Baltimore Ravens Fanatics

While the Ravens aren't where I would like them to be record wise, I have to agree that we should be happy at this point.  I remember the beginning of last season when we had no idea what Flacco would do.  He went from 3rd string QB to starter very quickly and with his college backround and our luck with QB's, I didn't expect much.  It's great to see the offense winning games instead of relying solely on the D.  Our D isn't what it used to be, Ray's getting old and our secondary blows (except Reed of course and while he's a monster, he can't play all four positions). I agree that we're not getting a ton of pressure on the QB which makes our secondary even worse.  The good news is we have a great O-line that should be in place for years, a QB with a ton of talent and a great head on his shoulders and Reed, T-Sizzle and Nota will be great cornerstones to grow our defense on.  I think we're gonna see some early picks on the defensive side of the ball in next years draft if the talents available and things will only get better from there.  My wish list has a smothering corner, a speed DE and maybe a couple of LB's and a WR in the middle and late rounds.  Ozzies great at finding bargains in the draft, so we should be okay.  And it's pretty solid that we'll get to the playoffs this year too!  What's to complain about?  We're good now and we have a shot to be great in the near future......sounds like a deal to me.

Instead of crying about being 3-3 at the bye week, and how many of you honestly thought we'd be any better than that at this point, why don't we celebrate how well our star quarterback and star running back are performing so far. Whens the last time anyone in B-more got excited every week about our offense. What's happening so far is great. Sure I would have liked to have had more wins at this point but we have a good team. They're a play-off caliber team too. Look at what Rice has accomplished so far. Most combined yards from scimmage so far. Look at what Flacco is doing in only his second full year in the NFL. Stovers not coming back. Sure he probably would have made that kick sunday but he was beginning to be a liability from over 40 yards. Give Houshka a chance to redeem himself before we burn him at the stake. Is the secondary as bad as they look. Where is the pressure on the QB been this year. I think the D will come around and the Ravens will rebound and make the play-offs. Landry and Walker should sit though. We have players that can do better than either of these guys on our roster.

Can I ask all you Ravens fans out there that at the start of the season would you think our beloved Ravens would be 3-3 at the bye week?  Would you have really cared about our team's power ranking?  Would we all be calling for the Defensive Coordinators head?  Of course not.  And for all you out there who are trying to kill the new kicker on Talk Radio in lew of Matt Stover signing w/ the Colts, you're NUTS.  Stover was 5-10 from 40+.  Remember that!  Although the arguement can be made that Stover's roster spots was cleared for say, Frank Walker or LJ Smith!  Who between the two of them can't get out of their own way.  Smith is a bust, and Walker needs 2 safetys to help him in coverage on one play.  I will say though, the play of Safety Dawan Landry is diconcerting.  I understand that he signed a big deal BEFORE Leonhard had a great year, but still, Landry could show some skills at least.  On the second TD to Shancoe, I think LAndry was trying to cover the ghost of John Kennedy. 

Anyways, our beloved Ravens are probably going to have to go 7-3 to make the playoffs with some tough sledding ahead.  Two games w/ the dreaded Pittsburgh Steelers, a home game against the Indy Colts (which our #2 Defense from last year had severe issues with . . .), and a tough divisional game against the resurging Bengals.  There's some tough games ahead, and a lot of tough questions to yet still answer.

But if anything to be proud of, Cool Joe Flacco!  There's nothing more to say on that.  Also, the play of Ray Rice has been rediculous.  These two studs have kept us both of the last two losses.  The squad on the offensive side of the ball has been the biggest surprise of them all, ranking 7th through Week 6 in total offense.

I would like to spur some good conversation on the BRIGHT spots of this year's teams, not the negatives.  Let's Go Ravens!

                                  POWER RANKINGS AND A LOOK TOWARD THE WEEKEND AGAINST THE Browns

Last week we were ranked number 10 in the power ratings by www.cbssportsline.com.  After the huge win on Sunday against the Chargers, who were previously ranked number 5 or 6 I knew that we were going to be climbing up the ladder.  In an article in SI they are ranking us number one because of the win against the Chargers.

"It was a real debate on whether to elevate the Ravens or the Saints to the top spot this week. Both have featured dynamic offenses thus far, with defenses giving up about 25 points per game. But the Ravens get the nod, based on the quality of their Week 2 win. They won at San Diego against a healthy Philip Rivers . The Saints won at Philadelphia, with an injured Donovan McNabb playing spectator. And if you're wondering, I checked and the Ravens and Saints don't play this season. Unless it's in Miami in early February. Can I get a mulligan on my Super Bowl pick? "  Don Banks, SI Power Rankings Specialists.

 

Normally I don't care about the Power Rankings because what do they really mean anyway?? But, I am extremely happy too finally see the Ravens get the respect that they deserve.

I can't wait for this weekend! Our defensive backfield needs to step up and get back in sync after getting scorched in San Diego. I'm not going to quite light the cigar yet, because on any given Sunday anything can happen but the Browns really do look bad this year under Mangini.  Our offense is just on fire right now with Flacco throwing close to 500 yds and 5 TD's so far, on a team that is "suppose to be a run based team".  Our running backs and O line is playing great.  Overall our Offense is argueably one of the best in the league right now.  And the good thing about our offense its not all just one player blowing up the spot light we are playing great offense as a team!!

So, Cleveland I hope your in store for a very long Sunday because Flacco is going to be hitting Mason, Heap, and Clayton all over the field. Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, and Le'Ron McClain are going to run the ball straight down your throught.  And our defense is going to tear it up.  Being a Notre Dame fan I was a fan of Brady Quinn in college, but I don't know what is going on with this guy?  So Brady I am sorry that you are going to get sacked, slammed on the ground, and intercepted all game long!

After this week the Raven community will be partying and celebrating a division victory, and being 3-0!! GO RAVENS BABY!!!

Is it just me or are other Raven fans concerned about our defense?  Thank goodness for our offense stepping up and being up to actually put points on the board or we would be 0-2. 

What is going on with our defense?  It doesn't seem like we ae putting enough pressure on the QB's that we have faced, giving them the oppurtunity to make the big play. I don't like that Phillip Rivers set a career high passing yards record against our defense.  What are we doing wrong?  Is our defense line not getting to the Quarterback fast enough allowing him to make the big play downfield? Or is it our defensive back field with just bad match ups?  Going up against Wide Receivers that are 6'5 plus.  Or could it be the loss of Rex Ryan and his defensive schemes?   After watching the Patriots game yesterday then watching the Ravens game right after that, it really looked like the Jets have the Ravens defense of last year.  All i know if that the our defense really needs to step it up because when we play teams that have great defenses and were not putting up 25+ points..it might be a little hard to get the win. 

On a good note, our defense did make some clutch plays the two interceptions and that last play stuff by Ray Lewis! That might have been one of the best defensive plays I have ever seen. And did anyone else see Troy Smith on the sidelines when Ray made that tackled he jumped 8 feet in the air!! It was great!  I was listening to 98 rock (Baltimore Radio Station) and they were interviewing Jarrett Johnson and he said that, that play wasn't a designed blitz which I thought it was.  It was just Ray Lewis reading the play and making a huge play!  The end of that game was seriously like something out of a movie and for Ray Lewis to make that play was great. 

One last thing I just want to say Good job to special teams, playing a lot better then last week! Now lets keep this win streak going and get out there and woop up on the Browns next week!  GO RAVENS!!!