yagersports

What's the grade for being in the Championship game? The Jet's were supposedly not good enough for a couple of years, yet they ended up in the championship game twice. (I think, crap now I'm second guessing myself lol) In any case, you get my point. Timely plays, avoid mistakes. Good formula for winning! Brady had better be ready, this team is gonna bring it to him Sunday!

You should, our offensive problems against Cinci and the Texans will be nonexistant against the Pats. Cinci and Houston have tough defenses and Cinci sees us twice a year. They know what we're about. The Pats are in trouble cuz Flacco and Rice can drop 30 on the Pats. Can the Pats drop 30 on us???? I think not, we're not the Broncos.

We match up well against the Pats. They don't have a burner that's going to beat us deep. (Johnson for Texans or the guys in SD) Gronkowski does provide a match-up, however I believe that we can scheme him. I believe that we can do an over under and limit him to 5 catches or so. Most importantly we need to shut him out of the end zone. Put Reed over the top of Gronks and McClain underneath. Match Webb on Branch and take away Brady's deep threat and use Smith and Co. to match up against Welker. We may give up some underneath routes to Welker, but we'll be tight in the red zone forcing FG's. Bend but don't break. I believe we'll be all right. I think that Joe and company had trouble against a stellar defense. We'll have much more success against the Pats.

We may not win pretty, but we win. Our defense holds when it matters. Our offense has shown they can start a game well, finish a game well, and come from behind. No we have yet to do it all in one game, but there is no question that we are one of two teams in the playoffs that can beat you on both offense and defense. Let's also not discount that we had some injured guys that are healthy and back after the week of rest. Let's also not discount that Harbaugh is very good after a bye. Let's not forget that we have a RB with 2000 yards from scrimmage, a QB that has playoff experience, and one that is capable of producing the comeback. We also have a defense with tremendous leadership, the DPOY (In my opinion, he plays run and pass, Jared Allen is just a pass rusher, Suggs does it all), and one of the most beastly DT in the league. Granted Haloti has a thigh injury so his explosion isn't what it was in the beginning of the year, but he's still playing at a very high level. There's alot to like about this team. We've won games with INT's, forced fumbles, tremendous offense, great running game, and suffocating defense. We've found ways to exploit the other team's weaknesses at every turn. You know, the Pat's D of their championship years was very similar. They may not have been record setting, but they certainly found ways to make things work. And when they couldn't do it, Brady stepped up. This team has every reason to think they can win it all. We have options, we're not just reliant on one dimension. Now, having said all that, we're also not the best at any one thing either. However I'll take what we got, and I love this year's version of the Ravens.

We're absolutely the most balanced team in the NFL playoffs. I dont think anyone stands in our way to the Super Bowl. As for winning it........those NFC teams with the exception of the Niners look awesome. We'll have to see what ole Flacco is made of! :-)

There was an article in the Sun about Birk. He's a tough bastard in his own right. Of course we all know the road Oher has taken. We have some guys on the offensive line that are just tough SOB's.

The what? Isn't that the place in Detroit where Eminem is from???? lol

What's a cassette? lol

The best point yet I would think. We're a legitimate 12-4 team that went undefeated at home and against playoff teams. That's not done by luck or on accident. Even if something bad happened this weekend, this would still be a very good team capable of going all the way.

Every year that happens, can't say lucky, just have to say......"I was wrong, this is a better team than I thought". Every year I can count a 3 or 4 wins by any good team that could have gone the other way. Like Crav says 12-4 no matter how you slice it, and that's considerably better than "most" 9-7 teams.

This is great news!

The untimely drops have to stop as well. I'm not sure it's how many drops Flacco's receivers have had so much as when the drops have occurred. I can remember 3 or 4 critical 1st down drops in games where Joe was opening the second half or attempting to get some momentum for a comback. Those drops have to stop. When the game is on the line and we need to put it out of reach we can't be having our #1 guy (Boldin) dropping easy balls. We also need our TE (Dickson) to hang on to those out routes. I've seen Joe put in right on the WR too many times this year just to watch it hit their chest and hit the ground. I really think Flacco is going to have a great playoffs this year.

I really think Joe can burn the Pats D more than Brady can burn our defense. Brady's receiver's are also small aren't they? Don't we excel against the little guys and have trouble against the tall ones?

Agreed on Ray covering the TE's. However what we really need to do is blitz the crap out of Brady and confuse the crap out of him. He get's happy feet when he sees guys like Suggs and Harrison coming at him.

Good to know that Cam was doing his homework. The Texans are going to bring it defensively. I'm sure our defense is going to overwhelm the Houston offense, however if we don't find some mismatches to exploit this game could stay uncomfortably close.

Agreed, Houston is posting the 2nd best defense in the league. Too much for Dalton and co.

That'll do, it's so rare to find someone content in what they're doing. There's so many successful coordinators etc that should stick with their success rather than chase after something in a bad situation.

At a minimum Suggs is looking at defensive MVP! What a season. Coverage, sacks, and played the run with tenacity.

That was one of the greatest throws and catches I have ever seen that have won a game. Young had pressure, had to step up in the pocket, TO had to catch in the middle of two or three guys and take the hit to make the TD. It was very impressive. I don't recall the drops, funny isn't it.

There have been coaches yes, but I'm referring to FO guys. Phil Harris etc.

I agree, and there wasn't with the two I mentioned, just expressing one of those, oh please oh please oh please work out anxieties lol. He seems like a great young man that has worked his butt off. I want him to stay a great young man.

Our FO is always being raided lol. Funny though, have any of them really succeeded outside of Oz?

I stated that you said wildcard at best as well as my memory wasn't quite there. It seems that perhaps your assessment of the team and talent was off. As 12 - 4 is dramatically harder to achieve than 10-6. It means beating quality teams and sustaining win streaks. Getting back to the statement of the Ravens having no chance of getting to and winning the Super Bowl, that couldn't be more off base. The Ravens have as good a shot as anyone. Of course they could be 1 and done. However if you're a fan, cmon man, get on board and wear some freakin purple glasses. Ride the train, this Raven team is good!

That sums up my gut feeling about him, however I'm always reminded of two WRs. Michael Clayton (of the Bucs), this guy set the league on fire for one really good year, then nothing. Next TO. Many people don't remember, but up until he caught the playoff game winning TD from Young, TO was a very humble young man. Success and fame just ruined him.

How does one predict the future? How does someone say that is going to happen? Do what got you to 12-4 and take your chances cuz 12 out of 16 times, we won. Or, we could change everything when it matters most and just see what happens. I would say the sound logical choice is to stick with what is working. We had the chance to limit Ray's role on Thanksgiving and we passed. It is what it is now, the best thing to do is get everyone on board with it.