We're gonna be good!

[AirFlacco]

Great points on the scheduling and div champs having 10 wins and not making it while the Giants went to and
won the SB with just 9 wins last year, I think it was.

Fans also worry about no pass rush. It disappeared at the end of the year and in the playoffs. We got by vs Houston because they had a rookie QB and Pags dropped everyone back. No room for him to throw, but they didn't get away with that vs Brady and he had a sore arm but we couldn't finish him off like Giants did in SB. They hit him and he threw all those balls behind the receivers. He still came within 1.5 mins of winning.

Now we get him again plus both Mannings, Rivers, Romo, even RG3-lol. And we still have no pass rush to
go after those dudes.

It's quite possible we don't make the POs but we still made them more than anyone the last 4 years under HARBs always coming from
within 11 secs to 4 mins from
the SB.

[HKusp]

Again, we'll be one of the top teams in the NFL. The talent is there.

If you want to know why people are so down on their team this time of year, you have to keep in mind that some sports fans would rather have that mindset. Face it, as a sports fan, you're disappointed much more often than not. That's just the law of averages. So some people would rather keep their expectations low from the start, that way they aren't as emotionally crushed if their team doesn't go all the way. It's kind of a defensive mechanism.

I don't feel that way. I became a sports fan because I relish winning, and don't let myself get too down when they don't. My philosophy is: if you're gonna root for a sports team, root for them all the way from the start, with your expectations being the highest (within reason, of course). There's no reason to believe the Ravens won't win the Super Bowl this year. We have the talent, experience, and history on our side. There's no reason to believe we're not just as good as any of the other SB contenders.

I can guarantee that most of our opponents fans are dreading the fact that the Ravens are on their schedule this year. They all have that date circled on their calendars as being a tough tough game. The Ravens have a 24-8 record over the last 2 seasons, and 44-20 record over the last 4 seasons. I'd be REALLY worried if my team had to face them. However, the team's biggest critics are their own fans.

Great post. If they stay relatively healthy, this is an 11 win team in, mho. I can see Flacco with 35+ TD's and 4100 yards passing. The defense isn't going to have to do what it did in 2006 in order to make it deep in the playoff's.

[leachisabeast]

Rice wasn't the feature back. It was McGahee and McClain. And let's be honest - Flacco really wasn't asked to do much besides manage the offense.

Your argument only strengthens Harbaugh supporters then. Harbaugh installed an conservative yet effective game plan in 08 with a QB who had limitations to his game, and it worked wonders.

[leachisabeast]

Fair enough. Earlier in the thread i said if we make the playoffs it will be because flacco plays close to a brady/manning level. We will go as far as he takes us this year. And im one of his biggest supporters, so yea i could see it happening. But i could just as easily see us narrowly missing out. The roster just has nowhere near the depth this year as it did in 2010/2011. Thats my opinion, i dont think its unreasonable at all.

Flacco wont be as good as Brady this year, so according to you, we wont be making the play offs just because of that. But you are forgetting that outside of Brady, we are a better overall talented team than the Patriots, with a much better defense (even without Suggs). Flacco needs to play better, and I think he will, but he wont need to play as well as Brady, and wont, he probably wont ever be quite that good. We had a top defense with not much pass rush in 2010 or 2009, I'm sure we will have a similar defense, but not quite as good as last year.

[Terpsfan82]

Your argument only strengthens Harbaugh supporters then. Harbaugh installed an conservative yet effective game plan in 08 with a QB who had limitations to his game, and it worked wonders.

Where did I state I wasn't a Harbaugh supporter? Or that I didn't think he was a good coach? Maybe I will state my point in a different manner. Since it doesn't appear that this year's version of the Ravens will be as talented as the 2011 version, Harbaugh will have to make up the difference with coaching. That's all I meant. We have a great example of this right at Campden Yards. The Orioles have no business challenging the Yankees for the division, yet here we are in September and they're two games out of first place. That doesn't happen without Buck. His team is more than the sum of its parts. I would like to see that from Harbaugh.

[Ravens75]

I thought everything was always Cam Camerons fault :-)

And LOL at you guys who get offended when anybody makes a projection of anything less than 12-4. The team has some serious question marks. Nothing wrong with tempering expectations a little bit. Name another team in the nfl that has gone to the playoffs the last 5 years in a row. I dont think there is one. Every team, no matter how talented, has a down year every once in a while.

I think you already waved the white flag so there's no need to pile on.

Posters aren't offended by your comments but they question the logic behind them. I along with many others predicted the Ravens to win 10 or 11 games and they still might not make the playoffs with that record. This team imo is multiple in that they don't have to win just one way (ie with defense). Some weeks its going to be the D. Some its going to be Ray Rice and yes in others its going to be Joe or even a combination of all three. I also agree that this team has serious question marks but not necessarily with the pass rush but in ST coverage. If they give up field position in a critical juncture or a TD they could easily lose a winnable game. For some reason the scheme is not working and could cost them if not fixed. I think the pass rush and oline will be serviceable enough to not be major weaknesses. As for the secondary, this time last year, the Ravens were starting an unproven FA and a CB with promise that had been toasted in the playoffs on the most critical 3rd down in recent Ravens history (not to mention he was setting the world on fire). In the end these things figure themselves out.

[leachisabeast]

Dunlap is out for a bit, but not as long as Suggs and to date has not been an every-down player. Geno Atkins is outstanding from the inside, as you must realize by the way you worded, but they have a legitimate need for another outside rusher.

Yeah, we also have Haloti Ngata bringing pressure up the middle. Geno Atkins is a fantastic player though.

[bacchys]

The Ravens are going to be fine even with the tough schedule. Flacco looks like he's built a lot of chemistry with his receiving corps, and I think Ozzie has managed to put a workable o-line in front of him. Rice will provide the cornerstone to the offense and Flacco's most important safety valve, and the O is going to take a lot of the pressure off the D this year.

I think we still end up with a top 10 defense, and even possibly in the top 5 given we still have Lewis and Reed providing incomparable field leadership.

This is a tough, resilient team with an outstanding coaching staff and one of the best front offices in the league. Other teams have to worry about the Ravens.