Ray Rice has been quiet

[AirFlacco]

Exactly. Pierce is better at working with his blockers, waiting for the hole to open, and hitting it. Ray is better when he catches a short pass against a linebacker and starts breaking ankles.

Ozzie just said he wants a backup to Pierce in the draft because he misses so much time in practices and game. Rice
is always there and btw, Film Study just gave Yanda and Oher poor grades so the blocking wasn't so hot either. Yanda
was pushed back into Joe on 3rd and inches play but Joe's quick release got the ball off.
See Film's last report.


RAY RICE WILL RUN ALL OVER YOU IF YOU GIVE HIM THE CHANCE.

BILL BILLICHEAT.

[moose10101]

Ozzie just said he wants a backup to Pierce in the draft because he misses so much time in practices and game.

A) Don't we already have one (Allen)?

B) After one season, Ozzie has Pierce labeled as a guy who will miss a lot of time? Link please.

[Gatorman82]

Look, I don't want to start a flame war over this, but I REALLY disagree with the criticism that's being thrown at Rice in this thread. I think it's a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to his fumbling in the playoffs.

Rice is an AMAZING runner.

Point 1 - his 4th and 29 (which was essentially a run) was voted the most amazing play of the 2012 season. You can't pull off that play without great vision and skill. He has had plays like that his entire career - making something out of nothing.

Point 2. Go look at the list of yards per carry for all active players. There are a lot of guys with high averages because they aren't every down backs or don't have many carries. If you look at runners who are thousand yard runners every season, Rice is about 5th on the list. We are talking RUSHING only. Then if you add his screens, he'd be a monster.

Point 3. If you look at the 4 playoff games, Rice had a better yard/carry average than Pierce in 2 of the 4 games (against Denver and San Fran). I haven't run the numbers, but I'll bet that if you take away Pierce's 43 yard run his numbers would be about the same as Rice. Don't get me wrong, I love Pierce's running style and skills - the Ravens definitely got lucky picking him. But his performance in the playoffs was not superior to Rice's - especially when you look at total yards. It's easier for backups to get big averages - they're the change of pace and just need one big run to bump up their stats.

[Ravenalytics]

Look, I don't want to start a flame war over this, but I REALLY disagree with the criticism that's being thrown at Rice in this thread. I think it's a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to his fumbling in the playoffs.

Rice is an AMAZING runner.

Point 1 - his 4th and 29 (which was essentially a run) was voted the most amazing play of the 2012 season. You can't pull off that play without great vision and skill. He has had plays like that his entire career - making something out of nothing.

Point 2. Go look at the list of yards per carry for all active players. There are a lot of guys with high averages because they aren't every down backs or don't have many carries. If you look at runners who are thousand yard runners every season, Rice is about 5th on the list. We are talking RUSHING only. Then if you add his screens, he'd be a monster.

Point 3. If you look at the 4 playoff games, Rice had a better yard/carry average than Pierce in 2 of the 4 games (against Denver and San Fran). I haven't run the numbers, but I'll bet that if you take away Pierce's 43 yard run his numbers would be about the same as Rice. Don't get me wrong, I love Pierce's running style and skills - the Ravens definitely got lucky picking him. But his performance in the playoffs was not superior to Rice's - especially when you look at total yards. It's easier for backups to get big averages - they're the change of pace and just need one big run to bump up their stats.

Fumbles, bro.

[CptJesus]

Look, I don't want to start a flame war over this, but I REALLY disagree with the criticism that's being thrown at Rice in this thread. I think it's a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to his fumbling in the playoffs.

Rice is an AMAZING runner.

Point 1 - his 4th and 29 (which was essentially a run) was voted the most amazing play of the 2012 season. You can't pull off that play without great vision and skill. He has had plays like that his entire career - making something out of nothing.

Point 2. Go look at the list of yards per carry for all active players. There are a lot of guys with high averages because they aren't every down backs or don't have many carries. If you look at runners who are thousand yard runners every season, Rice is about 5th on the list. We are talking RUSHING only. Then if you add his screens, he'd be a monster.

Point 3. If you look at the 4 playoff games, Rice had a better yard/carry average than Pierce in 2 of the 4 games (against Denver and San Fran). I haven't run the numbers, but I'll bet that if you take away Pierce's 43 yard run his numbers would be about the same as Rice. Don't get me wrong, I love Pierce's running style and skills - the Ravens definitely got lucky picking him. But his performance in the playoffs was not superior to Rice's - especially when you look at total yards. It's easier for backups to get big averages - they're the change of pace and just need one big run to bump up their stats.

4 fumbles in the playoffs puts his performance very very low. YPC certainly doesnt tell the whole story

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[rlh445]

fumbles, schmumbles. he's still a better overall back than pierce.

[CptJesus]

fumbles, schmumbles. he's still a better overall back than pierce.

He's a better dual threat sure. Pierce is far and away a better runner. Rice looked awful running in the playoffs and Pierce consistently came up with the big plays. And you really can't just ignore 4 fumbles in 4 games

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[HoustonRaven]

Love Ray Rice but he shrank big time in the playoffs / Super Bowl.

I don't see how anyone can argue otherwise. Four fumbles and his lack of yardage is a big deal.

But whatever. I'll worry about it next year during the playoffs! :D

[Purpleguy]

I like Ray Rice a lot as a person, but he is ridiculously overpaid. He is awesome in open space, see the 4th and 29 play, but as a north and south runner he can't get it done. I don't want to hear excuses about teams keying on him. Great backs get it done when teams key on them. Everyone keyed on Jamal Lewis because he was all we had, and he got it done. Rice is lucky that we also can throw the ball, so defenses have to keep that in the back of their minds while they are keying on Rice. I think Rice is a great back for a team that relies heavily on the pass, which is what we are. The fans just need to stop going batty when we "don't run the ball enough". Rice is an awesome check down back in a prolific passing attack, the problem is that he's only worth about 75% of what he is being paid.

[Gatorman82]

Rice faced some of the best rushing defenses in the NFL during the playoffs. You can't argue that - it would be silly to assume he's not going to have a hard time with that. STILL, he gained 131 yards against the #3 rushing defense in the NFL.

Fumbles? Rice had ONE fumble the entire regular season. He's not a fumbler. But yes, something was wrong in the playoffs. He has NEVER fumbled more than once in a given post-season before. That makes it a fluke.

Rice gets ALL his biggest runs running north/south. He has always run between the tackles more than he has outside. And he is better between the tackles than he is outside. He catches a lot of balls outside, tho.

Pierce a better runner? I love Pierce - and he IS a great runner - but he gained 2.8 yards/carry against the Niners, and 2.8 yards/carry against the Broncos. Rice out-did him against BOTH of those great defenses. You guys are getting excited because Pierce had a great day against the 29th ranked rushing defense in the NFL (the Colts). Just don't try to characterize him as a superior runner when the going gets tough. Rice PROVED he was better when the going got tough.

Did he fumble? Yes. I just can't believe that with his long history of taking care of the ball that you'd throw him under the bus so quickly. That's not what thoughtful fans do....

[AirFlacco]

Look, I don't want to start a flame war over this, but I REALLY disagree with the criticism that's being thrown at Rice in this thread. I think it's a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to his fumbling in the playoffs.

Rice is an AMAZING runner.

Point 1 - his 4th and 29 (which was essentially a run) was voted the most amazing play of the 2012 season. You can't pull off that play without great vision and skill. He has had plays like that his entire career - making something out of nothing.

Point 2. Go look at the list of yards per carry for all active players. There are a lot of guys with high averages because they aren't every down backs or don't have many carries. If you look at runners who are thousand yard runners every season, Rice is about 5th on the list. We are talking RUSHING only. Then if you add his screens, he'd be a monster.

Point 3. If you look at the 4 playoff games, Rice had a better yard/carry average than Pierce in 2 of the 4 games (against Denver and San Fran). I haven't run the numbers, but I'll bet that if you take away Pierce's 43 yard run his numbers would be about the same as Rice. Don't get me wrong, I love Pierce's running style and skills - the Ravens definitely got lucky picking him. But his performance in the playoffs was not superior to Rice's - especially when you look at total yards. It's easier for backups to get big averages - they're the change of pace and just need one big run to bump up their stats.

Great post.

Rice made that 4th and 29 play work because he read the key. He said he wasn't sure if he should run out of bounds or
keep going. He kept going when he read the key which was, he saw that the entire defense including JJ hadn't turned
their hips yet. He caught the entire D including JJ flat footed.

Now we all know about Rice making tacklers miss him but in that case he made the entire D miss him.

He kept running and set it up for Tucker Time.

[PerpetuallyBored74]

Rice is a great runner, but he has trouble following his blocks sometimes, so there are games where he leaves a lot of yards on the field.

I think next year, they need to split the carries fairly evenly between Rice and Pierce, kind of like Carolina with Williams and Stewart.