thundercleetz

The Raiders were pretty dangerous when Bruce Gradkowski was starting because he is one of those shifty QBs, but he is injured and I am not one bit worried about Charlie Frye. He has poor pocket presence and is not very accurate at all. If we shut down the Raiders running game they are toast. I am calling it... *** I'm stupid for thinking this game is easy ***!!!!

Like it matters who made it anyways, I don't expect any of our guys playing in the game as they will be resting for a much more important game the next week! =D

I am pretty sure Zibby is the ST alternate. Nevertheless, congrats to everyone that made it! McClain has been excellent this year in any role we have put him in, the guy is a premier FB. It is good to see Ngata finally getting his proper recognition. Ray Rice getting into the Pro Bowl in only his second year is a testament to the impression he left on opposing players and coaches.

So keeping Ray Lewis is a win-now move yet you want us to look at Keith Bulluck? That does not make sense. Just because we kept a couple of vets does not mean we are not retooling. Like I said, you get rid of every player over 30-years old and you end up with young players like Chris Carr, Cary Williams, and Oniel Cousins at every position playing extensive time. You see how mad we get at these types of players, now imagine a team full of these guys. Have you ever though that Ray Lewis might be (by far) our best option right now and for the future at ILB? What I mean by that is if we had a guy who we believe could start in the future, we would have gotten him. We just did not have the opportunity to get that guy. So who would you rather see starting this season, Ray or Gooden/Phillips/late round draft pick? This does us no good in any way. In the NFL today, you can win and retool at the same time. This is not fantasy football, you cannot just trade everyone. If we could get a second rounder for JJ, sure lets do it, I just do not see that happening. Trading Reed would be moronic, we would be selling low. Teams would be very hesistent to give up worthwhile compensation for the players you mentioned for the exact reasons you want to get rid of them. Do you think teams are blind? Just think, if the average fan sees something wrong with a player, imagine what a GM sees. I do agree with you though, Gooden is soft and Landry and Washington need to be let go. I think Zibby has the skills to play SS. He has a nose for the ball and his game speed has been very surprising. We have likely seen the end of Pryce as well, so it is time for Kruger to start bulking up, although Edwards is more than capable of starting. Just be patient, rebuilding is not drastic and we are already ahead of the curve with potentially back-to-back playoff season, but at the same time in position to contend for years to come. When the time comes, you will see the phasing out of players like Reed and Lewis. The bottom line is that these guys are still top 5 players at their positions and there was no better option out there unless we drafted a first rounder (but I would say we are pretty happy with Oher, right?). In the meantime, enjoy the playoffs. As someone who is a business major and enjoys the process of "teambuilding" you should understand the process cannot be drastic and be able to see what Ozzie is trying to do.

I don't see why the two are polar opposites. What is wrong with back-to-back years in the playoffs while retooling at the same time? Ozzie knows that this teams has holes, he is not turning a blind eye. These things take time, you say you want a longer retooling, yet you are mad that we did not radically change the roster all at once. I am not sure what you are getting at. Would you really be anymore happy if we were 4-12 but had a team full of 22-year olds? Just because youth is brought in does not mean it will pan out. Say we did completely rehaul, we would have guys like Chris Carr, Cary Williams, and Oniel Cousins at nearly every position. Basically, young guys with not much potential. There are only so many talented young players that come out of the draft each year, and each team is competing to find steals. The fact that Ozzie found four potential starters in one draft (Oher, Kruger, Webb, and Ellerbe) is pretty impressive. You just have to be patient that Ozzie will improve the receving and defensive back corps like he did with the offensive and defensive lines. In the meantime, enjoy the potential of back-to-back season in the playoffs. Look what Ozzie has done since Harbaugh got here: he found a franchise QB, he rebuilt an offensive line from an old, aging unit to an up and coming dominant one, he drafted a STUD runningback, and continues to infuse youth into the defense with guys like Ellerbe, Webb, Zibby, Kruger, and Foxworth to go with core guys like Suggs, Ngata, Edwards, and JJ. Whether you agree with it or not, we ARE in a long retooling process. Fans sometimes forget how bad of a shape the team was in when Harbaugh took over. This team was aging faster than Robin Williams in the movie Jack.

20-20 vision is nice, eh? What younger LB's would you fill in with? Sure, it is easy now looking back at the draft saying we should have drafted this guy in round 4, 5, and 6. Ellerbe has been great for us and is only going to get better. Bart Scott hasn't exactly torn it up in New York, and he is not even the best ILB on the team. You are right, the Rolle signing did not make any sense, but Jabari Greer is no more of a #1 corner than Foxworth is. Foxworth has proven the past couple months that he is going to be a solid player for us.

Saying we do not deserve to be in the playoffs is bullcrap. Are the Steelers, Jaguars, Jets, Broncos, or Dolphins anymore deserving than us? At least all of our losses are to top teams, you cannot say the same about the rest of the teams who all have some very embarassing loses. The bottom line is that we are not an easy matchup for anyone in the playoffs. We have played the best teams this season and have been in every game until the end. That demands respect from our opponent.

I sure hope Gaither is ready to go next week, Cousins played a very large role in losing this game for us. I don't care if it is the Raiders, we cannot take anything for granted. If Reed and Gaither can play, play them!

If we win and Cincy wins next week, we get the five seed no matter what. If the Jets win against the Bengals, we get the sixth seed no matter what and play the Pats.

We officially control our own destiny. Win next week against the Raiders and we are in. If Cincy wins and we win, we are the fifth seed setting up a game three rematch in Cincy.

So basically we control our own destiny if the Broncos lose?

According to the Yahoo thing, the Jets game doesn't really matter, we NEED the Broncos to lose.

What are the Eagles doing? COMMON PHILLY!

WTF? Why was Manning pulled?

The defense played a great game for the makeshift secondary that was in place. Foxworth really stepped up. Yes, he wiffed on Holmes on that one screen, but he did a great job sticking to Holmes for the most part. The defense had a consistent pass rush up front and shut down the run completely. That 94-yard drive before the end of the half was inexcusable though.

Landry played pretty well today, he was the least of our problems with the likes of Frank Walker, Cousins, and Mason.

Not that it matters, but Walker was crying walking off the field after that last penalty.

I understand what you are saying, but when you have receivers that cannot catch the ball with their hands and linemen that are inept at blocking edge rushers without holding it is understandable why the coaches made the calls they did. Take into account that we kept in six people to block and the Steelers only needed to rush four to get to Flacco and it is obvious why we did not pass the ball downfield in those situations. Until we get playmakers that can bail Flacco out like Ben has, and linemen that know not to hold, we will continue to make these calls. The personel is just not there like the Steelers have.

I cannot blame the coaches for not going for it on third and long, Cousins was getting his ass beat and yes, he was getting help too. There is not much you can do when you have a planted tree at RT.

It is a shame too, because the gameplan was perfect. We pressured Ben, shutdown the run, and ran the ball all over the Steelers. Cousins, Walker, and Mason pretty much helped this team self-destruct in the fourth quarter. I am tired of seeing the same things over and over again, blocks in the back, holding, personal fouls, illegal contact on defense, and body catching that ultimately leads to dropped passes.

CUT FRANK WALKER'S ASS NOW!! WALKER IS SERIOUSLY THE WORST PLAYER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE NFL!!!! NO WONDER HE IS A 47 OVERALL IN MADDEN!!!

That was a pathetic attempt by Cousins.

Knowing how bad Cousins is, we need to have more checkdown/short routes open for Flacco to throw to.

Dang, that guy has some wheels!