thundercleetz

I don't understand why, but whenever we play the Colts we always make their defense look like the '85 Bears. I think this time around will be different as Gaither will be in the lineup this time around.

Apparently the knock on this guy is that he is not very fast, which is the main reason he is being projected as a 5-6 round pick. Of course, it is very early and a solid pre-draft workout could boost his stock. Nevertheless, this wide receiver class does not look very strong outside of Dez Bryant (who should be long gone by the time we pick at #32 =D ). This increases the importance for us to either address WR in free agency, or stock up on WRs in the draft hoping one of them pans out. Golden Tate is too similar to what we have in Mark Clayton. Arrelious Benn is a very interesting prospect who had a solid 2008 year, but faded in 2009 (granted, Juice Williams was his QB). Demaryius Thomas and Brandon LaFell are guys who have high potential, but are unpolished. As for free agents, here is an interesting post out of the Sun today: We better hope for a new CBA...

I can see this game easily going either way. Revis cannot play the whole field, but he has the ability to shut down the Chargers best receiver, Vincent Jackson, and essentially a third of the field when you consider his run stopping ability as well. The X-factor is definitely Antonio Gates. Harris and Scott are more of run-stoppers and blitzers and are average in coverage, and Jim Leonhard is undersized, Gates presents a major mismatch for that defense. If the Chargers get off to a quick start forcing Sanchez to throw the ball, I could easily see Sanchez throwing 3+ INTs and the Jets get blown out. ^^^ A much better worded explanation of what I was trying to say. =)

Is he legit?

LOL, I'm setting myself up for a major letdown, aren't I? I went into last week thinking we were going to lose, now I have higher expectations. Watch us come out and commit over 100 yards in penalties. For the record, I think NY is going to win that game. Their defense is on a hot streak, and the Chargers have a horrible run defense, so there will be no need for Sanchez to throw anything other than the waggles he has been throwing the past three weeks.

Willis and Ray Rice both have 229 rushing yards on 36 carries the past two weeks with a combined six touchdowns. How ironic is that?

Brady threw those picks because we had a solid gameplan and outcoached the opposing team. Is it really that hard to believe we will not have another solid gameplan this week? Especially considering that the Colts have a rookie coach. Considering we won 33-14, there would have definitely been room for some leeway against the Pats, so a "perfect game" was not needed. We nearly beat the Pats back in Week 4 and we had a large amount of mistakes in that game, conditions hardly have to be perfect to win but it definitely helps. I am not saying we will beat the Colts with Flacco passing the ball only 10 times, I am saying that the formula of good defense, low penalties, and running the ball is a formula to win. That hardly depends on anything else. And if Flacco does have to pass the ball 20+ times, I am confident he will get the job done. It all comes down to slowing Manning and keeping penalties low, because I have a feeling the offense will be fine with our running game.

Here is the point where I am disagreeing with you, I do not think the formula for our success requires "several factors each of which had to play out perfectly." How does running the ball, keeping the penalties low, and playing good defense require several factors playing out perfectly in our favor? It is simple, we run the ball, Manning stays off the field, and we eat the clock. Indy may be a better team than us, but they are not that much better than us where we have to play a "perfect game" to win. This week we will have Gaither and Ed Reed back. There is no way Indy will be able to stop our running game in the redzone again like last time. IMO, Indy's run defense is just as big of a liability against our running game than our pass defense is against Manning and the Colts passing attack.

Yes, Billick had his fair share of blowouts. Do we need to remember the prime time disaster against Pittsburgh in the 2007 season?

I do agree with you, I am not ready to get drunk on the Kool Aid yet, but you are doing this team, Harbaugh, the coaches, and everyone in the organization a major injustice saying we only beat the Pats because they were "vulnerable" and the "planets aligned." We have very much our fair share of injuries. As evident by our earlier matchup with the Pats, we play this team ten times, we probably win at least five or six of those games. Don't discredit this team's win, that was a very good Pats team. We just played more physical then them. If anything, this shows how a fast start can demoralize any team in this league. I am seriously tired of everyone discrediting our wins. There is a reason why every analyst choose the Pats to beat us, they were seen as the better team.

Don't forget that Flacco ran for that huge first down setting up the Rice touchdown.

Yeah, I've heard all of that before. It's a tough business, Michaels was the money maker back in the mid-90s. I still don't care for Bret.

Lets just hope Flacco feels a little better this week, I wonder how serious the injury is? This will be a completely different ball game with a Ed Reed, Jared Gaither, and a healthy Suggs in the lineup.

One more game ball: All those Ravens fans that made your voice heard at Foxborough!!

I know this is your topic dc, but I am so overwhelmed with excitement right now that I cannot wait. I just want to say that I was not expecting to win this game. In fact, I was seriously contemplating making a topic last night saying how good of a season this has been and how proud we should be of this team, despite the ups and downs. Obviously looking back I am glad I did not make that topic. Anyways, on to the gameballs! - Ray Lewis: 13 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits. This was not one of those Ray performances of old where he made those 13 tackles on plays of amazing athleticism where you say: "man, how did he do that?" Ray was a wizard out there on defense. The defense started and ended with Ray this afternoon. Ray's pre-snap calls were on point, he knew exactly where every play was going, knew exactly where Brady was going with the ball every time, and was around the ball the whole game. Simply put, Ray outplayed Brady in a game of chess and had his guys lined up where they were supposed to be. Ray's secret to beating father time is by outsmarting him. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4814129 - Dominique Foxworth: Does anyone want to criticize Ozzie for signing Foxworth now? Yes, Moss was hurt out there, but a hurt Moss is still better than 90% of the receivers in this league. Not only was Foxworth solid in the passing game, his tackling was sound. He was on the receivers' hip making the hit as soon as the ball was caught, and he delivered some big tackles coming up in the running game. Most importantly, Foxworth did not let up any big play, but at the same time was able to keep the game in front of him not letting up those longer intermediate passes. We needed Foxworth to step up and he did. Dwan Landry, Frank Walker, and Chris Carr played very well as well. - The offensive line and the runningbacks (throw Ngata in there as well): We dominated the line of scrimmage and were unstoppable inside the ten. You know you are having a good day when everyone in the stadium knows where the ball was going, but the defense can still not stop the run. We had four TDs within the four yard-line, and a should-have-been two-point conversion by running it straight into the heart of the defense. Ngata and Chester really add an extra push coming in on that goal-line package. The “Gaither-effect” was huge in this game. When we have Gaither on the left and Oher on the right, there is so much flexibility when it comes to our blocking personnel. We did not have Gaither for the Colts game, but we will next week and this is a different offensive line when Gaither is in the lineup. Everyone along the line played great and McClain was plowing away as well! - The defensive line: Not only did they shutdown the Patriots run game making them one-dimensional, but they got a very consistent pass rush on Brady. As said best: “Ngata is two guys in one uniform.” He demanded a double, sometimes triple, team on every play. He was causing hell for the Pats offensive line. Suggs played containment very well, the Pats had no runs to the outside. He also came up big on the pass rush and commanded his share of double teams opening up opportunities for other guys. Big games for Edwards (7 tackles, 1 sack) and Ellerbe (6 tackles), who held a dangerous Kevin Faulk to only 37-yards receiving. Ellerbe stepped up big time in one of the biggest areas where he is criticized the most, in pass coverage.

What did Bret have to say about Michaels? Michaels and HHH are by far my favorite wrestlers of all-time. I still listen to HHH's theme music on my iPod.

I hope they like trying to stop our running game!

Why is Heap still in the ball game????

Alright, now I'm in your boat max. Time to bring on the Colts! Anyone see Barnes and Washington waiving to the fans leaving? HAHAHAH!!!

On the ESPN chat they are saying Pats fans are starting to leave. I am not completely confident yet, but feeling good.

MCGAHEE BABY!!!!!!! WHERE THE EFF ARE YOU GUYS?

Common, punch it in!

It is about time we get one from the zebras.

Challenge it!!!!!! YES HARBAUGH!!!

First a no call on the face mask, then a no call on the Joey Porter-tactics by fat-ass Wilfork.