Bring on the Ravens

[RealityCheck52]

Unfortunately it still remains that the big playmakers you have on D are the old boys, (Reed, Lewis, Suggs, etc).

Suggs is old ??

lol.

Who is etc ?

Our leading DB in interceptions is a young spritely fellow called Ladarius Webb.. tell Brady to avoid throwing in his direction.

This myth has been busted.

Next.

 

[Tunescribe]

Flacco's confidence soars against bottom of the league pass defenses.

Can you cite examples of this? The reason I ask is because the guy really seems like a head case, especially lately. And having a veteran on his own team calling him out on national radio before the biggest game of the year cannot bode well. Add to that the Ravens' road woes, crowd noise, etc., and Flacco should be primed for a meltdown. I'd be worried if I were you. He's definitely not "poise personified."

 

[i82much]

Ok, but that is not what I see when I watch him each week.

Lets say that is the case and you are correct. How do you explain Rice being the leading receiver on the team? And how does he only have a 57% completion rate with Boldin, Smith, Evans, Pitta and ****son? Surely a QB who is reading through his progressions would be able to find one of them open down field and wouldn't be over reliant on dumping it off to his RB?

I think there are a few things going on. I watch a lot of Ravens games, I'm a huge fan. So I'm biased too, keep that in mind. But ...

(1) Flacco's #1 job is not to turn the ball over. With that in mind, the Ravens don't run a lot of over the middle routes, especially in games where they are ahead. I mean consider the Houston game - you see a lot of routes where Flacco is expected to throw the ball where the defender can't possibly get it. Low percentage move, maybe, but we've got a good punter and defense.

(2) A *lot* of the passes are downfield. A lot. Not many intermediate routes, relatively speaking. Naturally those are fairly low-percentage.

(3) Torrey is a rookie, Evans was new to the team and got hurt. A lot of learning curve this year. Getting better.

(4) Drops. Way too many.

All of the above is true to an extent, but I'll be the first to admit that excuses usually have a ring of truth to them. Flacco is both the guy who drove us down for the game-winning TD in Pittsburgh and the guy who holds the ball too long and gets strip sacked. He can make any throw in the game but his decisions are sometimes puzzling. It is what it is.

 

[i82much]

It is no "argument".

It is a simple math fact.

They played 7 games against 6 teams who would have had been 8-7 (8-6, in the case of the Jets), without the losses to the Patriots.

Then they blasted one of those teams all over again Saturday night.

Right. But the teams that the Ravens beat also got another loss as well. So as a basis for comparison between the two teams I don't see how it really matters.

Look at it how you please. IMHO, that is pretty classic picking and choosing your numbers to support your preferences. We all do it, I'm just pointing it out.

 

[RealityCheck52]

There are always a bunch of different ways of looking at things. I'm a Ravens fan. I try to be rational. I think it would be pretty hard to dispute that some of our victories (Pitt x2, SF) are more impressive than anything the Pats have done this year in terms of beating tough opponents. But of course that's just a function of who it is that you played, right? Can't blame the Pats for not playing many winning teams.

I don't know about the argument that some of the teams the Pats beat would have had winning records but for their losses to the Pats. The teams that lost to the Ravens lost those games and *still* had losing records, so I think that argument cuts both ways.

The big issue for the Ravens is consistency. There are days when the whole team shows up and they are practically unbeatable. Those days haven't happened often enough and they haven't happened much on the road.

Bottom line is there are a lot of ways to look at the various records and stats, but I do think you have to be mindful of your own biases when you do so.

They lost against every playoff team with a winning record they played ! We would not be having this discussion if their schedule was say like the Ravens (8 games against playoff teams)

 

[i82much]

They lost against every playoff team with a winning record they played ! We would not be having this discussion if their schedule was say like the Ravens (8 games against playoff teams)

I tend to see every side of an argument. We beat better teams than they did but we lost some pretty awful games. Bottom line to me is that the Ravens have not been terribly consistent. We play like we are capable of and I think we can beat anybody, but looking at our season as a whole it is pretty clear we do not consistently bring our A-game.

 

[shmessy]

I tend to see every side of an argument. We beat better teams than they did but we lost some pretty awful games. Bottom line to me is that the Ravens have not been terribly consistent. We play like we are capable of and I think we can beat anybody, but looking at our season as a whole it is pretty clear we do not consistently bring our A-game.

Your team is pretty damn consistent at home.

 

[Tunescribe]

They lost against every playoff team with a winning record they played ! We would not be having this discussion if their schedule was say like the Ravens (8 games against playoff teams)

Still awaiting response from you to my posts #512 and 520. The closer I look at the Ravens, the more Flacco seems like a genuine liability -- 22 turnovers this season?! Including 10 fumbles?! He has no mobility in or out of the pocket and completed just 57 percent of his passes in a year when quarterbacks set records all over the place. Pretty mediocre stuff there.

 

[mgcolby]

You were probably watching the games where he was playing against top 10 pass defenses.. which were the majority of games.

Nice answer.

I watched every game except the week 16 game, against a top 10 passing defense. But funny Brady didn't have any problems throwing the ball down the field against top 10 defenses.

 

[i82much]

Still awaiting response from you to my posts #512 and 520. The closer I look at the Ravens, the more Flacco seems like a genuine liability -- 22 turnovers this season?! Including 10 fumbles?! He has no mobility in or out of the pocket and completed just 57 percent of his passes in a year when quarterbacks set records all over the place. Pretty mediocre stuff there.

Sorta. He's mobile enough when he decides to run, he doesn't decide well enough. Holds onto the ball too long and gets strip sacked too often. Getting better but not great. Low completion percentage is partly due to drops, partly due to a lot of long low-percentage routes, and partly due to games where Flacco is just plain terrible. But hey, he's also the same guy who orchestrated that huge game-winning drive in Pittsburgh. So it's hardly all bad.

 

[Tunescribe]

Sorta. He's mobile enough when he decides to run, he doesn't decide well enough. Holds onto the ball too long and gets strip sacked too often. Getting better but not great. Low completion percentage is partly due to drops, partly due to a lot of long low-percentage routes, and partly due to games where Flacco is just plain terrible. But hey, he's also the same guy who orchestrated that huge game-winning drive in Pittsburgh. So it's hardly all bad.

And the same guy who spit the bit in Jacksonville almost single-handed. He looked poor against Houston. I smell the Ravens' Achilles heel in "Statue Joe."

 

[flynismo]

Nice answer.

I watched every game except the week 16 game, against a top 10 passing defense. But funny Brady didn't have any problems throwing the ball down the field against top 10 defenses.

I remember how he shredded the Steelers D.

And killed BUF. No, not the one where BUF picked him off 4 times and beat him, the other time you played them. Wait...BUF isn't a top 10 defense, nevermind that...

 

[i82much]

And the same guy who spit the bit in Jacksonville almost single-handed. He looked poor against Houston. I smell the Ravens' Achilles heel in "Statue Joe."

I think Collinsworth's comments in the other thread are worth listening to if you really thought he played that bad against Houston. Jacksonville I agree.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Your analysis of Flacco is incorrect. His pocket awareness and read progressions are greatly improved from his 1 and dump days.

Bottom line is he will make plays against your defense, he has the weapons to do so (Boldin, Smith, Evans, Pitta, ****son, Rice)

My prediction once again is that the QB Ratings of Flacco and Brady will be very similar at the end of the game.

If all of that is true, then how do you explain Flacco's 57.6% completion rate, which ranked 26th in the NFL this year - behind Rex Grossman and Kevin Kolb, two guys who are very unlikely to be starting next year? Same goes for his 24th-ranked 6.66 yards per pass attempt, and the TD:INT ratio.

Even if you say that is not Flacco but other factors (receivers, coaches, etc.) causing those low rankings, the 2011 Ravens passing game is still the same regardless.

Before you respond by saying he'll have a career day because of the Patriots pass defense, I'll preemptively say that team yardage stats are relatively meaningless. Of the top ten "officially' (i.e., by yardage) ranked defenses, five made the playoffs and five did not - which are the identical numbers for the bottom ten defenses based on yardage!

One stat that has been proven to matter is turnovers though. The Ravens defense forced 26 turnovers; the Pats defense forced 34 turnovers. On offense the Ravens turned the ball over 24 times; the Pats turned the ball over 17 times.

Can the Ravens win? Absolutely; only a fool or a blind homer would think otherwise. From before the season began Baltimore was considered by most to be the team most likely to stand in the way of a return to the Super Bowl for the Patriots, and the season has proven that prediction to be valid. It's a very compelling matchup and should be a great game.

However I don't see why one would think that Flacco will have as good a game as Brady will unless it is wishful thinking brought on by blind homerism.

 

[Tunescribe]

I think Collinsworth's comments in the other thread are worth listening to if you really thought he played that bad against Houston. Jacksonville I agree.

I think the bigger point in all this is if the chips are down and it's all on his shoulders in a playoff game, the odds aren't in Baltimore's favor.

 

[flynismo]

If all of that is true, then how do you explain Flacco's 57.6% completion rate, which ranked 26th in the NFL this year - behind Rex Grossman and Kevin Kolb, two guys who are very unlikely to be starting next year? Same goes for his 24th-ranked 6.66 yards per pass attempt, and the TD:INT ratio.

Even if you say that is not Flacco but other factors (receivers, coaches, etc.) causing those low rankings, the 2011 Ravens passing game is still the same regardless.

Before you respond by saying he'll have a career day because of the Patriots pass defense, I'll preemptively say that team yardage stats are relatively meaningless. Of the top ten "officially' (i.e., by yardage) ranked defenses, five made the playoffs and five did not - which are the identical numbers for the bottom ten defenses based on yardage!

One stat that has been proven to matter is turnovers though. The Ravens defense forced 26 turnovers; the Pats defense forced 34 turnovers. On offense the Ravens turned the ball over 24 times; the Pats turned the ball over 17 times.

Can the Ravens win? Absolutely; only a fool or a blind homer would think otherwise. From before the season began Baltimore was considered by most to be the team most likely to stand in the way of a return to the Super Bowl for the Patriots, and the season has proven that prediction to be valid. It's a very compelling matchup and should be a great game.

However I don't see why one would think that Flacco will have as good a game as Brady will unless it is wishful thinking brought on by blind homerism.

You dont see why a talented, if inconsistent player, could have a better day going against your defense than Brady going against ours?

You either underestimate Flacco or our defense, or overrate Brady.

 

[Ron Sellers]

They lost against every playoff team with a winning record they played ! We would not be having this discussion if their schedule was say like the Ravens (8 games against playoff teams)

Is there someplace that shows a correlation between a club's record versus team's that finished with a winning record, and their playoff success? You've been asked this before but keep ignoring the question; do you want a serious discussion of this game or are you just trolling?

Just for the record the Patriots also won seven games (eight including playoffs) against teams that if that opponent had won instead of lost, they would have finished with a winning record.

 

[i82much]

I think the bigger point in all this is if the chips are down and it's all on his shoulders in a playoff game, the odds aren't in Baltimore's favor.

I guess all I can say is baby steps. That was probably what Steelers fans were thinking with about two minutes left a few months ago. Agree the QB matchup goes to NE - no doubt. For us it's "good Joe" or "bad Joe" but there really is no "bad TB." So we go in Sunday and see which Joe we've got.

 

[Bella*chick]

You dont see why a talented, if inconsistent player, could have a better day going against your defense than Brady going against ours?

You either underestimate Flacco or our defense, or overrate Brady.

As if it's possible to overrate Brady.

 

[Tunescribe]

You dont see why a talented, if inconsistent player, could have a better day going against your defense than Brady going against ours?

You either underestimate Flacco or our defense, or overrate Brady.

How, exactly, is Flacco talented if he's inconsistent? Especially at the one position on a football team that demands consistency? He's well below average in accuracy, a poor ball handler and immobile. He's more a potential liability than winning asset. The best you can hope for him is minimal mistakes with a ball-control offense riding the back of the defense.