Baltimore Ravens Discussion

[coordinator0]

In Cameron's system it's pretty easy to incorporate a guy that can be a deep threat, especially when the team didn't have one at the time. That's one of the big reasons I really wanted Stephen Hill in the draft. Jones should have a positive impact this year too if Cameron uses him.

[niel89]

Honestly Torrey is the only legit deep threat Joe has had so far in his career. Other players we tried just weren't that good or got hurt. Flacco has a cannon and now he has more of an opportunity to use it. Were going to attack deep much more I hope with some actual speed outside.

[coordinator0]

I found this little nugget in a fantasy football article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/fo...ionschargerswr

Norv Turner's offense prizes downfield passing, and Rivers has the perfect wing for it; his 51 attempts that traveled 40-plus yards in the air from 2008 to 2011 is second highest among NFL quarterbacks -- only Joe Flacco has more.

He's probably not the leader for 20/30+ yard throws but Flacco likes to launch it deep. What they have to do now is become more efficient.

[niel89]

I didn't even realize. It might be easier when its not Derrick Mason and Boldin being the deep guys.

I think Joe can blow up with his deep ball with actually deep guys and some time to dial it in. He still has quite a few overthrows but I hope he can reel those in with some time.

[Ravens1991]

I'm looking forward to seeing Bernard pierce today

[niel89]

I want to see more of the passing game tonight, especially with out 2 TEs out. Pierce will be interesting as well. I also want to see Kruger/Kindle/Upshaw to see how that group is working out. I also want to see how Cody and Kemo do

[Ravens1991]

After yesterday I'm real nervous bout our pass rush and online

[BigDawg819]

So this team is looking like hot garbage 2 games into preseason

[coordinator0]

The first team offense and defense played well last night, for as little as we saw them on the field. We should get a better look next game if they keep the starters out there longer. Right now I'm not making assumptions about how good or bad the team is as a whole because preseason games aren't a very good indicator at all. Some of the individual performances are a bit concerning though, particularly Cary Williams getting beat like a rug the last couple of weeks. Of course the Ravens won't see anything like the WR corps of the Falcons and Lions in the regular season but it's something to keep track of.

[BamaFalcon59]

Tyrod Taylor, what you guys think?

[Ravens1991]

I like him as a back up. Ill take him over Painter i figure if Joe gets hurt and misses a few series he can come in be a spark plug until Joe comes in.



It looks like Tucker will be our kicker. Thank goodness

[TACKLE]

Originally Posted by BamaFalcon59

Tyrod Taylor, what you guys think?

I feel comfortable with him as our #2. He's shown solid progression from year one to year two. I would trust him to hold things together for a couple games if Flacco did go down.

[America]

Shefter tweeted Cundiff got the axe. Tucker is a tool but I'm happy about this move.

[niel89]

I have no confidence in Cundiff hitting a game winner at any point this season so it had to be done. A rookie kicker is no sure thing, but I'll take that gamble over Cundiff.

[Ravens1991]

QB-Flacco/Taylor
RB-Rice/Pierce/Rainey
FB-Leach
WR-Boldin/Jones/Williams
TE-DIckson/Pitta/Bajema
LT-McKinnie/Harewood
LG-Williams/KO
C-Birk/GRadkowski
RG-Yanda/Boren
RT-Oher/Reid/COrnell
WR-Smith/Thompson/Doss


DE-Ngata/Hall
DT-Cody/Kemo
DE-McPhee/Jones
OLB-Kruger/Kindle
MLB-Lewis/Ellerbe/Ayanbedejo
MLB-McClain/Carr
OLB-Upshaw/McCllelan
CB-Webb/Williams
FS-Reed/Thompson
SS-Pollard/Brown
CB-Smith/Graham/Jackson

LS-Cox
K-Tucker
P-Koch


My prediction for the 53 man roster.

[coordinator0]

11 guys on the OL is a ton. Here's my shot at it.

QB: Flacco, Taylor
RB: Rice, Pierce, Rainey
FB: Leach
WR: Boldin, Smith, Jones, Williams, Doss, Streeter, Thompson
TE: Dickson, Pitta, Bajema
LT: McKinnie
LG: Williams, Osemele
C: Birk, Gradkowski
RG: Yanda
RT: Oher, Reid

DT: Ngata, Hall, Tyson
NT: Cody, Kemoeatu
DE: McPhee, Jones
RUSH: Kruger, McClellan, Williams
WILL: McClain, Ayanbadejo
MIKE: Lewis, Ellerbe
SAM: Upshaw, Kindle
CB: Webb, Smith, Williams, Graham, Gorrer, Jackson
FS: Reed, Brown
SS: Pollard, Thompson

K: Tucker
P: Koch
LS: Cox

The thing I feel least confident about is the bottom of the WR group. It doesn't seem likely that they keep 7 of them but I feel like Streeter and/or Thompson are both better than anybody else that could get a spot. Streeter might be a candidate for one of those questionable IR moves the team likes to make with young guys to keep them with the team. I doubt he would clear waivers if they cut him to put him on the practice squad. Thompson probably would but I think he's played well enough to make the team.

I'm really hoping that they don't waste a roster spot on Considine but I don't trust Harbaugh to let one of "his guys" go. Getting a different veteran backup S via free agency is something very likely in my opinion, and I think Brown would be the guy to go (and end up on the practice squad).

With the versatility of Oher, Yanda, and the depth guys on the OL there isn't much of a reason to carry too many of them. Cornell is a very likely practice squad candidate and I think Boren could end up there too (if he's eligible, I'm not familiar with those rules). Harewood is at the end of his Ravens career in my opinion.

The case could be made for Berry but I think they will only keep 4 guys in the backfield. I can't think of anybody else that sticks out as deserving of a roster spot.

[TheBoyWonder22]

Hello Ravens fans! As some of you know, I lost an avy bet to JoeJoeBrown and I wanted to see if anybody would be down to hook me up with a sick ass Ravens avatar before kickoff. Let me know if you're interested either here or in a pm. I'll be repping all of you guys as the season goes on, but I'll try to think of something more creative for the artist. Thanks bros!

[Ravens1991]

I loved what I saw today from us. I hope our offense can look like this. One good game is not going to change 3 wasted years by Cameron. I just hope the offense looks like this the rest of the season.


Honestly what surprised me the most was Ray Lewis. IDK how the weight loss was going to effect his play but he was a animal out there.

[TACKLE]

- How can you not be thrilled about that offensive performance? I'm not sure I can remember a more efficient offensive performance in my time as a Raven fan.

- Very interesting that we had KO and Harewood starting with McKinnie and Williams dressed and on the bench. Not sure any of us would have predicted that as our week 1 and possibly season long starting group even a couple weeks ago. As a unit, they did an awesome job at opening holes for Raymell. Oher played a very good game at LT. KO was very solid and was opening some big holes. I love what a nasty finisher he is too. Harewood looked promising, especially as a run blocker. If no huddle is going to continue to be a prominent thing for us, having younger guys who can move and play at that tempo is key. Not that they're are incapable of performing in it, but when I think of up-tempo and no huddle offense, I don't think of Bryant McKinnie and Bobbie Williams. For now, I have no problem at all with this being the starting group moving forward.

- Jacoby Jones looks like just what we need as our #3 WR. Hopefully he can be what Lee Evans was supposed to be.

- Defensively, one week in I have no issues with Pees. It's clear that were not going to get the same level of pass rush with a 4 man rush without Suggs. McClellan and Upshaw aren't ready to be impact pass rushers yet. They did a really good job at manufacturing pressure, especially with those blitzes from Webb. We're going to need to blitz a lot this year and I think we will, but if that's the case we really need Cary and Jimmy to take that next step because this defense is going to demand more out of them.

- This Ray Lewis guy...he might end up being a pretty good player one day. Boy did he look good. He was noticeably a lot faster. 14 tackles, 1 sack, 1 ff and was strong in coverage too.

- Congrats to Ed Reed on breaking the return yards record. Greatest safety of all time. It felt like 2004 out there with Ray getting 14 tackles and Ed getting a pick 6.

[A Perfect Score]

For all my offseason criticisms of the Ravens, I agree with everything TACKLE said. We looked stellar last night. I was actually most impressed by the pass rush, I had no idea we'd be able to generate that kind of pressure without Suggs. Oher looked absolutely awesome at LT, we all knew he had it in him, it's time to put it together once and for all.

Dare I say...Hesitant optimism that Joe Flacco has turned the corner? A few suspect throws here and there, but overall he looked very crisp.

[Ngatachance92]

This is the year of the Flacco, buckle up gentleman.

[Sloopy]

Really impressed by a number of things here.

- Oher looked GOOD at LT. Feet looked better than I ever would have expected. Didn't mess up any assignments that I saw, no stupid penalties. Not much more I could ask for

- Birk is going to be a weak point on this line again this year. Getting blown up a lot more than he should.

- Pitta is a beast.

- I really like where this offense is going. I don't even mind the flubbed double end around, I liked the play call even if it didn't work. I think we really had a great blend of run and pass, I didn't even mind that Rice only had 10 carries.

- (offense continued) Again, I really like where this offense is going, we are really beginning to play to Flacco's strengths with more deep balls.

- On defense, our stars picked up the slack where Suggs left off. Ray looked damn good and so did Ed Reed. Loved the wrap up on Ellis by Ray.

- Pollard is looking good. He played well and I'm glad to see that last year wasn't a one year thing. It seems like he is really settling in as an asset to this defense.

-T.Smith is really molding into a #1 type guy. That first deep ball out of the gate to him in traffic I thought would surely be a drop. Can't tell you how excited I was when he came up with it. Really improving his concentration while making the catch, following it all the way into his hands

[America]

Thought you guys might be interested to hear that Vontaze Burfict will be starting today for the Bungles.

Same old Joe...following a great game with complete garbage. That second half was pathetic.

[Ravens1991]

Joe was terrible the 2nd half. But where was the no huddle? I was nervous Cam would still be Cam and somehow **** something up. Pees was vanilla too but at least he wasnt Mattison bad.

[BmoreBlackByrdz]

Justin Tucker is the ******* man!!!!