48 replies to this topic

[SportsGuy]

We did a good job on Manning today. Yet again, we lose to a team QBed by Manning but Manning isn't the reason we lost.

Denver only converted 5-16 on third down.

Defense just was on the field too much and wore down but they played a lot better than the numbers look.

Btw, how different is this game if its 10-7 heading into halftime? Just amazing the turnaround that pick 6 had.

[You Play to Win the Game]

A 14 point swing, just like that. Joe NEVER makes that bad a mistake, and it came at the worst time. It's 10-7 going into half time, and the Ravens get the ball to start the 2nd half. It's a whole different game at that point for sure.

[Mackus]

Is Joe getting worse or is this just a slump? He's been brutal lately. I was expecting big things from him this season, not the worst year of his career.

But, we're now in the playoffs. Will either host a wild card game or go on the road. Either the Colts or an AFC North rival. Now all that really matters is getting healthy on defense for that game and doing whatever can be done to improve the offense over the next 3 weeks. The results against the Giants and Bengals are irrelevant, aside from deciding who we play and where. But I'm not worried about the who or even the where. I think we still should get the division, and get a home playoff game, but if the destinations are Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, or Cincinnati, I'm not particularly more nervous about going in there and winning than I am about winning at home right now.


I've said since the Steelers game that the wins and losses down the stretch don't really matter. This team wasn't good enough, and never was even when they were still 9-2, to be a team that could just play to their normal level and be able to make a Super Bowl run. Last year the team team was, but not this year. This year, the only hope of a Super Bowl run is to be that one team that gets hot in January. That's looking pretty unlikely right now given how bad we're playing, but we're not playing any worse than the Giants did last year leading up to the final weeks, so it's not impossible. We can get hot like that whether we win these next two games or lose them, so just get into the playoffs (check) and then hope we all of a sudden catch fire and can win 3 games in a row to get to the big dance.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Was at the game yesterday and I can't believe that there are more "goods" in this article than "uglys" because that game was 60 minutes of pure, unadulterated "ugly."

The team did very little right yesterday. The offensive line was, in my opinion, the worst unit on the field. They made no holes for Rice (who didn't have his best game either) and kept Joe running for his life. People in my section were very quick to get on Joe whenever he was under pressure and made a bad throw and I did my best to point out that it's very hard in the NFL to accomplish anything in the passing game when the constant threat of getting sacked is there. I made it a point a few times to JUST watch the offensive line and they were just putrid. With Yanda out, who is really our only good OL, I knew we were doomed and Ozzie needs to make major changes here next year.

Flacco, when he did have time, still looked uncomfortable. His receivers had a hard time getting open and he definitely forced a few throws. I know people have made excuses for him on the Pick-6 but that is entirely on him. He's in his 5th year now, time to grow up and not make a dumb mistake like that. 14 point swing there and totally changed the complexion of the game.

I'm not going to beat up on the defense as they are beat up enough as it is but I thought they did an admirable job against Manning. He's going to get his points and Ed Reed was awful on that long Decker TD but, overall, when a unit is missing as many starters as they were, I actually expected a lot worse.

The *only* good was the ST unit. Tucker remains a solid kicker and I love Jacoby Jones returning kicks. With as bad as this offense is, we are going to need to win the field position battle more often than not to have a shot the next two weeks.

In the end, if the clearly superior Denver team had kept their foot on the gas the entire game we may have lost by 40. I put zero stock in the two garbage Pitta TDs (although I'm sure they won a few fantasy playoff games).

[BSLChrisStoner]

Was at the game yesterday and I can't believe that there are more "goods" in this article than "uglys" because that game was 60 minutes of pure, unadulterated "ugly."

The team did very little right yesterday. The offensive line was, in my opinion, the worst unit on the field. They made no holes for Rice (who didn't have his best game either) and kept Joe running for his life. People in my section were very quick to get on Joe whenever he was under pressure and made a bad throw and I did my best to point out that it's very hard in the NFL to accomplish anything in the passing game when the constant threat of getting sacked is there. I made it a point a few times to JUST watch the offensive line and they were just putrid. With Yanda out, who is really our only good OL, I knew we were doomed and Ozzie needs to make major changes here next year.

Flacco, when he did have time, still looked uncomfortable. His receivers had a hard time getting open and he definitely forced a few throws. I know people have made excuses for him on the Pick-6 but that is entirely on him. He's in his 5th year now, time to grow up and not make a dumb mistake like that. 14 point swing there and totally changed the complexion of the game.

I'm not going to beat up on the defense as they are beat up enough as it is but I thought they did an admirable job against Manning. He's going to get his points and Ed Reed was awful on that long Decker TD but, overall, when a unit is missing as many starters as they were, I actually expected a lot worse.

The *only* good was the ST unit. Tucker remains a solid kicker and I love Jacoby Jones returning kicks. With as bad as this offense is, we are going to need to win the field position battle more often than not to have a shot the next two weeks.

With Yanda out, and Cameron gone; I thought it was a good opportunity to make changes on the line yesterday. Disappointing that they didn't.

They also could have decided to be very conservative, use 2 TE's and a FB, and just try and run between the tackles.

The defense did a pretty good job yesterday. They needed some help form the offense, and didn't get it.

You are right about the ST's.

[Pedro Cerrano]

I'm just not sure what changes could have been made? The O-line personnel is just bad top to bottom. Yanda was sort of the anchor that held everyone together.

Oher cannot be trusted at the LT position, he needs to be at RT permanently or moved to guard eventually (painful to say that).

Is McKennie too fat still? What is his deal?

Reid and KO are just bad and Birk was past his prime a few years ago.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I'm just not sure what changes could have been made? The O-line personnel is just bad top to bottom. Yanda was sort of the anchor that held everyone together.

Oher cannot be trusted at the LT position, he needs to be at RT permanently or moved to guard eventually (painful to say that).

Is McKennie too fat still? What is his deal?

Reid and KO are just bad and Birk was past his prime a few years ago.

The same changes we've talked about since the the start of the year really. McKinnie is an average LT, but he'd be an upgrade over Oher there. Oher at RT is an upgrade over Osemele. Osemele could be an upgrade over Reid at LG.

McKinnie was never too fat. He was/is in Harbaugh's doghouse and never was going to get out.

[DuffMan]

Is Joe getting worse or is this just a slump? He's been brutal lately. I was expecting big things from him this season, not the worst year of his career.

I've been worried that he's regressing but I'm hoping that it's just a slump that he's going to snap out of soon here. I know part of it has to do with the limited amount of time he has to throw, but I wish he would stop throwing off of his back foot, it seems like every time he does this it's a bad throw that is "too high" (Insert joke from Major League here) and goes over our receivers heads. When he steps into his throws they are usually on target.

Look up "back breaker" in the dictionary and there will be a picture of that pick 6 he threw at the end of the half. Just a brutal play that really changed the tone of the game.

[You Play to Win the Game]

I've been worried that he's regressing but I'm hoping that it's just a slump that he's going to snap out of soon here. I know part of it has to do with the limited amount of time he has to throw, but I wish he would stop throwing off of his back foot, it seems like every time he does this it's a bad throw that is "too high" (Insert joke from Major League here) and goes over our receivers heads. When he steps into his throws they are usually on target.

Look up "back breaker" in the dictionary and there will be a picture of that pick 6 he threw at the end of the half. Just a brutal play that really changed the tone of the game.

Yeah, that was probably the worst play of his career, and I don't think that's hyperbole.

I think bnickle has a point in some other threads when he talks about the pressure really getting to Flacco for once. I think between playing for a big contract, playing under Cam, again, now Cam being gone and him not being able to hind behind him, etc. has really taken a toll on him.

There's also the football side of this - and that is that the o-line has been absolutely horrendous most of the year. They've had a couple of decent showings, but outside of that, they've been abysmal. While Flacco is a good QB, he just isn't a good enough QB to put up gaudy numbers with a bad line. And who can blame him, most guys aren't.