oldno82

Oh joy of joys: next year we get to have an international 'home' game!

So I guess that means we're running with only 2 RB's for now? Ali got cut, right?

If he isn't on the 53 he should be. Otherwise we'd only have 2 backs, Henry and Hill to play and that would be pretty thin. OL isn't the best for sure, but I think their functioning as a unit is still under development. Fingers crossed.

No they don't and the league brass is even worse.

No doubt injuries and penalties played a major part as did a change in offensive strategy in the second half...but I still wonder if Henry had some pain from that one hit he had that took him airborne to land on his shoulder. It looked to me, at the time, that it took something out of him. And maybe that's why they didn't run him as much. Justice Hill was a disappointing replacement this game. I'd like to see Randall get more touches, or, at least SOME touches during a game. I agree that our pass blocking was pretty bad. Time will tell if we just need more time to gel or maybe we should go with Pocic who is known to be a good pass protector. Still early days. But I feel pessimistic about the Rio Dallas game.

I think Dallas wins this one but this game should not even be played. The field is downright dangerous. I've seen photos of it all lumpy and wrinkled. Somebody is going to get hurt. Maybe a star. There will then be a backlash and the NFL will take a lot of heat. And, like you, I really hate these international games but the owners are so greedy they still go on and are expanding. It's almost enough to get you to stop following football.

Hopefully he's back and healthy in time for the mid-season crunch. And Namdi. Any word on how Vinson graded out at LT Sunday?

Looks to me that Zay Flowers is what makes the offense a threat from anywhere on the field. And, meanwhile, I wonder how JaKobi is progressing. We could use him back in a few games. And Namdi.

One thing I will say for Minter: I think he's more at ease in discussing things that went wrong than Harbaugh was. Especially the last few years Harbaugh was always more defensive when he was questioned by the media. When Minter was discussing all the events of yesterday I didn't get the feeling that he was testy or gave short, abrupt answers. He seems like he has a lot of confidence that he'll right this ship.

Tough game coming up against the Cowboys in Rio after a 12 hour overnight flight on Wednesday for the Ravens. Right now I'd have to say it doesn't look good.

It was a crucial mistake. They looked more like a Harbaugh team than what I expect a Minter team to be yesterday. To be fair, though, key players were out and others playing hurt. Still no excuse for the defense not closing the door.

Baltimore's offense had one last gasp. They got into scoring range, but Jackson threw a wayward pass to an unknown target that easily landed in the hands of Saints safety Julian Blackmon to seal the Ravens' defeat. Jackson pointed to fatigue on the play, and said Rashod Bateman – the closest receiver – ran the right route. “We were just trying to make something happen,” he said. “It was just the same group of guys out there. I feel like they were a little fatigued, and how I played it, it was a timing thing." Fatigue>Lack of Conditioning.

Like Dee said, you let a team you should beat hang around and hang around and you wind up with a loss. A pretty pathetic way to have your home opener. We really missed Zay and Ja'Kobi. And the defense failed to stiffen in the last quarter. In fact, they looked like they were gassed (conditioning?).

These next 2 games with NO and the Cowboys will tell us a lot about the real capabilities of this team. Right now things look good but I'm not quite ready to jump on the bandwagon. Meanwhile the injury bug has bitten us. Several starters did not practice again today.

The situation at Center is interesting. The current guy is a very good run blocker but not so good as a pass blocker. Pocic is just the opposite. For right now, I'd stay with what we have as long as we're opening those holes for Henry and Lamar keeps using his pocket awareness like he did on Sunday.

Late word has Lane getting surgery on wrist and being out 4-6 weeks.

As long as our offense doesn't have a big head after the easy performance against the Colts, the Ravens should carry the day. The team will be buoyed for this game too because it's the home opener. Derrick Henry is just unbelieveable...a 32 year old power running back with speed. Will we ever see the likes of him again? I'm also looking for Sarratt and Tez to have some success. Bateman should have a good day. If he doesn't, I will begin to wonder why we have him on the team. Hopefully, our D will start off better than last week. I think it should be an easy win. But as you said, on any given Sunday.

Well I can't argue against those facts. I am surprised by the fact that offenses are ahead by so much though. Even our offense, which had so much problem handling our D in training camp, ripped the Colts. We'll have to see how long this trend lasts.

Yeah but why not give our young guys a chance?

Sounds about right. I want to see Sarratt get a chance to play at least some this week. Dez too if he's healthy. Moore and Bateman too. I'm not thinking it's time to pull the trigger and sign a FA. There ain't much left there.

Robinson is right. There is work to be done. I think every NFL team has things to work on partly because there is no preseason for the regulars. I get the thinking: if you don't play you don't get hurt, but practice and game experience are different. The Ravens actually looked pretty damned good after that first scary drive that led to the Colts 6-point lead. I'm looking forward to when Madds can play and collapse the pass protection from the inside while Hendrickson, et.al., blast in from the outside. Here's hoping Flowers and Lane come back sooner rather than later. One other thing: Tyler Loop came through with those 57-yard and 45-yard FGs. That was another revelation. Hope he keeps it up!

Our defense scared me a bit on that first drive when we couldn't seem to generate any pressure and Jones completed several passes, but they certainly settled down after that and harassed Jones for the rest of the game and pretty much forced them away from using Taylor too. In the end our defense was impressive. Our offense was explosive as promised. Zay was freaking unbelievable until his hammy acted up. A real shame about Lane as it looks like he has a fractured wrist. But we do have Tez and Sarratt we can activate and I think they can hold the fort until Zay and JaKobi get back. I'm not really sure we need to acquire a free agent receiver at this point. I'd rather our young guys get the chance. Bateman seemed to disappear. Special teams coverage is a problem but it is more a consistency issue, I think. I'm not worried about our secondary coverage which settled down nicely after the first drive.

Yeah, JJ and Nantz were almost as bad as the slugs we had. They need another Tony Romo (one who doesn't drink and drive) to go with Nantz.

I thought it was a good game with definitely some deficiencies noted. Penalties on O were a real problem. D-pass rush on first Indy series was non-existent but then accelerated thereafter. Indy has a good offensive and defensive line and they're a good team so have to give them some credit, especially for not folding. Zay had a stupendous game going until his injured hammy acted up. Anybody know how serious Lane's wrist injury is? Henry was magnificent! All in all, a good shakedown cruise against a decent team. The team will be learning things on offense and defense for at least the first 5-6 games because there was no competition for the 1's in pre-season. Fortunately, we now have the easiest schedule for those weeks coming up.

There has been an unusual amount of secrecy. Maybe it's because it was even quality of life beyond football that was at stake as well. For example, maybe they were afraid of paralysis if he took the wrong kind of hit. I get the impression that the surgery alleviated those concerns. For his sake I hope that's true.