FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Lifer: Metallica Sucks! said 07/21, 02:39 PM
Obviously I say they'll decline.

First off, their schedule. The AFC North has arguably the toughest schedule in the NFL. Besides playing the Steelers and Browns twice, the Ravens have to play the AFC South and NFC East, which have a combined SIX playoff teams and ZERO losing records. I mean, the Ravens only play four games against teams with losing records, and two of them are against the Bengals!

Also, as a team did they really improve? For them to do better, their QB situation needs to be resolved. I know they drafted Joe Flacco, but it is pretty rare for a QB to come in and save the day.

Look at the last few rookie 1st round QBs who started their first years...

Vince Young posted a 66.7 QB rating.
Matt Leinart posted a 74.0 QB rating.
Jay Cutler did well (88.5), but in only a 5 game period.
Alex Smith? 40.8 rating.
Jason Campbell? 76.5 through 7 games.
Eli? 55.4.

The only one who really proved himself capable over most of a season was Big Ben. Unless Flacco can come close to duplicating that success, which is unlikely, the Ravens will struggle.

More next argument.

Lifer: Metallica Sucks! said 07/21, 03:52 PM
Yeah, quite the defense they have over there in Baltimore.

The one that last year was ranked 23rd in the NFL in points allowed? Yeah, quite a group they have there.

And plenty of youth among their stars. In fact, of the 7 starters on that D who have ever made a Pro Bowl, THREE of them are under 30, although one of them turns 30 in early September (Ed Reed).

JOE FLACCO DOES NOT HAVE A HOF LT BLOCKING HIS BLIND SIDE.

You remember Ogden retired, don't you? Now he has Jared Gaither and/or Oniel Cousins at LT. So yeah, he might have a teensie bit of trouble.

This "excellent" Defense helped them jack last year, and I don't see how with their stars getting any older they'll do much more to bail out their offense this time around.

And who says their secondary will be healthy? Both of their starting CBs are over 30, and Ed Reed is going to be 30 by September!

And Ed Reed...what happened to him? Sure, he was a ballhawk last year, but he had 39 tackles in 16 starts! That's barely 2 tackles a game...

Troy Smith is an inexperienced backup, Kyle Boller has a reserved seat on the bench...why would either of these guys lead Baltimore to a better record than last year, exactly?

Lifer: Metallica Sucks! said 07/22, 05:05 PM
The Ravens split with the Steelers? Are you kidding??

The Steelers didn't even use their starters in their second game against the Ravens, it was in Week 17! If the Ravens didn't split, it would have been amazingly pathetic! Even then they barely won against the Steelers' backups, 27-21.

The Ravens also have a brand new coach, unproven John Harbaugh.

So, tell me, how many teams with a rookie QB and a rookie Head Coach improved?

Kyle Boller's completion % has gone up the last 5 years? Well, last year it was 61.1%, which was good for 22nd among qualifying QBs. Guess he has a ways to go, eh?

Fast fact on Boller #2-

In 3 out of 5 of his seasons, he has thrown more INT than TD (including last year).

Yep, his accuracy is spot on.

I don't care how tall Oniel Cousins is...if height determined abilities, Yao Ming would currently be playing in the NFL.

As far as Cromartie goes, he didn't even start every game he played in, he played nickel for 8 games last year (or was it dime?). And yeah, maybe he isn't a good tackler. Deion wasn't. That has no bearing on my argument that Reed seems to have lost his tackling edge.