thundercleetz

I am predicting a 35-10 win on Monday.

I already explained this. The team that beat Cleveland and Denver did show up against Cincy, the bottom line was Cincy was a much superior team to the teams we beat. That KC game, common Crav, even you would admit there were a couple of fluke plays. The fact for the game is that we closed the door with authority. The bottom line is that we have never lost to a below .500 team under Harbaugh. Monday is going to be a *** I'm stupid for thinking this game is easy ***. Yeah, I said it.

If there was ever a week to run the ball intensively, it would be against the Colts. Their defense is banged up and missing a lot of key guys.

I completely agree with this statement. We do not play down to the level of our competition, but we have problems playing up.

I pretty much disagree with everyone, this is not a trap game by any means. The team knows we have to win out in order to make the playoffs. Last time we played the Browns we got pressure easily, shutdown the run, and forced turnovers. Like I said, we don't play down to the level of our competition. Why is it that we were able to dominate the Broncos and then get dominated by the Bengals. In my opinion it was not effort, but that the Bengals are the superior team to the Broncos. The Bengals have a superior run game, a superior passing game, and were more physical on defense against us. The Bengals are also better in blitz pickup. In comparison, the Browns struggle to run the ball and pick up the blitz. We should dominate this game just like the first matchup, and just like the Broncos game.

I meant from our fans' perspective. Go on any Ravens message board and you would guess that we were 2-6.

I am not worried about Monday night at all. We are not a bad team as most make us out to be, all of our loses have been to playoff calibur teams. We do not play down to the level of our competition, I am fully expecting an ass whipping on Monday night for the Brownies.

I think you have a different idea of what "high priced" means than I. Dale Carter, Frank Walker Chris Carr, Marcus Robinson, Frank Sanders, Kevin Johnson, Landry, Demetrius Williams, and L.J. Smith are hardly high priced. All of these guys are easily cutable with little salary cap ramifications. These are all low price, low risk signings. Guys like Foxworth, Bennie Anderson, Kedrick Vincent, and Mike Flynn signed market level, starter contracts. Yes, these were bad signings for the most part, but we were expecting these average players to fill crucial roles (the jury is still out on Foxworth). And lets face it, Flynn was not horrible, he was average and got an above average contract that quickly turned into an average contract within a year or two. His situation was not nearly as bad as everyone made it out to be. Vincent and Anderson were very poor signings. Now, McNair, McGahee, Searcy, and Grbac are the people on that list that I would consider high priced guys. Bash McNair all you want, he still got us a 13-3 season. It is not Ozzie's fault McNair's shoulder died on him to the point where he could barely throw the ball. That was an all-in investment to win a Super Bowl in McNair's first or second year, with anything beyond that a bonus. We came close the first year, McNair just didn't hold up physically. Would McNair have been released eventually? Maybe. But we needed him in camp practicing the playbook. That extra time made a big difference. McGahee overall was probably a miss. He played excellent his first year (Pro Bowler), was a disappointment his second year, and despite the fact he worked hard this offseason and could probably start for half of the teams in this league, he is essentially a high-priced backup. So for the most part McGahee did not pan out like we hoped, but we were not hurt by the signing either as next offseason we will be able to cut ties relatively easily. Searcy and Grbac need no explaination needed, these guys were absolute busts who killed our team and our cap. Here is what I think the bottom line is. When Ozzie is under pressure to fill holes through free agency, and does not want or have the caproom to spend a lot of money, he has pretty much missed on signing market level guys. Ozzie has found some gems with some lower priced guys (Leonhard and Kelly Washington), but trying to sign starters (such as Foxworth, Vincent and Anderson) have not worked out very well. When it comes to big money guys, Ozzie has had his share of hits and misses. But McNair, McGahee, Rolle, and Mason all gave us solid production for some period of time.

I agree with that, even though Ozzie has had some solid free agent pickups in Birk, Derrick Mason, Kelly Washington, and Justin Bannon. I think the root of Ozzie's problem with free agents is that he is so conservative. We do not pick up the "big money" free agents as you suggest. Like it or not, Foxworth was a market level contract for this past offseason. Instead of being aggressive and going out for proven talent, Ozzie tries to pick up guys at market level or below. Granted, our cap situation is usually tight, but when these guys do not workout it really hurts the team. Ozzie is picking up average guys in hope that they can fill critical roles (Foxworth is the obvious example). A year ago the Fabian Washington pickup looked like a brillant move, this year it looks terrible. I am not going to write off Foxworth just yet, his play has improved a little bit, but he is not a #1 corner. If we can get a legitimate #1 corner, Foxworth should be able to settle in nicely as a solid #2 corner. I am not going to say Ozzie should be more aggressive, for getting burned with the big money free agents could set this team back a lot (Grbac and Searcy are the obvious examples), and Ozzie is so good at drafting you don't want to take draft picks out of his hands. However, when Ozzie opened up the checkbook for Derrick Mason and Samari Rolle years ago, those moves worked out nicely. This coming offseason is going to be critical for this team. If a guy like Vincent Jackson is out there, you go all out to get him. However, we are still very much in it this season, lets focus on Cleveland!

Yep, we have to root for the Bengals in this one. But that is nothing different than what we are used to doing. Rule #1: Always root against the Steelers.

Franklin Gutierrez probably deserved it the most out of Jones, Hunter, or Ichiro. Anyways, I am happy for Adam. He is a hard worker and is only going to get better. The jump in his game from year one to year two was phenomenal. If he can stay healthy for a full season, he should be a force. Here is a good interview with Adam on winning his Gold Glove: http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90053

Ozzie tried to fill the position. He messed up, simple as that. Foxworth and Carr were misses, Webb was a hit. The season is only half way through, I think Foxworth can improve. Fabian was solid last season, he just is horrible this season. Everyone misses sometimes. I would say Ozzie hits more than he misses.

What is the deal with Mike Nugent? He was a second round pick, and is still only 27. There has to be talent there. This season is not over, get the kicker that can win us games. We cannot afford to lose another game due to a missed kick.

Alright, enough with the overreaction threads. How do you explain Flacco, Rice, Gaither, Grubbs, Yanda, Oher, Ngata, Edwards, JJ, and Webb? Lets just make you GM then.

That is good to hear! Back to the topic on hope, lets just take this season one game at a time. I for one am looking forward toward seeing a complete domination of the Browns next week. That should be enjoyable. We'll deal with Indy and Pittsburgh when they come. Lets just enjoy the Browns game.

Younger is not always better. We got younger at corner, linebacker, and kicker, but that has not worked out very well, has it? The good thing about the NFL is that teams can retool quickly in one offseason. I do not think the situation is as bleak as you make it. Ray, Suggs, and Ed are not the problem. Sure Suggs is overpaid, but he doesn't hurt us out there. Ed might be done because of his injury.

My point was not that it was a perfect pass, my point was that a good receiver would have bailed that pass out. Not even Manning or Brady make those long ball perfect all the time, they are often greatly helped by their receivers who go up and grab the ball. The fact is that the DB went OVER Clayton to make that catch. The ball was behind Clayton, but it still hit him in the shoulder pad. Better body positioning and aggressiveness to box out the DB to make a jump for the ball ensures that ball is not intercepted. Clayton did not even make a play on the ball, he just did a poor job of tracking it. Moss, Wayne, Ochocinco, Marshall, Johnson, they come down with a pass like that. I agree with you on the call, though hindsight is 20-20. We were having some success driving on that first drive out of the half and had good field positioning. If there was a time to pound the ball, like you and many others have suggested, it was on that drive fresh out of halftime where we may have had the Bengals on their heels. Of course, hindsight is 20-20 and if Clayton catches that, no one questions the call.

A #1 corner, a #1 receiver, and improving a pass rush... Ozzie has his work cutout for him.

It would not surprise me if this is Ed Reed's last season. Ed is one of those types of players that is not going to play if he cannot be at his best. Unfortunately, it looks like his neck is just not allowing him to tackle as he wants to.

Piggy backing on this max, I think if this is the case we need to give extensive playing time to Webb, Krueger, and possibly even Justin Harper. We are very weak at CB, pass rush, and WR. I like the aggressiveness I saw out of Webb, he needs to start. I think Foxworth can be a decent #2 corner, but he should not have been matched up against Chad. He was getting killed. Webb played very well out of the slot and on the outside when he was there. Our pass rush has been pathetic. Our blitzes are predictable, and take our guys out of the play (i.e. see Ray Lewis's blitz on Benson's long run). Suggs has been a huge disappointment this year, he get minimal rush. Thus, it is time to let Krueger loose and see if he can get to the QB. Our receiver effort on jump balls downfield has been nonexistent. Harper may drop half of the passes that come his way, but apparently so does Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton. At least Harper can get open and is aggressive in the air for passes. Give the kid a chance. Ray Rice... keep doing your thing. You are on pace for 1,000 yards rushing, 10 rushing TDs, 90+ receptions, and 900 yards receiving. I think we have a mini-LT on our hands here. Great pick Ozzie!

I agree to an extent. But it does not help when your receivers are dropping first down passes regardless of the formation. I did see a lot of 3 and 4 receiver sets yesterday. Unfortunately the ball was either dropped, broken up, bad pass, or the routes took too long to develop. I honestly think the bottom line is that we have inferior talent at receiver. Clayton and Mason could not get off the jam, plain and simple. We need a big, physical presence at receiver. But yes, Joe had a bad game accuracy wise yesterday that did not help.

The stuffs did come at a bad time. And like you said, it did not help that our defense was giving up 6+ minute drives, we really were in no position to run the ball. As for that deep interception, you can hardly fault that on Joe. That was a good call and a good pass, Clayton getting intercepted over his shoulder like that in inexcusable. That is why we need a #1 receiver, those types of balls are TDs for Brady, Carson, Peyton, Ben, etc.

I see us 9-7 when it is all said and done. Wins against Cleveland, Green Bay, Detroit, Chicago and Oakland. Loses against Pittsburgh (twice) and Indy. Possibly 8-8 with a loss against Green Bay, but I think we can win that one. We are not a bad team, just not a good team. There is certainly hope for next year, but this year we just need to work on getting better. If we can win the games I said, and split against Pittsburgh, 10-6 is possible. That is a tall order though. I have not given up hope. Lets just start with Cleveland next week.

It's still running, but the only reason those two "runs" were successful because we were down 17 in the fourth quarter and the Bengals were in a prevent defense. Like I said, we tried to run the ball, the Bengals were just more physical than us today and our runs were stuffed leaving us in passing downs. I do agree with your assessment on the formations.

dc, we run the ball and we get shutout. The Bengals were stuffing us out of our running formations. All of Ray's yard came out of the shotgun on the draws. Running the ball was not happening today, our offensive line was punched in the mouth. All running did was put us in 2nd & 10+. Trust has nothing to do with it except three-and-outs.