dc.

BallT was yanking your chain, of course. I actually have a few friends who moved into some newly renovated rowhomes right near the stadiums, actually, off of MLK St. It's an interesting spot... there is the up-and-coming rowhome area, the U of MD BioPark... and then some gov't and city-owned housing right next to it. But they said it's been very good and very nice. And amazing location for social life and sports. And literally 2 minutes from 395 and the highways. Also... in reference to Crav's rec; the areas he mentioned are definitely nice (and cheap relative to the others), but quite a hike from the city. Aberdeen is a good 45 minute drive from Towson, even. But I have friends who live that way and don't mind the drive for the weekend. Wouldn't trust MARC if you're taking it to work, though, on a regular basis.

Precisely. Our team is not meant to play 'finesse' football. Their team is; their defense is. We played their game. We rarely played our game.

It's a good question. But I've just noticed it every time we play Freeney, and say it every game to whoever I'm with... and I've never had anyone dispute that he lines up pretty much with the slot receiver!

I forget which series... I believe the one that ended when Flacco's pass was batted-down at the line... as they broke to commercial, Flacco was walking past Cam and clearly gave him some lip. Then when they came back from commercial, they showed Cam and Joe near the benches and Joe just going off (not entirely in anger, but clearly not happy). I remember reading his lips at one point saying "if they are there I can get the throw off" or something, while motioning his hand in front of him (downfield).

It's also a product of his size though... Ogden spent so long playing football, he knew how to handle his weight and his position. Gaither is a big guy still learning all of that. But also, just a bit unlucky... his ankle injury was aggravated multiple times this year by guys running/falling on his leg. Just bad times.

I've heard it mentioned a few times... "we couldn't run last night." In my mind, that's bull. First half: 1st drive (only 1st quarter drive): 7 running plays for our most balanced attack and getting the field goal (87 yards). Not uncommon, though, the drive ends with this series: 1 rush for 2 yards, 2 incomplete passes. 2nd drive (2nd quarter): 2 rushes, 8 yards; 1 pass, incomplete. 3rd drive (2nd quarter): 1 rush, 4 yards; 2 passes, 1 for negative yards, 1 for a sack. 4th drive: (2nd quarter): 1 rush, 4 yards; 2 passes, both incomplete. Pattern? Three out of four of those end on a three-play series: run successfully, passx2 unsuccessfully. 3rd quarter, our two possession end run-pass-pass and run-pass-pass-pass (4th down attempt). Game end we had 4.6 yards per carry and had done some decent damage on the ground. I think Cam bought into all the talk this week that Joe "would have to do more" to get a W. In fact, I wonder a good bit how our offensive attack would have looked if we ran on 2nd or 3rd down a few times after that first series!

We NEED Reed, especially with our secondary. I do not really blame him for the fumble yesterday. He wasn't hanging the ball out the way he normally does, just a great play by Garcon. Just like on Rice's fumble... helmet-to-ball = fumble. I don't care how we get a WR, just get one. Or three. We should switch Oher and Gaither, but I don't think we should ditch Gaither. He is very good when on the field and when healthy. Granted, those things don't always happen as much as they should. As an additional note on Gaither, I always think about how he is 22... a guy who was pretty much kicked off his college team for his inability to keep grades up, even in spite of everything that schools like Maryland do to keep those guys eligible. That tells me something about him. I mean, I like the guy, but it certainly tells me something - about his ability to understand his role? his work ethic?

I would still add that Flacco's got some lingering injury issues that are probably affecting his throws. I would also add that the routes have a lot to do with it. Again, we all saw Flacco bitching at Cams on the sideline - twice even yesterday. He was asking for shorter, quicker routes. And our offense doesn't run them. It's sad.

Perennial pro-bowler... as voted by people who vote on stats. My point is that just like Jared Allen... he does one thing. He rushes the passer. That's it. And in my mind, he lines up 4 yards off the LT and then we all act like he's such a brilliant pass rusher. But again, it's practically a corner blitz - not an end.

Lots of mistakes... and just such a perfect example of this team this year... Even when we make amazing plays (both of Eds picks and Ray's run), we get fucked. Manning is a weenie, by the way. Take the hit, pansy. And finally... almost unrelated but it continues to bother me... Freeney. Dierdorf made it sound like he was some superhuman monster out there, especially when noting that "he lines up so far outside and then gets in there!" Excuse me, but the lining up outside is just a cheap way to get an extra step/two of momentum going into the line. He is usually OUTSIDE of the outside linebacker when he lines up. Hell, you might as well call it a corner blitz every damn play. And that's why their defense gives up 120 on the ground every game. And that's why he was chasing Rice from behind. They've found a way to make it work (if your offense can score, the other team HAS to throw), but I'm tired of people talking like Freeney is doing something phenomenal. He's a cheap trick.

I put almost no blame on Joe. I am a broken record, but I will say it every time it comes up: it's not just no receivers, but we also entirely limit the number of receivers we put on the field with him and that just doesn't work. Manning had 4 wideouts or 3 and Clarke on EVERY play tonight. No wonder he has an open man every damn time. We're lucky if we have 3 (including Heap). We normally run 2 WRs and Heap stays in to block. It's just sad. We all saw Flacco getting fired up with Cameron tonight... and I can tell you what he was saying... he was saying give me quick-developing routes with multiple receivers, and I can hit them. But give me 2 guys, both going 15+ ... not a chance in hell against Freeney and Mathis and the like.

Sorry to hear that, Grubber. May she rest in peace.

No, you're right. I just didn't mean to link two stories that weren't the same.

Sorry... didn't read your story. Just saw the name Matt and had read the Riley story, which is about a kid named Matt, and assumed they were the same. Whooops.

I just mean that I hear Wilson's name attached to a lot of things... "Aaron Wilson is reporting..." or "Wilson thinks..." and it's never been a "oh, wow" moment for me. Nor have I ever remembered thinking back, "Hey, that guy Aaron Wilson was right..." Not that I think that often about sports writing anyway... I think most of it is pretty lame and could be copied by, well, a guy with a keyboard and internet access. But I just haven't seen it from Wilson. The number of sports writers I truly respect and enjoy (or even just one of those) is quite limited.

You know, I hear that about Wilson constantly... and I have noticed him breaking some decent stories here and there... but I have not noticed him be "amazing" in his insights in any way, anytime. No disrespect, I just don't see it. I also question... we've now got 2 reports on The Sun today, both talk about how gimpy Gaither was not only in his practice, but simply walking around. So even if he is saying "I feel awesome." It's either a lie, or he's just playing through it... but not well.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4825585&sportCat=nfl Rick Reilly has picked up the story and it will be in ESPN the Magazine.

That was posted by Dapetes (I think) from our friend Aaron Wilson. Kevin van Valkenberg of The Sun's "Ravens Insiders" put it this way. So... is The Sun just behind on the times? Or did Wilson overhear a comment to Sun reporters and try and steal it for himself? I say they're all morons.

1. Something about him on the sidelines when he's mic'd reminds me of Ed Norris... don't know why, but it does. 2. Funny to see him getting along with the refs before the game. Not that I expect anything less, but always funny to think that these guys seem to get along ... and then 30 minutes later Harbs could be cussing someone out. 3. Funny also to see the convo between Belichick and Harbs. I truly wonder if Belichick meant it when he said, "If it's not us, I'm glad it's you." I mean, I'm sure he doesn't like to see the Colts or Jets winning... but I wonder if he prefers us to the Chargers or Bengals or something. haha

Thank goodness is right. I am curious, though, because the Ravens Insiders (Balt Sun blog o' punks like Preston) keep saying that Gaither looks super gimpy, was testy on his ankle, and they couldn't imagine him starting...

I caught bigger. ;)

.... MARC?? Yikes.

Well, again... prior to this season, look at the last two games. 31-7 and 44-whatever... I looked at the box scores last night... in both of those games were down 3 scores in the first quarter, much like the Pats were on Sunday. Down a touchdown... down 10... you can keep running. But if you are down 14 or more points... or even worse, 17 or more points... running the ball is no longer an option. This season, we finally got a solid number of rushing attempts in (31)... but somehow, that was still less than we threw the ball (35). As we've all said all season - that simply doesn't make sense. We had attempts in the Red Zone in that game and somehow came away with 0 touchdowns. In a word? Pathetic. And to me that says a lot about our RZ strategy in that game... which was to throw and throw instead of putting the ball in the hands of McClain (yes, McClain) to runover some people for the final few yards.

So, they are already saying they are simply going to try and stop the run... and if that's all they are going to do, then I believe Flacco can beat them. Pull Freeney and Mathis and turn them into run stoppers and they will look a lot like Suggs - whose sack numbers are always reduced because he isn't allowed to just blitz all out. Pull their safeties and corners up to the box and throw over them. It can be done, both ways, either way. Hell, I think our running game is good enough that even if they plan to stop it... we can still run over them.

It also has a lot to do with how the games play out... If the Colts score early and abuse our defense, as most teams would, we abandon the run and start panicking. If we can keep it close, we can keep running and keep wearing their defense down. So long as we don't let Peyton go all Kurt Warner or Brett Favre on us, we should be able to play to our plan....