If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on the Ravens still making the playoffs this year

[Terpsfan82]

What if you knew the Ravens would have good playcalling and game planning for all four quarters of each game?

Then would you bet on them?

I will believe that when I see it.

[Igotstoknow]

I need to see a good road win, and Chi this Sunday is a good place to start. This team most likely will not make the playoffs going 0-3 in their remaining away games, even if they go 4-0 at home, which I doubt happens. Det and Cincy figure to be tougher games. Chi will be no walk in the park, but looks to be our best shot.

So far we've gotten blown out in Den and lost to Buf, Pitt and Cle on the road. Not exactly Murderers Row. We did manage to eke out a win against a less than mediocre Mia team. Doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence. Play well and win this Sunday and I'm in for the playoffs. More of the same and I sincerely doubt it.

[CptJesus]

I need to see a good road win, and Chi this Sunday is a good place to start. This team most likely will not make the playoffs going 0-3 in their remaining away games, even if they go 4-0 at home, which I doubt happens. Det and Cincy figure to be tougher games. Chi will be no walk in the park, but looks to be our best shot.

So far we've gotten blown out in Den and lost to Buf, Pitt and Cle on the road. Not exactly Murderers Row. We did manage to eke out a win against a less than mediocre Mia team. Doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence. Play well and win this Sunday and I'm in for the playoffs. More of the same and I sincerely doubt it.

If we struggle against one of the worst defenses in the league, we'll know that we're in more trouble than we cooled imagine. Bears are ranked 31st against the run, so I'm expecting at least 2.5 yards per carry =P

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[BSHU]

I really don't think the Ravens offense is that horrible.

To me, they seem more like a good offense that has an absolutely godawful offensive line.

Hear me out, there is a difference.

If the Ravems had even an average offensive line, they'd pretty much immediately start scoring 25+ points a game, as long as the playcalling was decent.

See, that's not a terrible offense. It's a good offense suffering from a terrible, terrible offensive line.

That is MUCH different than a real terrible offense like the days of Boller. Those teams could sonetimes had amazing offensive lines yet still sucked.

A good offense with a terrible offensive line might have close to the same production as a terrible offense, but there's much more hope and possibilities of improvement.

When we see the Ravens make a big play on offense, we think, "Wow, I can't believe the team didn't screw things up for once!"

When a Jaguars fan sees the Jags make a big play on offense they think, "OMG! OMG! How did that happen? Yes! Awesome! Yes! Awesome! Yes, yes, yes!

You can't just ignore 5/11 players on the offense and claim that the offense is good, but those 4 players are bad (we'll give Monroe a pass since he's played well). That just doesn't make any sense. That's like saying "This burger is great, but the bread is stale and moldy." That's not a good burger, and this is not a good offense.

[PurpleApocalypse37]

You can't just ignore 5/11 players on the offense and claim that the offense is good, but those 4 players are bad (we'll give Monroe a pass since he's played well). That just doesn't make any sense. That's like saying "This burger is great, but the bread is stale and moldy." That's not a good burger, and this is not a good offense.

Sure, the sandwich isn't good at this exact moment, but all you need to do is find some decent bread and you'll be set for a feast. That is a much better situation than a sandwich that sucks the whole way through.


Wait a second...
or you could just eat it without the bread!
The Ravens should trot only the long snapper out on the field to snap the ball to Flacco 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Then have Torrey Smith, Marlon Brown, Jacoby Jones, Deonte Thompson, Tandon Doss, Tyrod Taylor, and Lardarious Webb all run routes.

Then have Pierce and the 3rd string running back line up 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage on opposite sides, have them run full speed to the sideline once the ball is snapped.

Brilliant!

How could that be stopped?

It would take at least 2 full seconds for anyone to get to Flacco. That's sometimes more time than he gets now. How can you cover 9 players for 2 seconds?

I guess they'd probably only have one player rush though, so then they could cover with ten players. Hmm. Damn it. Plus the infinite steam of illegal formation penalties might be problematic too.

[BSHU]

But all you need to do is find good or even average bread and then you're set for a feast.

Sure, the sandwich isn't good at this exact moment, but all you need to do is find some decent bread and you'll be set for a feast. That is a much better situation than a sandwich that sucks the whole way through.

Regardless, something needs to be replaced to fix it. I don't know what we can do about it at this point in the season, though.

My hope is that we can take this game. I will try my best to contain my optimism until after the game this week. My head is still struggling to find a way that we can overcome the ineptitude of our running game without vastly improved play from the O-line in the passing game. My heart is telling me that this defense can keep us close in any game, and Joe and the passing game will make plays when it needs to. I need to see another game in order to decide which one to listen to.

Essentially, I need to see us win on the road.

EDIT: I have seen a couple experts on NFLN predicting that we'd end up taking the division, which definitely surprised me.

[PalladinInNC]

Sure, the sandwich isn't good at this exact moment, but all you need to do is find some decent bread and you'll be set for a feast. That is a much better situation than a sandwich that sucks the whole way through.


Wait a second...
or you could just eat it without the bread!
The Ravens should trot only the long snapper out on the field to snap the ball to Flacco 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Then have Torrey Smith, Marlon Brown, Jacoby Jones, Deonte Thompson, Tandon Doss, Tyrod Taylor, and Lardarious Webb all run routes.

Then have Pierce and the 3rd string running back line up 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage on opposite sides, have them run full speed to the sideline once the ball is snapped.

Brilliant!

How could that be stopped?

It would take at least 2 full seconds for anyone to get to Flacco. That's sometimes more time than he gets now. How can you cover 9 players for 2 seconds?

I guess they'd probably only have one player rush though, so then they could cover with ten players. Hmm. Damn it. Plus the infinite steam of illegal formation penalties might be problematic too.

I want some of what you're smoking!

[PurpleApocalypse37]

Palladin --

Blue dream

[alienrace]

I think it's really just going to come down to Flacco being able to carry this team, which means he needs the offensive line to start pass blocking much better than they have to this point.

[ERey]

Just looking at the standings.. right now, we're only a game back of the Jets for the 2nd Wildcard spot and we play them in two weeks, and if we win we can hold the tiebreaker. We also hold the head to head tiebreaker against the Dolphins, who we are tied with.

The other teams in the hunt for the 2nd Wildcard spot ATM are...

The Browns (We have 2-2 Division Record vs their 2-1)
Tennessee (We have 4-4 Conference Record vs their 3-3), but Jake Locker is out for the year so I don't expect them to hang around.
San Diego (Their conference record is only 2-4).

We look favorable when it comes to tiebreakers even with how bad the season has been so far. Obviously its too early to get too excited about it, but I think as long as we can go 4-3 rest of the way, we likely get in. Winning the Jets game is crucial, though.

If they beat Chicago, then I'll would take bet (if I was a betting man).