SpearSrai

I especially like the part about Kerry Collins only being intercepted 7 times this season. Where have I heard that kind of talk before? It doesn't help matters that 2 of those 7 picks were against us...

I'm obviously biased towards him as a Gators fan, but he did do a great job with our defense in 2006. I think he could have success in the Pros.

What's the big deal about Rex leaving? Have we ever had trouble replacing a coach in the past? Mike Smith and Jack Del Rio were just hanging around on our roster, waiting for gigs, until they found better jobs elsewhere. I say Greg Mattison steps right into Rex's role without missing a beat. Our defense may even improve *gasp*.

Edgerton Hartwell wasn't as good as Bart Scott. He wasn't as hard of a hitter as Scott either. I know we've made it look easy over the years with guys like Sharper, Hartwell, Adalius Thomas, and now Scott... but Ray has a lot to do with this. Once he's gone, it's going to be a lot harder to bring these average players up to superstar level. That's my point, not that Bart Scott is the second-coming of Lawrence Taylor. Who knows how long it will be until Ray either retires or puts on another uniform (heaven forbid.) Don't assume that it's our "system" that makes these players so good...I contend that it's our defensive leaders.

FYP

I think he'll be gone by the 32nd pick...

That's obviously Rachel Bilson from 'The O.C.' Rex Ryan should expect to have about as much success as a head coach as Mike Nolan did.

Who is expected to replace Kokinis if he leaves?

I wouldn't say that McAlister is washed up, but he has definitely struggled with injuries for a number of years now.

What else is in Nashville that's worth doing? We're heading there on Friday and will be looking for stuff to do... I like to try different restaurants and stuff that are famous in all of the cities we visit.

And for what it's worth, I think people are undervaluing what Scott means to the defense. He's been mentored by Ray for his entire career, which is a luxury that we may not have for much longer... Who knows how good Reed, Scott, Ngata, and the rest of our defenders would be without Ray to teach them? I'd like to keep as many of these guys together for as long as we can, because we don't know how long Ray is going to be around for. And just from a football standpoint, Scott is one of the best linebackers that would be available on the market... he's a very good blitzer, a hard-hitter, he knows our defense, and he can lead the D when Ray is out (or when he retires). I guess the truth is that we really need to resign all 3 guys.

Well yeah, but we don't live in Baltimore...

They were the favorites, at 5-2. (coincidentally, the same odds that the Giants currently have to win it all) So last February, without playing a single 2009 game, the Patriots were given the same odds that the 'Defending Champs' have only been able to get by securing the #1 seed in the NFC. That's how good the Patriots were last year.

We just bought tickets last night on ebay... right next to the Ravens tunnel (section 104). Yesterday I didn't know if we were definitely making the trip, but now I don't have a choice in the matter.

Honestly, I've always thought of us as right up there with those teams anyways... if instead of 'terrible' QB play we had just gotten slightly-below-average QB play, I think we would have made some strong championship runs over the last 8 years. Throw in the fact that our previous head coach clearly had no idea how to run an offense... and refused to bring in a real coordinator... Now that we have a franchise QB who could actually end up being great instead of average, and a coaching staff that actually knows what they're doing, and I say that we're one of the favorites to go to the Super Bowl every year.

With the salary cap going up next year, we can probably keep whoever we want and still stay under.

The question isn't "Will Flacco will turn the ball over this week?" (Spoiler Alert: He won't!)... the question is "How many times will he and Clayton hook up for long touchdowns?" I say one. And one will be plenty.

So that's how Mike Preston earned the reputation that he has on the Sun's website...

When our overconfidence leads to poor decisions from the coaches, which causes us to lose games... it matters. I expect our coaches to realize that we are not good enough to settle for field goals against good teams. I don't mean settle as in "we took an honest shot and came up empty so we're kicking field goals." I'm talking about "We just don't want to turn the ball over, so it's okay to run, run, run and kick a field goal." I kept saying "they think our defense is better than it is." Here's hoping that we learned our lesson in the last Pittsburgh game. I think we may have. But for the record, I don't think the 2000 Defense was the worst thing to happen to Baltimore. If you talk to Ray Lewis, I bet he would tell you that his goal is to be better than he was in 2000, and to field a more dominant defense than even the 2000 Ravens. This is what our players have instilled in us, the fans. We expect the world because our players have taught us that we should.

The Ravens will win, 23-13. You heard it here first folks. You can book it... don't even have to watch the game now.

I don't think this is accurate... according to NFL.com's play-by-play account of the game, Rolle's 3 tackles were against Ricky Williams (2 yard run), Brandon London (10 yard pass), and Ted Ginn Jr. (6 yard pass).

Our defense will take care of Collins and Co... that's not a problem. We'll hold them to less than 17 points, guaranteed. The real question is about our offensive line vs. their defensive line. Will Flacco have plenty of time in the pocket? If not, will he have a good game under pressure? Will we be able to move them off the line to get our backs going? These are the questions that will decide the game. I'm not worried about Flacco turning the ball over or the Titans offense putting up points... I just haven't decided yet if we will be able to sustain drives against the Titans. And while it would be nice to generate some points with our D, I'm definitely not going to bank on it. We will need to sustain drives to win this game. I just hope we can.

I wouldn't be confident with anything close to 13 points with this group. How about 24. 28. We needed 33 to beat Dallas, and they didn't even end up making the playoffs. Not once this season have I felt comfortable with a lead, at least not since Week 5. We have to keep scoring to keep the pressure on the other team... if we're not scoring points, then we're probably not moving the ball on offense either, which will end up killing our D by the 4th quarter as we've seen time and time again.

I do not. Refer to my rant about 'not understanding the limitations of your team' for some reasons why.

Rolle is doing okay because of the pressure we're able to generate...something that we didn't have as much of last year with Pryce and Co. out. As soon as we stop getting so much pressure, Rolle's weaknesses will become obvious again. That's why we can never call the dogs off... no prevent defense for us. Keep the pressure coming right until the final whistle, or we get eaten alive until we get a new C-Mac.