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11-05-2012, 03:28 AM #1Hyperbolic curmudgeometer
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How does this team get to 10 wins?
Oakland is probably a win, maybe the Skins & Week 17 at Cincy (presuming the Tabbies don't have much to play for by then)--but off a performance like this, can anyone honestly see them beating Denver or San Diego (in SD) or the Giants, or the Steelers even once?
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Re: How does this team get to 10 wins?
Jesus, wtf is wrong with people? We won the damn game didn't we? It wasn't even close to as bad as you are implying. I mean how could we beat the New England Patriots at home? Oh wait we already did that....
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11-05-2012, 03:44 AM #3
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11-05-2012, 03:46 AM #4Pro Bowl Poster
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Re: How does this team get to 10 wins?
By winning four more.
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11-05-2012, 04:15 PM #5
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11-06-2012, 10:04 AM #7Hyperbolic curmudgeometer
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Re: How does this team get to 10 wins?
Well, this is about what I expected when I started this thread--a storm surge of unsupported optimism spiked with snide "you're not really a fan" flotsam & jetsam, with the occasional voice of reason trying to be heard over the howling windbags...
Those of you who worked yourselves into a froth over criticism of the Ravens' play last Sunday are saying more about your infantile notions of fannishness than anything else. The main reason y'all want us to "just shut up" (or "go to NY & become Yankee fans") is because you know most of the criticism is warranted & you hope that by squeezing your eyes shut & sticking your fingers in your ears & shouting 6-2, 6-2, 6-2! at the top of your lungs you can keep the evil spirits away.
Good luck with that.
Getting back to the issues at hand:
1) Anyone who takes comfort in the D only giving up 5 FGs yesterday needs to recognize that Weeden was under no real pressure for most of the game but still made a passle of unforced errors--missing receivers, not noticing others who were wide open--& his pass-catchers didn't do much to help him out. Every one of the QBs the Ravens will face in the remainder of the season is better than Brandon Weeden. Every one of those teams has better receivers than the Browns.
2) Last Sunday the Ravens offense looked really good for a quarter, then awful for the next two quarters, & finally woke up to score the winning TD. (No credit for the last FG, gaining only 4 yards from where the Browns turned the ball over on downs.) What happened in the 2nd & 3rd quarters? Can this offense figure out a way to move the ball & score for 4 quarters, or even for 3?
Here are the justifications for optimism that I see:- The defense clearly concentrated on stopping Richardson & forcing Weeden to win the game, which turned out well; no one on the remaing schedule has as good a RB, so the emphasis will shift to controlling the passing game
- Ellerbe & Corey Graham stepped up their games
- The OL played better, at least in the first quarter, & the O came up with big plays when it needed them
- Three of the toughest games left are at home, where the Ravens have been close to unbeatable
- The team plays up to top competition
- The O went into a shell because they didn't want to show anything to future opponents
- Even great QBs have off days, & anything can happen
Problem is, most of these "reasons" are wishful thinking. At best they rely on past performances that may or may not be applicable to the current state of the team.
Other than the first quarter last Sunday, this team has shown no significant improvement in scheme, technique, or level of play coming out of the bye. There is no reason to believe they'll be any better at stopping a quality offense even at home with a good QB than they were at holding down Brady or Romo. There is a little more reason to thinnk that the offense can put up points when it has to.
But frankly, I see no way for the Ravens to reach 10 or 11 wins that doesn't involve a large helping of luck. And luck cuts both ways--a lot of the "anything" that "can happen" is bad stuff. They could just as easily end up 8-8. Even 7-9.
The most distressing thing to me is that I don't think this coaching staff knows how to deal with current conditions. Harbaugh has always played things conservatively; his philosophy has been to minimize the role of chance & trust that his players are simply better than the opponent. It's pretty clear that isn't the case this year. If they want to make the dance, they're going to have to start taking chances in order to "steal" games that on paper they should lose. But they don't act as if they've gotten the message & I don't have much confidence they know how to act on it even when (if) they do.
(FTR, I would rather not see what I've described above; I have no grudge against anyone on the staff or roster [& have no patience with anyone who wishes them ill in the interest of carrying one out]; and I would infinitely prefer seeing them win than being able to say "I told you so.")
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11-06-2012, 10:15 AM #8Veteran Poster
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Re: How does this team get to 10 wins?
Last edited by JohnBKistler; 11-06-2012 at 11:12 AM.
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11-05-2012, 04:08 AM #9Steve Flacco, Apparently
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x1000
Holy shit guys. We went on the road and played a divisional foe that had won 2 out of it's last three and beat them by 2 scores while denying them a single TD.
I just don't know what people expect from an injury riddled team with a serious talent deficiency on both lines. They are playing well enough to win and that's all that counts. Once we make the playoffs it becomes 40% luck, 30% team health, and 30% talent. Just enjoy a fucking win without desperately looking for a way to piss on it.My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron
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11-05-2012, 04:25 AM #10On The Practice Squad
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Re: How does this team get to 10 wins?
I think if there is one heartening thing about that win, and I'm stretching, it is that the team turned up for 1 and a half quarters, and still beat an improving team by 10 points. It still doesn't counteract the concerns over the fact that they disappeared for that time.
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11-05-2012, 06:54 AM #12Steve Flacco, Apparently
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Re: How does this team get to 10 wins?
So beating a team that won 2 out of it's last three isn't heartening? Beating a division opponent by 10 on the road isn't heartening? Shutting them completely out of the endzone and picking off their QB twice while not turning the ball over isn't heartening?
Man... I get that we had a rough stretch in the middle of the game on O, but it's not like we shit the bed. We scored more points on the road than we have in almost a season's worth of road games. If we had done it with those points spread evenly instead of at one of the the game then the other, no one would be complaining about anything.My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron
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