oldno82

My feelings about the game were mixed. The starting D looked good. Jimmy Smith looked good and you can't say enough about Lee Evans, Cary Williams and McPhee. However, though the O-line made some progress though there was still too much pressure and penetration on our QBs. Cousins may have a spot at backup guard. Reid looked better. Yanda and Birk are really missed. Boldin doesn't seem to be going all out. Flacco was inconsistent: he missed a lot of open guys but did throw a picture perfect bomb to Evans. But this is the second game in row he didn't look too good. Not giving up on him but wondering about him. The Ravens are not ready for the Steelers, at least not with this bunch. They might be ready if 1) Yanda and Birk come back, 2) Joe tightens up his play, 3) Q plays harder, 4) Torrey Smith starts to at least show up, and 5) the 1st string D just gets more reps. Right now, the best I can say for them is that they'll be a mediocre team unless they show a lot more improvement against the Deadskins next week.

Its not the money that bothers me, Bisciotti's probably got plenty, its the cap. While Ngata getting a new contract will help our cap space now, what does it do the future years? We've got Flacco and Ray Rice coming due next year. How are we going to handle them? Ozzie's got some tough decisions to make.

Interesting, your take on Bisciotti's comment about the $60 mil was different than what I interpreted it to mean: I thought he meant he was willing to give him $60 mil but implied Ngata wanted either more or other considerations. ???

Well there sure doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency. Either that, or they're far apart. I wonder how much Ngata's asking for. Maybe the Ravens are holding back some because they know they've got Flacco to re-sign next year. Just a guess. You can't keep everybody with the cap in place and I am a fan of the cap.

I wonder about this too. Not a peep from the press.

Though I admit I don't know of any, there might be some OT/C material we could trade for if we solve the Ngata problem.

We are going to need a few more players if we're actually going to compete for a Super Bowl or even the playoffs. They won't be here unless this issue gets resolved and soon. Ngata and the Ravens in 2011

After picking up Lee Evans do we have any cap money left to sign anybody for anything? What ever happened with Ngata's new contract and the cap space that would free up?

I thought we'd be able to go with the 2 rookies (Smith and Doss) but after watching the show last week, I think you guys were right that we needed a veteran presence and you make a good point that they can come in and out as they grow. I still think Smith and Doss will be solid but its too much to expect them to come in and play at a high level with just 3 weeks of practice before they would face the Steelers in week 1. Now if we can just keep the O-line from killing the passing game!

I hope Oz sees it that way too.

The Ravens aren't going anywhere unless the offensive line either finds itself, which I doubt, or they bring one or two bodies in.

Yeah but he doesn't have to blow smoke up my ass either; he could just have said they have to things to work on.

And then there was on Lee Evans: Lee Evans at Practice

Hmmm...Preston was saying there's talk of moving Yanda back to RT...I wonder if they think Cousins is the answer at RG...I doubt it. I think we need to get somebody to replace Cousins.

Yup to all of that! Cam definitely did not utilize his talent last year and that surprised and disappointed me because I thought he was supposed to be an offensive genius with San Diego. Let us hope that he works Lee Evans into this year's offense as opposed to what he didn't do last year!

He started at RT then moved to LT after Jah Reid moved in with the subs. You're right: he was beaten by everybody. It was so bad it was hard to watch. Now to be honest, I don't know if he was doing a little better at RT when Oher was at LT. But I don't have that feeling of confidence with either one of them right now.

The problem is, I'm not sure there are any LTs or even RTs any good out there as FAs. We'd have to trade another pick. If we got somebody who'd be here for 4 years and be good I'd do that if the pick was reasonable. We also need a backup C and G unless we're waiting for Rabach to pass his physical.

It comes down to Joe being quick like you said and also down to Cam calling more spread formations with 4 receiver sets. I think we noted last year that the teams that had most success against Pittsburgh did use multiple receiver formations but Cam never tried it even with Mason, Stallworth, Bouldin, and Housh on the same team.

I do detect extreme BS in Harbaugh's remarks about the O-line. Does he think we're blind or stupid? I'll give him a pass this time but not if it happens again. As far as Taylor is concerned, we need a vet backup. Whats available is pretty bad but the thought of going with Taylor is worse.

Eisenberg There won't be a run to the playoffs without correcting the items in John Eisenberg's article.

I agree with most of this. We picked up the WR in Evans, so that should help on that score but the O-line is terrible! I don't know if it was because he was playing at LT rather than RT, but Cousins didn't have a clue---it was hard to watch! And we need a veteran backup qb. In short they need help on the O-line and a backup QB NOW! I don't know what happened to our secondary but it stunk all night even when we got pressure (which happily was often). As Lombardi once yelled to his team: "What the hell is going on out there??!!!"

If they got him for a 4th rounder, its a steal. He'll give Flacco and Q some immediate help. In the long run I'm still feeling good about T Smtih and Doss.

Pitta and Kruger really standing out. Pollard played the interception perfectly. Kindle looks very active. The defense got great penetration many times but couldn't wrap up the tackling. Arthur Jones looked very good. Haven't seen much from Torrey Smith. Doss has potential. BUT, as expected, they really look ragged. The Eagles are doing better because they have more experience is my take.