dc.

I still believe that Foxworth can improve. And I still blame Mattison for not finding a way to use Fox appropriately... or support him appropriately. Maybe giving Fox help consistently weakens our run defense... but that's a better option than letting defense throw all over us. Fabian hasn't been great, but he's been ok. And Fox has been ok in his coverages. Both just need some help because they aren't physical enough. And they never will be. We can't expect them to play big physical ball because when we ask that they either get beat or do their Frank Walker impersonation. And still disgusting to see Favre have so much time to rev up and step into those 50 yard bombs.

Well... Suggs is not asked to rush in the same way Allen is on every play. Suggs takes plenty of snaps on the strong side and also takes lots of snaps where he doesn't rush at all. Additionally, Allen was going against a rookie starting just his second game on the left side... the whole left side was in trouble all day long. Meanwhile, Max... see the blog post that will feed here in a moment... Hauschka gets some blame. Whether it should have come down to that kick or shouldn't have... it did. And he missed it. It was makeable, there's no "hard kick to make" bull to claim... he missed a very makeable 44 yarder and it cost this team the game. Period. No excuses.

I mean... I trust trends to an extent... but trends vs a team are different from trends vs a conference

Can we get back to (one more time) how last year we lost 3 straight to go 2-3... before winning 9 of 11 remaining games, not counting two more in the post season?? And that last year we did all that with the constant "never beat a team with a winning record" mantra behind us? Any team can bounce back any time. A win would be huge for us in many ways but it would hardly define our season. We could come out of the bye an entirely different team than we went in - win or lose this game.

I don't think anyone saw the kicking incident. It wasn't even mentioned on tv. I wonder if a player/coach on the Bengals asked for it to be reviewed.

That still doesn't make sense... We play 4 NFC teams every year (one full division). In 06, 07, 08 that makes 12 games. Add 05, that makes 16 games. So again, are you only counting half of 05's games for some magical reason? Oh, I checked, of course... that number stops midway through 05, conveniently leaving out our 05 losses to both Detroit (wow) and Chicago. And so the question remains... what in heaven's name does that have anything to do with us this year? What does going 2-2 in 2005 with Anthony Wright and Kyle Boller at quarterback, with Jamal Lewis at running back, have anything to do with our game TOMORROW against Minnesota? Are our magical NFC numbers going to help us win?

Speaking of can't figure it out / stop listening... I love Dylan and his music, but he does some just plain wacky performances. I mean, I don't know if this is how he likes it to sound (as it sounds this way frequently) or if he was just high as a kite... but the way everyone else performing was so into it... and Dylan is just 'blah' is fascinating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHX-JBHRk-8

11-3 vs the NFC, Crav? That number makes no sense. Since when? 11-3 is 14 games... that's, uh, 3 and 1/2 seasons worth of NFC games. 11-3 since mid-2005? Nice number. Here's some truly hopeful numbers from Sal Paloantonio on ESPN... the Ravens pass D is hardly worse than it was last year at this point... the pass rush has the same number of sacks, the defense has actually given up FEWER pass touchdowns this year... last year we were 2-3 this year we were 3-2. As he says, we've made Rivers, Palmer and Brady all look pretty good. But news flash... they are pretty damn good. The end.

I guess the easiest way to break it down is this... Not tradeable (imo and in no order): Matusz, Tillman, Bergesen, Erbe, Arrieta, Hobgood (just drafted) It's that simple to me. I'm not trading any of those guys. Maybe (MAYBE) Erbe or Arrieta if I can get something really, truly special back. But only one of them. And again, only for something truly special (which I suppose Fielder/Gonzalez would fall into) I could easily trade Hernandez, Britton, Waters, etc... etc... but they have far less value. But I don't want to move that first list of guys at all because we look back at the Loewens and Penns and Maines of the world and injury and instability just ruined them. We need the depth. I guess what I want to see next year is this: Tillman, Guthrie, Matusz, Bergesen, (solid veteran guy) in the rotation. We may even need a 6th in the rotation early based on the schedule above. Guys usually get extra rest early and we play 16 straight games. Maybe Hernandez can fill that role. Albers, Uehara, Hendrickson in long-middle relief. Mickolio, Meredith, (lefty?) in later innnings. Johnson as closer. That still leaves Ray, Sarfate, Bass, Waters, Hernandez out of the loop. I'm all over the place. Again, I haven't looked at it too closely. In terms of offense, I think we're going to be okay. I think our young guys are really turning corners and we need one big bat, maybe two, to really sure us up, but we're ok. It's just all about arms.

My motto is "When in doubt... Google it out." hahaha

If we focus on stopping Peterson... we can. He's gotten fewer than 20 carries in most of the Vikes games so far. But you're right, if we do that, we might open ourselves up to the Favre attack. That's a bit scary, but Favre isn't perfect and can be handled. And if we shut down Peterson... and force Favre to throw... it makes me feel better about our chances at winning possession, etc. And Favre can't make that throw like he did against SF every game. Really, I just want to win a close one.

Also... so, assuming we tie the Bengals in record... we'd have to... Beat them in Cincy to go 1-1 against them. Tie or beat them in division record. If tied,d o better against the AFC West (we're 2-0, they're 0-1) and NFC North (0-0 vs. 1-0) so 2-0 vs. 1-1 overall right now. So, actually, we're in much better shape than either of you predicted... assuming we can beat them and not fall flat against the Colts, Vikes, Broncos and Steelers

I don't think head-to-head points comes into it... but a quick google search will tell us. So... Head to head... then division record... then division + common games (aka vs. AFC West and NFC North)... then conference... it takes a long time to get to points in head to head games. Interesting to note that our games against the NFC North will matter more to the division championship than games against the Pats and Colts (in case of a tie, at least). In terms of wild card, though, AFC games - even non-shared - matter more than out of conference.

Not hard to hit a wide open receiver when the defender falls down. If I were to point to a Palmer pass that said he was unfazed... it wouldn't be that one.

Well, I don't want to give away too much young pitching talent, you're right... because as we've discussed previously, in a good system with good breaks going their way, 1 out of 10 great prospects becomes a great player... maybe 2 more of the 10 become good players... and then you've got 2 more who become regular players... and the other 5 are fighting to become journeymen or never really get passed their first few big league seasons. So when you name 10 great Oriole pitching prospects... that's what I'm seeing in my head... if we're lucky and good... Tillman or Matusz becomes a star... Bergesen and Tillman/Matusz might become good 2/3 guys in the rotation... and then the rest are all forgettable. If we know who's who already... then maybe you trade the guy you're pretty sure won't pan out (I don't think anyone's paying for Berken at this point, though). But odds are we don't know who's who... and I want every last arm we can get. As 'bad' as our offense was this year, our arms were worse.

It's not THAT firm a grasp. I mean, you're alone in 1st... but it's not like a loss this week can't change that, or a loss to the Ravens/Steelers late can't change that.

I also didn't noticed Ray Lewis behind Caldwell on the game winning TD... well, maybe he was, but Caldwell was manned up by Carr... who fell down. Ray was supposed to be the underneath help - holding down the middle - not much he can do when the CB is on the ground.

Watching Anderson Cooper (AC360) right now as they discuss an old case of a guy put to death for setting fire to his home, killing his family. There is apparently some significant evidence and technology today that suggests that he may not have done it and that his story might add up... same old same old, but I've seen this one in the news a lot recently. Anyway, Cooper has the man's (who has now been executed) lawyer from his original trial... and it's insane. His lawyer (remember DEFENSE attorney) literally sounds more like a prosecutor and sheriff. He said several times "There is just no doubt this guy is guilty" which, even after years, is absurd to hear from a defense attorney - especially when the client maintained innocence to his death. But on top of that, he was a moron. He continued to say that "the state's fire investigation was right" because "if you take carpet and pour lighter fluid on it and light it on fire... it looks just like the carpet in the guy's house." WHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! As if that's science. He also kept saying that his job "as a defense attorney" is not to try and "prove the client's case," but to test and scrutinize the prosecution's evidence. And since the prosecution's evidence stood up... it must be right. But, that's just lunacy as well. There are certainly TWO parts to defense - scrutinizing the prosecution and defending your client. If your client has an alibi, a way out... it's your job to present and prove that, even if the other evidence seems irrefutable. The guy was sitting there, on AC360, cowboy hat on... just goin "no.. no.. now you listen here... this is crazy... you're all wrong... i'm an attorney..." Unbelievable. Almost funny until you realize a man died with this moron and dick as his lawyer. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/15/a-jurors-doubts/

He might be playing there for the next few weeks (maybe even the remainder of the season), but he's a Baltimore guy now. His family and kids are here. I think he'll be here for a while and become a staple in the community (or remain one) for a long time.

I've met a lot - some at signings (though, most of those back in the 90's when I went to signings)... some just randomly. Saw our whole crew of 2nd string DBs from a few years ago out at the bar scene in Towson. haha

Our TOP problems also go to an offense that has struggled for 2 straight weeks to establish itself... which has also hurt the defense. The defense has also been hurt by silly penalties for two straight weeks... three times on the Bengals final drive they were kept alive. Three times NE had drives kept alive on third down by penalties. The D was all over the place this week... but they were not horrible. They were hurt by issues everywhere... we played like shit top to bottom, you cant point one finger.

Love the end... "Theoretically... protective skirts come in all team designs equally... but right now we've only got two great designs... Tom Brady and Peyton Manning!"

Yes... all of those are average numbers. Justify them any way you want, but that's how numbers get to be the way they are. I mean, I could say that short of Henry's lucky catch and big run, the Ravens didn't give up more than 300 yards passing to Palmer. And until 2 minutes left in the game, the Bengals had 80 less yards than they did... But guess what? You got those yards. And in previous games you gave up those yards. You're right... your offense may not be playing its best game yet. But the numbers don't lie. Your team came into the Ravens game with very average numbers on both sides of the ball. If you're right... the numbers are misleading. If I'm right... the record is misleading. It's one or the other... that or they are the fluke team who, every year, has the disconnection between numbers and performance... but who knows. Usually its the team with seemingly great numbers that fails to achieve (maybe the Pats this year?)

I'm not saying the Bengals shouldn't have been able to shut down Mason... that's entirely likely and possible and good for you for doing it. But if you are double-covering one man, there is a weakness somewhere else. I'm blaming the Ravens for not finding that. The Steelers, Browns, Packers... even without great days offensively all put up 20 points... no reason we couldn't as well.

Lackey would be interesting... I think he would be the solid, not great, starter with playoff experience we need. We'll see if he becomes available. I think the Brewers asking price on Fielder will be way too high for our needs. I would love to see him here and locking down that 1B side for a long time, I just don't know that it will happen. I also don't know how long Fielder will be a great hitter - too many Ks, not enough walks... strikes me as a few more years of greatness and then a lot of Jim Thome years. I also just don't know what we would offer for him??? Justin Turner, Felix Pie and a couple arms ... but which arms? I think we need (in no particular order): -a good starting pitcher with some veteran leadership, doesn't have to be a #1, but can't be an Adam Eaton or Steve Trachsel -a power hitting 1b or 3b, maybe both. I think 1b makes more sense with Bell on the way up. -if we don't get both 1b and 3b, we need another legit bat for DH. (just thought of it - send Scott to Milwaukee too!) -some serious bullpen help again (Bradford/Walker style help from a few years ago). I still trust Johnson as closer