SpearSrai

Forcing passes to Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes isn't a great situation for us. Ward has proven time and time again that he can work a corner whenever he wants to. You have Frank Walker covering Hines Ward, but somehow this is a good thing because Roethlisberger will have to "force" the ball to him? I guarantee you this is what they want...we won't have to force it by taking away the other threat. Which is exactly why Justin Gage tore us apart last week... as if we didn't know where the ball would be "forced"?

Getting a guy like Warrick at the end of the 1st round is a lot different than getting him #4 overall. It's not like Warrick was thrown into the best situation in the world in Cinci... they have a way of breaking a player down. Maybe he would've been better with a different team. You'll note that the season Palmer was drafted (but sat out), 2003, he had a pretty good season with Kitna at QB... 79 catches, 819 yards, 7 TD... plus another 157 yards on 18 carries. I'm confident that a guy like this could be even more effective with a QB like Flacco throwing to him. Now if you want to talk about Harvin's injuries, that's another issue altogether. Harvin and Warrick have both struggled with injuries.

Washington can only cover one guy at a time, I'm pretty sure. Even if he plays better than he ever has, that doesn't account for the slot receiver. If we roll Reed to the #1 receiver and have Washington man-up on the #2... that still leaves Frank Walker and Corey Ivy on Washington or Holmes. And heaven forbid any of the 3 get nicked up during the game... or, say, layed out by Hines.

I guess we'd better just hold onto Reed then.

So Harvin and Heyward-Bey won't be fantastic NFL players? They have just as good a shot as Laurinaitis... If his stock has dropped, it's probably for a reason.

I would put Smith in the backfield, and run the wildcat. But then Peyton would be at WR, and Flacco would... be the option-man at RB.

ESPN is reporting that Ravens CB Samari Rolle is likely out for Sunday's AFC Championship against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Terrell Suggs is said to be a 'game-time decision.' This would leave our starting 3 corners as, if I'm not mistaken: Fabian Washington, Frank Walker, and Corey Ivy. I had to chest our roster to see who our dime-back would be... Evan Oglesby? Maybe we'll pull a guy up from the practice squad, if that's an option, but this isn't looking good right now, with the Steelers possessing 3 good receiving options (Ward, Holmes, Washington) The only way I see us surviving this one is if we get a ton of pressure on Roethlisberger. And I mean a ton.

We can't cut him outright, for cap reasons, but I agree that we need to trade him. He's really holding us back on D... zero interceptions against Kerry Collins is unacceptable. If he doesn't have at least 2 INT's and a fumble recovery or sack this weekend, he's as good as gone.

If we add more short, quick routes into the mix (instead of just going for the deep ball every time we pass) I think we would be better at moving the chains through the air than via handoffs. Just because we pound the ball, that doesn't make it a 'strength'...it just means that's what we do. And we're one of the worst teams in the NFL at YPC. Maybe you could say our offense doesn't really have a strength. Rolle being out makes me think that we're going to need to put up some points to have a chance in this one. We don't want to waste our first 3 drives pounding the ball, and then be down 21-3 at halftime.

Like what? The only needs that I can come up with are corner, big-play receiver, backup TE, replacement linebacker, and maybe defensive end and runningback (but not as first round considerations.) Of all these possibilities, a big-play receiver would probably have the most impact on the team, as it would help Flacco's overall development to develop a timing with a big-threat receiver early in his career.

We would all need to sit in a room with a giant projector and go through the coaches tape one play at a time. That's the only way to really break down football 'statistics'. Just assume that all of the answers you seek are hidden in the one game that you missed this season. It will be known as the "Missing Tape", and it will never be discovered.

Smart management knows that there is no offseason... you're always planning for the future, even when you're winning. That's how you build dynasties.

Now we wait and see which guy falls to us... Of the 4. I don't think we would pass on any of them. Harvin could end up going higher than expected.

They've been saying he's completely ready to go for both playoff games. Harbaugh said, after Miami, that he was ready, but the flow of the game did not allow him to put him in.

Apparently James Harrison and London Fletcher aren't the physical prototype either. I wonder if they know this.

Just because we run the ball relentlessly, even when it's not working, that doesn't make it a 'team strength'. And Ray Rice needs to be catching passes out of the backfield... There's no reason not to do this.

And Brian Billick is a Super Bowl winning head coach. Hahahahaha.

"This is exactly what the family had in mind when they sent young Joe to play for Harris, picking Pitt over Rutgers and Virginia Tech." How upset are Rutgers and VA Tech fans? Ray Rice, Brian Leonard, and Flacco in the same backfield... sick.

Get out of my head! You nailed it, thanks for saving me the time. Btw, something I realized in the last 3-4 days... Cam Cameron used to OC under Marty Schottenheimer, the guy who is known for his terribly conservative playoff playcalling. Playcalling so bad that he can go 14-2 in the regular season, but still be fired outright for his playoff tactics. I'm starting to think a little Marty-ball rubbed off on Cam, and I don't like it.

I'm not so much worried about getting beat deep... I'm rarely worried about that, with Ed over the top... I'm more worried about the 10 yard hitch turning into a 50 yard run when Rolle or whoever misses the tackle, because they were playing 10 yards off the receiver.

I'll trade them Suggs for Gholston, straight up. Forget that he's had an uneventful rookie season...

In conclusion, Leonhard is the better player, and the only person who disagrees supported Kyle Boller for 5 seasons. I think we're done here.

I'm so hurt for football right now that I'm reading through entire conference call scripts, even when I know that it's just going to be politically correct coach-speak. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the two weeks before the Super Bowl...

All 3 Heisman finalists will be returning next season. Should be another great year. Go Gators!

You realize that you just said Landry is a better tackler than the actual best tackler on our team, and then explained how Landry tackles with poor form, right?