This team won't have a chance at competing if we pay Flacco big money

[leachisabeast]

People can -- and do -- find every other possible variable for the Ravens' success over the past 5 years OTHER than Joe. And I honestly just don't get it. The Ravens have had much better D's prior to Joe's arrival.

Seriously?

After fielding the best defense in the history of football in 2000 (when we won the SB which we haven't done with Joe btw). Here are the defensive rankings that totally unsupport that argument.

This pro-football-reference.com that have a much better system of rankings defenses.

2001: 4th ranked overall defense
2002: 19th ranked defense
2003: 6th ranked defense
2004: 6th ranked defense
2005: 10th ranked defense
2006: Top ranked defense
2007: 22nd ranked defense

Now prior to this year lets take a look at the defensive rankings since Joes been here.

2008: 3rd ranked defense
2009: 3rd ranked defense
2010: 3rd ranked defense
2011: 3rd ranked defense

That seems like a much more consistent defensive unit than what we had over the years between 2000 and 2007 (before Joe got here), and that is in a much more passing friendly league. It's funny how this year we field one of the worst defenses and Joe has clearly struggled most this year with that fact. We are probably going to have a 10-6 or 9-7 season (off the back of some really lucky and fluky wins), which is lower than any other season since Joe's been here apart from 2009.

If you mean we had a much meaner looking defense that gave up penalty after penalty playing undisciplined football under the great Brian Billick and Rex Ryan, then maybe you do have a point. But our defenses since 08 until this year has been better overall.

And one more defining point that I notice a lot of people don't like hearing around here. Most of Joe's wins have been when Rice has touched the ball more than 20 times in a game and averaged over 4 yards a carry, not when Joe has thrown the ball more than 40 times a game.

It is clear that this team are successful when we pound the ball 30 times a game and play great defense, we need a combination of both back, while letting Flacco effectively run the game at a reasonable price, not 100 million. We are just not a passing team, we have never had success trying to air it our on a consistent basis.