Flacco is given time, and he still throws off his back foot, and into double coverage? Most of your argument is valid; but you're forgetting that Flacco is responsible for the losses as much as anybody else. The blame goes all around, and Flacco is most certainly a big part of the problem. Take off your purple glasses, and stop defending the guy's garbage play.

[CQ1]

Helllllo......actually there are 9 'FIXES':

A more stronger, longer lasting Maalox to help us Raven fans get through this, bovine-dumping, purple-fluff, second half.

[20306cab]

  1 hour ago, gr2522 said:

#1 Flacco's footwork wow c'mon are we talking about a rookie or what? He's a 9 year vet who's killing us with dumb plays game after game regressing on a weekly basis. There is motivation, no confidence, no passion it's like if Joe just sleepwalks. The idea about not being able to bench him is ridiculous. If Harbaugh had any good sense left in him he'd bench Flacco for Mallet in an attempt to save his locker room. I guess 120 million made Flacco LAZY! Go Ravens!!!!!!

Flacco is playing with a injured/crappy O-Line that can't protect. He is also coming off an ACL injury and playing through a Shoulder Injury and Missing his #1 WR. Your comment shows lack of knowledge of the current situation. Flacco is the guy. As a team we need to commit to the run for 4 quarters, and use play action to our benefit. Dixon could provide the splash plays that keep drives alive. FLACO SOULD NOT THROW THE BALL 40 TIMES!

HAHA! The Far Below Average Joe excuse machine rolls on! Just watching last night's game, made me yearn for a half decent QB, so we wouldn't be wasting some awesome D. Wentz and Prescott play like seasoned vets, while FBAJ plays like a wide eyed rookie sinking in quick sand. By the way, FBAJ shouldn't throw the ball ONCE! He shouldn't be anywhere near a football field.

[The Greek]

that will be the only HALL OF FAME FLACCO ever see's,lol,i'm sure the STILLERS are just saying BIG BEN might play so we don't focus on 1 QB. and i see no problem with TERRANCE WEST,he can put a team on his back and i'd love to see them bring back TRENT RICHARDSON if nothing else but a battering ram in the redzone.he's a huge guy.and i would defeniately bring CAMPANARO back for returns,you never want a guy slumping in the return game,plus CAMP can go in as a slot reciever if nessasary or used in a read option type player with his speed.

camp has the skills of a welker/amendola but he will not last more than 10 plays especially as a return man with 250lb players nailing him at full speed. wonder if asa gets another shot as a returner

[The Greek]

I'll add a ninth fix...the head coach need to make better decisions. You're the guy that's running the ship, act like it. Run the damn ball!! Some of the 4th down calls has been horrendous...you have the best kicker in the league, use him. Instead of saying what we have to improve on and all the other excuses our head coach come up with, just do it!!

i would have to agree with you about not leaving points off the board. we could of won some of these games if they had let tucker kick the fg earlier and would have only needed a fg to win or tie instead of the td at the end of those games

[eze17]

  2 hours ago, jravens1313 said:

  2 hours ago, gr2522 said:

#1 Flacco's footwork wow c'mon are we talking about a rookie or what? He's a 9 year vet who's killing us with dumb plays game after game regressing on a weekly basis. There is motivation, no confidence, no passion it's like if Joe just sleepwalks. The idea about not being able to bench him is ridiculous. If Harbaugh had any good sense left in him he'd bench Flacco for Mallet in an attempt to save his locker room. I guess 120 million made Flacco LAZY! Go Ravens!!!!!!

Flacco is playing with a injured/crappy O-Line that can't protect. He is also coming off an ACL injury and playing through a Shoulder Injury and Missing his #1 WR. Your comment shows lack of knowledge of the current situation. Flacco is the guy. As a team we need to commit to the run for 4 quarters, and use play action to our benefit. Dixon could provide the splash plays that keep drives alive. FLACO SOULD NOT THROW THE BALL 40 TIMES!

HAHA! The Far Below Average Joe excuse machine rolls on! Just watching last night's game, made me yearn for a half decent QB, so we wouldn't be wasting some awesome D. Wentz and Prescott play like seasoned vets, while FBAJ plays like a wide eyed rookie sinking in quick sand. By the way, FBAJ shouldn't throw the ball ONCE! He shouldn't be anywhere near a football field.

HAHA! The won more playoff games and a super bowl than guy's you wish played for us joe hater's machine rolls on also, I see...

[respecttheRaven]

Well.....I am proud to say that I am a Joe Flacco fan!! Am I looking thru "purple" colored glasses, drinking the "purple" kool-aide?? You betcha! You know why?? Because HE is the QB of the Baltimore Ravens!! And he ain't going nowhere....despite what many people want/say. Has his mechanics been off? Yes, they have, and so has everyone else's on that scary O-line. Missing Yanda, Stanley, Wagner has had a serious effect on the whole line. I have seen what Joe can do when he has protection, and boy , do I wish it was that way again. Hopefully with the 1st string O-line finally practicing together for the first time in weeks, and guys coming back from injury, will give the offense that much needed boost to get something going....and score in the red zone!! Say what you will. Call me a homer!!! I would much rather be called that than a fair weathered fan!!

[fusuymada]

Just want to address some of those 8 ideas we need to do.

First, play young pass rushers more? Then later on in the article we talk about one of those young guys making a stupid hit on Fitzpatrick causing the Ravens to lose valuable time they could have used to score and win. Can't have it both ways, if you play the young guys, then give up on the season because they are going to make those stupid mistakes that are going to cost games.

Get Joe help. When I watched Prescott last night he did some things that I would like to see our 9 year QB do. First, he went to the line, changed plays, pointed out players, even if it was just bluff, he did something that made the defense think. If Joe can read the defense he doesn't show it, he doesn't change the play to be something that will be successful against that defense. To me Joe Flacco is a quarterback. Dak Prescott was quarterbacking his team. Besides one is a verb and one is a noun, the big thing is that he is quarterbacking, leading, hurrying when necessary, actually acted like he was alive. Joe needs to help Joe. I know he is laid back but I have always said there is a difference in apathy and being laid back. Joe needs to grab this team and lead, that is what qbs do and if he can't do it, then we need a change. This team desperately needs a leader on the offense and Steve Smith who has been injured or will be gone next year is not the guy.

Things you can't do until the offseason because it requires adding pieces we don't have. Settle on the offensive line (need a center we don't have, need a decent backup tackle we don't have. Find Red Zone options. They aren't falling out of the sky so that will have to wait too. Speed on field for defense. Webb is one of those and until Ozzie is willing to give up the experiment we are stuck with slow.

Lastly, Hester. Should have kept Butler who we could use as an option in the red zone. Said from day one it was a mistake. Rosburg and Harbaugh as special teams guys sold a spot on the team to say they coached the great Devon Hester. Like Webb at safety, another blown experiment.

The one thing we need to do more than anything else. Stop accumulating draft picks like picks in the 4th round and later are more valuable than guys you can get by moving up in the first and second rounds. We need playmakers, we need a core of good young players. We haven't been getting them in round 4 and beyond and we wont in the future. If we could score on some of those its a great strategy, but we can't so lets use those picks that we end up cutting and move up and grab GREAT players in round one and two.;

[ThereAreFansInDelaware]

I used to bowl professionally. My coach was a great Hall of Famer. His philosophy on slumps was this:
A slump is caused by something physical. A slump is prolonged by something mental.

[The Greek]

Just want to address some of those 8 ideas we need to do.

First, play young pass rushers more? Then later on in the article we talk about one of those young guys making a stupid hit on Fitzpatrick causing the Ravens to lose valuable time they could have used to score and win. Can't have it both ways, if you play the young guys, then give up on the season because they are going to make those stupid mistakes that are going to cost games.

Get Joe help. When I watched Prescott last night he did some things that I would like to see our 9 year QB do. First, he went to the line, changed plays, pointed out players, even if it was just bluff, he did something that made the defense think. If Joe can read the defense he doesn't show it, he doesn't change the play to be something that will be successful against that defense. To me Joe Flacco is a quarterback. Dak Prescott was quarterbacking his team. Besides one is a verb and one is a noun, the big thing is that he is quarterbacking, leading, hurrying when necessary, actually acted like he was alive. Joe needs to help Joe. I know he is laid back but I have always said there is a difference in apathy and being laid back. Joe needs to grab this team and lead, that is what qbs do and if he can't do it, then we need a change. This team desperately needs a leader on the offense and Steve Smith who has been injured or will be gone next year is not the guy.

Things you can't do until the offseason because it requires adding pieces we don't have. Settle on the offensive line (need a center we don't have, need a decent backup tackle we don't have. Find Red Zone options. They aren't falling out of the sky so that will have to wait too. Speed on field for defense. Webb is one of those and until Ozzie is willing to give up the experiment we are stuck with slow.

Lastly, Hester. Should have kept Butler who we could use as an option in the red zone. Said from day one it was a mistake. Rosburg and Harbaugh as special teams guys sold a spot on the team to say they coached the great Devon Hester. Like Webb at safety, another blown experiment.

The one thing we need to do more than anything else. Stop accumulating draft picks like picks in the 4th round and later are more valuable than guys you can get by moving up in the first and second rounds. We need playmakers, we need a core of good young players. We haven't been getting them in round 4 and beyond and we wont in the future. If we could score on some of those its a great strategy, but we can't so lets use those picks that we end up cutting and move up and grab GREAT players in round one and two.;

nice post and my view on the draft picks as well is since the fo has struggled with the draft lately i would much rather see them trade our picks aside from the 1st rounder for proven players that struggling teams that want draft picks to rebuild want to part with. we keep drafting guys that we let go after their rookie contracts and it doesnt make any sense when some of these guys work in our system and are showing upside.

[The Greek]

Well.....I am proud to say that I am a Joe Flacco fan!! Am I looking thru "purple" colored glasses, drinking the "purple" kool-aide?? You betcha! You know why?? Because HE is the QB of the Baltimore Ravens!! And he ain't going nowhere....despite what many people want/say. Has his mechanics been off? Yes, they have, and so has everyone else's on that scary O-line. Missing Yanda, Stanley, Wagner has had a serious effect on the whole line. I have seen what Joe can do when he has protection, and boy , do I wish it was that way again. Hopefully with the 1st string O-line finally practicing together for the first time in weeks, and guys coming back from injury, will give the offense that much needed boost to get something going....and score in the red zone!! Say what you will. Call me a homer!!! I would much rather be called that than a fair weathered fan!!

i am a flacco fan as well and i agree that he isnt going anywhere with that guaranteed contract of his but if he struggles as he has against pitt and cle than he should be benched for a few games and maybe just maybe that will light a fire under him. i also would like to see him show more emotion and take command of that offense. he is better than what we have seen but the years are passing and his best days will be behind him and i believe he has a solid group of weapons to put up some points right now.

[metalraven]

  3 hours ago, 20306cab said:

  5 hours ago, jravens1313 said:

  5 hours ago, gr2522 said:

#1 Flacco's footwork wow c'mon are we talking about a rookie or what? He's a 9 year vet who's killing us with dumb plays game after game regressing on a weekly basis. There is motivation, no confidence, no passion it's like if Joe just sleepwalks. The idea about not being able to bench him is ridiculous. If Harbaugh had any good sense left in him he'd bench Flacco for Mallet in an attempt to save his locker room. I guess 120 million made Flacco LAZY! Go Ravens!!!!!!

Flacco is playing with a injured/crappy O-Line that can't protect. He is also coming off an ACL injury and playing through a Shoulder Injury and Missing his #1 WR. Your comment shows lack of knowledge of the current situation. Flacco is the guy. As a team we need to commit to the run for 4 quarters, and use play action to our benefit. Dixon could provide the splash plays that keep drives alive. FLACO SOULD NOT THROW THE BALL 40 TIMES!

HAHA! The Far Below Average Joe excuse machine rolls on! Just watching last night's game, made me yearn for a half decent QB, so we wouldn't be wasting some awesome D. Wentz and Prescott play like seasoned vets, while FBAJ plays like a wide eyed rookie sinking in quick sand. By the way, FBAJ shouldn't throw the ball ONCE! He shouldn't be anywhere near a football field.

HAHA! The won more playoff games and a super bowl than guy's you wish played for us joe hater's machine rolls on also, I see...

The SB win was amazing; but it was lightening in a bottle. Joe has been absolutely disgusting since then. Are there other factors that come into play? Of course there are. But let's not pretend that Joe is absolved of culpability. He's a really good QB in perfect day scenarios. But without every piece around him, he is below average. Great QBs have good days and bad days, but they overcome them. They don't regress. Flacco is regressing with each snap.

[FloridalovesRavens]

Wow! Look at all of the points scored this weekend! We only average 19 points per game for the last 7 games......Ever wonder what a Guy like QB Rivers would do with our receivers?? I bet it would be a lot more than a 19 point average

Go root for the Chargers.

[FloridalovesRavens]

Some sorry Ravens fans on this site. Nothing but griping and wishing we had another player on our team. Perhaps you should look at the Browns and thank your lucky stars we have the players we have. Better watch what you wish for. Things could be a lot worse. Go Ravens.

[Crusader]

I wish they quite saying "Raven only one game out of first place". That would make sense if you played some of the teams ahead of you.

[Cillmatic]

7 hours ago, Bat-mite said:

It is absolutely insane that with a win on Sunday, we would be in first place. What has happened to the NFL?

Have you seen our division? The fact that we can make playoffs is because our DIVISION sucks, NFL isn't responsible for that.

[metalraven]

Some sorry Ravens fans on this site. Nothing but griping and wishing we had another player on our team. Perhaps you should look at the Browns and thank your lucky stars we have the players we have. Better watch what you wish for. Things could be a lot worse. Go Ravens.

Well, I don't know who you're referring to. But I haven't said that Flacco needs to be replaced. However, the difference between us and Browns fans is that we have expectations of winning, not settling. I'll admit; Flacco is our best option, and frankly, our only option. But he's not cutting it. And if you think calling a spade a spade is not being a true fan, then you don't know what you're talking about. Fans SHOULD expect better. And when your highest paid player (understandably the highest paid) is playing like garbage, true fans call it out. Simple as that. Flacco better step the heck up this week. If he doesn't, then he may be riding the pine...on principal.

[Popeye the sailor man]

If we can ever find a QB that can put an averge 30-40 points on the board, the next day all you Flacco Lovers will be saying " Joe Who "

Edited October 31, 2016 by Popeye the sailor man