thundercleetz

I just need to cool down. But I think your game against Pittsburgh is going to be a good one. Pittsburgh cannot run the ball, so if you guys can pound Benson, I like your chances. I can definitely see the makings of a shootout though, in contrast to the last meeting.

If this was Facebook I would "like" that post.

That is my point, I think our defense is God awful. EDIT: And I can only imagine what Pittsburgh is going to do to our defense. I'm thinking we should just forfeit.

To those who say we are fine at receiver, Clayton attempt at that intercepted deep ball was absolutely pathetic. Mason dropped at least three passes and stopped running on a potential touchdown in the corner. Our receivers today got hit in the mouth by the Bengals corners and did not do anything back. For as much as we praise Mason, look at this: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=schefter_adam&id=4623504 Mason is fifth in the league in drops. So YES, WE NEED A RECEIVER(S) AND IT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!! I am not letting Joe off the hook today either, he threw several bad passes, but he has played so well the rest of the year he get a mulligan, like you said.

I am tired of this why did we give up on the run game. The Bengals were stuffing us on every first down leaving us with 2nd & 10+. Don't look at the stats, they are misleading. All of Rice's yard came from two shotgun draws when the Bengals were in prevent defense. Our running game was amounting to squat jack today, the Bengals defensive line punched our offensive line in the mouth, and there was nothing we could do about it. If we stuck to the running game we would have been shutout. It is not Cam's fault that Clayton cannot jump up for a deep ball, or Mason stops running on a corner endzone route, or Joe was making inaccurate throws, or that Mason dropped three first down passes. Bottom line, our run game was shutdown today, and running the ball a few more times on 2nd & 10+ or 3rd & 10+ was not going to change that.

We are 4-4, .500, it does not get anymore average than that. You're kidding yourself if you think this team is anymore than average. Our secondary is horrible, our pass rush is non-existent, our receiving core is awful, this team is extremely undisciplined, and we have a field goal kicker who is terrified of being out on the field in the fourth quarter. Like I said, this is no different than in the past. You guys always shut us down, you think your defense has finally come around, then some team trounces you. Again, congrats and you fully deserved both wins against us. However, I just think you have our number as opposed to your defense being legit. Pittsburgh next week is a big test, but I see them putting a lot of points on the board. Your secondary was thirtieth in the league coming into today, yet your DBs punched our WRs in the punch today and kicked our asses. I think that says more about our WRs than your DBs. It is going to be a lot more difficult next week going into Pittsburgh against Big Ben and his 300 yards of passing a game. I am not saying you guys are an average team as well. On the contrary I think you guys are a very good team, I am just not sold on your defense. You guys have finally adjusted to AFC North football and have become a physical offense. You can run the ball against anyone, and of course, Carson can kill with his arm.

Yeah, and our cornerbacks continue to get burned while playing 20 yards off of the line of scrimmage. Hey, I guess our corners had a pretty good game considering we did not give up the big play. Mattison's blitzes are pathetic as well. They are dead give-aways taking our players out of the play most of the time. Today I saw some of the most undisciplined defensive line play I have every seen from a Ravens team. I will say it again, fire his ancient ass. He can take Foxworth, Washington, Carr, and Hauschka with him as well. I would rather see free agents play than the garbage we have out there in the secondary right now. Other than Webb, our DBs have absolutely no attitude or physicality. It kills me that we are stuck with Foxworth for the next three years and Carr for the next two. At least free agents off of the street would play with some passion. Where are Evan Oglesby and Anwar Phillips? These guys are no worse than what we have already, and at least they play with passion.

I don't think the Bengals defense is legit, I just think they have our number. It has always been like that, every year we make them look a lot better than they actually are. It would not surprise to see Pittsburgh drop 30 on them next week. I am not knocking the Bengals, they whooped our ass. All I am saying is that the Bengals beat an average team.

Fire his old ass.

Webb was the only bright spot I saw out there. He is not afraid to come up and make a hit, he runs hard on kick returns, and he is physical in coverage. Foxworth, Washington, and Carr are horrible, they play twenty yards off the line of scrimmage and still manage to slip back-peddling. Webb should be starting on this team, no doubt. Punt returns, kick returns, and at cornerback. What impressed me most about Webb was not only his fearlessness in going up and tackling a big back like Benson, but he did not let his man get past him on screen passes. That is where the rest of the bunch get killed. Webb pretty much shutdown his guy after going in after Washington went down.

Well, at least Ladarius Webb has come to play. He is the only player in our secondary who is performing. Carr, Landry, Washington, and Foxworth are all absolute garbage. You could pay me to go out there and just grab Chad to get the pass interference call. We also need to fire Greg Mattison's old ass. The defensive line is playing very undisciplined losing their gap assignments. I hope Harbaugh is tearing these guys a new asshole.

His job is going to be even more difficult as Ngata is likely out.

I like it! That and Lil' Ray sound like winners to me.

Miami Dolphins' Joey Porter on New England Patriots' Tom Brady: 'He got his own rules' - ESPN Chicago I cannot help but agree with Joey. Especially that first quote, we saw that first hand this season.

Harbaugh blasts Cowboys in new book

I think you are on to something here, and I do believe that Carson will have success. With that said, even though Carson tore up our secondary last time, you still only won by four points. The bottom line is our defense has to play a bend but don't break philosophy. We will try and ramp up the pressure, which Carson will burn us with a few times, but I am expecting a few big plays for the defense as well. The difference this meeting should be the success of our offense. Your defense was able to contain our offense last time, I do not think they will be able to do it twice. Odom being out and Gaither playing is a huge advantage for us. Ray Rice should have more success running the ball and Joe Flacco will have more time to throw. I am going to say this again. Last time we had a chance to put the game away with our last drive, but Flacco barely missed Clayton on the long ball. If we let Carson have the ball last again with a chance to win the game, you guys will win. In order for us to win, we have to finish the game strong.

As I said before the last meeting with the Bengals, the key to this game is stopping Benson. The reason Carson was able to pick our secondary apart was because our defense was on their heels from the run game.

Don't count out Joe, max. If this game turns into a shootout, I believe we have just as much of a chance to win as the Bengals do. We do not have the #7 offense in the league for nothing (Cincy is #13). We also have the #4 scoring offense compared to Cincy's #15. I do agree, we need to pressure Carson, but the same could be said about what the Bengals need to do to Joe. What it comes down to for both teams is that the run game needs to be shut down. If Benson runs for another 120 yards on us, they will win, no doubt.

Fair enough, no argument here.

You are missing my point. I am saying that we do not know the nature of the interaction between the players. Since Foxworh and Marshall are friends, how do you know that these guys did not call each other after the game to talk? Does it matter when players congratulate each other? I don't think it is, and I don't think we should judge on what we don't know. You only saw a fraction of the interaction. This is in no way inducable anything about how Marshall is as a teammate. I'll take competitive players any day of he week. Did you have a problem with Ed Reed and Ray Lewis on national tv saying "let's tear this b**** down" after beating the Cowboys last year? That is some pretty bad sportsmanship. All I am saying if you are mad about players not shaking hands, you would probably be terrified if you were down on that field listening on some of the stuff said and done.

First on Mason. I am not arguing the penalty, I am arguing that Harbaugh made no attempt to constrain Mason as he came BACK on the field to argue after the penalty. Obviously Mason thinks he can act in such a manner (for Harbaugh has nothing wrong with doing such himself). Harbaugh needs to put a stop to this behavior, for one if Mason would have been ejected, we might not have won that game. In my opinion, this is a much worse reflection on our team than what Brandon Marshall did. I am going to say this again, dc, competitive is not something you can just turn on and off. Some players take a little while to cool off. Being friends with a guy make no difference, in fact, it may make it more difficult. Heck, I sometimes get so mad after losing a game of Madden to a friend that I do not want to even look at my friend. Does that make me a douche, dc? I would wager that Foxworth and Marshall called each other after the game to congratulate each other. Here is the bottom line, dc, we don't know what goes on on that field. We do not know how competitive it got between Marshall and Foxworth, or what type of words might have been exchanged. And as a fan, I honestly could care less. If players not shaking hands after a game angers you, maybe football is not a good sport for you to watch. Maybe you should watch soccer where players are required to shake hands after games. Some football players have to be douches in order to play at a high level. Jared Allen is the biggest douche around, but that is part of what makes him so good. I would take him on my team in an instant. The same could be said about James Harrison on the Steelers. When I played high school I was the biggest trash talker on the field, cursing and everything. I don't curse in real life, this is just how I got fired up. And let me tell you, this was not an attitude I could just stop when the final whistle blew. Am I a douche or disrespectful to my team? I do not think so. The bottom line is that any player, whether they are a douche or not, has the potential to be a cancer. Tell me of a losing team that had great chemistry. Sure, there are some, but it is rare, and not always dependent upon what types of players you have. The Pats are able to keep such a tight locker-room because they win.

Well, he is familiar with the offense having played under Cam. I am not sure how much he has left, but we might be able to give him a resurgence opportunity. I do not think he would get much playing time with Mason, Clayton, Washington, and Heap occupying our four wide receiver sets.

No argument here that the Steelers were the better team last season. If we had a receiver like Marshall last year, would we have won? Hard to say. I will say that the Steelers would not have been able to play us the same way. Enough with the what ifs though. This year we will be benefited by better depth at receiver (last season our number three receiver was a rotation of Marcus Smith, Yamon Figurs, and Terrance Copper), a better offensive line, an emerging star in Ray Rice, and a much improved Joe Flacco. Eventually we are going to have to spend money on a receiver. Pending the CBA, we will not have one receiver under contract through next season. I would love Mason back, but is he going to retire? I think retaining Washington is a must, and I would not mind Clayton back if the price was right. However, the contract the Bucs gave to Michael Clayton is going to drive up the price of average receivers a lot. I would not give that type of deal to Mark Clayton. Vincent Jackson would be an ideal fit for this team. He saw first hand that he is big, physical, fast, and would be able to bail Joe out on passes downfield. I wonder what the Chargers will do with him though, as Merriman and Sproles are free agents as well.

My beliefs are hardly arrogant. The Steelers had no problem stopping our offense last season because we had no deep threat. The Steelers played two deep with everyone else underneath. They were challenging us to go deep because they knew we did not have anyone that could beat them. It was the same strategy the Bengals used against us a few weeks ago. Now, a receiver like Marshall is not the only remedy to beating the Steelers. Certainly our better depth at WR will help, as will Ray Rice, a better offensive line, and Joe Flacco in his second year. We will have to see though. All I am saying is that a receiver like Marshall would make us that much better and make defenses have to play us in a cometely different way.

No dc Harbaugh must be included in this. As we saw this week, Mason apparently thought it was OK to curse the ref out. And I did not see Harbaugh or anyone try and stop Mason as Mason stormed back onto the field. In fact Harbaugh just watched Mason storm right by him. It all starts and ends with the coach putting up with such behavior. This behavior was present when Billick was here, and Harbaugh has not done anything to change it. Here is my point, dc. We don't play the game, we don't know what goes on down on the field. I would be willing to wager that this sort of thing happens more often than we know about it. You really think Marshall was the only the only Bronco who left the field early? Heck, Tom Brady left the field when the Colts finally beat the Pats. Manning was seeking out Brady, but Brady was gone. The bottom line is that these guys are just so competitive that they don't think about such things. I am sure Foxworth and Marshall called each other after the game. It is hard for some competitors to just turn the switch off instantly, anyone who has any sort of competitiveness would tell you that. Bottom line is that I think your judgement of Marshall based on this event is unfair. By your same argument the crap that our guys say in the media is just as disrespectfull to our team and just as much of a cancer. Every superstar can be a cancer in sone way, even Ray Lewis and Derrick Mason have been cancers at time.