Steelers Week Number Two – Ruminations

Heading into Steelers week number two, the Ravens find themselves solid favorites against the team that has been in first place in the AFC North for most of the season.  Somehow, the Steelers have dominated the Ravens over the last few seasons, winning games in ugly ways – but winning them nevertheless.

This week I spent no time watching tape of the Ravens win over the junior varsity Giants.  Instead, I took a hard look at the Steelers matchup with the Eagles.  Below, I share a few opinions from that game, and what they could mean as the Ravens face a must win game for divisional purposes. Continue reading “Steelers Week Number Two – Ruminations”

Ravens Thoughts Heading Into the Giants Game

This week I run through a series of Ravens thoughts heading into the Giants matchup.  The Ravens are 16-point favorites as I pen this, the largest favorite spread for a road team in the NFL since 1966.  Now the Baltimore Colts were the biggest favorites in NFL championship history to lose, and they did that on two occasions.  The 1964 championship game against the Browns, and the awful loss to the Jets in Super Bowl III.  But it’s hard to imagine the Ravens losing against the Giants, who are pitiful given their injuries, quarterback play, personnel, etc.  A loss against New York would stamp the 2024 Ravens as a Super Bowl imposter. Continue reading “Ravens Thoughts Heading Into the Giants Game”

Ravens-Chargers: Some Defensive Improvement? And More

The Ravens enjoyed some defensive improvement last week against the Chargers.  But don’t get carried away yet.  There were still a bunch of mistakes.  And the real defensive test looms against the powerful Eagles offense.  Let’s take a look at this, and a bit more. Continue reading “Ravens-Chargers: Some Defensive Improvement? And More”

Ravens Dreadful Loss to Pittsburgh: A Bunch of Thoughts

Just another Steelers loss that’s hard to fathom.  The Steelers have a good defense, a very mediocre offense to go with a mediocre quarterback, excellent special teams and excellent coaches.  They will make the playoffs barring a shocking turn.  But this makes three losses for the Ravens to inferior teams.  Which tells us – like it or not – that the Ravens are not (yet?) a great team.   Let’s take a look at a few things that went wrong last week, a possible silver lining, and waste few words on the obvious. Continue reading “Ravens Dreadful Loss to Pittsburgh: A Bunch of Thoughts”

Ravens Defensive Problems Just Keep Rolling On

For the second week in a row I’m not going to spend any time on the Ravens offense.  Through ten games the only team that has stopped the Ravens offense is the Ravens.  I’m eager to see whether Lamar can finally exorcise his Steelers demons.  But the Ravens defensive problems just continue to roll on.  The risk that these problems are unfixable is growing.  Below, I try to characterize my concerns, take a quick look at what is going wrong, and point to a few dim glimmers of hope.

Zach Orr and the (In)ability to Adapt

Continue reading “Ravens Defensive Problems Just Keep Rolling On”

Ravens: Quick Thoughts From the Broncos Win

Short weeks are tough on the players.  But they are even tougher on your humble blogger.  A complete film study of the Broncos victory was not possible, so I focused only on the Ravens “defense” for the week.  Some quick thoughts on that, and trade deadline activity, follow.

Quick Thoughts: Defensive Improvement?

Who wouldn’t be eager to read a post about improvement all across the Ravens defense?  We are all looking (hoping) for it.  Against the Broncos mediocre offense, the defense continued to allow too many chunk plays, particularly in the first half.  But there were a couple of “glimmers” inside of this mess. Continue reading “Ravens: Quick Thoughts From the Broncos Win”

Quick Trade Thoughts for the Ravens

With the trade deadline one day away, here are some trade thoughts with my personal shopping list for the Ravens.  These are players who should be available given their respective current team situations, age, and contracts.

Trade Thoughts – Safety

Is I wrote previously, Jabril Peppers from the Patriots is my personal target here.  His age (29) and the length of rebuild currently facing the Patriots should make him available.  His total base salary this year is only $3.1 million, meaning that roughly half of that is still due.  This makes him easily cap-affordable for the Ravens. Continue reading “Quick Trade Thoughts for the Ravens”

The Cleveland Loss: Defensive Suggestions, and More

The trade deadline is three days away.  There’s a lot for Ravens fans to think about.  Below, I take a look at the pitiful defensive (and sub-par offensive) performance against Cleveland.  Then, let’s focus on some defensive  suggestions and some other stuff.

Lessons From the Cleveland Loss – Lord, The Defense

Wondering why Marcus Williams may start this week against Denver?  Because Eddie Jackson was that awful against the Browns.  Forgetting his dropped interceptions, Jackson continued his season-long assignment confusion.  It was a horror show. Continue reading “The Cleveland Loss: Defensive Suggestions, and More”

The Ravens Defensive Mess: Trenton Simpson and a Bit More

Many a local sports voice claim that Trenton Simpson is part of the reason that Roquan Smith has been terrible in pass coverage.  They now claim that Patrick Queen is what made Roquan so effective, not the other way around.  They argue, “if only the Ravens had exercised their one year option on Queen the Ravens wouldn’t be in this predicament.”  The defense would be better if the Ravens replace Simpson, they maintain.

Maybe some of you feel the same way.  Let’s unemotionally examine the Simpson-Smith-Queen issue with some data and film review and see where that leads.  More generally, should Simpson be on the field, or do the Ravens need to acquire an inside linebacker before the trade deadline to help fix the defense, as some now claim? Continue reading “The Ravens Defensive Mess: Trenton Simpson and a Bit More”

Ravens: Change is Blowin’ in the Wind

Film study and resulting thoughts will come later in the week.  But given that the trade deadline is looming, and the myriad of issues facing the Ravens defense, I’m compelled to make an extra post or two.  Any clear-eyed general manager, and Eric DeCosta is that, realizes that this team cannot win the Super Bowl with the current defense.  Self delusion leads to failure.  There is change blowin’ in the wind.  This post looks at the safety fiasco and possible options for improvement.  But first, a thought on Diontae Johnson. Continue reading “Ravens: Change is Blowin’ in the Wind”

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