^I tend to agree with Stinger; the offense needs to play. On defense, anyone that's banged up should be rested as possible. Go in with some momentum if you can.
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^I tend to agree with Stinger; the offense needs to play. On defense, anyone that's banged up should be rested as possible. Go in with some momentum if you can.
While the Ravens have never been in this situation before under Harbaugh (virtually nothing to play for in week 17), perhaps one clue can be taken from how he's handled week 4 of the preseason. Even though the argument could be made that the starters need a tune-up or momentum, he has consistently rested everybody. I could be wrong but I think we see Tyrod time in the 2nd quarter.
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We will likely see the first string offense on the field to pad their stats for the season for at least a quarter. Joe will try and get over the 4k yard mark, Torrey will try and get 150 yards on the day to go over 1k yards, Pierce will likely try and get over he 500 yard mark. Rice is already at 1.1k yards and doesn't have much to play for. I expect everyone on defense to be rested. Rest Ellerbe, Suggs, Ngata, Reed, and Pollard.
Win or lose next week, I'd rather lose. I think this team has to live with the fact their indiscretions earlier will force them to be road warriors during the playoffs. They've proved in the past they can go on the road and win playoff football games.
That being said, the offense needs to keep rolling. I've looked at Flaccos QB rating all year and it reads like a roller coaster ride. He's never followed up a 100+ QB rating game with a consecutive one. He needs to gain some confidence and CONSISTENCY. They need to keep rolling on offense and not let up. Caldwell needs all the experience he can get in different game situations.
The defense can rest, Pees knows how work a healthy defense (for the most part).
I agree. I wouldn't say the Ravens are psychologically fragile. In fact, they're the opposite. They're winners, and winners aren't (usually) soft. But after breaking a three-game losing streak against a Manning brother? I say keep up the steam. We clearly thrive when we are confident in ourselves.
Who do you play and who do you sit?
How long do you play Flacco/Rice etc ?
IMO- You play the normal game with those ready to play. This team needs to keep building on last week! Too often we have seen teams screw up by "resting" players!
If they want to play, Harbaugh will let them play........maybe Pierce sees more action, and Ngata gets less reps.
Danell Ellerbee is another guy we really need to have for the playoffs, and a rested Yanda too.
But its kind of a meaningless game, as soon as its over it about next week.
I just don't see the usual smash mouth stuff we do.....
I don't see how we beat the Bengals on the road if we rest our injured players AND rely on a gameplan (offensive and defensive) that is deliberately vanilla because we don't want to show too much to the Bengals (and the other playoff-bound teams) just a few weeks before we might play them again in the playoffs.
I'm not sure what the best decision is here: I can see both sides of the argument, and how both sides have merit.