8-8 feels more like 2-14

[bpmurr]

I think this is one of the worst seasons I remember watching. Probably because even how bad they played they still could have won a lot of the games if a couple things went right.

[JohnBKistler]

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.

Because Gaither and McKinnie did so well once they were out from under control of Harbaugh.

[GOTA]

Ravens fans have never experienced 2-14. When you win every year 8-8 doesn't feel good but there is no way it's like going 2-14

[pslholder96]

If 8-8 feels like 2-14 I wonder what all those 4-12/5-11 finishes we had in the first 3 years of our existence felt like. Me personally, I was just estatic to have a team and couldn't care less about winning in the beginning.

[mmi16]

I knew as soon as Flacco got injured in Detroit the last 2 games would be an issue.

Your knee is not supposed to buckle that way. I am impressed he played, albeit not very well.

He had really began making plays with his feet (out of necessity - poor OL). That was taken away.

If that had happened to another QB - they would not have played the balance of the year. Maybe Joe shouldn't have - but that is not Joe's way.

[blacknpurplepain]

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

Its like they don't run sweeps or pitches. Sad part is that they know Gino and Shipley are subpar yet they still run fiddle fiddle diddle RR up the middle lol

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[Tyrian]

It was a mediocre season, but there have been worse. Can't shake the 07 season for all the debacles going on with that. The 2005 season wasn't exactly vintage.

There are going to be years in the future where we're going to be not just bad, but outright awful for 5-6 years straight. 2nd half of 2007 awful for half a decade. Every team's suffered it at least once - some for a decade or two. Hopefully, it won't be seen for years, but it will occur.

When that happens, we'll be screaming 'just' for 8-8. Yes, by all means, we're good now, we want playoffs every year. The team ain't content and neither are we. This team was a couple of plays from 10-6 (but don't forget, a couple of plays from 6-10). That said, a degree of perspective is then needed to savour even what we feel to be down years.

Anyway, all is not lost: The last team to drop 2 games in record comparison after a SB win and fail to make the playoffs was the New England Patriots of 2002. They then won 2 SBs straight.

[sopranocorleone]

It just amazes me how much knee-jerk over reaction there is within this fan base. Imagine making this statement in front of a Buffalo Bills or Jacksonville fan, or for that matter, a Texans fan. Now THEY had a nightmare year.

[Sascha]

Because San Fran is led by a QB that was drafted in the second round and thus is being paid cheaply. Once he is done with that contract, the niners will have to pony up. Until then, the window is open for them.

Agreed. SF's franchise quarterback currently makes about $1 million per year because he's a second-round pick who's still on his rookie contract. When he hits free agency (I think he's an RFA in 2015 and a UFA in 2016), his cap number will skyrocket, and the 49ers will have to cut corners elsewhere to make room for him.

The Seahawks are currently in an even better situation in terms of their QB's salary. Russell Wilson is a former third-round pick who, I believe, doesn't become an RFA until 2016.

[LukeDaniel]

Just an interesting thing to note here:


Simple Rating System scores under Harbaugh:

2008:9.8
2009:7.5
2010:6.4
2011:6.1
2012: 2.9
2013: -3.5

So I tried to ask myself what was different in 2008 versus 2013:

Here are some very vague generalities that I came up with...

1) Our defense was clearly better. It was the #2/#3 defense.

2) Our special teams were probably not as good as the excellent 2013 special teams, but special teams were not a problem in 2008 either.

3) Our offense was clearly not as talented in terms of skill position composition (Marcus "0 career catches" was our #3 WR for cryin out loud), but our offense was ranked 11/18 versus 25/29 in 2013. Why? You can point to the O-line being much better with Gaither/Grubbs/Brown/Yanda/Anderson. That was a beefy, stout O-line, but Yanda missed the final 75% of the season Chester was not really much better of a replacement than Shipley.

4) The Ravens ran the ball 592 times versus 433 passes in 2008. In 2013 it was 423 rushes and 619 passes. That's almost exactly a 60/40 split reversed to a 40/60 split.

It's been a gradual thing.
In 2012, we were 44/56.
2011:46/54
2010: 50/50 (491 pass/487 rush..coincidentally this was Flacco's best year)
2009: about 48/52

5) This is where I'm going to throw the intangible/unquantifiable out there. In 2008, it seems like the Ravens, in order to compensate for the lack of true offensive talent, ran a high number of creative plays. I think of the long pass to Flacco, the long pass to Troy Smith, using Troy Smith in the wildcat, running reverses to Clayton (he had 6 carries that year). Flacco had a clear leash, but to compensate for what he lacked in talent around him and experience, they stuck with the bread and butter with occasional trickery.

On the defensive side of the ball, there were far more exotic blitz schemes in one game than we saw in an entire season in 2013.

In 2013, there was no bread and butter. The offense basically consisted of Rice/Pierce running for limited yardage on 1st down followed by Flacco in the shotgun with the hope he could find an open receiver in on 2nd-and-8 and 3rd-and-8. It was predictable and vanilla. That was a part of the reason why the red zone offense was painfully awful. What made matters worse was that the Ravens had a very talented, athletic tool in Tyrod Taylor, a perfect fit for some creative goal line plays, who sat on the bench for every game but the Jets game. Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones, two big play makers with the ball in their hands, rarely saw a WR screen or a reverse. Ray Rice, one of the best receiving RBs in NFL history, rarely (if ever) saw a pass beyond 5 yards off the line of scrimmage.

This is turning into a rambling post, so I'll cut it short, but to me, when I see a team that is consistently getting worse every year, particularly in a sport like rosters are ever changing, to me, it points to a coaching failure. End of rant.

[lovefootball]

Agreed. SF's franchise quarterback currently makes about $1 million per year because he's a second-round pick who's still on his rookie contract. When he hits free agency (I think he's an RFA in 2015 and a UFA in 2016), his cap number will skyrocket, and the 49ers will have to cut corners elsewhere to make room for him.

The Seahawks are currently in an even better situation in terms of their QB's salary. Russell Wilson is a former third-round pick who, I believe, doesn't become an RFA until 2016.

If Wilson wins the Sb this year, he will be the highest paid QB in the NFL, bet on it.

[Real Fan Dan]

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.

Very good post.

I think some of the fans could benefit from looking at some film from those years and the first 4 years of the Ravens. Back then we had Robert Brazille (!) and Nesby Glasgow! Oh Yeah! :grbac: Today you've got Jimmy Smith and Matt Elam (WTF!) Having a shot at the division title with 2 games remaining despite a huge turnover on D, an abysmal O line, and key injuries is nowhere near as dismal as those 2-14 years or even a 6-10 year. I'm sorry but some of you seriously need to get over yourselves and this 'woe is me' attitude'. It is totally unwarranted.

Go Ravens!