tsylvester

not very happy with what they are saying in this presser, though I know they are as honest as possible, with a hint of deception for obvious reasons. New safety? Then praising Elam who, in my opinion, played under his draft status, maybe he will get better at tackling, at knowing where to be..... Monroe will be the left tackle, unless unseated........ oy........ Bigger on the interior offensive line, ok, good bye Suggs, ok....... But Casillo back, big oy

Not exactly, when the Ravens first came here they had a top five offense, the reason for the losses was the defense giving up more than 35 per game. They sure could sling the ball, but Art had no money and they had to let two great receivers walk..........

This draft is deep for receiver and tight ends, any size wone wants. As for Thomas, slight frame, not sure he will hold up in the NFl, consistantly enough to warrent drafting him...

Or he wants to be a head coach, which is more likely. The only way to get better at interviews is to go on interviews... If you don't interview well, you won't get the job.

How about the KC game, Bowe allowed the db to move him to the sideline, too close, so there was no room for Smith to make a truly accurate pass; cost the team the game...... Point being, there is far more that goes into a pass being complet, incomplete or intercepted than just the quarterback's throw or read...... Watching from tv does not tell the entire story, infact, if you listen to certain anouncers, you will drive off a cliff they misguide people, make stuff up so much.

Did anyone watch the Packers game? One of the best quarterbacks in the lague, an "Elite" quarterback, who had little time, whose receivers (far better than the Ravens have) could not get consistantly open, what were the results? No completions in the first quarter, errant passes, even dropped contested passes... Yet some people expect Joe to do more, with less? Boggles the mind...

Which media, our local media? they say a lot, just to get people calling, texting, emailing, talking about them.... doesn't mean it is correct.

It isn't the years so much as the number of touches. Just look at the backs to break 2000 yards. All but one did nothing afterward, and he only had one more really good year of close to 1600 yards, the rest barely broke 1000 for a year or two then nothing. 300 touches a year is usually the bench mark for when a rb is ready to go down hill, after a few seasons like that, they are shot. Rice is a little different given his size and while the line was a great deal as to why his numbers went down, he also went down easy, couldn't make men miss as he did last year. To eat the cap now or wait until after next season is the only question. Since you have to pay that money any way, may as well keep him and see what he can do with a better line.

Well, you can't go by just what is seen on tv, use the all 22, you will see many more times they used it, or tried to and the players just did not execute. You can't use them in every game, they don't work, can't work against a zone defense, only man or match up zone.

They've run picks/rubs for years, including this year. Now my memory is not as good as it used to be so forgive me for not saying which games, but they have used them, Caldwell loves using them. He is a master at creating open receivers with tiered sets. However, as I said, it is up to the players to execute. This is why i question the positional coaches, not just the offensive line (as I type, SD has changed centers and not missed a beat), but receivers especially. Either they, the front office, can't draft smart players at this position or the coaches are not teaching them properly.

Pita & Jones would be my major :have to keep" players, the others eh..... Monroe is a decent back up, Smith, frankly at his age, the money should work, not many, if any teams will offer much more and he likes it here..... Suggs, nice knowing you, but the frelancing lately has cost the team and the sacks, while nice, rarely came when the team needed them most.....

The lack of ability to block by the receivers has been another reason the running game didn't work. as far as the Pats, it was pretty easy to determine what play was goning to be run. Almost every time the Ravens started off a game with a pass, the very next play was a run up the middle to the left of center. When ever Joe used the audible; "Alaska" and patted his behind, it was a change to a run so long as the runningback was a step behind Joe. If even or infront, it was a fake audible and would be a pass. From there, the secondary just had to read the receivers to know what route they were going to run. Most times, teams just had to rush four to get pressure on Flacco, leaving seven in coverage, easy to stop when the qb has to throw within 2.5 seconds, and why the dumpoffs didn't work; too many players close to the los. What the KC line work, they run very similar plays the Ravens do, but because their line is athletic, they have greater success. Because they have a speedy quick receiver to go along with a true speed receiver, players get open, wide open.... Rarely seen for the Ravens even though they have two of the fastest receivers in the league.

PLenty of good tight ends who block very well and can get down field, catch the ball with their hands. Georgia has one, though he dropped a key one, two, in the Bowl game, he is outstanding and can be had likely in the 3rd or 4th. I expect the Ravens will trade down in the first, toward the end, maybe even out of the first. The top OT's will be gone by 17 and the rest are solid starters but 2n and third rounders, same for receivers. Though if miracles of miracles happens and Watkins some how misteriously falls to 17, they grab him in 1 second of coming on the clock....

Now we will find out just how good a coach Tomlin truly is... If you look at his record, post Cower draft picks, he is an average at best coach. It takes roughly 3 years to realize a draft, he went to two SB and won one with Cowher's players. Since Tomlin's drafts, they have what, the Cowboys of the East? Not that the Rooney's will fire him, they believe in continuity as they showed with Cowher.

The Ravens did it often, the players could not execute them very well, thus my point. There is far more to a play success than just what we think we see on tv. Do you have the NFL network all 22? I highly recommend it if you really want to see the issues I point out. Teams don't respect the Ravens receivers on the outside, one on one coverage. They then clog the middle so even rub routes do not work properly when a receiver makes it obvious, in the first few steps, what they are going to do....

Some what agree. Again though, the receivers were struggling to get off the los in press coverage and even in soft zone, they took a bit long to get into their routes and in position to make a catch. Smith gets easily pushed to the sidelines on the go route, leaving Flacco little room to make the throw. He also floats when looking for the ball, which makes the catch that much harder, the chance of completion lesser. Jones just doesn't run good routes and Brown was still learning the offense, his keys, trusting him to make the right read was a crap shoot. So you can stack them, plit them, have crossing routes & rubs, but when the receivers slow run because they are unsure of their route or run it too fast, it all leads to sacks, picks, incompletes. I think I said this earlier, but the Ravens, even under Harbs, have never developed a receiver, Smith is the closest they have come and he still has a ways to go. I sometimes wonder if they kept the same receivers coach all this time, but know they have changed. I would change them again. This is the place they really mised Boldin was teaching the younger receivers, not so much on the field.

I agree, one year is truly not enough time to normally grade a center on some aspects. But you can't learn to be athletic, only get so much quicker. He has had two years now to gain NFL strength, I doubt he gets much stronger. His technique needs some work, so that will help with some of his blocking issues. However, even Flynn, the least athletic player in the history of the NFL, ok a slight over egageration, could pull, get to the second level in time, be used convincingly on screen. These are things Gino can't do and having worked on the 2nd team, scout team during the week, he certainly had plenty of practice on those types of plays. Osemele is the real ? mark. He was adequet last year as a rookie, injury riddled this year, but next year? Backs, next to hamstrngs, are the worst injury to have especially for a lineman. I agree, right tackle may be where he is headed, pending draft and possible free agent moves. He can't ne worse then the turn style that is Oher.....

Anyone watching the wild card game? See how much more you can get out of an offense with a quick, very, receiver? Yeldon, lightening quick, a similar player the Ravens need. He would open up Smith and Jones deep and even Pita down the seam....

I would like to see, and would not be surprised to see in the next few years, them implementing a franchise player salary where only a certain % of said player's contract counts towards the cap. This would help off set the huge salaries of these, mostly, quarterbacks and be able to retain or sign more free agents, spread the cap dollars around more. The way it is now, under the new CBA, the cap is not likely to grow much each year as it has in the past.

hm, Ozzie has shown over the years he really doesn't value the line as much as we, or most would. Aside from JO and over paying Flynn, a big reach for Searcy, he doesn't spend a lot on the line. We can even take Jo out since he was 1) drafted and 2) a clear HOF from the start. Frankly, I am a bit surprised by his lack of, what's the word, concern for the line since, being an offensive player, he knows the importance of time in the pocket, a lane for a runningback. Gino proved a few things, he can't handle bull rushers, has no athleticism to pull nor run screens and maybe, if media is to be believed, doesn't know how to make proper calls. After the trade for the left tackle, they, the Ravens, claimed he would be the left tackle next year. Turns out, as most who follow the game closely knew, he wasn't much, if any better than McKinnie.

I was surprised to see the runningbacks coach, Montgomery, be the first to go. I am not sure why, haven't looked into whether he left of his own accord or was fired. If the later, shocking, I thought he did a fine job, he certainly got a lot of praise from the front office, coaching staff and players over the past few years.....

That one might be in merry ole London.....

Not so fast my friend. Flacco threw it off the score board and through the uprights....

Caldwell is fine, go back to the Billick days, what was the issue? Can't make chicken soup without water. Same holds true this year and even into last year. Over shadowed by the Super Bowl win and the "luck" that goes along with every team's championship was the inconsistency of the running game and the receivers struggling against press coverage. The great catches by Boldin were required not because the passes were off, but because there was no room for error he was so tightly covered. Same for Smith, Jones, Pita etc. Last year, the dump off worked well because safeties were unsure of the "quality of the deep threat and linebackers made sure to take deep drops to keep the middle of the field, Pita, covered. This year, no Pita most of the year, and teams knew more of Smith, Jones, Clarke, Stokely- in other words, no deep drops needed by the backers and the corners could cover one on one. This is what Caldwell has had to deal with. If the receivers struggle with route running, with no selling routes properly, how can you expect them to run more complex routes, that, take some time to develop? Especially with this line? The biggest issue I saw was the lack of game conditioning the players had. The key players seemed to come into this year out of shape, trying to use the age old way of getting in shape, practice and games. What they, and many teams, did not factor in was the change to the practice rules. This hurt many teams, the Falcons, Niners to a point (their offense not as good as last year) Pats, and especially the Ravens, mostly on offense. I think another year is needed to fully evalute Caldwell, time for Brown to learn more, Smith to get stronger, Pita healthy, a more athletic line that can not only pull but run screens. Caldwell loves the screen game, both normal and wide receiver screens. Add, hopefully, a quick footed receiver and I think you will see a much better offense, better play calling-less predictable.

With linemen, the 40 time is not the key, the shuttle and 3 cone drills, the splits for the 40, what is it at 10, 15 & 20 yards. those are the important numbers, after size & strength of course. The quicker the better. As you saw, this current line cannot pull, they can't run screens.....