76 replies to this topic

[bnickle]

I dunno. Being a goalie in soccer, or football if you will, is a pretty important position. I mean, with no goalie there'd be lots of goals scored.

This is your argument. Really. How many points would teams score without a QB, without the ability to throw a football.

 

 

Seriously, a QB touches the ball every play on the football field. A soccer goalie  can go a whole game without a save attempt.

[Markus]

How many strikes (heck or even pitches in general) would be thrown without a pitcher? How many double plays would be turned without one of two middle infielders? How many etc., etc., etc.?

[BSLMattJergensen]

This game of course was tale of two halves.

 

Ravens led 17-14 at the break and should have been up by more if not for an easy drop by Dallas Clark. The momentum shifted after the Ravens failed to challenge a Welker trap on Third Down. (I also thought maybe the refs could have might the proper call too) The main thing I take away from this game is that when you make mistakes good teams capitalize and the Broncos did that all night long.

 

I'll refrain from joining in on the Flacco/Harbaugh discussion because it's a bit silly. You are what your record says you are and these guys have accomplished a lot together. In 2013, they are 0-1.

[NewMarketSean]

Yup. If Clark catches that TD before half, and Harbaugh reviews the Welker drop, it's 21-14 with us getting the ball back early in the 3rd quarter instead of 21-17 Denver and the wheels coming off fast.

Even if there was an inkling that the ball was dropped the challenge should have been thrown. You can't just give Manning license to keep the ball when it should be 4th and 9.

Just an ugly game in the second half. Hopefully Harbaugh can coach these guys up in the next 9 days and get these guys to move on. That's one thing he's always done well, come back after a loss, or after a bye, which is essentially what we'll do this week.

I know Cleveland is on the rise ,or supposed to be, but thank God we get them in our home opener. The crowd will be loud and excited to welcome back the champs and Weeden is not Manning.

[ChaosLex]

I laid down at the half. Some of us have to work in the morning, ya know.

 

I did quite the double take when I checked the score at 5:00am on my phone. LOL

[SportsGuy]

Hensley is right...we beat ourselves.

That's what I'm not as worried about this game.

http://m.espn.go.com...e-ravens&id=462

[BSLChrisStoner]

Hensley is right...we beat ourselves.

That's what I'm not as worried about this game.

http://m.espn.go.com...e-ravens&id=462

 

 

Yeah, same point I made in the recap, same point you and others made in the Game Thread.

 

Plenty of things to correct, but mostly I'm just concerned about Oher, and J. Jones this morning.

[SammyBirdland]

I saw what I expected to see. Our passing game is in trouble. I didn't think about the impact it would have on our defense. They were pretty much on the field the entire game. I think Cleveland next week is going to be a tougher challenge than we give them credit for. Their defense can hang with our offense. Our defense has a big advantage over their offense, but not if we keep them on the field the whole game.

[Chris B]

Everyone overreacted in the game thread last night because it's the first game. It happens. Everyone always freaks out about the first Orioles' loss too.

 

Let's remember who the Ravens were playing. The Broncos were many people's pick to win the Super Bowl this year (and frankly, last year too). I definitely saw things I didn't like yesterday (Graham/Huff/Smith were bad; the TEs can;t be dropping balls like that), but it's still game 1 and you have 15 more to go. Going into Denver for the first game was going to be a tough W anyway.

[SportsGuy]

Some thoughts on this game:

 

1) Clark and Stokely had moments of good and bad...people have commented on Stokely not showing a good burst...But what I did see from him were pretty good hands and a decent amount of separation.  He isn't going to beat you with speed but he is valuable in moving the chains.  Same with Clark.  Yes, he had a few drops and a fumble that was negated by a penalty but he made at least 3 first downs, showed some RAC and between him and Stokely, they were targeted 22 times...Ray Rice is the only other player that was targeted in the double digits.

 

What that tells me is that Joe feels comfortable with them already and I expect those guys, 2 guys who didn't have a lot of training camp and time to work with Joe, to get better in the little things and be a big part of the offense.  Many of you have commented how they suck, etc...but the bottom line is they helped move the chains last night.  They worked underneath and they were open a lot..and Denver's LBers do a good job of coverage too.

 

2) I was very happy with I saw from Brown last night.  He only got in when Jacoby got hurt but he showed what he did in training camp.  Good hands(although the one stop fade he probably should have caught..needs to try it with 2 hands there), good route tunning and gave Joe a big target to throw to.  That is all very promising and you have to like the upside there.

 

3) Torrie Smith is still limited and goes away at times but overall, I like his progress in some areas...particularly his hands.  He definitely catches the ball better now compared to when he first came into the league.  he isn't a #1 but he is solid.

 

4) The Dline played well, especially considering the conditions, the fact you had 2 key guys hurt and that you are still learning to play with each other.

 

5) A lot of people are lamenting the secondary this morning and I understand that...But remember, they did an excellent job in the first half...They did have some communication breakdowns but we are going to see that every once in a while for the time being...While this adjusts to not having Reed back there and these guys learn to play together, its going to happen.  I also don't think Graham will always look that bad and lets face, they probably played one of the 2 or 3 teams in the NFL that can hurt you with the pass in the way Denver can.  

 

A big takeaway was how Webb looked...When he got hurt the first time, he looked awful when he  came back...So, he is well ahead of that now.  I thought he looked very good and for a while, they weren't throwing at him.  He did looked winded near the end of the game but that's to be expected.

 

6) The Oline is in trouble if there are any injuries.  I like the line a lot but there isn't much depth there.  I felt Gino played well early but once Oher went out and the Ravens were put into passing situations, the line crumbled some.  Hopefully Oher will be good to go for the home opener.

 

7) Dickson continues to disappoint.  He dropped at least 3 balls last night...Now, none of those drops were easy catches(like the TD catch Clark dropped) but they were balls he needs to catch...They are balls Pitta catches...balls that Boldin catches.  Dickson needs to help replace those guys.

 

8) Denver couldn't run the ball last night...I expect teams to struggle to run vs our defense all year.

 

9) The missed challenge by Harbs(and blown call as well) and the Clark dropped TD were huge turning points...Should have been up 21-14 with the ball in Joe's hands in the 3rdQ...Totally different game right there. 

 

But, that didn't happen and things snowballed.

 

10) Final thought is this...I really am not worried.  Yes, that may sound crazy after giving up 49 points but some flukish things happened and, as Hensley said, we beat ourselves.  Denver's passing attack stands out and is excellent but nothing else about that team wowed me last night.  They have weapons galore but the defense isn't that great, the running game isn't stout and their Oline is average-ish.  The Ravens did a lot of things wrong last night and, as Golic pointed out on M&M this morning, the communication will get better and its really not something to be overly concerned about right now.

 

I like that Joe completed the ball to 9 different receivers...I like that we saw him trusting Brown, Stokely and Clark...3 guys he hasn't had a lot of time with. 

 

I think there are issues with this team but I don't think talent is one of them and that is my biggest takeaway from last night...We didn't get beat because of a lack of talent or ability..we got beat because of dumb mistakes, most of which were our own fault.

 

Not trying to take away from what Manning did last night...he was tremendous but there were a lot of open WR and a lot of that was miscommunication...BTW, I didn't feel Manning showed a lot of zip on the ball last night but maybe that's just me?
 

[SammyBirdland]

2) I was very happy with I saw from Brown last night.  He only got in when Jacoby got hurt but he showed what he did in training camp.  Good hands(although the one stop fade he probably should have caught..needs to try it with 2 hands there), good route tunning and gave Joe a big target to throw to.  That is all very promising and you have to like the upside there.

 

I agree.  You hate to see a guy get hurt, but I'm glad they were forced to put Brown in the game.  Hopefully he opened some eyes.  He really needs to be on the field.

[SportsGuy]

I agree.  You hate to see a guy get hurt, but I'm glad they were forced to put Brown in the game.  Hopefully he opened some eyes.  He really needs to be on the field.

No doubt...I think there is a good argument that he is the no worse than the second best WR on the team right now. 

[SportsGuy]

BTW, saying that about Brown...but I was happy to see Jacoby doing some things last night underneath...It wasn't just run down the field as fast you can on a 9 route last night with him.  So, that was encouraging.  Hopefully his knee is ok.

 

Oh and btw...STOP HAVING WEBB RETURNING PUNTS!!!  My god, what has to happen to him for Harb to stop pulling that garbage?  That's just terrible.

[NewMarketSean]

Losing Jones for a long time would suck and kill our return game. Putting Webb back there scared the shit out of me.

[NewMarketSean]

Guess we should'nt have traded Reed, huh?

[McNulty]

Guess we should'nt have traded Reed, huh?

 

Or just kept Rainey.  He can do both kicks and punts.

[SammyBirdland]

No doubt...I think there is a good argument that he is the no worse than the second best WR on the team right now. 

 

I agree.  Immediately after seeing him in preseason, I had the strong feeling that he will be our #2 receiver by the end of the season.

[Markus]

As an outside observer, that Brown guy was pretty impressive.

[Hooded Viper]

 I agree that there were lots of flukish things that happened last night but man Huff needs to step up his game as far as I am concerned and I was not at all impressed with Josh Bynes.  I don't think it will be long before Arthur Brown is inserted into the starting lineup.  Marlon Brown impressed the hell out of me.  He is already a better route runner than Torrey Smith and he is less than a year removed from knee surgery.  I think he is going to be a stud next year but still provide a lot of production this year.  All in all, I want to see better communication on defense and a more balance running attack.   

[Cisc-O's]

Rob, Manning has not really had zip he just throws to a spot.  That is why timing is important for Manning at this stage in his career. 

 

I think we played well in certain aspects of the game.  Jones looked good going underneath and I thought Clark took some huge hits and will get his feet under him for the next game.  Sizzle and Doom looked ok.  I was hoping for more constant pressure.  Mile high first game you give them a bit of a pass.  Ngata looked good yesterday stuffing the run 1st-4qt.  Hopefully he can start generating more pressure and collapsing the line.  I thought Canty looked ok and held up the line.  Huff, Smith, and Graham got picked on a lot and exposed.  I bet they were very underwhelming in their ratings.  Webb returning punts is mind boggling. 

 

Gino was getting a huge push in the first half it looked good.  Second half he fell off it could because the line was down graded when Oher went out.