8-8 feels more like 2-14

[NC Raven]

AFC
6 teams above .500, all made the playoffs.
6 teams below .500.
4 teams at .500.

It is what it is. Playoffs are meant for winning teams.

I am more interested in figuring out why SF was able to reload and we weren't. What is SF's cap issues in the next couple years? NE also has shown that you can win without star players. They craft a game plan that works towards their player's strengths.

We DID reload, several times. We were a Lee Evans drop away from back to back SB's. Nearly made another SB in 2009. Could have been 3 SB's in 5 years.

We did that with a lot of cheap no name players, and a few stars.

This year a few of our guys got old, a few left (a legend in Reed, replaced by a rookie... hard to "reload' at that specific position) a few retired (Ray Lewis and Matt Birk being key, hard to reload all that experience) and a few other guys... the bill came due on their contract renewals, so guys like Boldin had to go, and guys like Ellerbee couldn't be kept.

SF hasn't had to face that yet. An amazing number of their big names have been on low dollar deals. I think this is the offseason where the O line and defense start to get their cash call. In the NFL you get windows where guys overperform their rookie deals. Then you get windows where they underperform the big dollar deals they got for overperforming their rookie deals.

Look at the money that went to Suggs and Rice this year. Clearly paid for past performance. But what a deal Rice was back in 2009, gaining all those yards (2000+ total yards) on the second year of a rookie second round deal.

The Niners will soon suffer the hemmoraging of success. They will have to overpay a few guys will then go on to underperform, and they will lose a few guys and in all likelihood replace them with guys who aren't as good.

They also have a better offensive system more suited to success in today's NFL.

[JohnBKistler]

No. I remember some 2-14 teams. They were called the Baltimore Colts, and they played in 1981. That shit was horrible. See for yourself: http://www.pro-football-reference.co...s/clt/1981.htm

Those teams had no hope before, during, or after the season. Most weeks they weren't remotely competitive. I was at the Charger, Jet and Bills games that year. I still remember the game program from the Jets game because it had a drawing of Freeman McNeill on the cover instead of a Colts player.

The next season they went 0-8-1 in a strike shortened season. Those were some dismal times.

This 8-8 season where 2 weeks ago we still had a chance to win the division outright? Luxury. First class. 5 stars compared to that ancient quagmire.

A buddy of mine is a Redskin fan and he cancelled Directv and isn't even going to bother with hooking it up to get Sunday Ticket next season. He's literally decided already to blow off 2014, as a fan. Because he can't take how dyfunctional and ugly his franchise is.

We Raven fans by comparison, are arguing about whether or not the filet mignon was a little too red in the middle.

Trust me, you don't want to know anything about 2-14. I hope I never see it again.

:word

Like you, I go back to the Baltimore Colts and yes, those were some very hopeless teams. By the way, that 1981 team set a record that still stands for most points given up in a 16 game season. So if you stuck with the Ravens when they came to Baltimore, you had the fortune to see not only the worst defense in NFL history, but arguably one of the best and one that still holds the record for the least amount of points given up in a 16 game season.

[hokiefan]

I feel the same way. Our offense has talent but their strength wasn't used correctly. You have the ball on the 3 yard line with two downs but they never threw a fade or jump ball to Marlon Brown who leads the team in TD catches. They run str8 up the middle instead of going off tackle like the 2 point convertion. I feel good about the talent we have at the skill positions. 4 - 12 is a reach bc we could of easily been 11-5 if they didn't lose to GB, CHICAGO OR PITT but shoulda, coulda n woulda.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

They ran up the middle all season to set up that off tackle run for 2 points! Don't you understand the caldwell genius!

[Loco Ravens Fan]

No. I remember some 2-14 teams. They were called the Baltimore Colts, and they played in 1981. That shit was horrible. See for yourself: http://www.pro-football-reference.co...s/clt/1981.htm

Those teams had no hope before, during, or after the season. Most weeks they weren't remotely competitive. I was at the Charger, Jet and Bills games that year. I still remember the game program from the Jets game because it had a drawing of Freeman McNeill on the cover instead of a Colts player.

The next season they went 0-8-1 in a strike shortened season. Those were some dismal times.

This 8-8 season where 2 weeks ago we still had a chance to win the division outright? Luxury. First class. 5 stars compared to that ancient quagmire.

A buddy of mine is a Redskin fan and he cancelled Directv and isn't even going to bother with hooking it up to get Sunday Ticket next season. He's literally decided already to blow off 2014, as a fan. Because he can't take how dyfunctional and ugly his franchise is.

We Raven fans by comparison, are arguing about whether or not the filet mignon was a little too red in the middle.

Trust me, you don't want to know anything about 2-14. I hope I never see it again.

I'm an old Baltimore football fan who remembers those losing Irsay owned teams. Now those seasons were pure misery!

And how awful it felt when in 1967 the REAL Colts' record was 11-1-2 and didn't even qualify for the playoffs. That along with the 1965 the Baltimore Colts loss to Green Bay when the referee called the clearly bad fg good and the Super Bowl 3 loss to the Jets as the worse feelings I've ever had about a season Colts or Ravens!

This Ravens' season has been frustrating and very hard emotionally because it seemed that every game that the Ravens won except the Houston and Cleveland home games, came down to the last few plays and oh how did that overtime win over the Bengals somehow felt like the Ravens lost?!?!

[saintmatthew]

Honestly, it feels like to me the team was just tired from the effort it put forth the past 5 years culminating in the Super Bowl. I think the FA, trade and retirement losses even further deflated the team. Then not getting the seasoning opening home game and getting killed in Denver didn't help. I think the team was destined to be mediocre this year. These guys need a long offseason to get rejuvenated.

If you look at it, with 13 post season games in the last five years, they've played close to an extra season in that time.

[MarkS]

No. I remember some 2-14 teams. They were called the Baltimore Colts, and they played in 1981. That shit was horrible. See for yourself: http://www.pro-football-reference.co...s/clt/1981.htm

Those teams had no hope before, during, or after the season. Most weeks they weren't remotely competitive. I was at the Charger, Jet and Bills games that year. I still remember the game program from the Jets game because it had a drawing of Freeman McNeill on the cover instead of a Colts player.

The next season they went 0-8-1 in a strike shortened season. Those were some dismal times.

This 8-8 season where 2 weeks ago we still had a chance to win the division outright? Luxury. First class. 5 stars compared to that ancient quagmire.

A buddy of mine is a Redskin fan and he cancelled Directv and isn't even going to bother with hooking it up to get Sunday Ticket next season. He's literally decided already to blow off 2014, as a fan. Because he can't take how dyfunctional and ugly his franchise is.

We Raven fans by comparison, are arguing about whether or not the filet mignon was a little too red in the middle.

Trust me, you don't want to know anything about 2-14. I hope I never see it again.

This, exactly.

Unless you were a fan of the old Colts (or perhaps some other team before the Ravens got here), you have no clue how it feels to sit on cold-ass bench seating in a crappy stadium, rooting for a team that you knew had very little hope of winning.

In fact, most Ravens fans have no real idea what it's like to root for a "losing" team at all. And by that, I don't mean a team that may have a bad season here or there. A "losing" team is one that is perpetually bad/mediocre, and for whom any kind of success is mostly just a fleeting dream.

Sure, 16-31-1 was kinda bad. But back then we were (mostly) all just happy as hell to have a team again. Besides, it was over relatively quickly, and we haven't looked back.

To that point: since 2000, 4 teams have represented the AFC in 12 of the 13 Super Bowls:
Pats: 10 playoffs, 5 AFCCs, 3 SB titles
Steelers: 8 playoffs, 3 AFCCs, 2 SB titles
Ravens: 9 playoffs, 2 AFCCs, 2 SB titles
Colts: 12 playoffs, 2 AFCCs, 1 SB title

Since the turn or the millennium, these are basically the only 4 teams that have mattered in the AFC. We're one of them. And people want to sit here and bitch because it's not good enough. "We should be as good as the Pats, THEY make the playoffs EVERY year, whaaa..." Yea...no. They've made the playoffs ONE more time than us, they haven't won a SB in about a decade, and they don't have to play in the same division with one of the other top-4 teams.

WE. ARE. LUCKY. AS. HELL. There are 20-25 other fanbases that would KILL to have our success. I feel so damn sorry for people who spent the last 6 years bitching, moaning, wringing their hands about how we shoulda, coulda, woulda, etc, etc.
These have been the good times, folks. And a lot of you missed it. If (god forbid) we ever do have an actual "losing" team again, maybe you'll realize it then. But sadly, it will be too late to go back and enjoy it.

[JohnBKistler]

This, exactly.

Unless you were a fan of the old Colts (or perhaps some other team before the Ravens got here), you have no clue how it feels to sit on cold-ass bench seating in a crappy stadium, rooting for a team that you knew had very little hope of winning.

In fact, most Ravens fans have no real idea what it's like to root for a "losing" team at all. And by that, I don't mean a team that may have a bad season here or there. A "losing" team is one who is perpetually bad/mediocre, and for whom success is mostly a fleeting dream.

Sure, 16-31-1 was kinda bad. But back then we were (mostly) all just happy as hell to have a team again. Besides, it was over relatively quickly, and we haven't looked back.

To that point: since 2000, 4 teams have represented the AFC in 12 of the 13 Super Bowls:
Pats: 10 playoffs, 5 AFCCs, 3 SB titles
Steelers: 8 playoffs, 3 AFCCs, 2 SB titles
Ravens: 9 playoffs, 2 AFCCs, 2 SB titles
Colts: 12 playoffs, 2 AFCCs, 1 SB title

Since the turn or the millennium, these are basically the only 4 teams that have mattered in the AFC. We're one of them. And people want to sit here and bitch because it's not good enough for them. "We should be as good as the Pats, THEY make the playoffs every year, whaaa..." Yea...no. They've made the playoffs ONE more time than us, they haven't won a SB in about a decade, and they don't have to play in the same division with one of the other top-4 teams.

WE. ARE. LUCKY. AS HELL. There are 20-25 other fanbases that would KILL to have our success. I feel so damn sorry for people who spent the last 6 years bitching, moaning, wringing their hands about how we shoulda, coulda, woulda, etc, etc. These have been the good times, folks. And a lot of you missed it. If (god forbid) we ever do have an actual "losing" team again, maybe you'll realize it then. But sadly, it will be too late to go back and enjoy it.

:word THIS x100 million. Perfectly stated.

[BmoreBrawla]

The one constant for them has been QB and Oline. We have a very good QB in Joe, and if we could ever keep an offensive line intact for more than one year I would love to see what Joe could do:

2008: Gaither Grubbs Brown Chester/Yanda Anderson
2009: Gaither Grubbs Birk Chester/Yanda Oher
2010: Oher Grubbs Birk Chester Yanda
2011: McKinnie Grubbs Birk Yanda Oher
2012: McKinnie KO Birk Yanda Oher
2013: McKinnie/Monroe KO/Ship Gino Yanda Oher

We've had some runs of stability at LG, C and RG, but (and I know this is hard with the salary cap) it would be great to be able to keep a line around for a bit longer. Maybe I'm being unrealistic...

I'm a pretty old school guy when it comes to what works and what doesn't in winning football games. I'm a trenches and QB proponent - protect your QB and knock the shit out of the other one and you will win more times than not.

John Harbaugh does not get along with Left Tackles.

[JohnBKistler]

John Harbaugh does not get along with Left Tackles that are un-motivated, have poor work ethics and don't really want to try that hard.

Fixed.

[HotInHere]

This, exactly.

Unless you were a fan of the old Colts (or perhaps some other team before the Ravens got here), you have no clue how it feels to sit on cold-ass bench seating in a crappy stadium, rooting for a team that you knew had very little hope of winning.

In fact, most Ravens fans have no real idea what it's like to root for a "losing" team at all. And by that, I don't mean a team that may have a bad season here or there. A "losing" team is one that is perpetually bad/mediocre, and for whom any kind of success is mostly just a fleeting dream.

Sure, 16-31-1 was kinda bad. But back then we were (mostly) all just happy as hell to have a team again. Besides, it was over relatively quickly, and we haven't looked back.

To that point: since 2000, 4 teams have represented the AFC in 12 of the 13 Super Bowls:
Pats: 10 playoffs, 5 AFCCs, 3 SB titles
Steelers: 8 playoffs, 3 AFCCs, 2 SB titles
Ravens: 9 playoffs, 2 AFCCs, 2 SB titles
Colts: 12 playoffs, 2 AFCCs, 1 SB title

Since the turn or the millennium, these are basically the only 4 teams that have mattered in the AFC. We're one of them. And people want to sit here and bitch because it's not good enough. "We should be as good as the Pats, THEY make the playoffs EVERY year, whaaa..." Yea...no. They've made the playoffs ONE more time than us, they haven't won a SB in about a decade, and they don't have to play in the same division with one of the other top-4 teams.

WE. ARE. LUCKY. AS. HELL. There are 20-25 other fanbases that would KILL to have our success. I feel so damn sorry for people who spent the last 6 years bitching, moaning, wringing their hands about how we shoulda, coulda, woulda, etc, etc.
These have been the good times, folks. And a lot of you missed it. If (god forbid) we ever do have an actual "losing" team again, maybe you'll realize it then. But sadly, it will be too late to go back and enjoy it.

I was at the Detroit game. Johnny U's "Greatest Game Ever Played" was more recent than their last NFL championship. They had just lost in the most painful of ways, on a national stage, a must-win game for a team that had the playoffs gift-wrapped for them.

And they weren't pissed. None of them. Ravens fans would have been breaking shit, screaming, cursing, talking about how unacceptable it was and who should be released and fired. Lions fans strolled out like it was another day at the office.

We have no idea the misery that most other NFL cities live in. We have hoisted two Lombardi's in our 18 years. Only 9 other teams have won in that time frame. And fourteen teams have never won one.

[Corey]

We DID reload, several times. We were a Lee Evans drop away from back to back SB's. Nearly made another SB in 2009. Could have been 3 SB's in 5 years.

We did that with a lot of cheap no name players, and a few stars.

This year a few of our guys got old, a few left (a legend in Reed, replaced by a rookie... hard to "reload' at that specific position) a few retired (Ray Lewis and Matt Birk being key, hard to reload all that experience) and a few other guys... the bill came due on their contract renewals, so guys like Boldin had to go, and guys like Ellerbee couldn't be kept.

SF hasn't had to face that yet. An amazing number of their big names have been on low dollar deals. I think this is the offseason where the O line and defense start to get their cash call. In the NFL you get windows where guys overperform their rookie deals. Then you get windows where they underperform the big dollar deals they got for overperforming their rookie deals.

Look at the money that went to Suggs and Rice this year. Clearly paid for past performance. But what a deal Rice was back in 2009, gaining all those yards (2000+ total yards) on the second year of a rookie second round deal.

The Niners will soon suffer the hemmoraging of success. They will have to overpay a few guys will then go on to underperform, and they will lose a few guys and in all likelihood replace them with guys who aren't as good.

They also have a better offensive system more suited to success in today's NFL.

The Niners and Pats do something that the Ravens never do.... they lock up good young players early. Guys like Joe Staley, Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman are already locked up long term and none of them came close to hitting free agency.

[BmoreBrawla]

Fixed.

Yes they just don't try as hard as the poor man wants...then you put them in and we win the Superbowl. I wouldn't just believe everything Harbaugh says.