vmax Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Bucky Brooks nails it in one sentence... The Ravens are my playoff-field sleeper, because historically the combination of great defense, a stout running game, and a quarterback who can take care of the football and selectively make big plays is a tried and true winning formula in the postseason. Indy and San Diego might be the teams that could really give Baltimore trouble in this bracket, but if things break as I expect them to, the Ravens won't see either one of them. It could be shades of 2000 all over again in Baltimore. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...ex.html?eref=T1 The big play ingredient is very important (remember 2000). The Ravens produced 10 pass plays of 40 or more yards this season, 5 of which went for TDs. The Ravens’ 10 “big” aerial plays tied for the 2nd most in franchise history and were the most in a single season since 1999 (10). The run is there....The Ravens totaled a franchise-record 20 rushing TDs in 2008, tied for 5th most in the NFL. Baltimore also produced 3 rushing plays of at least 50 yards, tying for 2nd most in the league. 3rd down success is there...Baltimore’s offense converted 23 of 26 3rd-and-1 plays this season. The Ravens’ 88.5% success rate on 3rd-and-1 ranked 2nd in the NFL. Additionally, on 3rd-and-short situations (4 yards or less), Baltimore converted 40 of 59 attempts (67.8%), good for the NFL’s 3rd-best rate this season. We all know about the defense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Nice..But I dont need a reminder of how this is exactly like the 2000 team.I stated it earlier, it takes 3 pieces of the pie to make this team a success, Defense (check) Special Teams (Check) and a mid pack Offence (Check) What do you think, a new design? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackandpurple Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Nice..But I dont need a reminder of how this is exactly like the 2000 team.I stated it earlier, it takes 3 pieces of the pie to make this team a success, Defense (check) Special Teams (Check) and a mid pack Offence (Check) What do you think, a new design? i do like the new design haha i hope Flacco can keep cool though the playoffs, its going to be tough the only thing is the 2000 team head a little experience at QB i believe Trent Dilfer was the starter if i remember right...but i feel like we will be fine, defense will be there and we all know defense wins championships ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varaven45 Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Crav and Max, This is all flattering but again this is not the 2000 team. Hopefully, the same end result but a different team, esp on defense. The biggest concern, which is probably shared by everyone on this board, is our secondary. Does anyone know how we stand with our starters; Washington, Rolle, Reed and Leonard ? Will they all start ? It needs to come up big on Sunday. Remember, Pennington torched (yes, I mean torched~ 30 yds passing) in our previous game with a rather mediocre WR corps. These WRs and TE Fasano have improved since October, are playing well now and our secondary is beat up. I really think the game really boils down to how well are D, esp secondary, contains Pennington. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercleetz Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Crav and Max, This is all flattering but again this is not the 2000 team. Hopefully, the same end result but a different team, esp on defense. The biggest concern, which is probably shared by everyone on this board, is our secondary. Does anyone know how we stand with our starters; Washington, Rolle, Reed and Leonard ? Will they all start ? It needs to come up big on Sunday. Remember, Pennington torched (yes, I mean torched~ 30 yds passing) in our previous game with a rather mediocre WR corps. These WRs and TE Fasano have improved since October, are playing well now and our secondary is beat up. I really think the game really boils down to how well are D, esp secondary, contains Pennington. Torched is a little harsh. Most of those yards came against a prevent defense when the game was already won. We never lost control of that game, the Dolphins played our game. We held Ronnie Brown to 27 yards on 13 carries. Of course they were going to pass the ball. Rolle was out that game as well, I believe. Yes, this team is not the 2000 team. I do not ever think we will see a defense as good as the 2000 team again, because of the rule changes. However, our offense is a lot more dynamic than the 2000 team. Unlike the 2000 team, this offense has the ability to bailout the defense. Does this mean we will win the Super Bowl? No. But I certainly like our prospects against anyone except the Colts. If you want to make a comparison, I like comparing this team to the 2003 team that went 10-6. That team had an excellent defense like the one we have now, and the running game on that team was very physical, just like ours. I do think this team is a little better than that one though, so hopefully we will not suffer the same first round defeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STLRaven Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Just getting here is awesome enough for me. This team has met and far exceeded my expectations -- anything in the post-season is just gravy. I think we'll beat Miami. We haven't played down to our competition and have handled the teams that we need to with relative ease. Tennessee may be a different story, but I really like our chances this time around. And I'd love a shot at Pissburgh again. Especially when it really counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmax Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 If you want to make a comparison, I like comparing this team to the 2003 team that went 10-6. That team had an excellent defense like the one we have now, and the running game on that team was very physical, just like ours. I do think this team is a little better than that one though, so hopefully we will not suffer the same first round defeat. Do you mean the one with Radio Wright at the helm? This team is more complete. The 2003 O was a simplified U formation but the D was very good. Opponents stacked the box with 8, 9, 10 players at times and the Ravens couldn't beat them with the big play. They couldn't make the defenses honest. This 2008 squad will tourch you if you do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercleetz Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Do you mean the one with Radio Wright at the helm? This team is more complete. The 2003 O was a simplified U formation but the D was very good. Opponents stacked the box with 8, 9, 10 players at times and the Ravens couldn't beat them with the big play. They couldn't make the defenses honest. This 2008 squad will tourch you if you do that. Very true, which is why I believe that this team will not suffer the same fate in the playoffs as the 2003 team. The reason I made the comparison is because our offensive line has not been this strong and physical since that 2003 season. The scary part is that our guys are only scrapping the surface of their potential. And now, like you stated, we have a QB that can kill teams for stacking the box. Once we get a tall deep threat on the outside, this offense will be dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmax Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 cleetz...from Bart... You don’t need me to tell you – you’ve seen the maturation from the early games to now, how much different the offense is,” said Ravens linebacker Bart Scott. “You’ve seen they’re trusting Flacco more, keeping teams from saying ‘They’re the third best rushing team in the league, they’re going to run the ball 60 to 70 percent of the time, so let’s put 10 in the box.’ If teams do that now, we’re backing them up by throwing the ball down the field. It’s becoming a better offense right now, and in a couple years, I think it can be one of those elite offenses.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercleetz Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 cleetz...from Bart... You don’t need me to tell you – you’ve seen the maturation from the early games to now, how much different the offense is,” said Ravens linebacker Bart Scott. “You’ve seen they’re trusting Flacco more, keeping teams from saying ‘They’re the third best rushing team in the league, they’re going to run the ball 60 to 70 percent of the time, so let’s put 10 in the box.’ If teams do that now, we’re backing them up by throwing the ball down the field. It’s becoming a better offense right now, and in a couple years, I think it can be one of those elite offenses.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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