oldno82

Papa if you're not a fan why do you come here?

Stupid move by the Steelers.

I'm wondering are they going to have the traditional 'State of the Ravens' press conference or do they not want to face all the disenchantment? So far as I know it has always been done before the Florida meeting.

Tsyl: I had never even heard of the guy. I looked him up and he was apparently hurt nearly all this year. Stats prior to that were decent to good depending on the year. He's probably all the Ravens can afford in free agency. They like to pick up guys now whose last season was a downer and then hope and pray it was an aberration. And they're usually wrong (Maclin) but not always (Wallace). The cap kills us from taking any sure bets.

Here's Pro Football Focus take on the Ravens and next season... "Quarterback The great elephant in the room in Baltimore is the play of QB Joe Flacco, which is a problem and has been for some time now. Despite a late-season surge, Flacco’s PFF grade was just 76.7, which ranked 24th in the league and about in line with his previous two years. The Ravens need to start thinking about life after Flacco at quarterback. Wide ReceiverAs bad as Flacco has been, it hasn’t all been his fault, as the Ravens have very little in the way of impact receivers. This is an interesting year for receivers in free agency, and a player like Jacksonville’s Allen Robinson could help make Flacco look good if he can get back healthy. In the draft, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley has the speed to help make big plays happen, catching eight of 15 deep (20-plus air yards) targets this season for 361 yards and three touchdowns."

Not so sure this is a one year thing. I think the NFL has finally achieved its long term goal of all teams being mediocre. That said, the Ravens won’t be in the playoffs next year if only because of the schedule and standing pat on the coaching staff.

Unfortunately, all so true. It’s going to be a long, long haul.

No need. Oz's brain is hardwired to Alabama.

I don't blame him for the initial contract just his lack of a desire to renegotiate it after years of mediocre play. He'll always be a rich man as he got 60 million in guaranteed money the first time. But, really sorry to hear about your layoff. Hope your situation changes soon.

Interesting article from Preston. I think he was generous in his appraisals in some areas but it's good to hear a different view of the problems. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/mikeprestonreportcards/bs-sp-grades-20180108-story.html

Good for Roman. The first 3 things that come to mind when I think of Marty are: 1) get more yardage from checkdowns, 2) stop with the stupid read option plays, 3) Find a way to get the receivers to receive the pass at the 1st down marker on 3rd down. Oh, and fix the screen plays. Certainly a lack of playmakers on the team. I blame Ozzie. He's done very little drafting any offensive playmakers, Hard to believe he is a Hall of Fame TE and has allowed that to happen. Crappy drafts, mediocre FA signings and no cap money every freaking year (Thanks Joe) have killed the offense.

Maybe we can get Jim Harbaugh to hire his brother away from the Ravens??

Correct. Apparently it was these alphas who were team leaders and got the team playing up to its potential. After they left the coaching couldn’t provide the same leadership. They may have had their best days behind them but their motivation and leadership were still there.

Great article by Preston. Maybe Bisciotti will read it. Then again, it probably wouldn't make any difference. I think he believes listening to the fan base is a waste of his time. By the way---WHEN IS THE GREAT POST-SEASON PRESS CONFERENCE with B., Newsome, Cass, and Harbaugh? I'll watch it if just for laughs.

I'm sick of Harbaugh's platitudes like this one (which he said today) too... Harbaugh said. “And I’m excited about that going into next year.” He's always excited and says things will be great. Unfortunately, I think we just saw a season that is now 'normal' for the Ravens. What he should be saying is that there's a lot of hard work ahead and changes are coming.

Well, it's obvious that this franchise is fatally f---ed up and is not open to the changes it needs to make in both coaching and the front office in order to become one of the NFL's better teams. Instead, I foresee a long declining period of mediocrity with falling attendance, and interest, followed by Bisciotti selling rather than fixing the team. What a downer...

Geat article and on point. Harbaugh’s teams have decreased in toughness year by year to the point where there are no more team leaders. And not having the team charged up to play Sunday is inexcusable!

I agree but don't know if a worthy quarterback should be taken by us in the first round because I'm not sure one will still be there at 16. I'd like to hope so. But, regardless we've got to draft Joe's replacement sometime in the top 3 rounds. And we also have to draft offensive playmakers...WR and TE. Hopefully, Yanda, and Lewis will be back to stabilize the offensive line so I say take skill positions with guys who can take over a game. It's going to take several years but in the end they could have a very good team if they draft properly and dump Flacco in '19.

I'm ready to bite the bullet too. We need a team-wise and front office purge. It will be a tough 3 years but I'll hang in there as long as they start making good moves and have a solid plan. I hope Bisciotti wakes up this time, dammit! BTW, bring Pagano back as Defensive Coordinator. Nothing was ever as good again as his 'organized chaos' defense.

It's going to be very important for the Ravens to score first because I think the Bengals will just lie down then. If the Bengals get on the board first, watch out!

Agree...the running game sets up the play action. Worried that Collins is fatigued from all the effort he puts in.

Schmuck hits the nail on the head too: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/schmuck-blog/bs-sp-this-is-no-time-for-ravens-to-hold-a-grudge-20171224-story.html

Not only was that a good summary of the quality of the current team it also raises the point that Ravens fans don't like or respect this year's edition of the team. The Steelers and Pats have a bad game and get a pass. The Ravens have a bad game and get jumped on and some fans don't show up for games that are already paid for. Now, I will be the first to agree that this year's team is no better than the best of the mediocre and below. I do not feel this team is playoff worthy. No WR's that scare the opponents, average running attack, average defense and most of all, until lately, an offense that is less exciting than watching paint dry. Add to this the fact that most of the fans are jaded. There's been such a long run of really good Ravens teams and stars that the current falloff of the last 3 years has a lot of people jumping off a cliff. They really, really, need to draft a true offensive super skill player this year who brings excitement to the team. They ideally would also add another one of that description by free agency. I'm sorry to see the empty seats in the stadium but I also understand why people aren't showing up and giving this team a pass. We as fans have to stay loyal even in down years and down periods. Otherwise, we're just making ourselves ready for the next big team relocation when Bisciotti sells.

Great coaching by D'Allessandris and Roman have rebuilt the offense part of the way to where it needs to be. And along came Alex Collins out of nowhere. Yes things are improving but they still gotta finish and then let's see how decent they are in the playoffs. Yes, I'd much rather be talking about all that than 'how are we ever going to rebuild the team?' mode I was in before. But it's still there, lurking. This week I'm especially interested in seeing how the young WR's do. With Maclin out they all are getting their shot.

If they get a solid lead, I agree. You don't want to take your foot off the pedal but I think Collins needs a rest. Joe not so much but he should sit if possible. We'll just have to see how it all pans out...are the Colts interested in giving us a hard time or more interested in getting their season over with.