thundercleetz

Good stuff on Kruger. We will need him to step up his game in the pass rush this week. Hopefully Mattison will find ways to use Kruger even when Suggs comes back. He is certainly an asset to this team with his size and athleticism. I heard Cam has been lobbying to use him at TE.

Where did you get that assumption? Joe gets plenty of completions when we go to 4 receiver sets. Either that or he gets sacked :P Believe me, I have watched the tape. Joe is perfectly fine in reading the middle of the field and going through progressions. In both Bengals games you may have a point, but those are conveniently Joe's two worst games of the season. You don't have a 90+ QB rating through and only throw 8 INTs in eleven NFL games by just hitting checkdowns and staring down receivers. If that were the case Kyle Boller would still be our QB.

Yardage wise (which is the common measurement for determining the best offense and defense) the Packers give up the fewest yards a game at 281.5. So technically they have the best defense in the league. While they have given up 21 passing TDs, they have 18 INTs. They play a lot of bump and run single coverage, so there are plays to be made in the passing game, but there is just as much of a chance for turning the ball over. The Packers lead the NFL with a take-away/give-away ratio of +17.

I would be willing to challenge that through tape. The problem lies within the playcalling and personel. We don't have a redzone threat like the Bengals do. For that matter, we don't run that type of route in the redzone. Most of the time there are not any progressions to go through, for we will only have two receivers in a route. Either that, or we will have pre-designe plays where Flacco is to get the ball out to a pre-determined receiver very quickly, which was the case Sunday night. When we do have four or five receivers in routes, Joe does go through his progressions. Boller couldn't go through progressions. Joe does, it should be obvious just by watching him play.

BTW, I loved the mean streak I saw out of our players last night. We were not going to take any crap from them. JJ planted Ward in the turf on a screen pass and stood over him. And did anyone see Harrison get shoved to the ground twice? Oher shoved him to the ground near a pile, then he got up and Rice shoves his ass right back down to the turf. Our guys really came out to play last night.

I'm tired of this Joe does not read the middle of the field crap. The problem with the middle of the field pertains more to our personel. Clayton and Mason are smaller guys, not a very big catching radius. So in other words, if your QB does not deliver a perfect pass, the chances for an INT are very high. To make it worse, they are both body catchers, that does not work over the middle. You need a receiver with big, strong hands who extends for the ball. The solution to this problem is to get a big, physical Keyshawn Johnson type receiver. I for one don't want Clayton or Mason going over the middle, they just are not big enough. I have horrible visions about the ball bouncing off a shoulder pad. Simply put, because of our personel we do not run many routes over the middle, that is why Joe does not look, because there are NO receivers there. Kelly Washington is a guy who fits the description of a receiver who can be consistent over the middle, but Kelly does not see the field nearly as much as he should. That is the fault of the coaching staff, not Joe. Oh yeah, and we DID have success over the middle when we ran those plays. Washington was hit over the middle for that 15-yard pass, Clayton was hit for a 20-yarder, Mason was hit on that 3rd long which set up that last 4th & 5, Flacco missed an open Mason earlier on a pass over the middle which would have been a big gain, and the pass to Rice at the end was a crossing route over the middle (that was the exact same play as the INT in the Colts game). Flacco was certainly reading the middle of the field, but most of the plays were either designed quick hitters or longer routes working the sidelines.

The Pats just gave up... Brady is out. That is crazy. BTW, as good as the Saints looked, it was good to see Cmac get beat on the double move on the long completion to Moss.

I thought Mattison's blitzes last night were a lot better than usual. This time we actually had our blitzes timed, instead of giving them away like usual. I saw a lot of fake blitzing, guys coming up, then backing off. I saw a lot of checking out where if the Steelers did go on a hard count and we gave away our blitz, we checked out. However, the Steelers were just well prepared. I would like to think those blitzes would have worked on a poor offensive line like the Packers, but I guess we will find out. BTW, it's probably pointless to talk about the playoffs, the Saints are going to win the Super Bowl. They are playing UNREAL right now.

I agree with you for the most part. I don't think Foxworth is going anywhere, he would be a solid #2 corner if we had a #1 guy to match up against opponents' #1 receivers. At the very least, Fox would provide solid depth with Webb and a new guy starting. I think we can all agree that Foxworth is heads and shoulders better than Carr, Walker, and Washington. Gooden played very hard-nosed last night, but he has been pretty soft this season. He does not like to fill, and takes bad angles in pursuit. Maybe last night could indicate a change for him. I like McClain and Ellerbe a lot, but we need to find that stud replacement for Ray pretty soon. So linebacker is going to be a big need pretty soon. We need pass rushers that can win 1-on-1 matchups. Even Suggs has been poor at this. Suggs is still too valuable as his play against the run and dropping into zones is very good. The defensive line is not in as bad of shape. Kruger is going to get bigger and be able to play as a 3-4 end. Of course we have Ngata and Edwards has been a very solid starter this season. Then through in McKinney, and we are fine. I don't think this is that big a need. I completely agree with you on WR. Not drafting a receiver really hurt us. Teams like the Giants and Vikings just kept drafting receivers until they got productive guys. Even if we draft a rookie next year, how likely is it that guy will be able to contribute right away? At this point, we need to nab one of the elite free agent receivers. All in all, the holes are not as bad as everyone thinks. I think this team could be shored up awfully quickly. Every team has holes. We just need to do a better job of playing disciplined football.

Do you even enjoy being a Ravens fan? All you do is bash the team and according to you we never have a chance to win. I don't understand how there are Ravens fans that cannot even enjoy a win against the Steelers. As for Landry, he played very well last night, and the week before against the Colts. These guys are not giving a lazy effort, our team has played their heart out the past few weeks. The bottom line is that we have been in every single game this season right down to the end, why should that change this week? I will take my chances knowing we have a chance to win it in the end.

This is what everyone though about Manning and the Colts. Knowing that we are outmatched in the secondary, we need to implement a bend but don't break philosophy. Hold in the redzone, and we are in it. Just because Rodgers gets big passing yards, doesn't automatically mean they win.

McClain came back into the game and played it out, but he never got the ball again after that. I am not sure if there is a correlation there or not. Back on the topic of Rodgers, he has been sacked 44 times this season, that is four sacks a game and nine more than the next most sacked QB (Schaub). If we cannot get to Rodgers we really cannot expect to win. Something else to watch out about Rodgers, the guy can run. He has 45 rushes for 247 yards (a 5.5 average) and 3 TDs.

Did anyone hear his pre-game interview on NBC? He left his QB out to dry essentially calling him a wuss. In summary he said he does not understand why Ben practiced all week and then didn't play. Hines also said the locker room is "50-50" on the concussion issue and basically said Ben should have just played. Hines of course, said he would have played. Here is part of what Hines said in addition to the interview after the game: What an ass-hole! I don't care what you think, you never put down your QB like that. Not only that, but nice confidence in your back-up QB. Ben has had four concussions in the last four years, this is not something to play with. How would you like it Hines if you one day woke up and couldn't remember your children's names. Is being a "competitor" really worth it then? This is why the issue of concussions should be in the hands of the players and purely in the hands of the doctors.

I was just thinking about this as well. This will be a big challenge for us. Their defense is stout, but the strength of that defense is clearly the secondary. We ran the ball againt Pittsburgh, we need to pound the ball against the Pack as well. More than anything, we need to cut down on the penalties that kill our drives and keep the Packers pass rush off of Joe Flacco. We cannot afford that ankle to flare up. This is the battle between the top two penalized teams in the league. Like us, they play their secondary very aggressively in man coverage (except their corners are a lot more physical and can actually play bump and run). But there should be opportunities on offense to take some shots if our run game is effective. The run game is key though. On defense we need to get pressure on Rodgers. He is one of the most sacked QB in the league. If we cannot get pressure on him, he will tear us up as the guy simply does not throw INTs. Our blitzes last night were not bad, Pittsburgh just picked them up perfectly. Mattison needs to continue to step his game up. Ryan Grant is very average, I believe we will shut their run game down. But Rodgers does not need a run game to be effective, that is why pressure on defense is key.

We just need to beat GB next week. That is all we need to focus on. Beat Green Bay, then we get a gimme against Detriot, putting us at 8-5 with a rematch in Pittsburgh. These next two weeks are just as important as yesterday. We came out fighting yesterday, I don't expect that to change against Green Bay on MNF. BTW, after last night Green Bay has the #1 defense in the league and the #6 offense in the league. They are not to be taken lightly.

Webb, Carr, Landry, Edwards, and Gooden also played hard-nosed games on defense. Anyone who says we don't show any passion or urgency needs to watch Webb and Edwards play, these guys bust their ass up and down the field. I have seen Edwards make so many plays from back-end pursuit because he never gives up on the play. This guy has been a gem, making that dreaded 2004 draft class not seem as bad.

You can go ahead and be depressed. I am loving this win. Any win against the Steelers is a huge boost to my week.

At least we will play a team next week that get penalized more than us.

Told you Crav, nothing to worry about. Indy really has a chance to help us out these next three weeks as they play the Titans, Broncos, and Jags.

So much for Stover being automatic within 40-yards. We could have used that miss last week.

They will comeback, I am not worried.

Big Ben was reportedly having exercise-induced migranes as a result of practicing.

Be careful Crav, you might have an angry dc at your doorstep with these outlandish predictions. Roethlisberger doesn't play defense, you know. I am usually pretty confident when it comes to predicting wins, but for some reason I am still nervous about this game. I think we will win, but it will be a lot closer than most of us want it to be with Big Ben out.

Ray and Ed are playing, Suggs will give his knee a go before the game to see how good it is. He is listed as doubtful though, so I would not expect him to play.

Granted, the excuses are pretty legitimate. That should be none of our concern though. If we win, move on to Green Bay without looking back. If we do not beat the Steelers Sunday night, given these circumstances, we deserve to miss the playoffs. Needless to say, we caught a big break here that we need to take advantage of.