We're Going To Be Tough To Beat

[BaltimoreRon]

I agree. Sustaining long drives is HUGE, but we have to come away from them with 7 points. Settling for a field goal or nothing at all is kind of deflating.

That's true. I remember a MNF game where Dan Dierdorf was arguing the TOP was the most important stat. I remember thinking at the time that I might not be as football savvy as Dan, but I'll take the points every time.

[PurpleRulz]

I ask again if we should think of trading Mike Anderson. He seems to be the odd man out right now. It would also be a little foolish to keep MA while losing a Daniels or Ross.

It seems as if the 1 and 2 punch are Musa Smith (who needs a contract) and Jamal.

[Losac]

I ask again if we should think of trading Mike Anderson. He seems to be the odd man out right now. It would also be a little foolish to keep MA while losing a Daniels or Ross.

It seems as if the 1 and 2 punch are Musa Smith (who needs a contract) and Jamal.

No, MA should not be traded. If Jamal went down, we would be hanging our hats on him and his injury concerns, and PJ Daniels who hasn't shown squat.

It's kind of NICE having this depth at running back.

[Ravensarge]

First off, I'm a HUGE Ravens fan, but after hearing all the hype shoved down my throat last year (wern't we shoo ins for the Super Bowl?), all i say to people who ask how are we gonna do is, " We'll see after the Tampa game." It's almost like a must win in my eyes.

[PurpleRulz]

First off, I'm a HUGE Ravens fan, but after hearing all the hype shoved down my throat last year (wern't we shoo ins for the Super Bowl?), all i say to people who ask how are we gonna do is, " We'll see after the Tampa game." It's almost like a must win in my eyes.

Every game in the NFL is "must win." You can't take any opponent for granted. Being tough to beat is not an indication of our record as much as it is of what type of opponent we will be.

When you couple an offense that can control the clock (the points will come) with a smothering and punishing defense, that makes for a very tough team to beat.

My hope is that folks will disrespect our passing game and stack the box. My hope is that teams in the AFC North will look past us. Chad Johnson proclaimed, in May, that the Bengals would run away with the AFC North.

We are a dangerous team.

[AZRAVEN]

After the last two seasons I am NOT buying into any preseason hype. On paper we look virtually unstopable but I'll wait until at least the fourth game of the season to formulate any opinion. Everything is hunky dory right now but we haven't suffered any injuries yet, had any heartbreaking losses; after last seasons meltdown I want to see how this team responds to adversity before I start bragging them up. When times get tough will they weather it as a team or will we have the same every man for himself attitude that surfaced last season. I must admit based on what I've seen so far it's hard not to drink the koolaid but I'm just not going to do it yet.

[Merlin]

I am very optimistic and looking forward to Tampa Bay -- if we win and the road monkey is off -- look out!

However, if we take the rose color glasses off -- where are the big vulnerabilities?

1. Age and its potential effect on injuries (e.g., McNair)

2. Defense -- actually think that McAlister and the nickel back position will be the concern. Our blitzing schemes expose the corners and CMac hasn't had his head in the game since his contract year. Look at KC Joyner's Pro Football 2006 stats on CMac -- last year his actual performance (forget reputation) was middle of the pack

3. O Line -- will the coaches / front office forget about its sunk costs (e.g., Mike Flynn ) and allow the youth movement to happen? Or will we not let them get experience and find at the end of the year that we've run out of gas?

I'm hoping for a 10-6 or 11-5 year, believe me -- but those are my biggest worries

[Brandon]

After the last two seasons I am NOT buying into any preseason hype. On paper we look virtually unstopable but I'll wait until at least the fourth game of the season to formulate any opinion. Everything is hunky dory right now but we haven't suffered any injuries yet, had any heartbreaking losses; after last seasons meltdown I want to see how this team responds to adversity before I start bragging them up. When times get tough will they weather it as a team or will we have the same every man for himself attitude that surfaced last season. I must admit based on what I've seen so far it's hard not to drink the koolaid but I'm just not going to do it yet.

I completely agree here. I am taking the wait and see approach to this team this year. We haven't won a road game in over 1 1/2 season, and that was just about given to us by Herm Edwards.

If we start winning some road games, and take care of the home games, then I will believe that we are starting to turn the corner.

[cajmax]

Merlin good post, I would like to add to your list...

1. Penalties
2. scoring in the ""Red Zone"

[Beerracuda]

I'm very concerned about the poor clock management at the end of the first half. We've seen this crap repeatedly over the past several years. With the Ravens having a real shot at the playoffs this year, this kind of poor clock management and decision making is eventually going to cost us in a big game, and possibly be the single thing that keeps us out of the playoffs.

I really don't understand it, because it really is a simple thing to learn. It's not the least bit complicated at all.

[LBoogy]

Great posts, guys.

I agree that we shouldn't be making bold predictions just yet; being good on paper means absolutely nothing in this league. Injuries, team chemistry, and play-calling have forced our team to under-achieve the past few years and I would be hesitant to say those days are over.

Injuries will always be a factor. The only way to overcome injuries is to have depth; the best teams always have guys on the bench that can step-up and fill the void until the starter(s) comes back. I think we have enough depth on the D-line and O-line (believe it or not) to be successful. Our starting O-line has actually looked GOOD this preseason and I was NOT expecting it. There is nothing more I would like to be proven wrong on than Mike Flynn. Hopefully he can keep it together for one more season. We have enough depth in our young guys to be successful; they are our future and guys like Adam Terry, Jason Brown, Chris Chester, and Brian Rimph are good enough to start at some point. Rookie "Q-Tip" is a monster blocker at TE and MAY develop into an OT for us some day.

We have a plethora of talent at RB, we have great receivers in Mason in Clayton, a gem in Demetrius Williams, a drastically improving Devard Darling, and a top TE in Todd Heap. Dan Wilcox should be solid as always and along with FB Justin Greene and Mike Anderson, we should have great blocking in the backfield.

Our QB situaion is finally resolved with Steve McNair and Kyle Boller should be able to go AT LEAST .500 if/when he steps in for a few games (as PR said).

Our D-line depth is obviously fantastic because of Gregg, Bannan, Ngata, Pryce, Suggs, Edwards, Franklin, Johnson, and even AD and Cody. LB depth should be just fine and our secondary is questionable but positive. When you have a secondary with Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, and Ed Reed, you simply need other guys that "won't screw up". All we need is consistent play from our FS (where we have plenty of depth), and solid play from our young corners, along with Corey Ivy (who has looked very good thus far). Ronnie Prude, third round pick David Pittman, and possibly Derrick Martin or Evan Ogelsby should be able to fill the void of Deion Sanders and Dale Carter just fine. Carter and Sanders were liabilities with their age last season and I'd rather have young guys who haven't maxed out their potential.

Specials teams should obviously be good once again with B.J. Sams and our off-season acqusitions and the punting job should be safe with Sam Koch.

It's very hard to make predictions with this team, but it's easy to see that we're in better position this year than we were last year at this time. Play-calling, clock management, redzone offense consistency, and injuries will all be important factors this season.

[skimmy]

I'll just play a little bit of devil's advocate and state what I think I need to see improvement in the last two preseason games.

First the punting. Punting is basically an extention of our defense. Pin the team back in a bad situation and the defense has more opportunity to have fun. Whether the defense creates a turnover and scores on its own or sets up the offense with a short field, it can all start with a simple punt inside the 10 yard line.

Kick coverage might still be a problem on special teams. We saw some improvement last week, but that Giants return was piss poor. With all those special team ace's we have this shouldn't happen.

Pressure without the blitz. It'd be nice to see the Ravens collapse the pocket on pass plays once in a while without having to send 7 guys or more.

I think everyone else talked about penalties so I won't bother talking about them.

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Things that I find encouraging:

Time of Possesion. Our offense has shown that it can sustain longer drives and chew lots of time off of the clock. This makes the defense better right away, but we have to get points at the end of those drives.

It appears to me that the offense has been able to mix up their passing depth. We've seen short, intermediate and deep passes all have success so far. We haven't seen much of the deep ball from McNair yet, but seeing it from Boller I guess at least tells me that its still in the offense.

Run direction. The Ravens used to have most of their running success towards the left side of the line behind JO and Mulitalo, but they seem to be mixing it up pretty well and having success in both directions. Either way with JO out the Ravens are learning how to coexist without him out there to lean on.