Rest easy if you have 'malice in your heart', for our buddy Mike is off to CBS.

[JohnBKistler]

I won't excuse the players (and coaches), but Mike Carey let his emotions get the better of him as well. They screwed up several calls horribly, and with each passing penalty, his explanations got more and more demonstrative. Seemed pretty clear to me he was enjoying calling the penalties, and that's a problem.

I think this about nails it. The Ravens were playing in out-of-control mode, and when a couple of bad calls went their way, both Ravens and the officials over-reacted.

In the end, I put the blame on the Ravens, and ultimately the coaches. A lot of "stuff" happens during a game, including stuff like bad calls and reactionary refs, and, as a team, they needed to be resilient and not let that impact their play.

Beginning of the end for Billick? Well, as Billick would probably admit, his future was tied to the success or lack thereof of one Kyle Boller, so in the end, if Boller had turned into a Flacco-like QB with similar wins and post-season success, Billick probably would have stay around for longer.

But I do think that in addition to poor-QB play, Billick "clearly" lost his voice with a veteran team. To me, the beginning of the end was when they signed Corey Fuller, Deon Sanders and Ray formed his "posse". John Feinstein's book came out about the same time...and looking back on it now....you can see how Billick has most of the quotes and Newsome is hardly quoted at all. There was definitely something amiss with the coaches and front-office/scouts on the team. Something which Bisciotti alluded to in the past with with regards to Billick's leadership style.

I think the 2006 run with McNair bought Billick some more time, but when 2007 looked a lot like 2004-5, Bisciotti made the move.

[HoustonRaven]

I won't excuse the players (and coaches), but Mike Carey let his emotions get the better of him as well. They screwed up several calls horribly, and with each passing penalty, his explanations got more and more demonstrative. Seemed pretty clear to me he was enjoying calling the penalties, and that's a problem.

I think this about nails it. The Ravens were playing in out-of-control mode, and when a couple of bad calls went their way, both Ravens and the officials over-reacted.

In the end, I put the blame on the Ravens, and ultimately the coaches. A lot of "stuff" happens during a game, including stuff like bad calls and reactionary refs, and, as a team, they needed to be resilient and not let that impact their play.

Beginning of the end for Billick? Well, as Billick would probably admit, his future was tied to the success or lack thereof of one Kyle Boller, so in the end, if Boller had turned into a Flacco-like QB with similar wins and post-season success, Billick probably would have stay around for longer.

But I do think that in addition to poor-QB play, Billick "clearly" lost his voice with a veteran team. To me, the beginning of the end was when they signed Corey Fuller, Deon Sanders and Ray formed his "posse". John Feinstein's book came out about the same time...and looking back on it now....you can see how Billick has most of the quotes and Newsome is hardly quoted at all. There was definitely something amiss with the coaches and front-office/scouts on the team. Something which Bisciotti alluded to in the past with with regards to Billick's leadership style.

I think the 2006 run with McNair bought Billick some more time, but when 2007 looked a lot like 2004-5, Bisciotti made the move.

:word

[Money227]

Thank God somebody on here is reasonable.

Look there is no excuse for Suggs to jump in Carey's face however the tripping penalty occurred when Suggs was cut, flipped and his feet made contact with the running backs shoulder. When the flag was thrown he went ballistic because he knew he wasn't at fault. Kemo's penalty was worse because he taunted the crowd from his sideline. Granted it was a terrible gesture however the refs were clearly looking to throw flags when they made that one for a player on his own sideline gesturing towards a taunting crowd. Some of these posters on here absolutely make me wonder if they understand that there are sides to every story and that it isn't all black and white.

As for Mike, he's 55 so maybe he felt it was time to move on.

I think most do understand this. It just so happens that the couple that don't understand are ones who post very frequently. You can tell who they are, because they are the ones arguing with other posters in just about every thread. They are also the ones who think they are way smarter than they actually are. Every message board has a couple of them.

[Rochardrik]

Awwwwww! I will miss his choreographed signals to the camera on the sidelines. Does this mean he no longer must practice ballet in front of the mirror?