The realities

**skimmy** · 09-25-2006, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by BertJonesMyHero

Playcalling-

It was terrible. They were too conservative at times and too aggressive when it made no sense. The call on that reverse made no sense at that point in the game. The run up the middle on 4th down was so predictable.

Originally Posted by BertJonesMyHero

It just kills me that we throw the ball a yard short on 3rd downs. Always has.

I hate when that happens. I get annoyed at the dump offs underneath on 3rd and long, but I'm not sure it has anything to do with the playcalling. The 3rd down backs can't stray too far from the LOS if he is going to truely be the safety valve. On the otherhand, Heap and the wide outs have to run their 10 yard routes as 10 yards, not round them off at 8 yards or whatever... Heap's catch a yard short of the first down had me yelling.

**ravenmaniac** · 09-25-2006, 11:05 AM

There will ALWAYS be people unhappy with a win. We are 3-0 and people are bitching. Cleveland is a better team than both Oak/Tampa. This was a GREAT win!

**StingerNLG** · 09-25-2006, 11:14 AM

RM, Cleveland coming into this game was NOT SUPPOSED TO BE a better team than Tampa. Oakland has weapons that Cleveland doesn't too. We made Cleveland's defense, even missing their key CB (which isn't saying much to begin with), look legit.

This game should never, NEVER, have been in doubt. There is no reason that we should have been looking at 20 seconds on the clock and wondering if Charlie Frye could get downfield enough to kick the winning field goal. For that matter, there is no reason we should have been on the edge of our seats wondering why the hell Matt Stover has to try to kick a 52 yard field goal and if he could even make that. There's not a reason on this Earth given the bill-of-goods we were sold on how much better this offense was going to be that we should have been ready to turn the game off at halftime in disgust because we couldn't score more than 3 points in the entire half and had a hard enough time just getting a first down. There's CERTAINLY no reason Cleveland's 2nd year rookie QB should take the beating he took, but statistically run almost dead even with our MVP QB.

Forgive me if I am not frothing at the mouth for San Diego to get here. Next Sunday we need to see some real production out of this offense or we're going to see our first loss against a good team. We need to score touchdowns folks. Not one touchdown. No multiple 3 and outs. We need to figure out how to get into the endzone. Or all this warm and fuzzy about 3-0 is going to come to a halt real quick.

**ravenmaniac** · 09-25-2006, 11:28 AM

RM, Cleveland coming into this game was NOT SUPPOSED TO BE a better team than Tampa. Oakland has weapons that Cleveland doesn't too. We made Cleveland's defense, even missing their key CB (which isn't saying much to begin with), look legit.

Sorry, but a win on the road in a hostile environment is always impressive. The only thing that we shouldn't have been was 6.5 pt favorites. Cleveland ALWAYS gets up for this game. If you can't enjoy this, then I feel sorry for you. One game and one week at a time should be their motto. These wins ALL count at the end of the yr. Our QB arrived at the beginning of summer. He is still learning. We are playing a GREAT D on Sunday. The 12th man will need to turn it up, we'll need the turnovers and we'll need to shut down LT. Lets enjoy the ride. Yesterday was just another bump in the road on the ride and we made it through. Our QB passed for almost 300 yrds, 1 TD and no TOs on the road.

**RavenFanatic2k6** · 09-25-2006, 11:29 AM

Just to update on my first post, have you read any of the quotes today?

To hear McNair tell it, his teammates were lifting him up. His teammates were saying it was the other way around. Whatever the case, they all rose together, in ways the Ravens as we know them, post-Super Bowl, haven't done all that often.

"You should have seen everybody on the sidelines, running around, saying, 'We're gonna win, we're gonna win, we're gonna win,' " - Ray Lewis

"It all starts with Steve," tight end Todd Heap said. "He looked in every guy's eyes and told everyone what to expect and what we needed to do. It's really something when everybody has confidence in what's going on. To do it under pressure at the end of the game, it's a confidence-builder for our offense."

"That drive was different than any drive I've been a part of on this team," Heap said. "Just the look in each other's eyes and to see everybody was focused and knew what we needed to do. To be able to get that win, that's a huge growth for our team. It's going to pay dividends for the next two, three games we play."

Yes, intangibles and leadership are apologies :grbac:

**ClericBlackDave** · 09-25-2006, 12:29 PM

If you dont think that McNair's play yesterday leaves something to be desired, you're crazy.

And why is Boller's name or any other QB's name in this discussion? Because we brought McNair in here to be an UPGRADE over past QBs.

I'll be sold on McNair when he throws a passing TD to a WR.

Until then, I feel that we dont have the offensive firepower to hang with the Big Dogs, and maybe, just maybe, our money would have been better spent on brining in some O-line and a good backup to Boller.

We're 3-0, and I'm happy.

But not happy with this offense.

McNair's armstrength is a real problem. His body is betraying him.

People are questioning his acuracy. I dont think that's the issue. He's making the right decisions, right reads, and the throws aren't terribly off, but they lack zip and die in the air, and the defenders get a chance to adjust.

If Boller is in there, I'm not saying we win. Actually, he might have thrown some INTs McNair didn't. But then McNair had about 2-3 easy picks dropped by the ShitStains, so he lucked out there.

McNair's arm will be a problem in games that we have to pass to get back into. The balls don't have that zip and are getting their late, and when they get there, its so soft it doesn't "stick" to the reciever's hands. You can blame some of that on the recievers, but I've never seen so many passes get batted away last minute by DBs who recover or so many passes that hit WRs but dont stick. Its got to be his arm strength.

Titans may have made a good read on McNair, I dont know how much he has left.

That said, his poise and leadership is still an upgrade over Boller AT THIS POINT. But that might not last forever and McNair's body starts to REALLY betray him.

**skimmy** · 09-25-2006, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by ravenmaniac

There will ALWAYS be people unhappy with a win. We are 3-0 and people are bitching. Cleveland is a better team than both Oak/Tampa. This was a GREAT win!

I am not really bitching. It's ok to be happy with a win but be mindful of the mistakes that were made that made the game a close game. I did expect a tight game against the Browns, because every year (except 2003) they've put up a good fight against the Ravens, even their first year back (1999).

To "flip the script" a little, I think the Ravens did some good things yesterday. They didn't risk much when going against the wind. The Ravens stuffed the Browns offense when the Browns had the wind in their favor in the 3rd quarter. I think that 3rd quarter goose egg was responsible for the change of momentum in the Ravens favor going into the 4th quarter. They played very close to the vest and made sure that they won the turnover battle. The turnover thing can't be stressed enough, the Ravens have won at an amazing clip since Billick took over when they win the turnover battle.

**RavenDavey** · 09-25-2006, 12:39 PM

Yes.... a win is a win. Last year when we had games like this one we were saying "we should have beat them.... or We should have won that game!" We are 3-0 and my expectation at this point realisticaly would be 2-1. The intangibles are coming together. I do have one question to ask....Were the football gods trying to make Charlie Frye into a pro-bowler?? I mean he literally got POUNDED into the ground, was throwing (not Passing) the ball up that turned into receptions, and dominated our secondary until CMAC saved the game for us. Isn't it our turn for that kind or Karma?

PS-I bet Charlie Frye feels real good today as he tries to get out of bed.... NICE POUNDING BY THE DEFENSE!!!!!!

**Raven31** · 09-25-2006, 12:45 PM

The reality: I do not see McNair as an upgrade so far. (I don't put much stock in terms like "intangibles" and "leadership", which sound like apologies). I am hoping he can step it up with upcoming games against a few teams that can score points.

Mista T is right. I said this on YBR and I'll say it here. The whole point of getting McNair was so the offense would win games for us, not relying so heavily on the D and Stover's leg. I don't see where that's changed from last year.

I love having McNair here, but if all we brought him here to do is play "Dilfer ball", then I think we GROSSLY overpaid for him.

**Mobtown** · 09-25-2006, 01:02 PM

I don't see where that's changed from last year.

At this time last year we were 0-2

**skimmy** · 09-25-2006, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by StingerNLG

Forgive me if I am not frothing at the mouth for San Diego to get here. Next Sunday we need to see some real production out of this offense or we're going to see our first loss against a good team. We need to score touchdowns folks. Not one touchdown. No multiple 3 and outs. We need to figure out how to get into the endzone. Or all this warm and fuzzy about 3-0 is going to come to a halt real quick.

San Diego will be a tough this weekend for sure. They appear to have a stronger offense and comparable if not equal defense. The problem is neither team has beaten very good teams yet, so it is hard to judge either team with a very acurate measuring stick. Both teams played the Raiders and both teams blew them out...