dc.

I'm still inclined to blame play-calling and WRs before Flacco - just the way I was for guys like Boller and the like for many years. Maybe it's partially Joe's fault, but Cam seems to have Joe into a very quick, basic set of reads... "1-Mason, 2-Heap, 3-Check down" The end. Even when he has protection, on most plays he seems very much focused on who he 'wants' to throw to before a play even begins. And his reliance on the check down - while it has worked at times - is becoming too much. But again, much of it to me has to do with play-calling. Last week and this week, I saw multiple times where every single receiver went downfield and outside... very much to open the middle for Rice to 'do his magic'... but it can't be every damn play. No reason 3rd and 8 or 10 that we send everyone 20 yards downfield. Further, I think it's about time we realized - as someone else mentioned - that our running game is just as strong (if not stronger) out of the spread than it is out of a 'heavy' set. Every team we've lost to this season has taught us this same lesson: put a lot of guys on the field to catch passes and they get harder to cover. It makes no sense to me why we see sets with Mason and Clayton as the only guys actually running routes, while Heap, Smith, McClain, whoever are all back blocking. We need to put 4 or 5 guys in the field of play as targets for Joe on almost every play. Our running game works just as well and our passing game will open up... no way a defense can cover 4 or 5 guys, even if they're just average... why else are the Colts so successful with rookies? They have the plan, not some magic lucky formula for finding receivers.

I don't entirely blame Cam... I mean, some of it is play calling and the like. I particularly hated on the first or second series of the game, just like against the Browns, 3rd and long... so we send 3 guys 20 yards downfield and the only other option is a Rice dump off. And Ray is amazing, but that's just not the smartest football. Second half we certainly learned how to throw over the middle, which was nice. But yeah, some of it is execution. I don't know why we went to Willis on the one. Willis had a good game, but in the end, he's a guy who hasn't been getting many reps. I don't know that I trust him to execute those plays when they really count. I would have loved to see a fake to Le'Ron and a flip outside to Rice and see who gets to the corner first - Ray or the D. This team is lacking in a lot of places. Again, not super negative... because we could have beaten so many teams the way we played today. But we were just a step shy on every side of the ball.

Oh, please don't take this to be a negative nancy post... I was very impressed with many things today. Defense, offense, special teams... all looked good enough to beat 30 of 32 teams in this league, in my mind. But I wanted to win this one... and we needed to get in from the 1, and we needed 1 more field goal, and we needed 1 more stop, and we needed 1 less bad decision on every side of the ball.

10,000 yards to go? Reed has had his "lateral" problem for his entire career... and it has NEVER been worth the risk. Never. He's gotten away with it many times... but that has never made it smart or rational. He does it on punts. He does it on INTs. He encourages others to do it. In fact, among all Ravens fans I know and watch games with, it is a running joke. If Reed gets the ball, how many times will he lateral... and how many times will the ball hit the ground. Somehow, this is one of the few times I remember the opponent actually recovering the ball - but it's never been a worthwhile play. It always almost ends in someone having to dive on the ball or the ball going out of bounds... if not a penalty for a forward lateral. Meanwhile, it was not that far to go... one pass away from field goal range, and not even a long bomb. If Reed had never done it before, maybe I'd buy that he was "trying to make a play." No. He was trying to make too big a play. And we have often discussed that he needs to be reprimanded for the stupidity of his actions in those situations.

Did I forget to mention the opportunity that KC is going to give us... could have been tied with Pitt going into the game next week...

I heard a local radio host praising the Ravens this week... the larger discussion was about the Ravens as the new franchise for Baltimore (standard Old Colts vs New Ravens discussion with Indy coming to town). But I had to chuckle when he said that one of the real reasons people love this team was its discipline. Discipline? Unable to score on how many close attempts... Unable to convert the most make-able of field goals of the day... An inability to understand the difference between challenging and calling a timeout... A superstar who thinks his talent is above the good of the team... still... It's just plain silly that this team cannot learn from its mistakes - the good players especially. We lost this game in too many ways. A touchdown one one of those precious opportunities... one field goal... an extra time out... another possession... All offer a win. And yet we cannot put the pieces together.

Can we also consider that while losing Chad Pennington might seem huge... Henne hasn't exactly been a bum. He led them (very much LED them) to a pair of tough victories over the Jets.

yeah... mcalister was such a hot commodity clearly

Right OTR... I almost think it could be a coaching issue. I don't know enough/anything about kicking mechanics... but he missed all four kicks left, including three from the left hash. Straight kicks, but straight doesn't cut it from 1 foot outside the post. So after 1 or 2 misses of that nature, wouldn't you think someone would tell him/work with him on finding a new way to align his kicks when in that position? Maybe you are risking ruining his right hash kicks... but you can't just accept that all his left hash kicks will miss.

I think we can run on them. I always think we have the ability to run on them. Our failure to do so in recent years has, in my opinion, as much to do with crappy game planning as anything else. Unfortunately... watching our gameplanning this year, and how we seem to be all 2nd half and no 1st half... I don't have any expectation that it will change. But if we really wanted... if we put our freaking nose to the grindstone... Rice and McClain could eat up the Colts. Dwight Freeney... think Jared Allen... draw play, let him over commit... run past it.

Most of our offense appears relatively indifferent...

Brian Billick style offense in my eyes... 3rd and 8... send 3 guys 30 yards downfield and then put one check-down back. Three options... deep bomb (sack), run, designed check down (pray for big break). Cam is killin' me.

Florida... Most of the people are old. How many old people do you know that are just super happy? They like to complain too much. And the people that aren't old are annoyed with all the old people.

Rita... right... 2 weeks after Katrina... and really only got as much recognition as it did because it was adding on to Katrina. An individual hurricane since or before that 05 storm series that caused anything close to the change in oil price or production? Doesn't exist.

one word: overreaction hardly a storm, was never much of a story (at least not when it reached the gulf)... rain and rain and not much more... you have to remember that katrina was a once in a lifetime (or more than a lifetime) storm that had production shut down in the gulf... but only a category 5 storm that heads straight for that texas/louisiana coast is going to do that... how often have storms before/since katrina affected gas by more than a nickel? there HAVE been big and scary storms down there since katrina... and gas hasn't skyrocketed with them.

Scary to think about ... but I still think 9-7 or 10-6 is possible. I also think its entirely possible 9-7 gets a playoff birth, MAYBE. Playoff breakdown... Right now: Indy running away. NE running away. Pitt and Cincy both with obvious advantages over us. That leaves 1 spot for a WC and 1 spot for the AFCW champ (Denver or San Diego). Denver (6-2) has a 2 game lead on us but is fading quickly (against good teams). San Diego (5-3) has just one game on us. Houston (5-4) just half a game. Which means that all are within striking distance of us. Houston: has to play Indy again, as well as New England and Miami. Even their game against Tenn might be more interesting than expect. But they have a few hard games to follow. SD: Also 4 tough games... Philly, Denver (who they already lost to), Cincy and Dallas. Denver: SD, NYG, Indy, Philly If SD and Hou lose their 'tough' games... that puts them both at 9-7. We hold the head to head tie break with the SD. The Hou tie break would be much more complicated - I think they'd win thanks to a win over Cincy, but not sure. But that also assumes they (or we) don't lose a game we should win. As mentioned, Hou-Tenn could be very interesting (it was the first time through) Anyway.... there is lots of hope and life. As much as I'd like to give up... I don't want to. More than anything else, though, the Ravens lack of passion against the Bengals has been killing me. Maybe they just have our number.

Nice. But I think Markakis deserved it more.

The long ball was two yards short. Plain and simple. If that ball is in front of Clayton, he catches it. Behind him, the DB has the play. That's why he throws it long - but then he gets jumped for always going two steps too deep. I'm not entirely faulting Joe... I just don't like the call. Clayton was covered tight and the safety got there in time, so he really didn't have much separation.

I believe a huge part of it is a symptom of only playing two receivers... STILL. Heap makes three, when we actually let him run routes. But two receivers... and then Heap and McClain in to block... and Rice as an option for a handoff or check down... but that's 5 potential targets, and only two actively used to move the defense. Stupid. Kelly Washington has been an underused bright spot. LJ Smith probably deserves more snaps as well. Are we not learning from our opponents that forcing the defense to make the play pays off more times than not?

Well, how many they could have scored is speculation. How many they did is fact. So 17 is/was the number. And I don't buy they dialed back too much... this is a team that put up 45 in Chicago because they could. Meanwhile, how many times have we seen a team 'take it easy' midgame and then never be able to turn it on again? They got to 17. Tried hard or not, they didn't score in the 2nd half. Our defense DID make some plays in that second half. We were a missed FG away from a 1 possession game with time on the clock.

I dunno, Cleetz.. 1st quarter... First run for -2... then runs for 7, 5 and 4. 2nd quarter... 1 run for 0 yards... [we only had the ball for one full possession, really. Flacco INT next poss. End of half near our own goalline final poss.] 3rd quarter... carries for 6, 4, -3, 8 (shotgun). 4th quarter... carries for 8, 2 (TD), 10, 6. So really... of 13 rushes listed there, 2 for neg yards, 1 for 0 yards, 8 for 4 or more yards... 5 for 6 or more yards... I mean, maybe the stuffs came at bad times. But really, the long ball came at a bad time. Ray was having success on the ground - even in the first quarter and early in the third quarter... The interceptions hurt us, especially a 50 yards bomb that's intercepted when Rice was actually starting to move. The bombs hurt us more than running and failing did.

Congrats, Grubber. Meanwhile... I think OC should actually get suspended. Honestly, it didn't offend me or even bother me. I actually laughed at it. But it's one thing to be a dope and make stupid signs for your TD celebrations. To insinuate, however, that you are going to/able to/willing to bribe an official... ehhhhhhh. Especially this season when the league and officials have been under so much scrutiny for calling games in favor of some teams/players...

Last seen 5 yards from the man he was supposed to be covering, allowing a touchdown. Appeared to be idle for no reason. Not sure he's going to make it home, tends to forget what he's doing. If seen, please call the Ravens.

Running in shotgun and on a draw is still running... And really, in the first half, Ray still had a few nice runs to the outside. But inside we certainly had serious issues. I just think 12 carries is killing us - and it's not the first time this season we've walked away from a game saying, "Man, we didn't run that much..." maybe it's about predictability... maybe it's about execution... but it's something. Honestly... I think the offense's bigger problem was what we saw in the AFCC last year... no third receiver option. Kelly Washington needs to be on the field more. When our running game failed to work, we went to the pass, but we didn't put Washington or Heap out there very often. Two receivers against 7 defenders isn't going to cut it. I know we want to protect Joe, but Heap AND Washington need to get on the field and get out into the coverage.

Well... some are coaching, some are not. Gaither's second holding today was no worse than any hold the Bengals or Ravens were committing on every other damn run play the whole game. Can we count the number of times Kelly Gregg had a OL's hand to his throat/face?? The pass interference calls are not a sign of bad coaching... most are a sign of a bad player in the midst of getting beat who's trying anything he can. This team absolutely lacks discipline... but it lacks a lot of things. In the end, the defense shut the Bengals out in the second half. The offense couldn't come through.