SpearSrai

He just lost, for the fourth year in a row, and contributed to it with a critical error. Winners in life make adjustments BEFORE everything falls apart. You don't purchase stock after it declines.

I love the possibilities of this hire. Surely Caldwell brings some of the Peyton Manning osmosis knowledge with him... this is the next best thing to bringing in Manning as QB coach, which I joked about last week. You can't argue with the results that Colts team had with mediocre receivers like Garçon and Collie. 80% of that credit goes to manning of course, but surely this guy learned some things and possibly contributed to that as well. Solid, low risk hire that could pay off. Remember - Tony Dungy had him as an assistant head coach too.

Yes, exactly - for a year or two. And then hopefully the MLB-in-training can lead the defense and carry on the intimidation legacy for another 10+ years.

Tebow wasn't available?

I wonder how Ray would feel about this. You may be happy watching the steelers and patriots hoist the Lombardi every year - I, and the Ravens franchise, are not. You must be comparing us to the lower-level franchises who don't have hall of famers playing on their defenses.

Rex Ryan did that in his first two seasons. With fewer than 4 hall of famers on defense. Losing in the AFC championship twice in four years is an accomplishment to you?

We could debate all day about the Harbaughs and which coaches owe what to who... I just think we'll see once Ozzie and Ray and Ed retire just how much of the team they've been carrying on their back. And I think almost anyone would take Jim over John going forward. Jim turned a franchise around in one season and made Alex Smith look like he belonged in the NFL... John stepped into a made situation and has made terrible blunders along the way. Some of his challenges boggle the mind, and his timeout awareness is awful. When the team is saying there was confusion at the end of the game last week and he's sitting on a timeout... a head coach at this level just has to know what to do there. And it doesn't surprise me as much as it should that he would get confused in a big spot like that. That's not a good thing, when you have guys like Belichick on the other side of the field.

Just like Tomlin had LaBeau, remember that Harbaugh had Rex as assistant HC that first year - and it was the defense that won us those two playoff games against Miami (wildcat who?) and Tennessee (goal line forced fumble by Leonhard). Harbaugh is above average for WHAT HE'S ASKED TO DO, don't get me wrong. But he's a manager who will always be limited by his coordinators, where other coaches (Belichick, Payton, JIM Harbaugh, Rex - say what you will, the guy can build a defense, etc) can take over a side of the ball and improve upon it if necessary. John's thing is supposed to be ST... Explain that one to me. Look what the other Harbaugh did his first year compared to what our Harbaugh did his first year. The 49ers, arguably, had a better season than any Ravens season under John. Look what a coach like Jim did for a guy like Alex Smith who was considered an all-time-bust. Weaker division? Okay, but they still beat the Bengals, Steelers, Eagles, Lions, and Giants nearly twice. You think the 49ers don't have a more promising future under Jim than us under John? I say it's no contest. I'm not saying fire John. Of course he's good, for what he does. He's fiery. But we're almost handicapped by his limitations.

Except that, y'know... the Colts are still in the AFC and could have a top 5 QB for the next 12 years to go with that defense...? One step forward, two steps back.

And that's why Andy Reid is still in Philly - even if they also underachieve on an annual basis. Doesn't mean I have to be excited with the idea. When you see teams like New England, Pittsburgh, and New York going to multiple super bowls when we've had a stacked roster for 10 years... and a few coaching adjustments here or there make the little differences in close games... just because Harbaugh took over a roster with 4 potential hall of famers on defense, I'm not gonna pretend I'm impressed any more than I'll act like flacco making the playoffs all four years was because of him. I may be a homer, but I'm a realistic homer.

No way does Peyton stay anywhere near that organization after how all of this is going down.

The Seattle loss meant we played the AFC championship game in Foxboro. Not ridiculous at all. Ray Lewis has turned many mediocre coaches into geniuses just like QB's like Elway turned Shanahan into a genius and Moss made Billick, Culpepper, Cassel,etc. look like offensive prodigies. Newsome loads this team with some of the best talent every year and it underachieves. This is a Super Bowl team... you be happy with AFC champipnship losses.

He seems like the kind of guy who will want to stay around football for a long time, and not in the booth. If he does want to coach, QB consultant will be a great starting point for him. And he'll want to mentor a young, talented up-and-coming player like Flacco rather than an established vet... and he'll want to coach for an organization that's close to winning a championship... I know I just made this up about an hour ago, but I've talked myself into it being PLAUSIBLE. Manning for QB Coach, 2012! (It's been a long two weeks......................)

I like where you're going with this Crav. Bringing in Peyton as our QB coach would be a great way to stick it to Irsay once and for all. *joke.* Unless he's open to the idea.

*Ray Lewis is a great coach, Ozzie is a great GM. How many millionaires have these two guys made? John isn't even the best head coach from his own family in the NFL.

Assuming Burfict has the physical tools and is coachable, I'd say that's pretty much my dream scenario at #29. Replacing the intimidation of Ray Lewis with Vontaze Burfict is the defensive equivalent of the Colts replacing Peyton Manning with Andrew Luck. Except we didn't have to go 2-14 to do it. And our owner isn't trying to run Ray Lewis out of town to make room.

McKinnie's not that bad. And he's definitely better than the guy on the other end of the line who can't seem to stop jumping early.

I think it had something to do with Ray Rice going 83 yards on the first play of the 2009 AFC wildcard game. If you can't beat 'em...etc.

Or how about the AWFUL challenge at the end of the Seattle game this year that cost us a vital timeout and essentially ended the game (when we had 2 timeouts and the 2-minute warning left, down by 5 points). One of the worst challenges in the history of professional sports. Should have been fired immediately as soon as that flag was thrown, and forced to leave the sideline before the clock got to :00. For real. (Not for real. It was right to let him finish the game, but he still should have been fired immediately after the game.)

Doesn't it seem like Nakamura makes more "big plays" at safety than Tom Z? Hopefully Reed can stay on the field so we don't have to use both guys. I also wonder if any of the guys we have at CB could transition to safety in a pinch... (Webb?)

McPhee was a great pick, but Torrey Smith was not? Which speed-receiver should we have taken at that spot? Interesting take... :-/

Who's our starting safety going into the season?

I wonder how the media-evaluations of Smith would have been if he didn't have these "character issues". Everything I've ever read on him basically sounds like this: "he's a risk, has size (an understatement? He's over 6'2), and has top 10 talent." A 6'2+ corner with 'top 10 talent', and all anyone can talk about is "POTENTIAL character concerns"? Didn't McAlister have character concerns? (I'd say so...) Unless we're talking about a leadership position (here's looking at you, Ryan Mallett...) I'd take "made a few dumb decisions as a teenager" (Read: Was caught.) over "might need surgery on his knee" anyday. My mailman has great character, but I don't want him lining up in man coverage against A.J. Green for the next 6 seasons. The idea that we may have just found a CHEAP Nnamdi Asomugha (read: we weren't paying Nnamdi $20 mil a year to come here.) at the END of the first round blows me away. A bonafide shutdown corner. At 5'11, the term "shutdown" may be overused, but a 6'2, 220, 4.4 guy? It's no surprise quarterbacks only threw at him 20 times last season! What happens when Ed Reed is covering the OTHER half of the field? No other team, including the Jets, has something like that. But you're exactly right, TC... our "rag-tag team of corners" looks a whole lot better in slots 2-4. We just didn't know we had a chance at one of the best corner prospects to come out of college at #26. Still can't believe Seattle passed on him. I guess Pete Carroll is only going for selfless, high-character guys now. :-/ Or maybe they just hate cornerbacks there. Wait until Jimmy Smith and Josh Wilson are the top corner duo in the league...

It's at least as big of a need as any. We have a bunch of average guys at one of the most important positions in the game... just like we have a bunch of average pass-rushers after Suggs. If an offensive tackle is there who the organization loves, maybe you look at a guy like Solder, but otherwise you go with whichever provides the better value... corner or DE/OLB. Assuming Pouncey is long-gone. And considering we didn't draft a single corner last year, maybe it's time we look at one in the first two rounds? There are a lot of young corners who have really helped their teams in the first few years.

Probably more like 12 easy wins, and possibly 1 or 2 more if all goes well.