What Up?

[packfntk]

Long time no talk, it has been a while since I stopped in so I figured I would hop over. For those of you that don't remember I am a Packer fan that came to Baltimore this past year, thanks again, awesome stadium, fans, and town.

Just thought I would check in to see your thoughts on the offseason. Free Agency is usually pretty boring for my team as we usually don't dip, but we stabbed on Julius Peppers this year so that should be interesting.

How do you feel your division will shape up this year? Did the Steelers get any better? I don't think so. That offense is brutal, and Blount won't help that. The defense isn't the traditional Pitt D.

The Bengals will contend for the division in my opinion. Losing Zimm will hurt, but they have a decent base.

The Browns are very interesting. They have a lot of pieces, but the factory of sadness just keeps producing. Their defense got quite a bit better. Gordon is the real deal. I will be interested to see what they do in the draft, because I thought Hoyer looked Legit before his injury.

Lastly, tell me about your feelings on your pride and soul, the Ravens. Happy with Smiff? Thoughts on Ray? Outlook for 2014?

[saintmatthew]

Glad they're working on the offense this year. It was in sad state last year. Even so, we were close enough that we could and shoulda taken that game we played against you here. I think the Bengals fall off this year losing both coordinators, the Browns improve maybe slightly and Pitt is gonna be on the upswing as much as I hate to think it.

How you feel about yourdiv? Caldwell may be a good fit for the Lions. He can help Stafford a lot. I don't see Chicago or Minny making much noise though unless Minny drafts a rookie who really tears it up year 1.

[JAB1985]

Just thought I would check in to see your thoughts on the offseason. Free Agency is usually pretty boring for my team as we usually don't dip, but we stabbed on Julius Peppers this year so that should be interesting.

I think its a solid move but Peppers isnt the peppers he was.

How do you feel your division will shape up this year? Did the Steelers get any better? I don't think so. That offense is brutal, and Blount won't help that. The defense isn't the traditional Pitt D.

I dont think they got better, but i dont think their offense was horrible the second half of the year. They actually started clicking once Bell came back. The defense is patched together imo. Theyll be in the hunt, but probably on the outside looking in again.

The Bengals will contend for the division in my opinion. Losing Zimm will hurt, but they have a decent base.

I think theyre the clear favorites, but they have some issues on the offensive side of the ball. mostly Dalton. He needs to take the next step for them to be a contender.

The Browns are very interesting. They have a lot of pieces, but the factory of sadness just keeps producing. Their defense got quite a bit better. Gordon is the real deal. I will be interested to see what they do in the draft, because I thought Hoyer looked Legit before his injury.

I see their moves on defense as lateral if not a slight downgrade. Gordon is really all they have on offense, but that was surprisingly enough to keep them in a lot of games. Theyll have some blue chippers come in but I ahve a feeling the sadness continues.

Lastly, tell me about your feelings on your pride and soul, the Ravens. Happy with Smiff? Thoughts on Ray? Outlook for 2014?

We upgraded vastly this offseason. Kubes alone will turn this into a contender. I think were a really well balanced team right now, taht can beat you a number of ways. draft should only fortify us.

disappointed with Ray, how could you not be. I cant defend or stand for what hes charged with, but considering the circumstances i think hes doing all he can to repair his image. I lost respect for him and wont be wearing his jersey anymore barring a surprise twist of evidence.

2014 well be back in the playoffs and probably one of the best all around teams in football. My expectations are high but im trying to temper them the best I can. I really like what I see on paper, just have to hope it comes together in the games.

[packfntk]

How you feel about yourdiv? Caldwell may be a good fit for the Lions. He can help Stafford a lot. I don't see Chicago or Minny making much noise though unless Minny drafts a rookie who really tears it up year 1.

To be honest, I am very confident this year. I hate to say that because the NFL is so unpredictable, but that is how I feel. The Vikings are brutal. They are guaranteed 4th position in the NFCN. Haven't done anything to prove otherwise.

The Bears scare me a bit. Their offense is shaping up nicely, and their defense did get better adding Allen and Houston together. Their secondary took a hit taking one of our weakest spots in MD Jennings. Not quite sure what they were thinking. But they will be in it until the end.

The Lions are a team that has a culture like the Browns. They have talent, actually a ton. But coaching has always been their downfall. I am not actually sure Caldwell can turn things around that quickly there. The defensive backfield is brutal as well. They did get help for Stafford/Tron with Tate, and as much as it pains me to say, he is a quality 2-3 WR.

I am jacked up to have ARod back for a full season. HOPEFULLY! And having Lacy in the backfield with an unstacked box will be rather exciting. We continue to let WR's go, but that is a strongpoint of our coaches, developing WR's. Boykin will be a very good 3. I guess it doesn't hurt having ARod, he makes everyone better. Our defense needs health plain and simple. We struggled to get to the QB last year exposing our below average Safeties. We added Peppers, and I normally wouldn't be excited about someone his age as we are consistently one of the youngest teams in the NFL, but he is exactly what Mike McCarthy said he wanted to do this year, get more athletic. Peppers will not be a 3-4 DE, he will not be a OLB, MOST OF THE TIME. He will be our elephant. We can package him up several different ways and that is exciting. I think Dom Capers will love him and it will be nice to have someone on the same side or opposite of Clay Matthews that can put pressure on the Quarterback.

[The Excellector]

Last year was Cincinatti's chance to strike it big. You sort of had a feeling that the Ravens would struggle and Pittsburgh's cap/draft issues hurt them. Now, Baltimore is regrouping. They are about six years too late, but they are finally focusing on the offense this off-season. When Flacco was first drafted, there was a long standing defense-first mentality around here. Yet, they won the Super Bowl with the worst Ravens defense (In many Ravens fans opinion) since the late 90s, in large part due to Flacco. Yet, rather than figure out that the team needs to be built around him, they practically leave him desolate to rebuild the defense. You saw the results.

Now they've finally woke up and realized the offense needs an overhaul. It starts with the coaching. This is the first time that Ravens fans can have confidence in the offensive coaching since who knows when. Gary Kubiak is an established OC. He might be one of those guys who is a better OC than HC. He presents the change in philosophy we've been longing for. He also brought enough stroke to put his own staff together.

That's the main thing. If we had Kubiak last year with the same talent, we'd have made the playoffs.

Bringing in Steve Smith will help bring some physicality back on the outside, for someone to make those tough catches. The Ravens re-signed key pieces, upgraded the Center position, added depth at TE with Owen Daniels and can do more in the draft.

This is, without question, going to be the best offensive weaponry Joe's had to work with. The offense line should be significantly improved.

The defense is still missing a few pieces, so it will be interesting to see what positions can be filled by developmental guys and which positions they actually fail to fill successfully.

On play alone, Rice would have been cut if it weren't for his contract. He took it easy last off-season, came in poorly conditioned and....you guessed it...got hurt. Then came the rest of the bad season and the elevator incident. The team is standing by him, but the fans are definitely disappointed.

[Sarcasticfury]

I've been thinking and to be honest the Browns didn't improve that much. Hawkins was a #4 receiver in Cincinnati and the #6 option on the team. Burleson was a #3 option in Detroit and is always injured. Ben Tate is always injured. Hitner was older than T.J. Ward and Karlos Dansby is older than Daryl Smith. And now they might have to pay up for Mack just to keep him from ending up in Jacksonville.

[saintmatthew]

To be honest, I am very confident this year. I hate to say that because the NFL is so unpredictable, but that is how I feel. The Vikings are brutal. They are guaranteed 4th position in the NFCN. Haven't done anything to prove otherwise.

The Bears scare me a bit. Their offense is shaping up nicely, and their defense did get better adding Allen and Houston together. Their secondary took a hit taking one of our weakest spots in MD Jennings. Not quite sure what they were thinking. But they will be in it until the end.

The Lions are a team that has a culture like the Browns. They have talent, actually a ton. But coaching has always been their downfall. I am not actually sure Caldwell can turn things around that quickly there. The defensive backfield is brutal as well. They did get help for Stafford/Tron with Tate, and as much as it pains me to say, he is a quality 2-3 WR.

I am jacked up to have ARod back for a full season. HOPEFULLY! And having Lacy in the backfield with an unstacked box will be rather exciting. We continue to let WR's go, but that is a strongpoint of our coaches, developing WR's. Boykin will be a very good 3. I guess it doesn't hurt having ARod, he makes everyone better. Our defense needs health plain and simple. We struggled to get to the QB last year exposing our below average Safeties. We added Peppers, and I normally wouldn't be excited about someone his age as we are consistently one of the youngest teams in the NFL, but he is exactly what Mike McCarthy said he wanted to do this year, get more athletic. Peppers will not be a 3-4 DE, he will not be a OLB, MOST OF THE TIME. He will be our elephant. We can package him up several different ways and that is exciting. I think Dom Capers will love him and it will be nice to have someone on the same side or opposite of Clay Matthews that can put pressure on the Quarterback.

Caldwell brought Teryl Austin with him to be D Coordinator and he was in charge of the Ravens secondary and those guys performance has acquitted themselves very well the past few years. We're kinda bummed he went - don't sleep on what he'll bring to the Lions pass defense. Now that I think about it, he was a great choice for a D coordinator in your division.

[BcRaven]

Don't mean to go off the OP's Packers, but I'd just like to take on the Bengals / Browns chances. JMO but the Bengals may win the division again, but do they know how to win in the playoffs? The Browns are in good position in this year's draft, but will we see a Trent Richardson/Brandon Weeden 2012 draft again? I think the other AFC teams do not want to see the Ravens in the post season. Our team, while some may think not dangerous on paper, are quite the opposite in the playoffs... Bc

[AirFlacco]

Long time no talk, it has been a while since I stopped in so I figured I would hop over. For those of you that don't remember I am a Packer fan that came to Baltimore this past year, thanks again, awesome stadium, fans, and town.

Just thought I would check in to see your thoughts on the offseason. Free Agency is usually pretty boring for my team as we usually don't dip, but we stabbed on Julius Peppers this year so that should be interesting.

How do you feel your division will shape up this year? Did the Steelers get any better? I don't think so. That offense is brutal, and Blount won't help that. The defense isn't the traditional Pitt D.

The Bengals will contend for the division in my opinion. Losing Zimm will hurt, but they have a decent base.

The Browns are very interesting. They have a lot of pieces, but the factory of sadness just keeps producing. Their defense got quite a bit better. Gordon is the real deal. I will be interested to see what they do in the draft, because I thought Hoyer looked Legit before his injury.

Lastly, tell me about your feelings on your pride and soul, the Ravens. Happy with Smiff? Thoughts on Ray? Outlook for 2014?

Hey man - how's ya doing?

Here's a link with our additions and Flacco is a happy camper. We got him a new o-coord and some new targets like Steve Smith and Owen Daniels along with a health Pitta. Watch out. Joe can go deep, have Smith come back and hit Daniels and Pitta wide open over the middle after getting mis-matches on the line backers. They will be a line backers night mare ala Super Bowl 47 with Torrey and JJ took em deep in the corners.

Steve Smith will be like Boldin underneath of them.

We also built the o-line re-signing Monroe and brining in Zuttah who gave up 0 sacks last year. Wagner will take ove at RT if they don't draft Zack Martin of Notre Dame.

Or Ozzie can go defense now and take Gilbert or Pryor as FS.

We're back in the playoffs, that's for sure.

http://russellstreetreport.com/forum...acco-speaks-up

[Stealthbirds80]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens and Packers are trade partners on draft day. 17 may become coveted. What are the locals in Wisconsin saying about team needs? Safety, LB, TE?

[AirFlacco]

As far as the Squeelers are concerned, they had the same 8-8 record as us and missed the
POs again but they have more holes to fill. They just signed Blount but a lot of guys here
didn't want him because he's been with so many teams and is a journeyman.

I've seen mocks that have them taking CJ Mosley of Alabama because they lost Woodley.
Others have them taking a NT cause they need a rusher too.

The could also take a CB. There's are old and slow and Squeelers fans told me they think
TP is too old now.

They also need a WR so if Evans drops to the middle rounds they will take him just to keep
us from getting him. They might take Ebron @ TE if he drops. They need help everywhere.

They also have o-line probs. So who knows. They can always cause damage but they could
be missing the POs again.

Everyone here is drooling at the mouth for Evans but no way he drops. Ozzie will take
the BAA at position of need.

[Sarcasticfury]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens and Packers are trade partners on draft day. 17 may become coveted. What are the locals in Wisconsin saying about team needs? Safety, LB, TE?

Their safety was a big weakness during the season and I've seen drafts connecting them to Calvin Pryor. As for TE, they still have Andrew Quarless, but nothing behind him.