oldno82

Good. I hope they keep talking, but he might need more than just Matt.

Like I said, the Ravens are quite able to win the next 4 games and if Pitts has a loss against the Eagles and us, then we're in as Division champs. That's the optimistic outlook. Pessimistically, we lose to Houston and Pitts and wind up as a wild card team. If we can get the FG game back on track, I like our chances with the first option above. But, if Tuck continues to miss FGs in the 45+ yard range, then I lean towards the pessimistic option. A lot depends on Tucker and whatever help our coaching staff can throw his way. I hope somebody is actually out there helping him in some way and that he's not just in this slump all alone. Will be an interesting finish to the season. Right now I'm kind of holding my breath.

Anything's possible...they could win 4 straight.

A close loss like we just experienced magnifies all aspects of the weaknesses of a team and every team has a good share of weaknesses this year, Eagles included. It's a killer that Tucker is having problems right now, sure, but we can blame something on almost everybody. Lamar is great in my book, but he took a 14 yard sack on a 3rd down play that put the team out of Tucker's range. Agolar dropped 2 passes though granted one was a tough one but damn it was catchable. Penalties as usual hurt us more than Philly after the Eagles got over their first quarter lack of discipline. We have problems with penalties, dumb ones, every game. I think this team can still win the AFC North. The rest of the schedule is not impossible for us and the Steelers still have to play us here and the Eagles as well. As Lamar said, we have got to take care of ourselves first and don't worry about the Steelers. Each game has to stand on its own for the next 4 games. It's an old cliche but we have got to focus on one game at a time. The bye week came late this year but still gives the coaches a chance to do some self-scouting and the players a chance to rest their bodies before we play, I believe, 3 games in 10 days. And, maybe, Tucker consults with a sports psychologist to get his frame of mind straightened out.

Tucker just scares me now...whenever he goes to kick a FG, I find myself thinking 'don't miss it' which never happened before this year. He's got to be in a funk about it as well and that just creates a vicious cycle. Hard to believe Dionte Johnson didn't get a chance in this game with Bateman out. I guess he's in Harbs' doghouse for some reason that we'll never know.

...or until the NFL bans it.

Roquan was practicing too. Having him back should help with Barkley. But this is going to be another tough game. We'll need Pierce. Yeah, Kolar is out...potentially for a month or more. Amazingly, he played the whole game against the Chargers.

Exactly. Once you get a reputation for being penalized, it seems ticky-tacky things will get called you more than other teams.

I don't think Harbs made a good call there on 4th down but I will say it did wake up the team when they made it. The announcers just plain sucked...and I detected a pro-LA bias to boot. Hell even my wife didn't think they were up to other announcing crews. To me, the best pair is Tony Romo and Jim Nantz. Finally, I'll say this: I think the Ravens could beat any team if they could just cut down shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. Some of that, but far from all, was on the Refs too.

What did you think when Harbs went for it on 4th and 1 from the 17 yard line?

Monken has decidedly had a positive effect on Lamar and this season, the second in Monken's system, shows that. He's reading his progressions better and except for a few brain farts in Pitts he's been throwing well to the whole field. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up this Monday night where the Chargers' coaches will know all about his strengths and weaknesses.

Well, he doesn't have to win SBs consistently; he just needs one. But it won't be this year unless the defense can progress to a higher level of play somehow. I agree with you about that.

Generally speaking he's been solid this year. I think he's become the type of QB who can win a SB especially with the cast of skill players he has right now. But the O-line is only mediocre. We sure miss having an experienced RT and RG. The D is a work in progress and needs more talent. Pass rush, while decent, and secondary can't shut down an opposing team. Don't know for sure if coaching is a problem there or not...I tend to think it is.

Concerned about this game. The Ravens didn't do well after losing the opener to KC the following week losing to the Raiders, and I'm afraid the long plane ride, time zone change, and very disappointing loss to Pitts will linger. Could be we come out flat and get beat by an inferior team? Up to Harbs to keep the team psyched up and focused. Does he still have the ability to do that? We will see.

The Ravens lead the NFL with 92 total penalties, 10 more than the next closest team, and have given up 763 penalty yards this season.

1) Time to bring in a kicker? Not to cut Tucker, but somebody who is dependable in the 40-45yd range. I think Tucker will eventually straighten out but his play cost us this game and he doesn't seem to be getting any better. Give him some time off. He's costing us games and we're in crunch time now where 3 points can be the difference between winning and losing against playoff teams. Like I said, still a Tucker fan but I think his head is temporarily messed up. 2) Defense played very well today. No big plays against them and Williams and Jackson weren't playing. The secondary was much better and pass rush and run defense played good enough to win. 3) Still too many f---ing penalties. Can't tell for sure if it is on us or the refs but I'm inclined to think it's the former. The game really sucked to boot...I wouldn't have kept watching it if it wasn't our team playing.

As I was saying: " According to Pro Football Reference, Jackson has allowed three touchdown passes and a 132.2 passer rating when targeted this season. He’s also ranked 82nd of 87 safeties in Pro Football Focus grading."

I knew who you meant as I heard it on WBAL tonight. Like I said before, I haven't been impressed with the guy and really don't know why we signed him. Looks like a scouting/judgement failure. Should be a very interesting game tomorrow, obviously. It'd be nice to see our D hold them down but maybe I'm dreaming.

Interesting stuff. I think another mind-blowing stat is how the Ravens defense is ranked #1 against the run and #32 against the pass, in yards given up. I'm just hoping the D can put together a good all-around performance this week against Pitts. because they're going to need it. And lets hope Lamar can break his pattern of weak past performances against them too. I think he will now that he has so many weapons to attack them with.

I got this from the Ravens' website: " Kyle Hamilton is back at Ravens practice a week after suffering an ankle injury. That's an encouraging sign that arguably the Ravens' most critical defender has at least a chance to play Sunday in Pittsburgh. Hamilton was officially listed as a limited participant. Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy also returned to practice Thursday after missing Wednesday's practice due to illness. Tight end Isaiah Likely (hamstring) was a full participant after returning to the field Wednesday."

Hmmm...lots of good insights here. I don't know why Williams is having so much difficulty unless like you suggested he might be trying to do too much. Jackson just hasn't impressed talent-wise. And we've got to have Hamilton back in the secondary this week or else I fear we will get beat. Orr needs to look at last year's film to see how to better utilize his talent. As for Monken, while he's been great for us and will probably draw a few interviews, I think most teams will view him as 'too old' now that very young head coaches are all in vogue. Kind of a shame for him but good for us.

I'm not suggesting they play cover 0 frequently but I do notice we don't seem to play it hardly at all. It's a risk, I know. I'm just saying throw it in there once in a while to shake up the opposing offense. It's a race between getting to the QB and the QB being fast enough to get the ball out quickly. I'd like to seem them try it once or twice a game. And they do need to blitz a bit more with one or two LB'ers bringing heat because the front four just aren't getting enough consistent pressure. Having said all that, the biggest problem remains the secondary. I don't know what is wrong there. I keep reading about communication issues but now that we are deep in the season, it would seem those types of problems would have been solved. Whatever the cause, it looks like poor coaching, or inexperienced coaching it the ultimate reason the defense isn't better than dead last in stopping the pass. I don't know if a 'miracle' cure is possible this season. We might have to just continue hoping we can outscore opponents rather than stop them. When the off-season gets here though, some coaching changes need to be made.

Well-thought-out, but I still think we'll have our hands full. Pitts always plays us tough, especially in their stadium and their fans will be really psyched up. And let us not forget we didn't find the Commanders a pushover. What I would really like to see is our defense stop the run and for our offense to keep going full throttle. We can't be timid playing these guys. As Billick once said, we have to go into this screaming like a banshee! Really wished we were using organized chaos on our defense rather than Pee's bend don't break. Have we used a zero cover blitz once this season?

Tough game coming up for sure. The Pittsburgh D is really really good or at least it was before the injuries they got during the last game. Wilson is no longer a terror but his experience and intelligence will make his team have roughly equal footing with any other team. If we had the ability to really rush the passer, I'd give us the edge. But we don't and our secondary is a basket case. I've got to think the Steelers win this one though Lamar will keep us in the game. The rematch at the Bank should have a different outcome.

Coaches aren't supposed to coach only in practice. They should be coaching during games as well. Maybe they’re not getting in their players ears enough during the game?