mayoclinic

Dear H8R, Decleetz52, Flynismo, BaltimoreFan06, and all the rest:

Great game. Amazing game. Truly a playoff caliber game in early October, in terms of both intensity and level of play. I think the better team won today, but neither team is better by very much. Congratulations on a terrific performance by a terrific team, despite the result being in our favor.

Some thoughts:

1. I really wasn't sure coming in to this game if Baltimore was a championship caliber team. I am now. Your team is the real deal. It is far and away the most balanced and complete Ravens team I have ever seen - not as dominant defensively as some of the past teams, but much better overall. I would have to say that out of our top AFC competitors (Steelers, Colts, Chargers and you guys; the Jets still need to prove they belong there) you are by far the most complete team. I would say that only the Pats and the Giants are as complete.

2. More than anything I was impressed with how professional this Ravens team was. The change from late 2007 is stunning. Harbaugh has brought tremendous professionalism and consistency to the team. There was no wasted effort on trash and no stupid penalties, just 60 minutes of intense football. Kudos to your organization and team for turning itself around.

3. Joe Flacco is the real deal. I've been a big Matt Ryan fan, but so far Flacco was by far the best QB we've faced this year, and looks like he is a potential future perennial pro bowler. Tremendous performance in a high pressure game.

4. I hope Jared Gaither is ok. Hopefully it's just a stinger. You hate to see any player go down. Obviously that was a big loss for you. I hope it's short term. One of the things to learn in becoming a top team is to deal with the injuries and still find a way to win, as we've had to do without Mayo and with other players out for key games (Welker, Wilfork).

Your team pushed us to the wall. I have nothing but respect for how they played. I said earlier in the week that we have a lot more speed and athleticism on defense than we used to have, and I think that's what saved us (barely) in the end. But you certainly played well enough to win.

I hope you guys crush Pittsburgh twice and that we meet in the AFCCG. That would be a good one.

You've been great posters all week, and the game lived up to expectations. Build on this, and we will hopefully meet again this season.

Vade in pacem,

MC

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BradyFTW!

Agreed, especially re: the Balt. fans that were here this week. Great crowd- lots of information put out there, very little trash talk. Pretty much ideal, and a welcome change from the endless parade of defects that come trolling through here on a weekly basis. Hoping to hear some good news about Gaither in the next day or two.

DefenseRules

Great Post. I agree. Joe Flacco is the real deal. I really like the way he plays the game. He really impressed me.

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AKA "Ladypatsfan"

Baltimorefan06

Fixed.

I appreciate the sentiment in your post, as I'm sure most other Ravens fans will.

I think that the officiating was pretty absurdly tilted in favor of New England, but we still had the opportunity to win the game with under 30 seconds left, so I'm not going to say that the calls were what ultimately decided the game.

Our CBs straight-up blow hard, and that concerns me as they're pretty much the only weakness on the entire team, but against quality quarterbacks like Brady/Rivers, they literally do nothing at all.

It's obvious that Brady/Welker/Moss and co. will eventually click on all cylinders, and that offense will be elite.

However, to be quite honest, although the defense shows some promise for the future, they are far from top-tier in 2009. That being said, they're probably "good enough" to win a Super Bowl as your offense is absurdly potent. Maybe I'm just underrating our offense, though.

Edit - I'm actually a bit torn on the Pats' D as the Ravens ran up and down the field on New England, but the Patriots were able to keep Baltimore out of the endzone, and their schemes did look good sans the final drive. Again, maybe I'm underrating Baltimore's offense.

Eh, this still hurts, but considering that we haven't lost more than two games in the past eight months or so, I think we can build from this.

Great game, and I'm confident that we'll either see you, or Indianapolis again.

reflexblue

Joe Flacco is for real, Baltimore is a very good team that could have won today...good luck except if we meet again.

To the Ravens fan i meet and gave my issue of "The Economist" to read on the flight to Hartford if you see this......good luck unless we see you again.

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We're on a mission this year".....Tom Brady 8/13/09

Time to Embrace the Hate Again. Just remember it's born of envy and jealousy

Never under estimate the power of a large group of Stupid people.
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convertedpatsfan

Agreed on all points. Flacco has really impressed me, and he doesn't have a true #1 WR yet. The team's composure on that last drive in hostile territory with the game on the line was amazing, full credit to coach Harbaugh and Flacco and the entire team for a great game.

And the Ravens posters were really great this week, thanks for sharing your insights on your team. I learned a lot.

mayoclinic

Not sure about the officiating. I missed parts of the first half. Usually both sides feel they've been robbed. I will say that I didn't think we got the first down on the 4th down fake field goal pass. That seemed like a generous call for us, and certainly a crucial one. I'm not sure I saw any others that were blatant though.

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Baltimorefan06

The two roughing the passers were pretty ridiculous in my mind.

The first was just a bit ticky-tacky, but the PF on Suggs was absurd. The referees were basically judging Terrell's intent as he never actually touched the quarterback, and, without trying to sound bitter, if it hadn't been Tom Brady, the superstar quarterback who had previously suffered a knee injury, I'm not sure the flag would have been thrown.

Pat the Pats Fan

It was the same play that took Brady out last year. That's the new rule. it was a good call.

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TB3 is now just TB. Tedy and Troy for Pat's HOF!!

juny

Did you not listen to the announcers? Any contact with the head is a flag which would explain the first one. Also Flacco got a "ticky-tacky" one there too for "blow to the head". The Suggs play was called because it was a hit below the knees. So you can think they were BS calls, but they were the CORRECT calls. For the record, I'm not a fan of all these new rules.