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Post by Ravenchamp on Dec 28, 2016 7:58:40 GMT -5
Baltimore Ravens
8-7, 2nd in AFC North
Sunday, January 1, 1:00 PM on CBS
Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
Baltimore
Ravens
@
Cincinnati
Bengals
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Post by Evil Yoda on Dec 28, 2016 11:45:00 GMT -5
It's winnable, but so have been a great many of their games. Games in which they struggled to win, or lost. It will be closer than people think, than it ought to be.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jan 1, 2017 16:48:11 GMT -5
What a dismaying performance. Just not good on either side of the ball, except for a couple of late in the game Breshad Perriman receptions. It's hard to be sure how much of that is his ability and how much of it is the Bengals knowing they had the game won and just wanting to start their off-season.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jan 1, 2017 17:21:16 GMT -5
Those who watched saw Mosley carted off. He thinks it's a strain but will have an MRI to rule out anything else.
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Post by Ravenchamp on Jan 2, 2017 0:08:17 GMT -5
Most fans are calling for Flaccos benching
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 1:52:48 GMT -5
Flacco isn't going to be benched. Regression or not, he's still their best option. And it's not like the Ravens had a younger quarterback to audition; Ryan Mallet doesn't figure to be here next year, so other than protection against injury, playing him made little sense today.
The Ravens looked completely uninterested today and it showed. Rumors are that Marty is going to be fired as early as tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see who replaces him. Mike McCoy, who had success in Denver as a coordinator and was just axed by San Diego, is an intriguing possibility.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jan 2, 2017 11:41:54 GMT -5
Often an athlete has an bad year after coming back from a knee rebuild. That could be Flacco's problem this year. Next year, one hopes, he will be better. Add in a better offensive mind, but subtract Smith. Perriman needs to understand that if he can't step up next year he is likely to join Ozzie's long list of poor wideout choices. But Flacco will be here until he retires; teams either have a franchise quarterback or they are looking for one. And the Ravens have more pressing needs on the other side of the ball.
The team played today like it understood that it had nothing to play for. It didn't, but one assumes that the pre-game "pep talk" would touch on the fact that some of those men are playing to see whether they would be offered jobs next year. And that wasn't sufficient to motivate them. Once coaching can't motivate players, the metaphorical handwriting is on the wall.
When they replace the OC, I'd like to see Castillo made surplus to requirements as well. I think that line could be better than he made it. ESPN says Harbaugh is signed through the season that begins in '18. I had previously heard he was signed through next season only, then heard he got a quietly negotiated extension - a one year extension. He has to realize that it's do or die - meaning at least a return to the playoffs - next year. There's still a chance he'll get fired this year, but I don't think a big one. Bis did wait a few days after the season when he fired Billick; something happened in that interval that convinced him Billick needed to go. Yesterday's disappointing game (for the lack of interest, not the outcome) would have tipped me, were I the owner, into the "replace coach" bin if I were unsure. It might be that Bis still does have confidence in Harbaugh. But it looks to me like Harbaugh has lost the locker room.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 15:43:27 GMT -5
Often an athlete has an bad year after coming back from a knee rebuild. That could be Flacco's problem this year. Next year, one hopes, he will be better. Add in a better offensive mind, but subtract Smith. Perriman needs to understand that if he can't step up next year he is likely to join Ozzie's long list of poor wideout choices. But Flacco will be here until he retires; teams either have a franchise quarterback or they are looking for one. And the Ravens have more pressing needs on the other side of the ball. The team played today like it understood that it had nothing to play for. It didn't, but one assumes that the pre-game "pep talk" would touch on the fact that some of those men are playing to see whether they would be offered jobs next year. And that wasn't sufficient to motivate them. Once coaching can't motivate players, the metaphorical handwriting is on the wall. When they replace the OC, I'd like to see Castillo made surplus to requirements as well. I think that line could be better than he made it. ESPN says Harbaugh is signed through the season that begins in '18. I had previously heard he was signed through next season only, then heard he got a quietly negotiated extension - a one year extension. He has to realize that it's do or die - meaning at least a return to the playoffs - next year. There's still a chance he'll get fired this year, but I don't think a big one. Bis did wait a few days after the season when he fired Billick; something happened in that interval that convinced him Billick needed to go. Yesterday's disappointing game (for the lack of interest, not the outcome) would have tipped me, were I the owner, into the "replace coach" bin if I were unsure. It might be that Bis still does have confidence in Harbaugh. But it looks to me like Harbaugh has lost the locker room.I'm not sure I agree with you here. The Ravens looked like dead man walking yesterday, but otherwise I don't think their effort can truly be faulted. Their problem is they simply don't have enough playmakers on either side of the ball. |
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jan 2, 2017 16:20:51 GMT -5
I'm not sure I agree with you here. The Ravens looked like dead man walking yesterday, but otherwise I don't think their effort can truly be faulted. Their problem is they simply don't have enough playmakers on either side of the ball. I believe that it is precisely when there is nothing on the line that the coach has to step up and provide the motivation which the playoff hunt cannot provide. And I believe that Harbaugh could not do this yesterday. When a coach can no longer motivate his players, it isn't good. It's interesting that the expected sacking of Mornhinweg has not yet been announced. When Bisciotti fired Billick he announced this several days after the final game of the season. (After, some believe, meeting with players. I don't know where people get their purported inside information from, so I don't know how reliable it is.) Harbaugh's post game comments were not particularly insightful or inspiring of confidence, at least for me. It sounded like more of the same "corporatese" he usually says following games. He admitted that the team was suffering an emotional let down following the loss to Pittsburgh. His job is to overcome that, and he couldn't. It seemed to me almost like he doesn't want the job any longer, but wants to be fired rather than resign. (The obvious motivation in such a case being money.) YMMV, of course. |
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Post by bobloblaw on Jan 2, 2017 17:24:20 GMT -5
I don't think he'd fire him. They're buddies. That would be socially awkward on the course and in the clubhouse. If anything he'd find him a job in upper management.
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