thundercleetz

That Heap picture brings back horrible memories!!

My point is that the Panthers are a lot worse than the Colts. Do you really think the Dolphins would have beat a team like the Colts last night? I don't.

I am not sure if I agree with you saying "the Dolphins really had little chance to win that game," the Panthers are really not a good team. Both teams are very average and of the same talent level. However, I do agree with your assessment of Sunday's game. We need to play penalty-free football, that is the big thing.

This season is far from over max, even if we lose this week against Indy. It all comes down to the Steelers games. As long as we have Ozzie drafting defensive players, Flacco at QB, and Ray Rice running behind that offensive line, this team will be competitive every season.

Well, you did attack Ozzie when you said he had "ZERO plan." I certainly agree with your criticisms though. It is frustrating how Ozzie lets our guys go into the last year of their deals when teams like the Eagles seem to have no problem locking their players up (granted, the Eagles have had lots of unhappy campers with their contracts because of these under-market deals). I was not as angry about Scott leaving. Like Adalius, it would not make financial sense to re-sign him when he was an UFA or the year before. Scott is good, but I don’t want to be stuck with a $50 million contract when Scott is 32, same deal with Adalius. We got over Sharper, Hartwell, and Adalius, we will get over Scott quickly. It just takes some adjustment, like I stated. But I like what I see in Ellerbe. If we re-sign Scott (doesn’t matter when), then Gaither, Ngata, or Grubbs are gone. We could not have that much money tied up in LB. What got me mad was that we did not re-sign Jay Brown for a cheap contract when we had a chance, but then again, that could mean Grubbs is gone. Here is the main point though: for the most part, Ozzie has never lost a free agent that went on to superstardom. The Steelers operate the same way as us. They let their guys get to the end of their deals, then take care of the important players. The guys they let go nothing becomes of them. So before you go judging Ozzie’s moves, remember that 2002 team and how bad they were on defense before a lot of those players became a lot better. Foxworth especially is a guy I believe can improve. With Fabian and Landry coming off of the books, you better sure Ozzie is going to be looking for secondary help. I am not worried at all. As for retaining Landry and Williams, name me a cheaper, better alternative. These guys are in the last year of middle round rookie deals, dirt cheap depth. We were strapped to the cap this past year, there was not a better alternative. You cannot count these guys as free agent pickups against Ozzie. Those go on his draft record (and Landry is a special case, for he has not been the same since his injury). And for the receivers, as bad as they have been this season (with the exception of Kelly Washington) this should be an opportunity for Ozzie to get better. Provided there is a CBA, the free agent WR class is going to be STACKED (Marshall, Austin, Jackson, Bryant as the headliners plus guys like Boldin, Steve Smith, and Bowe as guys possibly available through trade). I do agree with you though, it was dumb not drafting a receiver this year so they could transition and be ready to contribute next year. I heard we really liked Mohamed Massaquoi, but he went off of the board before we picked. Who knows, a guy like Eron Riley could step up.

It also became more believable when you see Hauschka crying on the sideline after missing the FG in the Browns game. He comes across as emotionally unstable to me...

That is probably a little harsh. I do not think people realize how spoiled we were by guys like Cmac, Scott, and Rolle. Ozzie did have a plan on defense, it was to get SPEED. That is why guys like Gooden, Foxworth, Washington, and Carr came in. Unfortunately, these guys have been soft so far (although it was encouraging to see Fabian play solid in the run game on Monday, and Foxworth has stepped his play up as the season has gone on). On the positive side, look at guys like Ngata, Edwards (what a pleasant surprise he has been), JJ (our defensive MVP this season), Suggs, and Ladarius Webb. These are our building blocks. Then we have guys with potential like Krueger, McKinney, Ellerbe, and McClain. Foxworth is not a bad corner, he could be a solid #2. On offense, even you cannot deny that Ozzie has done a good job. The core of Ray Rice, Joe Flacco, Le'Ron McClain and our offensive line is going to give defenses fits for years to come. The offense is a work in progress as we still need quality receivers, but Ozzie is getting there. Do you remember how bad this offense was and how devoid it was of talent? How about that aging offensive line? Ozzie built this line from scratch, replaced a Hall of Fame left tackle, got us a franchise quarterback, and a franchise runningback. If that is not a plan, then I do not know what is. Here is the bottom line: For all the criticism our defense gets, we are still the #7 defense in the league. Do you remember 2002, Mike Nolan's first year as DC? I'll give you a penny if you can tell me what our defense was ranked... it was 22nd. And that was a defense that had Ray Lewis, Chris McAlister, Peter Boulware, and Ed Reed (rookie) all in their primes. This defense we have now is very much in transition like that 2002 team was. We lost some key players and a very good DC, and have a lot of young players coming in. In 2002 guys like AD, Baxter, Gregg, Hartwell, Weaver, and Demps struggled, but they become much better players as the year went on going into the next couple of years. And none of these guys were superstar talents either (which is evident by the fact they could not produce the same success when they left Baltimore). Who is to say we will not see the same progression with guys like Foxworth, Webb, Krueger (especially since he is going to see extensive playing time in these coming weeks), and Ellerbe? I think it was blind for us fans to think there was not going to be an adjustment period for Mattison and all the young guys coming in. My last point is that we are still very much in the thick of things, and even if we do not make the playoffs we have a solid core for Ozzie to work with to improve upon. Look how fast the Bengals improved. You think their fans were not saying all of the same things last season about their GM being clueless?

Yes, it is a bad joke, even though it is kind of funny though. What gave me a bad impression was the subtitle of "you won't believe this." When I the topic heading, I thought this was a serious topic. It scared me for a second. There should have been a joke topic warning or something.

You know that is bad when the head coach acknowledges it. As sad as it is, I would be willing to bet James could step in and immediately be better than anything they currently have.

Pittsburgh looked just as bad as us against Cincy in both games. Pittsburgh has looked the same as us in games against all of our common opponents. I am thinking we should split with them. I think we should beat Green Bay, and lose to Indy. Leaving us at 10-6. However, I see your view as well. The point is that this season is not lost and we have a solid chance at the playoffs. No I would not put money on us getting to the playoffs, I am just saying this season is far from over and we needed to get better at kicker. Did we get better at kicker? No one knows yet, but Ozzie and co. know what they are doing a lot more than any of us. What does concern me however is that we gave Cundiff and Nugent a tryout last week and came to the conclusion that Hauschka was still the better kicker. Aaron Wilson said the Ravens believed that Hauschka's problems are mental. Sometimes kickers can work through mental problems sometimes they cannot, just like QBs. That is what it comes down to. If Hauschka is able to overcome his mental problems, we could regret this move. But we cannot wait for Hauschka, we need someone who can handle pressure. Hopefully Cundiff is better than Hauschka at doing so.

No one is suggesting this at all. You say the FO did nothing to plug holes, well, you have to include kicker in that statement. Hauschka could not get the job done. Under you own logic, should we leave Carr, Washington, and Foxworth alone? All the front office is trying to do is fill a hole. It is just that at this point in the season there is not much we can do at the DB position, whereas kicker we believe there is a better player on the market. Getting a new kicker will not fix everything, but it puts us in a better position to win. This season is far from over, and even though we have problems as you correctly state, our four loses are to elite teams and we took all four games down to the wire. You have to believe we have a shot in every game we play, which makes us still very alive in the playoff race.

I am really not sure what you are getting at. You want us to bomb the rest of our games at the expense of a kicker? You seem to be the one with your head in the sand. Why are you even a fan if all you do is bash the team and suggest the season is over after nine games?

Hey SaintsMan! I am a Ravens fan that goes to Tulane down here in New Orleans, I will try and fill you in on C-mac. The truth is, no one knows how well Cmac's knee is. Before his knee injury, he was, in my opinion, still one of the better corners in the league. Still had his speed, and of course, his physicality. Then he hurt his knee and tried to play through it. The next week got absolutely burned in the Colts game last year and he has not played in an NFL game since. If Cmac's knee is fully healed, he should be a very good pickup for you guys. I have heard speculation that his knee is not healed completely, but I am certain your training staff put him through extensive tests before signing him. They must feel he can contribute in some way. As for the comments about Cmac having personal problems. I am not sure how true the drinking rumors are, but focus on the football field has always been a big problem for Cmac. These guys that are joking Cmac will be distracted in New Orleans probably have never been here outside of Mardi Gras. Like I am sure you know, while it is a festive city, there is trouble to be found in every city. I do not think Cmac will be a problem in that sense. It all depends on his knee.

Go ahead and think this season is over. Bottom line is that we have two critical games against the Steelers that will decide the wildcard. Don't watch anymore of our games, no one will care. I don't see how releasing Houschka is ignorant, we need to win games no matter what.

The ACL and PCL are cruciate ligament while the MCL is a collateral ligament. Cruciate ligament require surgery whereas collateral ligaments heal on their own unless it is a complete tear or in combination with a cruciate ligament, I believe. For what it is worth, Troy Polamalu slightly tore his MCL in Week 1.

Luckily the MCL in the grand scheme of things is pretty minor and typically heals on its own and pretty quickly (in comparison to the ACL and PCL).

Not confirmed yet. It is unfortunate for Suggs, but next man up! Maybe this will force Mattison to get more creative with bringing pressure. Time to see if Krueger and Barnes can get after the QB as well. And I doubt Gerard will get any PT outside of special teams. Webb barely plays even though he has proven that he should start.

Heck, the game versus the Browns was Ravens football. A shutout, 40 runs compared to 20 passes, a defensive TD, we have been spoiled by our offense this season to expect 30+ points every game. You cannot have it all every week. The big thing this week will be to reduce the amount of penalties. Those are offensive drive killers and on defense will extend the opponent's drive.

It looks like Hauschka realizes his struggles kicking from the left hashmark: What I do not understand, as dc has stated before, is if you are kicking from the left hashmark, wouldn't one want to push the ball right? So if the kick was going to sail wide, it would be to the right. Trying to hook the left goalpost from the left hashmark seems like a small target to hit.

We do not know that for sure. As well as Stover is doing with the Colts, his long is a 40-yard field goal. The problem with Houschka is that he seems to have trouble kicking from the left hashmark (all of his misses have been on the left hashmark). He always hooks the ball left from the left hashmark, which is really odd. I wonder if this is something that was persistent in practice and/or training camp? Nevertheless, Nugent looks to be the front runner according to most of the Ravens beat writers on Twitter. Like Houschka, Nugent has tremendous talent and a very powerful leg (he was a second round pick as a kicker). Unlike Houschka, Nugent has had success in the league (he had a very good 2006 season with the Jets and is excellent on kickoffs). He kicked at a big program in OSU, so he should be used to high pressure situations. Maybe Jerry Rosburg can get him back on track.

You like targeting Ed and Ray, don't you? I am not sure why these two guys would be the first people you target in saying Peyton is going to have an amazing game. Myself, I would target Carr, Fabian, Foxworth, Landry, and Gooden (who got another concussion last night, I am starting to think this guy is fragile) as the responsible parties for the Colts potentially stomping us. Neither Ray or Ed looked like an "aging vet" last night. So if either of these guys has a bad game, does that automatically qualify them as an aging vet? What happens if Suggs or Ngata has a bad game? Does that just mean they suck? I have not seen anything out of Ray or Ed this season, outside of Ed's neck injury, that would make it seem like they have drastically lost a step. And so much for Ed's neck injury, he was out there in full force last night. The guys to, certainly not Ed or Ray. Yes, stopping Peyton will be a challenge, but I do not think it will be as bad as you exaggerate. The key to beating the Colts is having a bend but do not break philosophy on defense. Peyton will get his yards, no doubt. When they get into the redzone however, we need to keep them to field goals. This is what will dictate whether or not we will have a chance to win. On offense sticking to the running game will be a challenge against the Colts for their offense is so explosive and Cam will be tempted to play at their pace. However, it is critical we keep trying. The Colts defense starts strong, but will break. We might get stuffed the first two or three possessions. If we adbandon the run game, their defense wins and their Cover 2 will shutdown our passing game. Stick to the running game!

This time the Colts are without Bob Sanders and Marlin Jackson. Especially Sanders has given us trouble in the past, this time we do not have to deal with him. I do see your point, that is why I am not going into this game with expectations, I just have a feeling we will be able to hang around. The draw play has become our best running play, I am sure we will see it on Sunday. About the gameplanning, how about last night? Flacco only threw the ball 18 times where as we ran the ball near 40 times. For all the complaining about our offense, we stuck to the run. We just need our receivers to get open against the Colts and hold onto the ball (Clayton dropped a pass that could have gone for big yardage) and cut down on the penalties. More than anything, it was the offsides and holding penalties that killed our drives. If we can play disciplined on offense, I like our chances running the ball.

Adam Vinatieri is scheduled to return "around Thanksgiving", according to the Indianapolis Football Report. What do the Colts keep? Both? If they cut one of Stover or Vinatieri, we should definitely sign the guy that is cut.