dc.

Amen to that, BA. In his defense, he is not an all-out pass rusher in the model of Terrell or AD. He is more of a gap-filler and run defender. And he does those duties well. But for all his talk, he is the weakest link in our linebacking crew in my mind.

Oh, I know. And I agree. But it's a bit bothersome to me. I wish people could, just occasionally, disconnect from the W or L.

BA - As crav so eloquently put it... "The Baltimore Way" If we win, criticism is never allowed. If we lose, accolades are not allowed. We're a pretty fickle fan base.

Bart Scott... ugh. Honestly, I'm excited to see what the likes of Antwaan Barnes and Jameel McClain are able to do when he's not standing in their way next year... or talking in their way.

That's what gets me, indeed... the hypocrisy. We're winning WITHOUT Willis, and yet everyone is defending him. We win or lose with other players, and they get eaten alive ... whether they play well or not. He doesn't need to be a prima donna. He doesn't need to make a big fuss. But if he's injured, let's say "He's injured" and sit him and take him out of pads. If he's healthy, he should want to be on that field. He's one of the highest paid backs in the league. I want my 6mil worth or we can find someone else.

And it's stupid.

Oh man, 1917 was amazing. I haven't gone back and played it again because I know I will not stop...

1. Maze Mouse: http://www.addictinggames.com/mazemouse.html The ball moves... you control the maze... My best time for completing the whole thing was 10:57... the last one is HARD. Oh, and the background music is STILL in my head. 2. Magic Pen: http://www.addictinggames.com/magicpen.html Draw shapes to move the ball... very difficult, very fun... through to level 21, I think... then stopped. Brain cramp.

Maybe. But no. I just don't get the defense of lazy players. We rip into our WRs. We rip into our DBs. We rip into everyone without easing up. And many times, we rip into some of the hardest working and most reliable players... even if they may not be the very best. And then there's this guy Willis. He had a fine season for us... amidst another otherwise horrible year. But doing big things when everyone else is failing doesn't always equate to greatness. It doesn't make him Barry Sanders. And this year? Injury problems. Reports of being out of shape consistently. Over and over. Remember the flack we would give Jamal for taking plays off so frequently? For not being able to run more than 10 yards without needing a breather from Musa or Chester or somebody? So why does Willis get a free pass? Especially when he says he's fine with sitting on the bench. Fine with other players taking his carries. Fine with everything. When you put it all in the context of Willis McGahee, it starts to look as much like laziness as it does being a team player. All I want to hear is "You know, I want to be out there. I want to be a part of this. I want to be a part of what is happening with this team as it wins." Then he can talk about how he understands being benched with his injury and he understands the strategy. But don't act like you could care less. "It's not like the running game is struggling. I don't mind sitting back and watching." Those aren't words you'd ever hear from the real leaders on this team... not from Ray, not from Ed, not from Terrell, not from Ngata... you don't even hear it from Kelly Gregg... you know he WANTS to be out there. He's not saying "Oh, well, they clearly don't really need me. So, I don't mind sitting around."

Yeah. Apparently the 3rd string QB is officially the "emergency" QB and is not allowed to enter before the 4th quarter. If he does enter before the 4th quarter, neither the starter nor the back-up can re-enter the game at ANY position. Interesting. No one really goes to their 3rd QB anyway... but I guess it stops you from trying to make the other team gameplan against three QBs.

Well, I don't blame Reid so much ... in the Ravens game he threw flags because you have to, you have to ask. If they say no, fine. If not, then what do you lose? At least he has some ground to complain about review not working right and it can be fixed later. The way Reid was tossing the red flag, it looked like he knew what was going on, but wanted to get is two cents in. Meanwhile, I do blame McNabb for not knowing the rules. That's insane. That's not every nuance, that's a major rule. Ties happen in this league. And they have happened with some regularity. Now, if we were talking about him losing on one of those fair-catch drop-kick non-timed plays... sure, I could understand him saying "Man, I didn't know that happened." But to not know the game is going to end?

"I don't mind sitting back and watching" We know, Willis.

See... while I am slightly happy that McGahee doesn't feel like he is in the doghouse... That isn't quite the attitude I want from my multi million dollar star running back who's supposed to start... "Oh... I don't care if I play... just let them go... it doesn't bother me one bit..." Huh? I don't want him throwing a shit fit, either.... but I expect a guy to fight for his starting job and for his right/ability/etc to be on that field and a part of this team's winning.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?se...mp;lid=tab1pos1 His little experiment in light of Donovan's mistakes in recent weeks... He asks Brandon Ayanbedejo, Jarrett Johnson and Ray Rice some of the questions... Our guys didn't do tooooo well. The only one I did not know ... If the third-string QB is put in the game before the 4th quarter, when can the 1st string QB re-enter the game?

Black tops - white pants is what the Terps wore first... before unveiling ALL BLACK this year. The Black Tops-white pants looked good AND worked for the Terps.

I would hardly say they are imploding. Plaxico shot himself before this weekend's game and they certainly didn't show any signs of being troubled by it in their romp over the 'Skins. They look to be far and away the league's best team right now. And Ahmad Bradshaw is their 3rd stringer... behind two very very capable backs. I get the feeling they could do without him.

Cheer: Cowboys Bills Bengals Seahawks 49ers That should significantly help our playoff hopes.

No time to mince words, just be blunt: it was a rough week for the Top Ten. Three of last week's top ten lost, and three more snuck away with wins in the most absurd of ways. The Patriots and Cardinals fell out of the rankings this week. The Patriots lost to the Steelers by a wide margin at home. In a sentence, they offense got shut down and the defense failed to show up. It was almost expected though; defense has been the Patriots' problem all season long. For the Cardinals, they just got outplayed by the Eagles. In the process, they lost yet another chance to clinch their division. Though, I must admit, it would be kind of fun to see a team get into the playoffs at 7-9. The two new arrivals this week, taking over the spots of the Pats and Cards, are the Cowboys and Falcons. Both teams have won eight games and are fighting for the second wild card position in the NFC. Unfortunately, both will likely end the season with better records than the winners of the NFC North and NF C West. The full list is here

Don't listen to Crav. Any real fan will tell you that Matt Ryan is outplaying Joe Flacco. That's not to say that Ryan will always be the better QB, but the Falcons have relied on Ryan far more than the Ravens have on Flacco. The teams were in similar, but then again very different, situations entering the season. What Ryan has done is flat out impressive. Crav still thinks Carson Palmer is a bust. It's the homer in him

... and today Preston runs with it ... According to Mikey, the doghouse contains: Ed Reed, Chris McAlister (duh), Willis McGahee, Samari Rolle, Bart Scott. Personally, I don't know that Ed is in the doghouse. He spoke up once about Harbaugh, but I feel like it was more in defense of CMac. As for Willis... when you talk about coming to practices and mini camps totally out of shape... and not trying in practices... and not seeming to care... you're going to make everyone's doghouse. Preston predicts that by next summer, CMac, Willis and Scott will all be names of the past

Well, first, I'd say that both Del Rio and Lewis have to be considered successful. Not many coaches go out on a high note. Most go out on bad seasons. That's how it works. But both Jack and Marvin had very successful careers in their respective cities... and may continue to for all we know. Fassel doesn't count as a Billick protege, so there. Nolan is probably the least successful... but I have no doubt that he will find another coaching job (head coaching job) in the years to come and he'll improve. Singletary... well... I would hardly count his tenure this year in SanFran... even if he did great. Interim jobs don't really count. But I don't doubt that he'll continue to find work as a coach and make an impact around the league. And I know it's not NFL... but let's not forget Matty Cavanaugh in Pittsburgh (U Pitt)... they are doing okay with him as OC. Somehow.

Original Post: http://blogs.extremeravens.com/ravens/2008...the-ravens_147/

Here's what I think we're really learning about Mark... He can catch. Randy Moss, TO, Chad Johnson, TJ, Anquan, Fitzgerald, etc etc etc... The best receivers in the game weren't always open by 5 steps. They still aren't today. Sometimes they are, sure. But they aren't always and they don't have to be. We can throw the ball to Mark when he's only got a half-step and we know that, if the throw is there, he's either going to make the catch or no one will. That's a big lesson for this offense and this quarterback.

Totally walloped by Georgetown. The Gonzaga loss stung... especially because I don't feel that Gonzaga was out-playing us, or at least not by the margin the scoreboard showed. They were getting every last shot to fall - ridiculous shots that should never go in - while we couldn't get a single bounce off the glass to go our way. It was just some bad luck, I feel, that kept us from making that game close. Georgetown on the other hand... we're going to struggle against teams like Georgetown all season. Big, tall, heavy teams that can enforce their will under the basket... they will get us every time. That is, until one of our undersized big men learns to step up.

I just don't buy it. If he's not healthy enough to play... mark him as injured and then we all know that we're saving him for later. If he's healthy enough to play... then you should be playing him if he's your #1 running back. I know McClain took 90% of the carries, but Rice was in there a bit. And if Rice is getting in the mix and McClain too, Willis should have as well... assuming that he was ready and that the team likes him as a back. Nothing about the Bengals D should have had us going "Well, in terms of strategy... Willis is not the answer." In fact, quite the opposite, I think.