thundercleetz

Supposedly the players love him and Ed Reed originally wanted him as the DC a couple of years ago. He is supposed to be an aggressive coordinator.

I hope Birk and Mason just retire

This is obviously a very talented team. You do not go 13-5 and have the lead, or tie for the lead, going into the fourth quarter in 17 out of 18 games. That is no fluke. We are just as talented as any other team in this league. Where we fall flat in comparison to the other AFC elite is depth. And this is probably the reason for our fourth quarter collapses. I feel where are actually more talented at the starting positions across the board than teams like the Steelers, Jets, and Pats. However, all these teams have back-ups that can fill in and pick up the slack when the starters are tired with little drop off. For example, look at our pass rush. Sure, Suggs is an elite rusher. Ngata gets good pressure as well. But outside of these two guys, who do we have? JJ and Redding are decent (although Redding improved his play as the season went on), and Kruger is getting better. But Suggs is the only guy who can bring it off the edge. If Suggs is tired, we are screwed. The Steelers and Jets have three, four guys deep that can come in and provide a rush off of the edge. With the amount of time our defense is on the field, our pass rush got tired, which directly effects the play of the secondary as the opposing QB had time to pick a part our secondary. The same is the case on the offensive line. Last year we had Gaither and Oher on the book ends, very solid. However, Gaither goes down. Oher goes from being an excellent right tackle to a average, above-average left tackle. Yanda goes from being a powerful, Pro-Bowl calibur right guard, to a guy that is undersized and out of position at right tackle (although, Yanda gave a hell of an effort every single game, I love the guy). Then we have to insert Chester at right guard, and suddenly that right side goes from being brute powerful to undersized, weak, and essentially useless in the run game. We need Gaither back, whether he is on the left or right side, and we need some solid depth behind the starters. Now, on to our wide receiver corp. GUT IT. Kevin Van Valkenburg made a very solid point in the Sun following our loss: We need to follow the Steelers formula. Boldin, TJ, and Mason are all too similar. Get rid of TJ and Mason and let Boldin be the Hines Ward of our offense, the guy that does the dirty work all over the field. Get a group of young, speedy receivers to then pressure the secondary. Mike Wallace is only a second year receiver, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown are rookies. All three guys have world class speed and can eat up a DB’s cushion really quickly if they are caught flat footed. Mason and TJ cannot do this. David Reed showed he has very good playing speed he needs to be ready to step in next year. Bring back Stallworth and give him a bigger part in the offense. Even though Boldin dropped that crucial touchdown pass, he is still very talented and a legitimate number one receiver in this league. We did not use him to the best of his talents. Joe never looked his way. There are a number of reasons for this: Joe needs to look his way more, Cam needs to design more plays where Boldin is the primary receiver (in fact, Boldin needs to be the primary receiver on nearly every play), and Mason is too much of an influence in Joe’s ear where it is detrimental to the team’s play on offense. Joe seems to throw to Mason even when he is not open. Boldin never got any of those throws. Joe has too much trust in Mason which resulted in a lot of bad throws this season. The scouting report on our receiver core was that we were slow and couldn’t get open. With Boldin, TJ, and Mason on the field, there was no speed to pressure the secondary, so the defense could cloud the field making field a lot smaller than it should be for Joe. Get rid of Mason and TJ. Give Boldin more passes on crossing routes, slants, and screens that allow him to gain YAC. The way we used Boldin was a complete waste of his talent. In the defensive secondary, Landry needs to go. He cannot cover and he is a horrible tackler, simple as that. Wilson should be re-signed. He got better as the year went on and is physical at corner. Webb was just starting to get his speed back and should only be better next season, especially with his work ethic. Believe me, that last pass will haunt him all offseason. Then we will get Foxworth back next season. This group obviously lacks a true #1 corner, but we have a lot of solid #2’s. I could definitely see us drafting a corner in the first or second round. If we do that and get a new starting strong safety, we should be fine as long as we get some depth in the pass rush. As far as our own free agents: 1. Sign Ngata. Give the guy whatever he wants, he’s worth it. 2. SIGN KOCH AND CUNDIFF LONG-TERM. No brainer, two Pro-Bowl caliber players. Sign them to five-year deals and you will not have to worry about your special teams for the next five years. The rest of the guys in my opinion are replaceable. Sure, McClain would be nice to bring back, but he’s a fullback, it’s not a premium position. I would like Wilson and Carr back, but it would not be the end of the world. Yanda would be a great guy to bring back, but he might be in line for big money elsewhere. He is a Raven player to the bone though, I am sure Ozzie will do his best to keep him. Ngata, Koch, and Cundiff are simply not replaceable. So in review, this is what we need to do this offseason: 1. DEPTH on the offensive line and defensive pass rush 2. Get rid of Mason and TJ and get speedy receivers 3. Re-sign Ngata, Koch, and Cundiff 4. Draft a corner early or sign a good one This team is close, and these goals are certainly very realistic. Ozzie will have his work cut out for him once again, but I have full faith that he will once again improve this team.

I fully believe the Jets will beat the Steelers next week. The Jets are very talented and deep on defense, especially in the defensive secondary. They got to Brady five times, imagine what they will do to Ben. On offense the Jets have one of the best lines in the league, they will certainly be able to stand up to the Steelers. Furthermore, the Jets already beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh this season, that was no fluke. We left a lot of yards on the field against the Steelers, the Jets have a lot more speed on offense and will be able to exploit the Steelers secondary. Santonio Holmes will definitely have a big day. I do agree with Outside though, what a wasted opportunity. Not because I think any less of the Jets, but for the potential home game in the AFC Championship game.

The only problem I had was the penalty on the Webb touchdown. I am not sure how you call that holding.

Joe was holding on to the ball way too long and missing open receivers. When he did hit open receivers they dropped the ball. I thought Cam called a really good game, the quarterback and the receivers just did not execute. I thought the offensive line played as well as they could against the Steelers.

Where can we buy one of these shirts?

I picked a 4 point win by the Steelers, so I am surprised as well. Specifically, the pass rush on defense and the pass protection on offense has been EXCELLENT! Still a whole half of football to be played, but it looks like we have a very solid gameplan and Flacco is looking very comfortable out there. Most importantly, we have taken the home crowd out of the game for the time being. Lets close this thing out! Oh yeah, and how about that 61-yard punt from Koch? Damnnnnnn!!!

Well, I hope you guys are right and I am surprised.

I was really encouraged by the KC game, but KC is a JV team compared to the Steelers. Nevertheless, I liked some of the little things we did against KC that I think would translate to the Steelers game. We attacked the middle of the field with crossing routes designed to pick up YAC, as we had our receivers setting pics to get the primary receiver open. We haven't done this all season and this is the perfect way to counter Pittsburgh's bltizes, as they love to slam the A and B gaps with stunts, twists, and delayed blitzes. I also saw Flacco going through his reads and hitting secondary receivers. I see Heap as a huge key to this game. We made a concerted effort to get Heap the ball last week, Heap is a mismatch for that Steelers defense. The pass defense has played very well the past few weeks. Ben did not have a throw for over 14 yards in the last meeting. Suggs is a huge mismatch for the Steelers and he and Ngata were practically unblockable as we got to Ben often in the last meeting. Pass rush will be key once again. I think the run game on both sides will be ineffective again like it was the last meeting. As I was 100% confident we would beat the Chiefs, I am only about 40% for this game. I really want to say the Ravens will win, but I just cannot. I have no confidence in our line to keep Flacco standing. We did a good job of containing Woodley and Harrison in the pass rush last meeting, but you can only keep these guys at bay for so long. Oher has been playing poorly and had his lunch handed to him by Tamba Hali last week, we are not strong up the middle, and while Yanda is a Pro Bowl-calibur guard, he is just out of place at tackle. I just do not see how we can win this game if we cannot run the ball and are constantly facing 3rd & 6-9 yards. If we can protect Flacco, I like our chances a lot more. If we can keep Flacco standing and stop the run and get to Ben on defense, I love our chances of winning. Flacco has had success throwing the ball against Pittsburgh this weekend. We need big games from Rice and Boldin to have a chance to score on offense. We have so many potential mismatches for the Steelers defense, we just need to use them. When it comes down to it I just think the Steelers pass rush, Ben's big play ability, and the home field advantage are too much to overcome. My prediction: 17-13 Steelers I would love to be proved wrong though. This would be an enormous win for us and would shift the momentum of the rivarly in my opinion, as I still do not believe we have the complete respect of the Steelers fans (and I feel they are justified as well, we have not beaten ben since 2006).

Just like any other team in this league, unless the 49ers get a franchise quarterback they will not have any sort of consistency. This is a QB league.

I do not know about you guys, but I felt the Steelers were clearly the more talented team in 2008. I feel we closed the gap last year and this year we are much more even in talent. It should be an excellent game. We still need to prove that we can beat the Steelers with both Ben and Troy playing the same time. This would be a momumental win for us.

Not to be a downer, but as I have said all weekend, the Chiefs are not up to our level of competition and I fully expected to win this game. The Steelers are a much better team. Nevertheless, it was still good to win 30-7 and not 13-7. As good as Flacco did look, he did miss a couple of open receivers. Although, it was clear Flacco was going through his progression hitting his secondary receivers, he was attacking the middle of the field, it was good to see Flacco going to Heap, and Flacco made plays with his feet keeping the defense honest. What is concerning was how weak the offensive line play was. Outside of that 25-yard run by McGahee, our backs had no room the run, we couldn't convert a touchdown with three plays on the one yard line, and Flacco was sacked four times and hit many more. Tamba Hali was beating Oher's ass, there will be no room for error next week against Harrison and Woodley. Flacco probably should have been sacked a few more times but he displayed a quick release today. On the bright side, the defense played very well. The pass rush turned it up in the second half and the pass defense was excellent. On offense Cam Cameron had a very solid gameplan. We attacked the middle of the field, and there were lots of crossing routes, with guys coming free from picks, that we have not seen all season. These are the types of routes we will have to use against Pittsburgh to counter the blitz. This was a great win going into a hostile environment and completely dominating the Chiefs. We have lots to build upon, such as Flacco's first solid playoff game and an excellent defensive effort. However, the Chiefs are a JV team compared to the Steelers and we will have to continue to get better to beat them next week.

If you really want to look ahead, if the Jets beat the Pats we could have a potential home game for the AFC Championship game.

I thought the second team would only get the ball if the first team kicked a field goal? If the first team scores a touchdown, the game is over I believe. I like the new rules, no more kicking field goals on third down. But then again, should that second team get the ball after a field goal from the first team, it does put them into four down territory.

I don't think the problem with Cam is calling an aggressive game as opposed to a conservative one, the problem is Cam is very poor at game planning and utilizing our talent. We are very aggressive with our routes, we take plenty of shots downfield. However, the routes take too long to develope and Flacco is running for his life by the time anyone gets open. Where are the quick slants to counter the blitz? The redzone play offense is horrible. Where are the screen passes to Boldin near the goal-line? Where are the fades to Boldin? Kurt Warner threw a lot of TD's to Boldin in Arizona on these routes. There is no way someone as talented and successful in this league as Anquan Boldin should only be targeted only nine times in the last three games! Boldin is a class act, he will not complain. But listen to this quote Boldin told the media this week when asked about Chiefs HC and former Cardinal OC Todd Haley: "One of the best things about Todd is that he knows how to make players play to their strengths. When you look at them, you don't see a ton of talent, but they do their jobs well. And that's all you really need. You have to have guys who believe they can make plays when their number is called." I know this is a little far fetched of a deduction, but I think Q is frustrated with Cam not getting the best out of our players. This is a guy who Q did not get along with in Arizona, yet he respects Haley. You don't hear Q giving Cam any complements. We already know Mason believes this, as does McLean. As for the game planning: sure, we run the ball the sixth most times in the NFL, but we are second to last in rushing attempts. We do not have a power offensive line, yet we keep trying to pound the ball instead of running more zone schemes. The offensive line's protection schemes are terrible (Flacco has been sacked the second most out of any QB in the league, the first being Jay Cutler who is playing in Mike Martz notoriously poor protection offense) and the offensive offsides and illegal procedure penalties at home are inexcusable. Cam just does not adjust well and he is not getting the most out of our talent.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: We are a 12-4 who has led every single games this season, except one, heading into the fourth quarter. We can play with any team in the league and can beat any team in the league. In a crap shoot like the NFL playoffs, adding in the fact we are relatively healthy, that's all you can ask for. We have just as much of a chance to win the Super Bowl as anyone else.

See I completely disagree with you. The Ravens finished tied for 30th in the league with a rush per average of 3.6 yards per carry. Flacco was sacked 40 times this season, second in the league. This tells me two things: the line is doing a terrible job blocking this year, or Cam is doing a poor job of utilizing our players to their best talents. There are not enough quick hitters in this offense to counter the blitz. Our routes take too long to develop, and Flacco is running for his butt most of the time. We do not have a power run game, why do we keep trying to pound the ball instead of doing more zone running? Is our blitz pick-up really that badly planned out? Or is it the players who are just not executing on the field? These are our problems, not Flacco. Sure, Flacco has missed some open receivers and has held onto the ball too long at times, but these are hardly the source of the problems. How about Michael Oher's league leading false start calls that turn our third downs into third-and-forevers? In my opinion, for as poor as this run game and offensive line has been, Flacco has been pretty darn impressive. We are asking him to pretty much shoulder the offense being there is no run game or offensive line play.

Well your unsung heroes are supposed to be your offensive line. When the line is doing a terrible job of run blocking and protecting the QB, the team is going to suffer in all areas of the game. The offense cannot stay on the field to sustain drives, or as we saw yesterday, run out the clock when needed. That puts the defense on the field for 70+ snaps and the pass rush is going to suffer because guys are tired, and thus the secondary is going to suffer as well. All our problems trace back to poor offensive line play, IMO.

Here's a look on the bright side: We are 12-4 and have led every game this season, except one, going into the fourth quarter. You tell me I'm going into the fourth quarter with a lead and I'll take my chances every single time. That's the most you could ask for. That is no fluke, we are certainly doing something right. On the downside: The offensive line play has been terrible and, after a few weeks of a solid pass rush, the pass rush disappeared yesterday.

For as bad as we looked today the Chiefs looked a lot worse against Oakland getting their ass handed to them. I like this matchup a lot. Stop the run and we will have no problem winning. I am glad we didn't have to play Indy. Indy is going to beat the Jets and then let the Steelers have fun with Manning and company. If Indy doesn't win, we'll get another shot at NE and Pittsburgh will get another shot at the Jets.

If both Indy and Jacksonville lose, we play Indy. If Indy loses and Jacksonville wins, we play Jacksonville. If Indy wins regardless, we play Kansas City. http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

The good news is that we do not have to play Indy in the first round of the playoffs! Thank you Oakland!!!!

Maybe if the offensive line ever decides to pass block Flacco would have time to set and make that throw on time.

I love the Lee deal. He gives us a much needed right-hand bat with some pop and that can hit lefties (.872 OPS against LHP the past three seasons). Lee hit at an .774 OPS last season in a down year. However, check his pre-and-post All-Star splits: - .695 Pre All-Star OPS - .889 Post All-Star OPS Lee was battling injuries and rebounded very strong in the second half of the 2010 season. Is it realistic to expect Lee to return to his 2009 numbers of 35 HR 111 RBI .306/.393/.579/.972? Probably not. But I think expecting Lee to settle in around his career averages of 28 HR 90 RBI .282/.367/.498/.865 is certainly attainable. Then throw in the fact he plays very good defense (three-time Gold Glove winner) and this is a great pick-up. And don't forget the protection Lee is going to provide for the rest of the line-up. The acquisitions of Lee and Reynolds allow us to bat Markakis in his natural two-spot and take a lot of pressure off of younger guys like Wieters and Jones. In comparison to LaRoche, LaRoche is a career .827 hitter who posted only a .788 OPS in one of his better years. In other words, Lee in a down year nearly matched the production of LaRoche in one of his better years. Not to mention LaRoche was looking for a 3/4-year deal, and Lee is the no brainer. Signing LaRoche for 3/4 years and you're looking at 3/4 years of mediocrity at first base. While we were Lee's last choice, and he probably did not want to initially come here, it is a win-win for both of us. Lee is going to motivated to prove he is back from injury and is as good as his 2010 post All-Star break .889 OPS suggests, and we will be in prime position to make a run at Fielder next offseason.