[News] Late For Work 12/8: Joe Flacco: Patriots Can Intimidate Some Teams, But That's Not Us

[ravenken]

I like and appreciate Foxworth's comments. I was the happiest fan on the planet when we finally got rid of Billick. I had no opinion about Hardball for the first year but have become more of a believer each and every year. Even after last year's most difficult season. He is a solid character and believes in those around him. That's called getting the best out of everyone. That is how your team can be the best. I have to give credit to BestFriendofBaltimore Mr. Steve B for having the intelligence and insight to make such a critical business call.
Proud to be a Raven fan.
Go Ravens!!!

[A Fish Called Yanda]

  3 hours ago, DaRupp said:

If the Steelers lose to the Bills and we win vs the Patriots, we will be in good shape.

False (unless the calculator has a bug). If we lose to the steelers, they will win tiebreaker in common games.

The ESPN playoff machine is wrong!  WE win the Common Games tiebreak.  I have lost all respect for ESPN's playoff machine over this.  I have reported it to them, and they have done nothing to change it.  Try nflplayoffpredictor.com  Basically, there is no way we can lose a tiebreak to Pittsburgh. (barring any tied games--I haven't factored that in)

Correct on Common Games - breakdown is below (though I dunno if it'll display correctly)

Opp R S
Bengals W W
Bengals W W
Bills W L
Browns W W
Browns W W
Cowboys L L
Dolphins W L
Eagles W L
Giants L W
Jets L W
Pats W L
Redskins L W
WINS 8 7

[DaRupp]

  52 minutes ago, VermontRaven said:

  3 hours ago, DaRupp said:

If the Steelers lose to the Bills and we win vs the Patriots, we will be in good shape.

False (unless the calculator has a bug). If we lose to the steelers, they will win tiebreaker in common games.

The ESPN playoff machine is wrong!  WE win the Common Games tiebreak.  I have lost all respect for ESPN's playoff machine over this.  I have reported it to them, and they have done nothing to change it.  Try nflplayoffpredictor.com  Basically, there is no way we can lose a tiebreak to Pittsburgh. (barring any tied games--I haven't factored that in)

Correct on Common Games - breakdown is below (though I dunno if it'll display correctly)

Opp R S
Bengals W W
Bengals W W
Bills W L
Browns W W
Browns W W
Cowboys L L
Dolphins W L
Eagles W L
Giants L W
Jets L W
Pats W L
Redskins L W
WINS 8 7

Wow...shame on espn. I always looked forward to that tool every year. never mind...

[Junior Jakes]

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

Correct me, but even if we lose to the squealers and then end up tied with bronco's (@ Ten, patsies, @KC, Oak) at 10-6, I believe we get the WC spot?

[Purple Dawg 96]

Brady didn't make top 10 last week and it's not going to get any better come Monday! WE THE BEST!

[A Fish Called Yanda]

  4 hours ago, DaRupp said:

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

Correct me, but even if we lose to the squealers and then end up tied with bronco's (@ Ten, patsies, @KC, Oak) at 10-6, I believe we get the WC spot?

This is correct. This would all come down to conference record, we are currently 7-2 while the Broncos are 5-3. All of the Broncos' future games are within the AFC, so to get to 10-6 they'd have to lose two more conference games, whereas we'd only lose one in your scenario (to the Steelers), so there'd be no way for their conference record to be better than ours.

One saving grace about our losses this season is that all but two have come against NFC opponents. We are one of three AFC teams with 7 wins against in-conference opponents (the others being the Pats and Raiders).

[TheConquerorWorm]

  4 hours ago, DaRupp said:

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

Correct me, but even if we lose to the squealers and then end up tied with bronco's (@ Ten, patsies, @KC, Oak) at 10-6, I believe we get the WC spot?

Correct. We would get the tie-breaker on Conference record.

[DaRupp]

  5 hours ago, DaRupp said:

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

Correct me, but even if we lose to the squealers and then end up tied with bronco's (@ Ten, patsies, @KC, Oak) at 10-6, I believe we get the WC spot?

Yeah all my math was based on the espn calculator which is wrong. So big nevermind for everything i've said in this thread....sigh

[VermontRaven]

4 minutes ago, DaRupp said:

Yeah all my math was based on the espn calculator which is wrong. So big nevermind for everything i've said in this thread....sigh

Yeah, I am VERY disappointed with ESPN's playoff machine this year.  That used to be my go to before I realized this year how many flaws it has.

[RavensBaltimore]

Every game matters at this point. I'm sure the Ravens want the Pats very much. One game at a time. If we can come out like against the Fins we won't have a problem. My concern is the weather. Will be have to rely on the run game? Will our RBs be good enough? Guess we'll find out. Go Ravens!

I think a wet field can actually favor the pass game. It's easier for a receiver to keep his footing because he knows where he's going. A defender doesn't know the route and has to quickly react, which makes him more likely to slip. Plus, Joe has the arm to zip passes through any weather conditions.

I don't think we'll have to rely on the run, but if we did, I have no doubt that our RBs are good enough. They have both showed good burst and power. It's the run blocking that I'd be concerned with. The O-line has shown recently that they can pass protect for an entire game, at least when we speed up the tempo and get rid of the ball quickly, but they haven't been able to consistently open up holes in the run game all year.

[huntrgathrr]

Forget about unpredictable future win-loss scenarios.....the only thing that matters right now is the NE game on Monday Night Football.. Save all the conjecture for the week before we play Cincy in the final game. By then it might not even require discussion.
This is an incredible opportunity for the Ravens to showcase their defense and Flacco to do what he always does in Foxboro. Of all the teams in the NFL, we have the most wins in Foxboro, including 2 playoff wins, in the last 5 years. We are also one of the few teams that have punished Brady routinely, win or lose. I think he has 8 TDs and 10 Ints against Balt in Foxboro in the last 5 years.
Facing an NFL leading, dominant defense this week is not what Brady would prefer. He hates being hit and the Ravens are the only team in the NFL, through physical domination, that have reduced him to a less than average QB. Beating him twice in the playoffs in Foxboro is something he distinctly remembers. Plus in the other 2 playoff games they needed Lee Evans to drop a TD pass and overcome two 14 point deficits in the other to get the wins.
This will be a knock down drag out affair and I give the edge to the best defense. The Vegas line opened at 9 and is now down to to 6.5. That reflects a huge amount of money bet on the Ravens.
If Flacco and the offense don't turn it over and eliminate penalties they will score enough to win this one. In the cold, Tucker could easily make the difference. Having Jimmy Smith healthy is a HUGE benefit for the Ravens. Having Gronk out is a huge loss for the Pats.
Ravens 31 NE 13.

[Minionhunter]

  6 hours ago, FloridalovesRavens said:

Every game matters at this point. I'm sure the Ravens want the Pats very much. One game at a time. If we can come out like against the Fins we won't have a problem. My concern is the weather. Will be have to rely on the run game? Will our RBs be good enough? Guess we'll find out. Go Ravens!

I think a wet field can actually favor the pass game. It's easier for a receiver to keep his footing because he knows where he's going. A defender doesn't know the route and has to quickly react, which makes him more likely to slip. Plus, Joe has the arm to zip passes through any weather conditions.

I don't think we'll have to rely on the run, but if we did, I have no doubt that our RBs are good enough. They have both showed good burst and power. It's the run blocking that I'd be concerned with. The O-line has shown recently that they can pass protect for an entire game, at least when we speed up the tempo and get rid of the ball quickly, but they haven't been able to consistently open up holes in the run game all year.

Also, the Partiots defense is the worst against the pass. When teams come gunning for them trying to be balanced, they loose. When they open it up against them, then the Patriots suffer.

You are totally right about the weather and what works. The Viks Ravens game was a textbook for that, defense suffers trying to cover and adujst to speed guys.

Watchout for Kraft manipulating the TV timeouts again....

[A Fish Called Yanda]

Forget about unpredictable future win-loss scenarios.....the only thing that matters right now is the NE game on Monday Night Football.. Save all the conjecture for the week before we play Cincy in the final game. By then it might not even require discussion.
This is an incredible opportunity for the Ravens to showcase their defense and Flacco to do what he always does in Foxboro. Of all the teams in the NFL, we have the most wins in Foxboro, including 2 playoff wins, in the last 5 years. We are also one of the few teams that have punished Brady routinely, win or lose. I think he has 8 TDs and 10 Ints against Balt in Foxboro in the last 5 years.
Facing an NFL leading, dominant defense this week is not what Brady would prefer. He hates being hit and the Ravens are the only team in the NFL, through physical domination, that have reduced him to a less than average QB. Beating him twice in the playoffs in Foxboro is something he distinctly remembers. Plus in the other 2 playoff games they needed Lee Evans to drop a TD pass and overcome two 14 point deficits in the other to get the wins.
This will be a knock down drag out affair and I give the edge to the best defense. The Vegas line opened at 9 and is now down to to 6.5. That reflects a huge amount of money bet on the Ravens.
If Flacco and the offense don't turn it over and eliminate penalties they will score enough to win this one. In the cold, Tucker could easily make the difference. Having Jimmy Smith healthy is a HUGE benefit for the Ravens. Having Gronk out is a huge loss for the Pats.
Ravens 31 NE 13.

I think your prediction is way off. NE only scoring 13? That would tie the least points they've ever scored against us (2012 AFCCG). While our defense is good, we are still weak against the pass. Brady shouldn't have a terrible day against us - I see this matchup somewhat similar to our game against Dallas, though the Pats are worse at rushing. Brady will have time in the pocket and when that happens he tends to be very effective against us.

[Drew P]

9 minutes ago, Minionhunter said:

Also, the Partiots defense is the worst against the pass.

 

Where did you come up with that?

No, not the Partiots part but that claim? lol

[rmcjacket23]

  6 hours ago, DaRupp said:

  6 hours ago, whobilly said:

  7 hours ago, DaRupp said:

  7 hours ago, hen826957 said:

  7 hours ago, DaRupp said:

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

The last 4 games is not exactly a cakewalk for the Steelers. They could lose to Buffalo next week and l hope Tyrod and the Buffalo Bills can do us a favor. I will be watching that game cheering for the Bills hard. That might be the only game l could see them losing. The Steelers got the Bengals number but they can also lose that game too. If the Steelers lose to the Bills and we win vs the Patriots, we will be in good shape.

If the Steelers lose to the Bills and we win vs the Patriots, we will be in good shape.

False (unless the calculator has a bug). If we lose to the steelers, they will win tiebreaker in common games.

NFC East losses along with embarrassing loss to the Jets could come back to haunt us.

If we don't make the playoffs (I think we're completely capable!), I think the Jets loss will be the game we look at.

We got beat soundly by the Jets. I think the defense choking in the last minutes against the Raiders & the Giants are the ones to look at.

Not really. There are key moments at key times, but you can play the same thing on the offense.

How about the offenses inability to even move the ball for a long period of time against the Jets and Redskins?

The Jets loss will stick out the most, because its a loss against a bad team. Losing to the Giants on the road isn't a bad loss, nor is losing to the Raiders at home.

Losing to the Jets on the road? Bad loss. Losing at home to the Redskins? Not as bad, but not a good loss.

[rmcjacket23]

  7 hours ago, DaRupp said:

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

Not necessarily true since the Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs all play each other in their remaining games. Broncos could easily lose to the Pats, Chiefs and Raiders and fall to 9-7. We win 3-1 even with a Steelers loss, and we're 10-6. Even at 9-7 we'd hold the tie breakers over any 10-6 or 9-7 team.

Plus, I wouldnt say Steelers schedule is cakewalk. Cinci wont roll over for them and the Bills are in desperation mode. Rex knows them well, their D is good enough to slow the offense down, and Shady/Tyrod are explosive enough to put points on the board. Definitely easier than our schedule, but they still have to beat us.

X-mas night could in all likelihood decide the division. That's the way it should be. Steelers and Ravens late in December, playing with it all on the line.

Well, I'd put it like this... if Buffalo beats Pittsburgh, the Bills are in a great position to get a wildcard spot.

They're 6-6. After a home Steelers game, they play the Dolphins and Browns at home, and finish at the Jets.

They'll be favored to win their last 3 games and can easily do so.

So its a Catch-22 really. We definitely want Buffalo to beat Pittsburgh, but that puts Buffalo in the drivers seat to realistically go 10-6.

Frankly, it might be slightly better off if Pittsburgh beats Buffalo and then loses to Cincinnati. Another Buffalo loss likely eliminates them from playoff contention.

[Crusader]

What I expect is Brady throwing the ball out super fast and not giving Suggs & Dome time to get to him so I hope the Ravens do the same as they did in the Bengals game and block the passes. Just bat them back in Brady's face all night. Now that's really demoralizing & funny.

[hen826957]

  8 hours ago, BOLDnPurPnBlacK said:

  8 hours ago, DaRupp said:

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

Not necessarily true since the Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs all play each other in their remaining games. Broncos could easily lose to the Pats, Chiefs and Raiders and fall to 9-7. We win 3-1 even with a Steelers loss, and we're 10-6. Even at 9-7 we'd hold the tie breakers over any 10-6 or 9-7 team.

Plus, I wouldnt say Steelers schedule is cakewalk. Cinci wont roll over for them and the Bills are in desperation mode. Rex knows them well, their D is good enough to slow the offense down, and Shady/Tyrod are explosive enough to put points on the board. Definitely easier than our schedule, but they still have to beat us.

X-mas night could in all likelihood decide the division. That's the way it should be. Steelers and Ravens late in December, playing with it all on the line.

Well, I'd put it like this... if Buffalo beats Pittsburgh, the Bills are in a great position to get a wildcard spot.

They're 6-6. After a home Steelers game, they play the Dolphins and Browns at home, and finish at the Jets.

They'll be favored to win their last 3 games and can easily do so.

So its a Catch-22 really. We definitely want Buffalo to beat Pittsburgh, but that puts Buffalo in the drivers seat to realistically go 10-6.

Frankly, it might be slightly better off if Pittsburgh beats Buffalo and then loses to Cincinnati. Another Buffalo loss likely eliminates them from playoff contention.

I don't know if Cincinnati can beat Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh gots the number and besides we beat Buffalo the first game of the season so we should have a tie breaker at 10-6 right. I believe Buffalo is the best team left on thier schedule that can beat Pittsburgh besides us lMO.

[Crusader]

Arthur Brown to the Jags? What Ravens get for that second round pick? I bet Justin gets more yards in the next games than Ravens running backs.

[Rav'n Maniac]

Imo, winning the next three games is what's important. We beat NE, Philly and Pitt means the last game against Cincy doesn't matter. Wouldn't it be good to be able to sit some of the ailing starters before the WC game?

[rmcjacket23]

15 hours ago, hen826957 said:

I don't know if Cincinnati can beat Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh gots the number and besides we beat Buffalo the first game of the season so we should have a tie breaker at 10-6 right. I believe Buffalo is the best team left on thier schedule that can beat Pittsburgh besides us lMO.

If we finish 10-6, we're likely winning the division, so it doesn't matter what Buffalo does.

It was more of a reference that people think 9-7 has a chance at a wildcard. I agree Miami will fall off and Denver's schedule is brutal down the stretch, but Buffalo is a team nobody is talking about in reference to a wildcard berth.

 

[VermontRaven]

7 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

If we finish 10-6, we're likely winning the division, so it doesn't matter what Buffalo does.

It was more of a reference that people think 9-7 has a chance at a wildcard. I agree Miami will fall off and Denver's schedule is brutal down the stretch, but Buffalo is a team nobody is talking about in reference to a wildcard berth.

 

I'm not confident that Pitt will lose again.  They COULD run the table.  I think Buffalo and us are there only real challenges left.  I think they beat Cincy and obviously Cleveland.  So, it is POSSIBLE we lose to Pitt, but beat NE, Philly, and Cincy and go 10-6...which would give us a chance a a wildcard if Denver loses 2 more and Miami loses 1 more.

[rmcjacket23]

13 minutes ago, VermontRaven said:

I'm not confident that Pitt will lose again.  They COULD run the table.  I think Buffalo and us are there only real challenges left.  I think they beat Cincy and obviously Cleveland.  So, it is POSSIBLE we lose to Pitt, but beat NE, Philly, and Cincy and go 10-6...which would give us a chance a a wildcard if Denver loses 2 more and Miami loses 1 more.

Well lets put it this way... if we beat NE on Monday night and then go and lose to Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, then that would be incredibly disappointing.

I think the Pats are significantly better than the Steelers and we match up a ton better with Pittsburgh than we do with NE.

Me personally, I don't think the Steelers are really good enough to win 7 straight games, which is what they will have done if they win out. I'm honestly expecting them to lose one of their next two games, and might be a bit surprised if they do win both of them. They're a much different team on the road.

[balfan23]

18 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

If we finish 10-6, we're likely winning the division, so it doesn't matter what Buffalo does.

It was more of a reference that people think 9-7 has a chance at a wildcard. I agree Miami will fall off and Denver's schedule is brutal down the stretch, but Buffalo is a team nobody is talking about in reference to a wildcard berth.

 

Buffalo's season comes down to this weeks game. If they can pull of the win v. PIT, they have a real shot at getting in. Their remaining schedule is pretty soft. Their most challenging game is MIA and they have them at home. CLE is, well, CLE and NYJ seems to have all but thrown in the towel. 

If we drop two and finish at 9-7, we'll need a lot of things to go right, but if multiple teams fall to 9-7, we have the inside track based on our conference record. 

[January J]

On 12/8/2016 at 9:35 AM, DaRupp said:

So i was playing with the playoff calculator on espn.com. Basically this game doesn't matter. We have to 3 games, and we HAVE to win at Pittsburgh. That's everything. We can lose to the patriots, and as long as we win the other 3, we still win the division.

If we beat the pats, and lose to the steelers (assuming the steelers win all their other games which is a cakewalk for them), then we don't make the playoffs.

I'm assuming a wildcard is out of the question since the afc west will likely have both wild card teams.

 

On 12/8/2016 at 9:54 AM, DaRupp said:

You're right. As I mentioned, I made the assumption that a wildcard isn't an option since it's unlikely. It's much more likely for us to get to the playoffs through winning the division.

Have you seen Cinci play recently? Without Green or Bernard, they're really struggling. I do think the best chance of a steelers loss (other than the ravens) is this week against the Bills. Bills are heating up.

HOWEVER, if the BIlls beat the steelers, and we beat the pats, but lose to the steelers (assuming wins against philly and cinci), we still don't win the division. Steelers have tiebreaker for wins in common games.

Ofcourse it matters are you kidding? And not just for the wildcard. If we win against the pats and philly  and the Steelers lose to the bills and cinci then we will have the north clinched before Christmas and will have 2 weeks to rest our starters!! Long shot but def possible.

Not only that but if we win both this week and next week and the steelers lose only 1 out of the two- then we only have to win 1 between Pittsburgh and cinci. So yes this game matters very much in more ways than 1.

[January J]

19 hours ago, DaRupp said:

Yeah all my math was based on the espn calculator which is wrong. So big nevermind for everything i've said in this thread....sigh

Sorry didnt see this..disregard previous post.

17 hours ago, rmcjacket23 said:

Well, I'd put it like this... if Buffalo beats Pittsburgh, the Bills are in a great position to get a wildcard spot.

They're 6-6. After a home Steelers game, they play the Dolphins and Browns at home, and finish at the Jets.

They'll be favored to win their last 3 games and can easily do so.

So its a Catch-22 really. We definitely want Buffalo to beat Pittsburgh, but that puts Buffalo in the drivers seat to realistically go 10-6.

Frankly, it might be slightly better off if Pittsburgh beats Buffalo and then loses to Cincinnati. Another Buffalo loss likely eliminates them from playoff contention.

I'd much rather take my chances at winning the division...and even then I'd still count on buffalo slipping up in one of the final 3. If we finish with the same record we obviously hold the tiebreaker too due to week 1 so there's that too...

Now if Denver loses to Tennessee than a Pittsburgh win wont hurt as much but like I said- would still rather have that potential cushion in the division. If we end up with a home game against Denver I really like our chances at advancing.

[The Mom Gene]

"In the CSNNewEngland.com video below, Curran says he thinks the Patriots are still “pissed off” about the role they perceive the Ravens had in Deflategate."

Really???? Really. New England???? Maybe you shouldn't have been deflating footballs. I mean, does it really matter WHO told on you guys??? And then your own QB stonewalls the investigation????

*Sigh* Well maybe the Ravens are pissed off that you continually CHEAT in order to post an unfair advantage. I hate the Patriots.... I, at the very least, RESPECT the Steelers.

[VermontRaven]

5 minutes ago, The Mom Gene said:

I hate the Patriots.... I, at the very least, RESPECT the Steelers.

Amen.  Exactly my thoughts!

[The Mom Gene]

And Luck, AFC Player of the Week???? Dissing Joe again.... Man, I gotta tell ya, all this stuff... just gives more reason for the Ravens to go whoop up on these guys....

[Ravensfolyfe]

Whaaat