tsylvester

If so, too general, too broad a brush. Are some? Sure, will they always? Sure. However, they are the ones to ignore, let fade away, not give them power. There are many who use the thug label to mean just that; a bully, a person using force, coersion, intimidation to get their own way. To me, the bigger "issue" if one, are those who claim he cannot be one, because he went to Stanford. Thugs come from every back ground, in every skin color.

Let me see. First, defenders of Sherman say he cannot be a thug because he went to Stanford........ Now He, Richard Sherman is saying only black people can be thugs........ Oh my how the worm turns.... Me, muchado about nothing....

Didn't Rip win it in a strike shortened season? That makes a big difference as well. Also, rip had some hal of fame receivers or those who were top tier receivers and one of the best offensive lines in football at the time.... Quite different than what Flacco had to work with even last season....

Sitting here trying to watch the Senior Bowl practice; trying because NFL Network really stinks at coverage..... Anywho,,, Watched a lot of games this year, college and I have to say, there are many, many very good receivers coming out and this is just seniors. I doubt and do not think they need a free agent, that the Ravens dip into free agency for wide out. Too many good ones, with a quick twitch, great hands and good at fighting off press coverage in the draft....

At the risk of repeating my self, I would put a lot of it on their lack of actual practice time together. With the new practice rules coming in, this year, and after a Super Bowl run/win, that takes a lot of time away from timing with receivers. If you look around the league, the tandems who did very well this year, Brees and his crew, Manning, etc, they spent a lot of time in the off season working together, and worked late after practices, spent time together watching film. Now, I can't say for certain Joe and his crew did NOT do any of this, but we rarely saw and reorts of it here, (could just be poor reporting by our local media) but when you think of all the off the field things they all had to deal with, sponsors, family life especially, babies, marriages, we can see, time would be limited. Add to that two of the main receivers to start the season were rookies, not allowed to work before camps, and one can see, timing, familiarity, was a big issue. My biggest gripe with the coaching was the inability of the receivers to get seperation against press coverage, whether that was match up zone or straight man. You don't have to be very talented to accomplish this, it is a matter of proper technique and strength in the upper body. Since they, the receivers, were never able to beat press coverage this year, this tells me the coaching is to blame; improper technique, not the best conditioning for strength. I do think they will be better next year. Smith with another year (wait till he has to be paid!), Brown made very good strides this year and now they know how to handle their time, what it will really take, See, it used to be teams could work on full timing during practice, work on getting off press, in practice. With the new rules, not so any more, so coaching is really needed now. I think they will get together before the mini camps start, work harder during camps etc because now they know. Yes, some of that timing is because of the offensive, offensive line, allowing Flacco time, the receivers time to work open. Add to that, if you are not familiar with a receiver, it is very difficult to trust them to run say a dig route, timing, to the right depth and to turn the proper way, inside or outside. That route, for best results, has to be thrown before the receiver makes the break. Joe has been throwing it afterward, thus no room for rac, and for contested catches, another issue with the receivers, not winning battles. With a better familiarity between them, a better line, and, receivers with more experience, I expect the timing routes to be better, which in turn, opens up other route combinations, true double moves.

Agree, picture the SeaHawks in two years having to pay Wilson and all those DB's "top in the league" money = good luck.... The quarterback pay is the reason I still maintain that an amendment will be put in place to help teams pay quarterbacks, but retain more cap space. we are getting to the ppoint where we have more very good quarterbacks in the league than ever before and with escalating costs, they will have little choice. The players either overlooked this, small cap increases, higher salary demands, or did not care at the time. There are only so many ways to structure a contract and stay under the cap while having a top qb, lt, wr, lb, corner and safety. Years a go it was no big deal, one could count on the cap going up 20% or more. Right now, not even close to that %. As for Flacco's deal, he is young enough that when the big money hits, just as past years, they will simply add more years. Baring injuries, a qb is good to what, 35-37 years old, unlike most other positions.

TC, I saw plenty of rubs, plenty of tiered routes to get guys open. What I did not see was good route running. Sure, some of that is onthe players, as we said. However, how can you runa slant route, quick/hot read, when the receivers a) are not running proper routes and b) are not reading the defense properly? That is all on the coach. I think you have hear me say this many times, since the RAvens got here, they have never, as an organization, developed a receiver, Heap was as close as they came and he was a tight end, and even he did not run good routes, it was more his speed at the postion and hands. Good route running involves many things, not just squaring it off properly, or using the head fake. It is running them at the right depth and, especailly, at the right speed. Some routes are designed to piggy back off another route, a clear out of sorts. If the 2n man through runs too quickly, it doesn't work. If the first man runs it too slow, or even at the wrong depth, it will not work. How many times have you seen 3 receivers within five yards of each other? Answer, too many and that is not the play design, that is the receiver running the wrong route. This all goes on the coach or coaches. So we can blame Caldwell, Hostler or the candy man. No matter what, it comes down to play design and route running to get open. Ever watch Smith try a double move? He gives it away. See him run a straight nine? He stays too close to the boundary not giving Flacco room for error. Smith still struggles fidning the ball in the air and adjusting on deep throws; he flails trying to catch it. He has one of the smallest catch radiouses in the league. Brown is great, I love the kid, so much mor epotential than anyone on the team. His catches got better, yes, especially in the red zone. However, the only part of his route runing that got better was his confidence in running the play. He still ran too shallow or too deep on crossing routes. He still did not run the right way, pending the position of the safety on deep routes, Smith does that too. So many people blame a quarterback for an incomplete pass, or the coach for a lack of imagination in route combinations, yet they overlook the fact that as small as five yards can make a pass look 20 yards off target. Listen to the talking head cry about Brady and his poor receiving core, how he should be MVP because he took them so far with so little. Let me tell you, Flacco had less to work with, Brady's receivers are better route runners, got proper coaching, got benched if they kept on running improper routes. You don't see that here. Maybe it was because of all the injuries at the postion, who knows. Far beit for our local media to cover such an issue. Preston, Wilson, the rest of them just talk about team issues, popular team issues, not positional. Sure they might tell you there is a need, but not why. They will tell you Flacco completed his career worse, but not why. By the way, Brady completed his career worse, and I just told you why; his receivers. Some of the issues are just because the receivers are so young, yes. Smith has talent as we have seen, but he is not, at this point, a number one. Brown has talent, a great slot receiver, dependable over the middle so long as it is zone and Joe has time to wait on him. With proper coaching nd work, Brown will be a top guy in the league shortly. I know they are high on a guy on the ps/injury list, I forget his name; speed, quickness and supposedly good hands. Evenso, Hostler has proven nothing, a qb coach for Alex Smith, who was a dud until Hostler was gone, hmmm No receivers developed under him on any of the 49ers, Jets, Cheifs, Saints..... None.. Every player not on the Ravens did not like his coaching style, not just SanFran, which I am sure he learned how NOT to call plays there..... Joe liked Cam too, for a while, until the offense sputtered, food for thought.

Keep in mind, Wilson does not have a strong arm, while he can make all the throws, they tend to float. If the wind is a factor there, this will be inteesting. I think the Settle D and Bronco O cancel each other out. So the question is, what can the SeaHawk O do against the Denver D.. Specials teams too, both teams have electric returners. Frankly I hope Denver wins, not a big fan of Pete Carrol and I would like to see Manning win one more before he retires.

Based on the lack of improvement from the receivers over the course of two seasons, I just cannot get behind Hostler as an OC. Sure, some of that is on the players, but none of them took a step forward this year, the ones from last year even stepped back in their route running. Secondaries knew what routes were being run because the players were not able to hide them in their movements. That is on the coach imo. Of the top four, yes, Shannahan is my choice, even then, I am sceptical. If he choses not to come, Hostler will be the choice and that, is scary.

He is their top choice, the other three on their list, really stink.... not encouraged by what I am hearing..... this could set the offense back for half a decade...

NFL says Super Bowl is in warm weather areas, domes to make sure of an "even field"..... If a team plays home games in warm weather/dome, and another team plays outdoors in winter weather, how is a dome for the Super Bowl an even field? Teams that play in a dome build their players a certain way-for speed. To both take advantage of the carpet and the crowd noise. While teams in winter areas with turf or natural grass fields generly build their teams to pound. So again, where is the even field if say NO plays NE in a Super Bowl in a domed stadium? Frankly, every new stadium should have a retractable roof, imho, something the stadium authority here screwed up on when they improperly designed the stadium. They did such a poor job they can't grow grass because it faces the wrong direction........

Seattle will need the weather to cooporate, even then, I don't know that defense will be able to stop Manning, and his beavy of receivers. Yes, Baltimore, number 2 total defense back then (because of one game, the Jets) destroyed the number 1,2 & 3 offenses in the league on their way to the Super Bowl, but Seattle has not faced a receiving core like the Broncos have; they've been beaten, as home even, by far lesser offenses. Add Manning's ability to get the offense is favorable matchups and wow,this should be fun. Now, cold rain, big wind, will slow Manning, but enough? Both Thomas's, Decker, (all over 6-2) and Welker... add to that, their running game is pretty darn good too... Oh and then there is their defense, playing markedly better against a pretty one dimensional Seattle offense. Sure, Wilson moves around very well, but, aside from some "flukey" passes, he has not been very good this year, later parts of this year let us not forget. I don't know how this game will turn out, Auburn had a good run of "lucky plays" and lost to a better team. Denver is clearly the better team, the wild card is going to be Harvin, will he make game changing plays on offense & special teams?

Yes, a better throw. That pass should be to the corner, outside, not inside and should be dropped in, something Kap has trouble with, . He will learn though....

hehehe, pretty much backs up what Crav said. How good is a quarterback if they need perfect conditions to play well in, worth 100 mil? He is one of the great ones, yes, but not much good in windy or rainy/cold conditions.....

If you rewatch the play, they had one receiver to the right, Crab & three to the left. Two on the left went deep, all, all of the defenders on that side went with them. One, number 11, faked going out and came back to the LOS. He was wide open, had enough room to pick up 15 yards at least. With 22 seconds and 2 timeouts, that was the play to make. However, it appears, either that side was just bait and designed to only go to Crab on the fade, or Kap just locked in on Crab. A better throw, who knows, touchdown or incomplete.

To be fair to Billick, he also took the youngest startting roster in NFl history to a very good season. After the Super Bowl and following season, the team was beset with injuries to key players. Also to bad moves by the front office both in free agency and draft. Sure, Billick had avoice in those moves, but not the final say, that was Ozzie, Steve and the staff... Add to it, Cass, while good with the cap, is not as creative as he could be, as many others are in the league. A team is not just the players, nor just the coach. Sometimes a player needs the right coaching to succeed. Other times, the coach needs the right player. Best example of this is Nick Marshal of Auburn. With Georgia, an average safety. With Auburn, a very good college quarterback. Billick's biggest weakness was thinking he could make anyone a star with his offense. Ozzie's is not valuing the offensive line. Think back to the 2001 season, a decent right tackle makes the block long enough for Elvis to hit Ismail down the right side, rather than being hit as he throws. That is a 14 pt swing right there to start the game. If Q is able to catch that ball, he scores. But Brookings and Swayne whiff on the block. Billick lost the team, they stopped listening to him, he could not motivate them anymore with his special treatment of star players. Yes, every team does, but not to the extent Billick allowed. That is why he was fired, Steve knew, Billick knew, a change had to be made. Contrary to popular Billick hate reports, he could have had another job coaching, but chose, for family and his health, to go to the booth.

That is exactly why they need to cut him and not extend his contract. The Ravens had the lead in the 4th quarter with under 8 minutes left, what, five, six times this year and just needed the defene to make one stop. Yet in each of those games, no sacks by Suggs, no tackles for loss, not even by Dummervil, who granted, was hurt. So you have to let Suggs walk and find out if Ozzie's draft picks from Bama can truly step up. Frankly, I don't expect much from either of them, they are roll players at best. You also have to hope Dummervil is legit, and not just a pass rusher when some one else is getting double teamed. Frankly, honestly, niether he nor Suggs were doubled much, they were simply ineffective. Yes, they could easily have been 4-12, but just as easily 12-4 with a few plays from the "dangerous duo" so hyped last off season. They got the Super Bowl with an average team, so use it to rebuild the team over the next two seasons, it won't take long. Many teams will be rebuilding over that time so who knows, 9-7 could win it all, again...........

Why push money into the future for an aging vet? Injuries happen more frequently once a player hits 30. We all know it, player or no player, once we hit 30, we don't "mend" as fast. So why go into a mortgage with him knowing the lilikelihoodf him playing all 16 games per season and, being effective in each game, is very slim? All they are doing is costing the team a good young player, next year,the year or the year after because of the cap. See, the new CBA screwed the players on cap dollars, but they did not listen when nenegotiationsere going on, all they heard was the will get money momoney The cap will not rise to the % it once did each year, so aging players will lose money because it will not make it viable, feasible, to keep them, nor extend them. Look at the Redskins, I know, a slightly different situation with the penalties. However, we can learn from that situation as far as dead money. The Raiders too, also suffered with money they could could not use but counted aganagainstir cap. Both teams suffered from a lack of depth because of higher dollar vets and no money left for the cheap, intermediate players needed for depth, especially for special teams. Now with the Ravens it will not get that bad, but they are alsways tight up against the cap, since they came here, back in 1996; nothng has changed it seems. Sure, more money, better players, but still cap struck every year. They needed Boldin not for his play but for his teaching of the younger receivers, in route running and blocking. He was only counting $3 (?) mil against their cap, come on.... So now we want to keep Suggs, extend him, for what? Nine sacks, most of which came in one or two games? No sacks in the final five when they needed them most? This with a true pass rusher in Dummervil on the other side! Just say no to Suggs, cut him, save the most we can now and in the future, do so without "malice in the heart"...

Not because you corrected me, rather because you stated I lied, used false truths. The fact you could not comprehend this proves my point. Thanks... Have a great day....

How old are you, 12? I mistakingly used last year's numbers from a reputable website, a mistake, not a lie or mis-truth; grow up. Yes, Joe's number currently is, for this coming season, $14, Rice's is also even higher- $8,750,000- where are your complaints/corrections on this number? Yanda is also higher, $8.5 mil, no correction there from you? and the Biggest one, Ngata, $16 mil caphit, why no outrage over my "lie" on this one? Suggs, $12.4, yet not a peep from you on this oversite on my part? Or Dummervil, who this year will count $3.4 mil, slightly more than last season, my bad. Web, $10 mil, wow, great player, for when he is healthy to play, big cap hit and Jimmy, Penalty Smith is counting $2 mil... By the way, which position counts more against the cap, quarterback ($15 mil), offensive linemen ($13 mil), runningbacks ($12.8 mil), receivers ($3 mil), defensive linemen ($21 mil), linebackers ($23 mil), secondary ($14 mil) or kickers? An updated cap link- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1923706-ravens-2014-salary-cap-breaking-down-overall-position-specific-cap-space#/articles/1923706-ravens-2014-salary-cap-breaking-down-overall-position-specific-cap-space/page/2 So yes, if you want to have a grown up discussion, feel free to act mature....

No, they are cap strapped because of Rice, Suggs Ngata, and Dummervil... Quarterbacks, in case you have not noticed, cost a lot of money and are very, very important to a team. It is rare that an average quarterback helps lead a team to a Championship. Does it happen? Yes, but far and few between. editted to add- http://overthecap.com/teamcap.php?Team=Ravens&Year=2013 Suggs- $13 Mil cap hit this year, Ngata- $11 Mil Yanda $7 mil then Joe, whose cap hit is $6.8 mil this year. Pretty cheap for a startting quarterback. Rice is $5.7 Mil, Dummervil is "cheap" ($2.5 il) if we don't count the dead money, $11 mil.....

Macklin is likely to stay in Phili, I hope so, he has trouble staying healthy. The Steelers are likely to keep Sanders, one major reason they have struggled offensively is because of losing weapons familiar with Ben. Tate will want a lot of money, he is very good, but not as good as he thinks. Decker is the interesting one, great hands, quick feet, controls his body well giving a very large catch radious. However, will Denver want to keep him, badly, will Manning not only work to keep him, but will Manning return? If I had to chose between them, Decker would be the choice. Tall, quick, knows how to work a defense, strong to get off press coverage, and great hands. Money will be the issue. The question will be, do the Ravens think, as all the mocks show, a receiver will be there at 17 or even later is they want to trade down. They have said they like the core they have, need to improve a bit, but only in size, and they have one on the PS, they are "high on".... Ozzie loves tight ends and they need one of them as well, the North Carolina tight end is big & good, projected in the top 20, he could be the pick and take a way the need for outside help at receiver.... hmmm

He only hates one part, the part that did not hire him so many moons ago....

Norm could still be had, they only have to get permisson to speak with him, then offer a position slightly different, more than just OC, done a lot of time... And Yes, Joe can run the west coast, most quarterbacks can, the quesiton is; does the current coaching staff want that and are there player here who can work in that offense. You need quick receivers, which the Ravens have none of at the moment. Smith takes 10-15 yards to get up to full speed and that is if he gets a clean release....

I hope they give Norv Turner a call, but I highly doubt it.